Third line:
بِـذَلكَ دَانَ الأتْقِياءُ وأَفْصحُــوا وَقُـلْ غَيْـرُ مَخْلِوقٍ كَلامُ مَليكِنا
And say: The Speech of our great King is not created,
Such was the religious position of the pious ones (before us) who spoke well.
Maleek is one of the names of Allaah Subhaanah so is Maalik, and Malik is also another qiraa'ah.
It is important to know that the `Aqeedah of Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l Jamaa`ah, the Sahaabah, the Tabi`een and those who followed them- is that the Qur'aan is the words of Allaah and Allaah spoke it- which was heard by Jibreel, who then descended to the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa-sallam and then the Qur'aan was heard by the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa-sallam, who then conveyed it to the Ummah. The evidence for that is the ayah, where Allaah said:
بِلِسَانٍ عَرَبِيٍّ مُّبِينٍ . عَلَىٰ قَلْبِكَ لِتَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُنذِرِينَ. نَزَلَ بِهِ الرُّوحُ الْأَمِينُ . وَإِنَّهُ لَتَنزِيلُ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
And truly, this (the Quran) is a revelation from the Lord of the `Aalameen (mankind, jinns and all that exists), which the trustworthy Rooh (Jibreel)) has brought down- upon your heart (O Muhammad SAW) that you may be (one) of the warners- in clear Arabic language. [Soorah al-Shu`araa': 192-195]
It should be known that it is from the attributes of Allaah- that He speaks. It is from Allaah's
Sifaat al-Fi`liyyah (Attributes of Action) that He Speaks and what this means is that Allaah Speaks just like His other Attributes like: He creates, He gives provisions, He gives life, He gives death etc. So it should be clear that Allaah's Speech is from His attributes and to say that the words of Allaah are created is to say that His Attributes are Created. He, Subhaanahu wa Ta`aalaa, Speaks as it befits His Majesty- just like His other Attributes (Ex: He Rose over the throne as it befits His Majesty etc). Thus, we say that Allaah speaks as He wills, when He wills, and speaks what He wills.
He speaks as He wills, as Allaah said:
فَعَّالٌ لِّمَا يُرِيدُ
He does what He wills. [Soorah al-Burooj: 16]
He speaks when He wills as we know: That He spoke the Qur'aan at the time of its revelation, He spoke to Moosa at a specific time, He spoke to the Messenger of Allaah sallAllaahu `alayhi wa-sallam in the night of Israa', and before all this- He spoke to Aadam `alahis-salaam. We know that He will speak on the Day of Judgement, and He will speak to the people of Jannah (as we will see) etc.
He speaks what He wills with His Speech, a sound that is audible and that the ability of speech itself is Eternal even if a particular sound/voice of Allaah is not Eternal [for example: When Allaah said: Yaa Yahya or Yaa zakariyyaa (in Soorah Maryam)- then He has not been saying this eternally rather He said this at a specific period in time].
Allaah has eternally been a Mutakallim (one who speaks) and as mentioned He speaks- if He wants, whenever He wants, however He wants- in an unknown manner. He speaks with words and a voice that does not resemble the voices of His Creation. This is because Allaah said:
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ
There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer. [Soorah al-Shooraa: 11]
[
Note: Allaah affirms His Attributes, after negating any similarity between Him- Subhaanah- and the Creation. This is unlike what the rationalists do- where they use this ayah to negate any similarity between the creation and the Creator and at the same time negating the Attributes of Allaah, because they are 'humanly' attributes. But they fail to understand that there is no similarity between His attributes and the attributes of the creation, as Allaah Himself affirms His Attribute of Hearing and Seeing after negating any similitude to the creation]
Thus, the manner in which He Speaks is unknown to us, but the fact that He Speaks is known to us. As Imaam al-Tahaawi mentioned in his book "
Al-`Aqeedah al-Tahaawiyyah ":
وإِنَّ القرآنَ كَلامُ الله، منْهُ بَدَا بلاَ كَيْفِيَّة قَوْلاً
The Qur’an is the speech of Allah. It originated from Him as articulated speech in an unknown manner.
[
Note: The Imaam uses the word Qawlan- which is a Masdar (Verbal Noun) and this stresses the fact that it was really an action of uttering words. The same can be noticed when Allaah emphasized about His Speech when He used the verbal noun Takleem in
[Soorah al-Nisaa': 164, next verse that has been quoted] and this emphasis, as scholars explained, completely negates the possibility of a metaphor]
The way of the Sahaabah was that the Qur'aan is the speech of Allaah and is not 'Created'. None of them had doubts about this. And there are clear proofs from the Qur'aan and Sunnah, like where Allaah spoke to Moosa `alayhis-salaam:
وَكَلَّمَ اللَّهُ مُوسَىٰ تَكْلِيمًا
And Allah spoke to Moses with [direct] speech. [Soorah an-Nisaa'- 164]
Allaah also mentioned in Soorah Yaaseen, after mentioning the rewards for the people of Jannah, one of the things He mentioned is that they will be greeted by Allaah:
سَلَامٌ قَوْلًا مِّن رَّبٍّ رَّحِيمٍ
Salamun (Peace), a Word from the Lord (Allah), Most Merciful. [Soorah Yaa Seen: 58]
The Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa-sallam explained in the hadeeth of Jaabir as collected by Ibn Maajah and others that the people will be enjoying their life in happiness and they will be rewarded with the greatest reward when Allaah will appear to them from above. And He will say 'Peace be upon you, people of Paradise'.
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The ayah and the hadeeth both affirm Allaah's attribute of speech.
In reality, with those whom Allaah does not speak on the day of judgement- that will be humiliation for them, as Allaah mentioned in
Soorah aal-`Imraan: 77
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَشْتَرُونَ بِعَهْدِ اللَّهِ وَأَيْمَانِهِمْ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا أُولَٰئِكَ لَا خَلَاقَ لَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ وَلَا يُكَلِّمُهُمُ اللَّهُ وَلَا يَنظُرُ إِلَيْهِمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَلَا يُزَكِّيهِمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
Verily, those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah's Covenant and their oaths, they shall have no portion in the Hereafter (Paradise). Neither will Allah speak to them, nor look at them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them, and they shall have a painful torment.
We also have the
subchapter in Saheeh al-Bukhaari where Imaam al-Bukhaari named it: "The speech of the Lord, Blessed and Exalted, with the People of Paradise". We have a number of ahaadeeth under it, that mentions that the people of Jannah will see Allaah's Face and He will speak to them.
Brief Introduction to some of the deviant sects and their beliefs regarding the Qur'aan and its refutation
Mu`tazilah
Waasil ibn `Ataa' was sitting with al-Hasan al-Basri (at this time there was the fitnah of the Khawaarij and the murji'ah), when a person came and asked al-Hasan al-Basri: "There are those who say that committing a sin makes you a disbeliever (i.e. the khawaarij) and some say that if you commit a sin you still have the eemaan of Jibreel (i.e. the Murji'ah)". Waasil ibn Ataa' replied "The person who commits a sin, he is neither a muslim nor a disbeliever but he is in a position between the two positions (i.e. He is neither a Muslim nor a Kaafir)"… it was said that later on he started his own circles. And when this happened al-Hasan al-Basri said:
"I`tazilnaa (He left us)" And from Waasil ibn `Ataa' came the Mu`tazilah.
Some of their common beliefs is that they affirmed the Names of Allaah, but denied the attributes of Allaah. They denied that we will see Allaah on the day of Judgement, they denied intercession on the day of judgement- because they said Allaah is always Just and there is no need for intercession, they said that the will of Insaan overpowers the will of Allaah, they also mentioned that Insaan is a creator of his own actions. Finally, they also believed that the Qur'aan is created and they mention this explicitly.
According to the Jumhoor (majority of scholars), the Mu`tazilah are still within the fold of Islaam. We even know that Imaam Ahmad did not do khurooj (rebel) against the leader, due to this.
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The main reason as to why the Mu`tazilah and the Jahmiyyah say that the Qur'aan is created is because they said that it would mean comparing Allaah with man and attributing to Him a body. However, this objection is not valid. Because, as we mentioned before- Allaah speaks as it befits His Majesty- thus there is no room for comparing between the attributes of Allaah and that of man.
For example: Allaah said in
Soorah Yaa Seen: 65
الْيَوْمَ نَخْتِمُ عَلَىٰ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَتُكَلِّمُنَا أَيْدِيهِمْ وَتَشْهَدُ أَرْجُلُهُم بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ
This Day, We shall seal up their mouths, and their hands will speak to Us, and their legs will bear witness to what they used to earn.
We believe that the hands and feet will speak on that day, but the manner in which they will speak is unknown to us. Similarly, Allaah said in
Soorah al-Fussilat: 21
وَقَالُوا لِجُلُودِهِمْ لِمَ شَهِدتُّمْ عَلَيْنَا قَالُوا أَنطَقَنَا اللَّهُ الَّذِي أَنطَقَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ وَهُوَ خَلَقَكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ
And they will say to their skins, "Why do you testify against us?" They will say: "Allah has caused us to speak, as He causes all things to speak, and He created you the first time, and to Him you are made to return."
And likewise the narrations that mention that inanimate objects spoke. Like for example the narration of `Abdullaah ibn Mas`ood, while they were in a journey, as narrated by
al-Bukhaari. Ibn Mas`ood said:
وَلَقَدْ كُنَّا نَسْمَعُ تَسْبِيحَ الطَّعَامِ وَهُوَ يُؤْكَلُ
And indeed we heard the food doing Tasbeeh (Glorifying Allaah) whilst it was being eaten.
And we have various other narrations where inanimate objects spoke like the stone that used to greet the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa-sallam etc. We know that sounds of articulated words came from them even though they did not have a mouth. We see that even from the creation of Allaah, we have things which we know spoke or will speak, yet the manner in which they will speak/spoke is unknown to us. And to Allaah belongs the Highest Example, as He said in
Soorah al-Nahl: 60
وَلِلَّهِ الْمَثَلُ الْأَعْلَىٰ
And to Allaah belongs the Highest Example.
Ashaa`irah
At the time of Imaam Ahmad- there emerged a group, and these people tried to reconcile between the traditional way and the rationalist way and this group was lead by Ibn Kullaab. So, they will try to use rational points to prove the traditional way. However, Imaam Ahmad warned against them- even though they came to the same conclusion as that of Imaam Ahmad, but the way they came to their conclusion was despised by the Imaam and thus he warned against them. From this group, came the Ashaa`irah.
The Ashaa`irah try to claim the way of Salaf to themselves. They claim to follow Abu'l Hasan al-Ash`ari- who we see was not upon what this group is upon. They normally, affirm all the Names of Allaah and 7 attributes of Allaah (some of them accept more than 7 attributes). However, they deny the rest of the other attributes of Allaah.
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Generally, the following is what they say regarding the Qur'aan:
Allaah's speech is one whole entity and it is the thought/expression of Allaah which exists in Allaah's existence and is one meaning- so Allaah's orders and prohibitions are the same. They also say that if one meaning was expressed in Arabic, it would be the Qur'aan and if it was expressed in Hebrew it would be the Tawrah. This was the view of Ashaa`irah and this was the main view of the school, and this view originated from Ibn Kullaab. It is absurd to say this, because Kalaam consists of words and is utterance as opposed to what the Ashaa`irah mention
With regards to what they say about Allaah's speech being one whole entity- then with regards to this they say that the Words are created and they are called the Word of Allaah because they 'express' His speech and communicate. They mention that when it is expressed in Arabic, then it is the Qur'aan… if it is in Hebrew then it is the Tawrah and so on and so forth. Thus, they say that only the language varies but the speech does not. In reality, what they mean is that when we say it is the Speech of Allaah, then it is in a metaphorical sense.
This means that if all of it is one entity and all of it has the same meaning (as they say)- then this would mean that when Allaah, as mentioned in the Qur'aan, prohibits going close to Zinaa and commands us to establish the prayer- then they both carry the same meaning… i.e. the prohibitions and the commands carry the same meaning. In actual fact, according to this: Soorah al-Ikhlaas and Soorah al-Masad carry the same meaning. It is only common sense that this is totally absurd and is an argument that carries no weight- and is a belief that contradicts the belief of the Salaf.
They say that Allaah's speech is one whole entity- and by this they mean that the Speech of Allaah is not divided… so we ask: When Allaah spoke to Moosa, then did Moosa hear all of it (as it is one entity) or did he hear part of it? It is obvious that Moosa did not hear all of it, rather he heard in parts- which means it was divided When Allaah spoke to the angels after creating Aadam, then did he speak to them in parts or all of it- i.e when He said:
[2:30] [2;34]. It is clear that Allaah spoke one part of it at a certain time, and another part of it at another time (after creating Aadam).
Also, Ibn Qudaamah refuted the Ashaa`irah in this point- that the Qur'aan is one whole entity- and mentioned that the Qur'aan is divided into 114 chapters.
The Ashaa`irah say that Allaah creates things in order to speak on His behalf- like the Ashaa`irah say that Allaah made Jibreel to speak on His behalf… ex: If a person cannot speak and indicates by gestures, expressions etc. then the person in front of him understands that- they say this was similar in the case of Jibreel. Others amongst the Ashaa`irah mention that Jibreel took the Qur'aan from al-Lauh al-Mahfooth- so that means that the Qur'aan is like the meaning of the words of Allaah rather it should be known that these words were first spoken by Allaah and thus it should be attributed to the One who first spoke it- i.e Allaah. Yes, without doubt the Qur'aan is written in al-Lauh al-Mahfooth as Allaah said in
Soorah al-Burooj: 21-22:
بَلْ هُوَ قُرْآنٌ مَّجِيدٌ فِي لَوْحٍ مَّحْفُوظٍ
Nay! This is a Glorious Quran, (Inscribed) in The Preserved Tablet (Al-Lauh al-Mahfooth)!
Without doubt we clearly know how the Qur'aan was revealed- that is that the Qur'aan is the words of Allaah and Allaah spoke it- which was heard by Jibreel, who then descended to the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa-sallam and then the Qur'aan was heard by the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa-sallam, who then conveyed it to the Ummah.
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As for the words of the Mu'allif:
كَلامُ مَليكِنا
The words of Allaah does not only mean the Qur'aan, but rather it means that He spoke the Qur'aan and other than the Qur'aan like the Torah etc. So when the Mu`allif says "And say: The Speech of our great King is not created", then this is referring to the Qur'aan and other than the Qur'aan (like authentic Hadeeth Qudsi etc.)
This issue became a major issue at the time of Imaam Ahmad rahimahullaah. The Mu`tazilah took power at the time of the Imaam and when Ma'moon came into power, he obliged all the scholars to testify that the Qur'aan is created. Most of them gave in, and Yahya ibn Ma`een went to the court and mentioned that the Torah, the Injeel and the Qur'aan are created (referring to his fingers, so as to get away). However, Imaam Ahmed was one of the handful of people who never testified and thus was punished, jailed etc. He was imprisoned and beaten because he defended the fact that the words of Allaah are not created. And it is important that one should not belittle such actions from the great `Ulemaa' who stood firm in holding on to the truth. There will always be people whom Allaah will keep firm in this deen, and Imaam Ahmad was one of them, rahimahullaah!
Later on, Mutawakkil came into power and took away the mu`tazili ideology and Imaam Ahmad was freed. This is why he was called the Imaam of Ahlus-Sunnah wal Jamaa`ah as was mentioned by Imaam adh-Dhahabi in Siyar A`lam al-Nubalaa' (Note: Imaam al-Dhahabi was a shaafi`ee scholar). After this point, Ahlus-Sunnah was victorious.
in Israa and Mai'raj, He orders the angels, the skies, the heavens and the universe with His words. It is His Sifaat Fa'iliyyah (His attributes).
Just today I have arrived back here.