The denial that some of Allah’s speech is superior to other parts became widespread after the year 200 AH, when the Jahmiyyah openly proclaimed that the Quran was created. The leading scholars of the Sunnah and the vast majority of the Muslim community agreed in rejecting and refuting this claim. A large group—including Abū Muhammad ibn Kullāb and those who agreed with him—thought that this claim could only be refuted by maintaining that Allah has not spoken by His will and power; that He did not speak to Moses when Moses came to Him, nor say to the angels, “Prostrate before Adam,” after creating him; that He does not become angry with anyone after that person disbelieves in Him, nor become pleased with him after he obeys Him, nor love him after he draws near to Him through voluntary acts of worship; and that He does not utter one speech after another, such that His words would be without end—along with other things they thought must be denied of Allah.
They said that these people could only be opposed by maintaining that the Quran and all His other speech are inseparable from Allah Most High’s essence, and that He has always been, and will always be, uttering every utterance of His, such as:
“O Adam! O Noah!”
They divided into two groups. One group says that His speech is a single meaning subsisting in His essence. The other says that it consists of letters, or letters and sounds, conjoined with one another from all eternity and for all eternity, although they have an intrinsic sequence, not a sequence in which they come into existence. The various views concerning Allah’s speech have been explained elsewhere. According to the first group, Allah’s speech is a single thing with no parts, so there can be no question of some parts being superior to others.
The other group says:
“It is eternal and inseparable from His essence, and what is eternal admits no degrees of superiority.”
It is sometimes reported from some of the early generations, concerning the words of the Most High,
“We bring forth one better than it,”