Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
The fatwa explains that the Ashʿarites agree with the Jahmiyyah in saying that the verbal expressions of the Qur’an are created, but they differ from them by affirming an eternal speech subsisting in Allah’s Essence, which they call “kalām nafsī.” Thus, the agreement is partial and does not mean that their theological doctrines are identical.
The fatwa also distinguishes between judging a particular statement and judging a specific individual. It mentions the possibility of an excuse for a scholar who reaches an incorrect conclusion through interpretation, or for an ignorant person who follows others, and emphasizes that a specific individual should not be declared a disbeliever before the proof has been established against him.
According to the quotations presented in the fatwa, the Ashʿarites distinguish between kalām nafsī and verbal speech.
For them, kalām nafsī is an eternal attribute subsisting in Allah’s Essence. As for the words that are read and written, they are created and indicate that eternal speech.
Therefore, describing kalām nafsī merely as “thoughts” would not accurately convey the meaning intended in the cited texts. They describe it as an eternal meaning subsisting in Allah’s Essence, rather than newly occurring thoughts.
Al-Bājūrī stated:
“Know that the Speech of Allah is used to refer to the ancient internal speech, meaning that it is an attribute subsisting in His Essence, Exalted is He.”
He then mentioned its use for verbal speech, meaning that Allah created it.
He explained that the Qur’an in the sense of kalām nafsī is uncreated according to their view, whereas the verbal form that is recited is created. Nevertheless, they prohibited using the statement “the Qur’an is created” outside a teaching context, fearing that it might be understood to include the attribute subsisting in Allah’s Essence.
See: Sharḥ al-Bājūrī ʿalā Jawharat al-Tawḥīd, pp. 94–95.
The fatwa quotes ʿAbd al-Salām al-Laqānī as saying that kalām nafsī is one meaning, indicated by expression, writing, and signs. If it is expressed in Arabic, it is the Qur’an; in Syriac, it is the Gospel; and in Hebrew, it is the Torah.
See: Sharḥ Jawharat al-Tawḥīd, p. 159.
The fatwa criticizes this formulation and does not adopt the view that the Qur’an, Torah, and Gospel are merely different expressions of one undivided meaning.
It also presents, when explaining their doctrine, various statements concerning the revealed words: that they were created in the Preserved Tablet, or that Jibrīl عليه السلام expressed them, or that Muḥammad صلى الله عليه وسلم expressed them. These are details presented by the fatwa as part of its discussion of the doctrine and are not the view it prefers.
The fatwa states that the Jahmiyyah say that the Qur’an is created, without distinguishing between an eternal meaning and a created verbal expression. They do not affirm the attribute of speech subsisting in Allah in the manner affirmed by the Ashʿarites.
The Ashʿarites, on the other hand, affirm the fundamental attribute of speech, but regard the revealed verbal expressions as created. Hence the statement that they agree with the Jahmiyyah on one aspect without agreeing with them in everything.
Ibn Taymiyyah compared the Ashʿarites with the Muʿtazilah and explained that the Ashʿarites were correct in establishing that the speaker is the one in whom speech subsists, just as the knowledgeable person is the one in whom knowledge subsists.
However, he criticized their separation between the Speech of Allah and the revealed Qur’an, and their description of the revealed wording as a narration or expression of that Speech.
It is reported that Ibn Kullāb used the term “ḥikāyah” (narration), while al-Ashʿarī used the term “ʿibārah” (expression).
See: Al-Tisʿīniyyah, printed within Al-Fatāwā al-Kubrā (6/632).
Thus, comparison between these theological schools requires explaining these distinctions, and it is not correct to reduce their doctrines to one statement without further detail.
The fatwa adopts the view that the revealed Qur’an is the uncreated Speech of Allah, and that Allah Himself spoke it. It is not speech that Allah created in something else and then attributed to Himself.
Among the principles it quotes from Ibn Taymiyyah is:
“Speech is the speech of the one who originates it, not the speech of the one who conveys and transmits it.”
Thus, Jibrīl عليه السلام conveyed the Qur’an to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, and the Prophet conveyed it to his community. The act of conveying does not make the messenger the originator of the speech.
Accordingly, the fatwa rejects the view that the verbal expressions of the Qur’an are created, while acknowledging that the Ashʿarites’ affirmation of the attribute of speech distinguishes their doctrine from that of the Jahmiyyah.
The fatwa emphasizes that criticizing a particular theological statement does not necessarily mean declaring every person who holds it a disbeliever.
It points out that a person may be a scholar who arrived at an incorrect conclusion through interpretation, or an ignorant person who merely follows others, and either may have an excuse.
Ibn Taymiyyah said:
“Whoever among the believers strives to seek the truth and makes a mistake, Allah forgives his mistake, whatever it may be, whether in theoretical or practical matters.”
See: Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (23/346).
He explained that evidence may not have reached a person, may not have been established in his view, or he may not have been able to understand it, or may have encountered doubts for which he has an excuse.
He also said:
“A specific person is not declared a disbeliever until the proof has been established against him.”
See: Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (7/619).
Therefore, a general ruling concerning a statement should not automatically be transferred to a particular individual merely because of his affiliation with a theological school.
The fatwa considers that the Ashʿarites agree with the Jahmiyyah regarding the created nature of the verbal expressions of the Qur’an, while differing from them by affirming eternal kalām nafsī. Thus, the agreement is only partial.
It favors the position that the revealed Qur’an is the uncreated Speech of Allah, while distinguishing between criticizing a theological statement and judging the person who holds it, taking into account interpretation, ignorance, and whether the proof has been established.
And Allah knows best.