Is this correct to say, during my lesson 6 I said that our recitation, the writing of the letters in the mushaf, us memorizing, and recitation of the Quran are all created since they are our actions? Yet, they indicate the meanings of the speech of Allah. jazakallahu khair
As-salamu 'alaykum wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuh
I pray that you are well in sha Allah.
Yes, this is correct. To clarify further:
May Allah reward you for your courage to ask when you don’t know. To answer your question, yes, the creed of Ahl al-Sunna is that the Qur’an is the “uncreated speech,” of Allah. Similarly, you are right in asserting that the Qur’an is a physical thing that we hold in our hands and recite on our tongues. In fact, in the celebrated creed written by Imam al-Nasafi he says, “The Qur’an is the uncreated Speech of Allah, and it is written in our Masaahif, memorized in our hearts, recited on our tongues, heard with our ears, and He does not dwell within it.” So to rephrase your question for you, how can both of those things be true?
The answer is: The word, “Qur’an,” is used sometimes to refer to God’s Attribute of Speech which is uncreated and other times the word, “Qur’an,” is used to refer to the physical texts we read from, the words we recite on our tongues etc. Therefore, when we use the word, “Qur’an,” to refer to God’s Attribute of Speech, it is uncreated. When we are using the word, “Qur’an,” to refer to the physical text, or what we memorize and recite, those things are all created and they are not the attribute of speech. Therefore, to remove any confusion all one needs to understand is that the physical text as well as the memorized or recited words are not the actual attribute even if we use one word, “Qur’an,” to refer to both. [Sharh al-Aqa’id – Taftazani]
I hope that made things clear for you.
Irshaad Sedick
I pray that you are well in sha Allah.
Yes, this is correct. To clarify further:
May Allah reward you for your courage to ask when you don’t know. To answer your question, yes, the creed of Ahl al-Sunna is that the Qur’an is the “uncreated speech,” of Allah. Similarly, you are right in asserting that the Qur’an is a physical thing that we hold in our hands and recite on our tongues. In fact, in the celebrated creed written by Imam al-Nasafi he says, “The Qur’an is the uncreated Speech of Allah, and it is written in our Masaahif, memorized in our hearts, recited on our tongues, heard with our ears, and He does not dwell within it.” So to rephrase your question for you, how can both of those things be true?
The answer is: The word, “Qur’an,” is used sometimes to refer to God’s Attribute of Speech which is uncreated and other times the word, “Qur’an,” is used to refer to the physical texts we read from, the words we recite on our tongues etc. Therefore, when we use the word, “Qur’an,” to refer to God’s Attribute of Speech, it is uncreated. When we are using the word, “Qur’an,” to refer to the physical text, or what we memorize and recite, those things are all created and they are not the attribute of speech. Therefore, to remove any confusion all one needs to understand is that the physical text as well as the memorized or recited words are not the actual attribute even if we use one word, “Qur’an,” to refer to both. [Sharh al-Aqa’id – Taftazani]
I hope that made things clear for you.
Irshaad Sedick
Jazakallahu khair shaykh, and thank you for the further clarification!