Rattibha

A (🧵) regarding the salaf's understanding of Allāh's Speech and its audibility
This will be a thread on the understanding of the salaf regarding this subject and the way it was understood by those who came after them

The emphasis of this thread will be on narrations or statements from books which have been peer-cited by others or at the very least confirm a common understanding on the matter

Imām Bukhārī رَحِمَهُ ٱللَّٰهُ said in his creedal work khalq af‘āl al-‘ibād:
"وَيُذْكَرُ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنَّهُ كَانَ يُحِبُّ أَنْ يَكُونَ الرَّجُلُ خَفيضَ الصَّوْتِ، وَيَكَرَهُ أَنْ يَكُونَ رَفِيعَ الصَّوْتِ، وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ"
1/4

He then said:
"وَجَلَّ ‌يُنَادِي ‌بِصَوْتٍ يَسْمَعُهُ مَنْ بَعُدَ كَمَا يَسْمَعُهُ مَنْ قَرُبَ، فَلَيْسَ هَذَا لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ ذِكْرُهُ قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ: " وَفِي هَذَا دَلِيلٌ أَنَّ صَوْتَ اللَّهِ لَا يُشْبِهُ أَصْوَاتَ الْخَلْقِ"
2/4

He continued further:
"لِأَنَّ صَوْتَ اللَّهِ جَلَّ ذِكْرُهُ يُسْمَعُ مِنْ بُعْدٍ كَمَا يُسْمَعُ مِنْ قُرْبِ، وَأَنَّ الْمَلَائِكَةَ يُصْعَقُونَ مِنْ صَوْتِهِ، فَإِذَا تَنَادَى الْمَلَائِكَةُ لَمْ يُصْعَقُوا"
3/4

And concluded with:
"وَقَالَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: {فَلَا تَجْعَلُوا لِلِّهِ أَنْدَادًا} [البقرة: 22] فَلَيْسَ لِصِفَةِ اللَّهِ نِدٌّ، وَلَا مِثْلٌ، وَلَا يوجدُ شَيْءٌ مِنْ صِفَاتِهِ فِي الْمَخْلُوقِينَ"
4/4

Imām Bukhārī: "It's been mentioned that the Prophet ﷺ liked a person to have a low voice and he used to dislike a person to have loud voice, and that Allāh, the Most High, the Most Sublime, calls out in a Voice which is heard by those afar as it's heard by those nearby"
1/4

He continued: "and this (attribute) is for none other but Allāh, the Most High, the Most Sublime. Abū 'Abdullāh said: "And there is, in this (narration), evidence that Allāh's Voice is not similar to the voices of created beings"
2/4

He then said: "because the Voice of Allāh, the Most High, is heard from a long distance as it is heard from a short distance, and the angels fall unconscious from His Voice, but when the angels call out they don't fall unconscious"
3/4

He thus concluded:
"and (Allāh) the Most High, the Most Sublime said: 'And don't set up equals to Allāh' [2:22], hence no attribute is equal or similar to the Attribute of Allāh and nothing of His Attributes is existent in His creation."
4/4

Similarly the first son of Imām Aḥmad narrated from his father that he said:
"جبريل سمعه من الله تعالى ، والنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم سمعه من جبريل ، والصحابة سمعته من النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم"
The emphasis here is on actually hearing the Words

This is also similar to what al-Karkhī shared from al-Isfarāyīnī to share the general consensus and highlight the Shāfiʿī position
al-Isfarāyīnī said:
"مذهبي ومذهب الشافعي وفقهاء الأمصار : أن القرآن كلام الله غير مخلوق ، ومن قال : مخلوق فهو كافر"

He continued:
"والقرآن حمله جبريل مسموعا من الله ، والنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم سمعه من جبريل ، والصحابة سمعوه من رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم"

al-Isfarāyīnī said that the position if his maḏhab, Shāfiʿī, and of the fuqahā (in general) is that the Qurʼān is uncreated, and he who claims otherwise has disbelieved. He then continued to mention that jibrīl heard it from Allāh, as did the companions from the prophet ﷺ

Therefore, it's clear that the Așḥāb al-Ḥadiṯh held this position and those who followed Imām Aḥmad رَحِمَهُ ٱللَّٰهُ in his creed
This includes the likes of:
- Ibn Qudāmah
- ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī
- al-Harawī
- Ibn mandah
Among many others from different maḏāhib

Many of them mentioned an ijmāʿ on this matter from the salaf and this was confirmed by al-Shahrastānī who said the following about the emergence of the other conflicting position

al-Shahrastānī: "al-Ashʿarī innovated a third position and judged with the emergence of the letters, and this is the loss of the ijmāʿ, and he judged that what we read is Allāh's kalām (but) only metaphorically (and) not haqiqatan, and this is pure innovation"

Similarly, Ibn Qudāmah said:
"ولا يختلف فيها أحد إلى ان جاء الأشعري فأنكرها"
That there was no disagreement on this issue until al-Ashʿarī emerged"

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