[excerpted from al-Mulha fi I'tiqad Ahl al-Haqq, translated by Dr. GF Haddad] His Speech Does Not Materialize It must never be imagined that His speech turns to ink on tablets and pages or into a design (shakl) made visible to the eyes and the pupils, as claimed by the people of gross anthropomorphism (al-hashw) and dissimulation (al-nifâq). Rather, the act of writing is of the doing of human beings, and their acts must never be imagined to be without beginning. Note that it is obligatory to hold the tablets and pages in the utmost respect as they point to Allah’s Entity (dhât), just as it is obligatory to hold His Names in the utmost respect because they point to His Entity. It is a right due to every thing that points to Allah or relates to Him that it be held in great reverence and that its sanctity (hurma) be kept. Hence it is obligatory to revere the Ka‘ba, the Prophets, the devout (al-‘ubbâd), and the scholars of knowledge (al-‘ulamâ’). I pass by the houses – Layla’s houses – And I kiss this wall, and that wall; It is not the love of houses that has obsessed my heart But the love of those who have dwelled in them.7 Because of something similar to this we kiss the Black Stone, and it is forbidden for someone in a state of minor impurity to touch a volume of the Qur’an: whether it be the lines of its text, or its blank margins, or its leather binding, or the pouch in which it is kept. 8 Therefore, woe to him who asserts that Allah’s preternal speech is in any way formed of the utterances of human beings, or of designs penned in ink! [.....] Ahmad Ibn Hanbal’s Innocence Of Their Heresies Ahmad ibn Hanbal and the illustrious ones of his companions, as well as the rest of the learned scholars of the Predecessors are completely innocent before Allah of what has been attributed to them and invented in their name.18 How can anyone believe that Ahmad ibn Hanbal and others of the scholars of knowledge held that Allah’s preternal quality is intrinsically the very same as the pronunciation of the reciters and the ink of the scribes (wasf Alâh al-qadîm bi dhâtihi huwa ‘ayn lafz al-lâfizîn wa midâd al- kâtibîn)!19 – when Allah’s quality is beginningless, while those utterances (alfâz) are originated in time (hâditha), as reason dictates and transmited evidence explicitly states? Proofs Against The Preternality Of Recitation And Writing Allah has declared the contingent nature (hudûth) [of recitation and writing] in three passages of His Book. The first passage is His saying: (Never comes there unto them a new reminder (dhikr) from their Lord) (21:2). He has referred to what was coming to them as “new” (muhdath). Therefore, whoever claims that it is beginningless has rebutted Allah ?.20 Yes, this “new” is a sign (dalîl) pointing to the beginningless, just as if we should write the exalted Name of Allah on a piece of paper: the preternal Lord would not thereby become indwelt or incarnate (hâlan) in that paper. Similarly, if the beginningless quality is written down some-where, that written quality does not become indwelt where the writing took place. The second passage is Alah’s saying: (But nay! I swear by al that you see and al that you see not that it is indeed the speech of an illustrious messenger.) (69:38-40) The messenger’s speech is an attribute of his, and the quality of this contingent (hâdith) is itself a contingent which points to the preternal speech (yadulu ‘alâ al-kalâm al-qadîm). And whoever claims that the messenger’s speech is beginningless has rebutted the Lord of the worlds. Allah did not content Himself to merely declare the above but He swore to it with a most perfect oath and said: (But nay! I swear by al that you see and al that you see not.) Into this oath are incorporated His Essence and Attributes, and His creation besides. The third passage is His saying: (But nay! I swear by the planets, the stars which rise and set, and the close of night, and the breath of morning, that this is in truth the word of an honored messenger.)(81:15-19) Proofs Against Those Who Confuse Letter And Voice One wonders at those who say: “The Qur’an is a combination of letter and voice” (al-Qur’ân murakabun min harfin wa sawt) and then claim that al that is found in the volume of Qur’an (al-mushaf) when there is not, in the volume, other than the letter alone (harf mujarad), without voice. There is not in it any letter formed of voice. For the letter which is uttered (al-harf al-lafzî) is not the same as the written character(al-shakl al-kitâbî). For that reason one perceives by ear the letter which is uttered, without seeing it, and one observes by eyesight the written character, without hearing it with the ears. May Allah not increase among the Muslims the number of the people of innovation and passion, misguidance and seduction! Proofs Against Those Who Claim The Mushaf Is Preternal As for those who say that the preternal divine quality is indwelt in the volume of Qur’an: they are compelled to conclude, if the volume of Qur’an is destroyed by fire, that Allah’s preternal quality was burnt – most exalted is He high above what they say! It is a characteristic of what is beginningless not to be subject to change nor annihilation, for these certainly negate beginninglesness. If they should claim that the Qur’an is written in the volume of Qur’an without indwelling in it, as al-Ash‘ari said, then why do they curse al-Ash‘ari – may Allah have mercy on him?21 If they say other than that, then (See how they invent lies about Allah! That of itself is flagrant sin.) (4:50) (And on the Day of Resurrection you will se those who lied concerning Allah with their faces blackened. Is not the home of the scorners in hell?) (39:60) As for Allah’s saying: (That this is indeed a noble Qur’an in a Book kept hidden) (56:77-78), the imams of the Arabic language agree that there is definitely an ellipsis (kalima mahdhûfa) in His saying: (in a Book kept hidden): and it is obligatory to understand this ellipsis to mean: “written in a Book kept hidden.” This is due to the reasons we have mentioned above, and in accordance to the criteria of reason (al-‘aql) which testifies to divine oneness and the veracity of the Prophetic Message. Proofs Against Those Who Reject Reason Reason is the indispensable condition of legal responsibility (manât al-taklîf) according to the consensus of Muslims. However, reason was not adduced as a proof for preternality (lam yustadal bi al- ‘aql ‘alâ al-qidam): it is sufficient that it witnesses to it. Now they do not listen to its testimony, although the divine Law has long declared reason an upright witness (al-shar‘ qad ‘addala al-‘aql), accepting its testimony, and has even adduced it as a proof in certain points of its Book. Examples are the inference of [the logical truth of] revival (al-i‘âda) from [the known fact] of origination (al-inshâ’); or Allah’s saying: (If there were, in the heavens and the earth, other gods besides Allah, there would have been confusion in both!) (21:22); or His saying: (Have they not considered the dominion (malakût) of the heavens and the earth, and what things Allah has created?) (7:185) Miserable indeed is the failure of him who rejects a witness whom Allah has accepted, and invalidates a proof Allah has produced! For they refer themselves [only] to what was textually transmitted (al-manqûl).2 Because of that, we have cited only textually transmitted proofs, and we have kept securely hidden those based on reason: if we need them we can produce them, otherwise we can leave them until we do. More Proofs Against The Preternality Of Recitation A group-transmited (mashhûr) hadith states: “Whoever recites the Qur’an and pronounces it clearly and distinctly (a‘rabahu) receives ten blessings for each letter, and whoever recites it without pronouncing it clearly and distinctly receives one blessing for each leter.”23 However, what is beginningless cannot be marred by faulty expression (al-lahn) nor made perfect by means of clear and distinct pronunciation. And Allah said: (You will be requited nothing other than what you have done.) (37:39) Therefore, if His Prophet informed us that we would be rewarded for the recitation of the Qur’an he indicated thereby that such recitation is one of our actions – and our actions are by no means without beginning. Allah’s Naming Of The Recitation Qur’ân The Qur’an and the Sunna were brought to the people in a context of utter ignorance and in the midst of simple minds and dull wits. Indeed, the word qur’ân applies, both in the divine Law and in language, to the beginningless object of description (al-wasf al-qadîm); but it also applies to the contingent recitation (al-qirâ’a al-hâditha). Allah said: (Upon Us rest the putting together thereof and its qur’ân.) (75:17) That is: its recitation.24 For the act of recitation (al-qirâ’a) is different from what is being read (al-maqrû’): the act of recitation is of recent origin in time while what is being recited is beginningless. Similarly, when we remember or mention Allah, our remembrance is of recent origin while what is remembered is beginningless. The foregoing is but a glimpse of the school of al-Ash‘ari on the topic. If Hadhâmi speaks, believe her. Verily the truth is what Hadhâmi spoke! 25
