This is amongst the doubts of the Jahmiyyah used to argue that this Qur'an, which is the speech of Allaah, is created. It is not an argument used by the Ash'aris, just to make it clear - even though their saying regarding the Qur'an that we have with us is the same as that of the Jahmiyyah and Mu'tazilah. But it shows the manner in which the Jahmites tried to twist an abundance of verses in the Qur'an in order to argue for the Qur'an (that we have, in its letters and words, and which we recite, hear and memorize) being created.

From, "al-Masaa'il war-Rasaa'il al-Marwiyyah Anil-Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal Fil Aqeedah" (Issues and Treatise Narrated from Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal Regarding Aqeedah), 1/218-219, there occurs:

Which translates as:

He said: Then the Jahmee claimed another matter. He said:

I find a verse in the Book of Allaah that indicates the Qur'an is created. The saying of Allaah, "Indeed al-Maseeh, Eesaa the Son of Maryam (Jesus, Son of Mary) is the Messenger of Allaah, and His Word which He bestowed upon Maryam..." (an-Nisaa 4:171). And Eesaa is created.

So we say:

Indeed Allaah has prevented you from understanding the Qur'an.

There are words that are applied to Eesaa that are not applied to the Qur'an, since he (Eesaa) has been called, "mawlood" (born), "tifl" (infant), "sabiyy" (boy), "ghulaam (youth)", that he eats, and he is addressed with command and prohibition, and the name of discourse and threat is applicable to him. Then further, he is from the offspring of Nuh, and from the offspring of Ibraaheem. Therefore it is not permissible for us to say regarding the Qur'an what we say regarding Eesaa.

And have you heard Allaah say regarding the Qur'an what He said regarding Eesaa?

Rather, the meaning in the saying of Allaah, "Indeed al-Maseeh, Eesaa the Son of Maryam (Jesus, Son of Mary) is the Messenger of Allaah, and His Word..." [is that] the word which He bestowed upon Maryam is when He said to him (Eesaa) "kun (Be)!" and so Eesaa became through [the word] "Be!", and Eesaa [himself] is not [the word] "Be!" For "(kun) Be!" is from the saying of Allaah, and "kun" is not created.

And the Christians and the Jahmiyyah lied upon Allaah in the affair of Eesaa, and this is [because] the Jahmiyyah said: "Ruhallaah (the Spirit of Allaah) and His Word, except that His word is created."

And the Christians said: "Eesaa is the Spirit of Allaah from the Essence of Allaah, and the Word of Allaah from the Essence of Allaah", just like it is said "this tatter (shred, piece) is from that thawb (garment)"

We say: Eesaa became through a word and he is not the word itself, rather the word is the word of Allaah (kalimah), the saying of Allaah (qawl).

[And] His saying [thereafter], "...and a spirit from Him ...", He [Allaah] is saying: From his command was the spirit in him, [this is] like His saying, "And He has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the Earth all of it, [as a favour] from Him..." (Jaathiyah 45:13). He [Allaah] is saying: From His command [was the spirit put in him]. And the explanation of "Ruhullaah (Spirit of Allaah)" is that it is a spirit through a word (kalimah) of Allaah, Allah created it (the spirit) [through that word], just as it is said, "Abdullaah (the slave of Allaah)", "Samaa'ullaah (the heaven of Allaah)", and "Ardullaah (the earth of Allaah)."

The Positions of the Jahmites and Their Offshoots Regarding the Qur'an

Because Jahm argued against the Sumaniyyah (Indian Materialist Philosophers) that an entity having attributes (sifaat) and incidental attributes (a'raad) and actions (af'aal) is proof of its "Hudooth" (meaning to him createdness), then he was unable to describe Allaah to them with what is in the Qur'an otherwise that would have falsified his proof for a Creator. Thus, he deemed his proof to be decisive and instead rejected all of what is in the revealed texts of Names, attributes and Actions for Allaah. And it was out of the necessity of this rejection that ta'weel, tafweed and tahreef was born and this then became the overall concern in the deen of the Mutakallimeen. To protect from invalidation what they thought to be the ultimate truth - their corrupt and false proof for the existence of a creator.

And amongst the specific views necessitated by this intellectual proof was: To deny Allaah spoke to Moses as this would amount to a "haadithah" and necessitate Allaah is a created body (jism) subject to an "event". And also to claim that the Qur'an that is memorized and recited is created (makhlooq) and is not Allaah's speech - again for the same reason, to negate "Hudooth" and "Jismiyyah" from Allaah - otherwise this would falsify the proof against the atheists. Thereafter, the offshoots of the Jahmiyyah inherited this saying, and we can summarize the sayings of the various factions:

The Jahmiyyah

And the saying of the Jahmiyyah is that the Qur'aan is created, that Allah does not have the attribute of "Kalaam" (speech) to begin with, and He is not "mutakallim", and they interpret "Kalaam" to mean something within the creation, separate from Allaah. So Allaah created the "Qur'aan" and He therafter called it "His Speech" in the same manner that it can be said, "Baytullaah" about the Ka'bah, and "Naaqqatullaah", the She-Camel of Allaah and so on.

The Mu'tazilah

And the Mu'tazilah took up this deen of the Jahmites and their view is the same of the Jahmites that the Qur'aan is created with the only difference being that Allaah created it in the self of Jibreel (alayhis salaam) and Jibreel expressed it in his own words, or that he simply "quoted" the Qur'an that was created in his self. And that the speech of Allaah can be created in different situations, so for example, with Moses, the Kalaam (speech) was created in the tree and so on.

The Kullaabiyyah

And the saying of the Kullabiyyah is that this Qur'an we have is created and it is a "hikaayah" (quotation, narrative) of the meaning (ma'naa) that exists with Allaah's self, and it is the Qur'an that is present with Allah's self as a meaning that is not created, and he was the first to innovate this saying, and the Ash'aris took this from him. And this saying of theirs is based upon the fact that they do not affirm attributes of Allaah that are tied to His will and power - so whilst they affirm "Kalaam" as an eternal attribute of the essence, they reject that it is also tied to Allaah's will and power - as this would invalidate their intellectual proof.

The Ash'ariyyah

And the saying of the Ash'ariyyah is the same as that of the Kullaabiyyah save that they say that this Qur'an we have is created and is an "ibaarah" (expression) of the meaning (ma'naa) that exists with Allaah's self, and it is the Qur'an that is present with Allah's self as a meaning that is not created.