I said: It seems that Ishāq objected to the phrase, “because I merely reproduce it.” This is evident from what the reliable ḥāfiẓ ʿAbd Allāh, son of Imām Aḥmad — may Allah have mercy on him — related: “I asked my father, ‘What is your view concerning a man who says, ‘The recitation is created, our expressions of the Qur’an are created, while the Qur’an itself is the uncreated speech of Allah’?’ He replied, ‘This is the discourse of the Jahmiyyah. Allah, Exalted, says, ‘And if any of the polytheists seeks your protection, then grant him protection until he hears the speech of Allah’ (Q 9:6). The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘…until I convey the speech of my Lord,’ and he also said, ‘In this prayer nothing of ordinary human speech is appropriate.’ My father disliked discussing the term “pronunciation” altogether—whether one should say it is created or uncreated.”

I said: Imām Aḥmad adopted this stance as a safeguard¹; otherwise, the words that are uttered are the speech of Allah, while the very act of uttering them is our own deed.

Muḥammad ibn Aslam was, in both knowledge and practice, one of the notable leaders. Among his works is the collection “The Forty,” which we heard from him. He died in 242 AH in Ṭūs.

234 – I said: Apparently he is Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Walīd al-ʿAnbarī, Abū Zakariyyā al-Dhāriʿ, a jurist, accountant, and scribe of legal documents. Abū Nuʿaym said in Akhbār Iṣbahān 2/362: “He died in 311 AH; he transmitted from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar and possessed the writings of Abū Masʿūd.”

I said: Aḥmad ibn Salamah is the son of ʿAbd Allāh, Abū al-Faḍl al-Naysābūrī. Ibn Abī Ḥātim said (1/1/54): “I wrote from him in Rayy; he came to us during my father’s lifetime, and my father also wrote from him.” He died in 286 AH and was a meticulous ḥadīth master; he compiled a Ṣaḥīḥ comparable to Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, as mentioned in al-Shadharāt.

235 – I said: Its chain of transmission is acceptable. This Shaʿrānī is Ishāq ibn Dāwūd ibn ʿĪsā, Abū Yaʿqūb al-Shaʿrānī al-Marwazī. Al-Khaṭīb recorded him (6/374) through the narration of Muḥammad ibn Mukhlad al-ʿAṭṭār and said that he died in 261 AH.

As for ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl al-Ṣaydāwī, it is most likely the same person mentioned in al-Jarḥ wa’l-Taʿdīl.

¹ To block the means that could lead to error.