Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
The texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah, as understood and affirmed by Ahl al-Sunnah, indicate that Allah Most High truly speaks and that His Speech is heard. The texts affirm calling, private discourse, speech, and voice. This is what a number of the early Sunni imams affirmed, while distinguishing between the Speech of Allah Most High and the voices of created beings, and affirming it in a manner befitting His Majesty, without likening it to creation or asking how it is.
Allah Most High said concerning Moses, peace be upon him:
﴿So listen to what is revealed.﴾
And He said:
﴿And when your Lord called Moses.﴾
And He said:
﴿Has the story of Moses reached you? When his Lord called him in the sacred valley of Tuwa.﴾
And He said:
﴿Then when he came to it, he was called from the right side of the valley, in the blessed spot, from the tree: “O Moses! Indeed, I am Allah, Lord of the worlds.”﴾
And He said:
﴿And We called him from the right side of the Mount, and We brought him near in private conversation.﴾ [Maryam: 52].
These verses establish that Allah Most High spoke, called, and privately conversed, and Ahl al-Sunnah understood these texts according to their true meaning in a manner befitting Allah Most High, without likening His Speech to the speech of created beings.
It was narrated from Abdullah ibn Unays, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
“People will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised. He will call them with a voice that will be heard by those who are far away just as it is heard by those who are near: ‘I am the King; I am the Requiter.’”
It was also narrated from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
“Allah will say: ‘O Adam.’ He will say: ‘Here I am, at Your service and happiness.’ Then a voice will call out: ‘Indeed, Allah commands you to bring forth from your offspring a delegation to the Fire...’”
Narrated by al-Bukhari (4741).
These texts are among the evidences used by Ahl al-Sunnah to affirm the Speech and Voice of Allah Most High, while believing that the Voice of Allah Most High does not resemble the voices of created beings.
Abu Nasr al-Sijzi, may Allah have mercy on him, stated that examination of the statements of the early scholars shows that it was not transmitted from the earlier generations that the audible letters by which speech is understood are not truly the Speech of Allah Most High, or that Allah’s Speech is merely an abstract meaning whose reality cannot be known.
Ibn Qudamah, may Allah have mercy on him, said in refutation of the claim that the Qur’an is merely an expression of speech existing within the soul:
“Bring us the statements of those who came before you. Who said that this Qur’an is merely an expression and a narration, and that the reality of the Qur’an is a meaning existing within the soul...?”
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
“There is none among the imams and the early generations who said that Allah does not speak with a voice. Rather, it has been authentically transmitted from more than one of the early generations and imams that Allah speaks with a voice.”
He mentioned that Abdullah ibn Ahmad said to his father, Imam Ahmad, that some people claimed that Allah does not speak with a voice. Imam Ahmad replied:
“My son, these people are Jahmis; they are only revolving around negation.”
Ibn Taymiyyah also pointed out that Imam al-Bukhari’s discussion in “The Creation of the Actions of the Servants” is explicit in affirming that Allah Most High speaks with a voice, while distinguishing between the Voice of Allah Most High and the voices of His servants.
No.
Affirming speech and voice for Allah Most High does not mean likening Him to human voices. Allah, Glorified and Exalted, says:
﴿There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.﴾ [Ash-Shura: 11].
The principle of Ahl al-Sunnah is therefore to affirm what Allah has affirmed for Himself and what His Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, affirmed for Him, while denying any resemblance to created beings and refraining from asking about the manner in which these attributes are.
Just as Allah Most High has hearing and sight that befit His Majesty and do not resemble the hearing and sight of created beings, likewise His Speech and Voice do not resemble the speech and voices of created beings.
A number of the early Sunni imams and Ahl al-Sunnah affirmed that Allah Most High truly speaks and that His Speech is heard. They cited the texts concerning calling, private discourse, and speech, as well as the hadiths that explicitly mention the voice.
Among the most prominent scholars from whom this has been transmitted are Imam Ahmad, al-Bukhari, Abu Nasr al-Sijzi, Ibn Qudamah, and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on them.
It is obligatory to affirm the Speech of Allah Most High in a manner befitting His Majesty, without likening Him to creation, asking how, or denying His attributes, while distinguishing between the Speech of Allah Most High and the voices of created beings.
And Allah knows best.