Speech of Allah? Is the Qur’an Created?

Insh’Allah today we will be looking at the claims of Ustadh Abdurrahman Hassan, and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf. Both of them claim to follow the Sunni denomination of Islam. They both claim that the Qur’an is uncreated and yet both of them have very different understandings of what this means.

Let us start with what Shaykh Hamza Yusuf said here:

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf is gracious in saying that among the Sunni denomination there is a division on this issue. They are not in unison as to this theological position. This is something that Ustadh Abdurrahman Hassan is not in agreement upon. Ustadh Abdurrahman’s view is that there is one and only one view only among the Sunni denomination.

@ 1:32 Listen carefully people. Shaykh Hamza Yusus if a public orator and a supremely articulate man. Listen very carefully to the doctrine you are being asked to subscribe to.

“But the Mushaf itself and the ‘ulemah say you can only say this in a teaching just out of adaab to the Qur’an we don’t say it. But the Mushaf itself is, came into the world. The paper, the ink, the right, and then the letters and when we and if I say, “bismillah ir rahman ir raheem, al hamdulillahi rabil ‘alamin, ir rahman ir raheem.” Those are sounds. And we know that you know that they have vibrations and so…that aspect of the Qur’an and this is the distinction they say is all of those elements are created and like….”

@ 3:00 “It definitely doesn’t mean though the mushaf you have in your house. Because that would then…I mean some of the Christians argue that well the Qur’an is imbibliation. Like we believe in incarnation of the logos the Muslims believe in imbibliation of the logos. That God became book and so we don’t we don’t see that as valid. That view of it so.”

We already discussed the theological problems with this here: https://primaquran.com/2020/06/28/the-quran-created-uncreated-theological-problems/

Did you notice in the first paragraph above how Shaykh Hamza said that the mushaf of the Qur’an is created. However, he said it very very softly and quickly moved on from that word ‘created’. I am sure that you the discerning truth seeker have realized this.

Every Qur’an that every Muslim uses today has a publisher. For example the ‘Sahih International’ is published by the Publishing House (dar), dar Abul Qasim, Saudi Arabia.

If the book, ink, text has a publisher it is clear as day light that the text, or mushaf is created. Now, I am going to advise you, the Christian, the Jew, the Hindu, the Buddhist, the Taoist, the Sikh, the Jain, the Wiccan, the Agnostic, the Atheist, ask any Muslim preacher who is calling you to Islam the following:

“Is that book, the text, the Mushaf, the ink pages is it created?” The simple , correct, direct answer is ‘Yes!’.

If that Muslim preacher begins to waffle, doge, sidestep or respond with anything other than ‘Yes!; My advise to you is to ask yourself some questions.

What are they REALLY calling you to? The belief in the oneness of Allah, that he is eternal and is unlike his creation? Yet they cannot say that an obvious creation (a book, a text with ink and pages) is created?

So now let us come to the video by Ustadh Abdurrahman Hassan.

Now Ustadh Abdurrahman Hassan who also claims to be of the Sunni denomination has a vastly different understanding of what it means to say that the Qur’an is uncreated than does Shaykh Hamza Yusuf.

First Ustadh Abdurrahman Hassan first appeals to emotion by discussing the persecution that those who claimed the Qur’an was uncreated went through. Though he doesn’t’ mention that his side did the exact same thing.

@ 2:50 Ustadh Abdurrahman Hassan says that the Ashar’i affirm the speech that is present in Allah (swt). They affirm that speech is an attribute of Allah (swt).

Now listen very carefully to what Ustadh Abdurrahman Hassan declares. His major point of contention.

“The Qur’an that we have today that is that we are reading, making our children memorize, who we read in weddings, if we want to make a person make an oath we make them use this Qur’an, swear by this Qur’an they believe it’s makhluq!”

His very intelligent friend ask him, “Are they talking about the papers the mushaf?”

To which Ustadh Abdurrahman replies: “Shahid the Qur’an that we are reading, whole entire Qur’an is makhluq to the Ashar’i”

There you have it people! Ustadh Abdurrahman is upset that people believe that a book, the Qur’an with ink, pages proclaim that it is created. So he wants that book, those pages, that ink, an obviously created thing to share a quality belongs ONLY to Allah (swt). ONLY Allah (swt) is uncreated!

@5:42 “The Ahshar’i don’t consider this (pointing to a Mushaf) to be the kalam of Allah.“

Ustadh Abdurrahman’s daleel backfires!

Listen carefully to this next section. The brother who sits across from Ustadh Abdurrahman has been given a keen intellect and mash’Allah he picked up on the problem straight away! To the point that Ustadh Abdurrahman realized it was a strong point against him so he quickly pivots to ‘all the other evidences’.

He said: “O my Lord, set for me a sign.” Said He: “Your sign is that you shall not be able to speak to people for three days except through gestures. Remember your Lord much; and proclaim His purity in the evening and the morning.” (Qur’an 3: 41)

@12:35 “But your saying pointing is not speech.” -to which Ustadh Abdurrahman says, “It’s not.” the brother responds, “Allah says, illa ramzan put it with speech.” “illa?” replies Ustaz.

The brother states: “Ramzan in the ayat that you recited he’s put it with speech. You will not speak except with ramzan, with pointing.”

To which Ustaz replied: “Allah is saying you Zakariah will not be able to speak except Allah will allow you to give sharah.” To which the brother replies again: ” That means that’ is the speech that you’re allowed to . You’re not allowed to speak. It’s like if I say for example. Everyone leave the room except…”

Mash’Allah.

“And the people of Moses, after his departure from their ornaments a calf-an image having a lowing sound. Did they not see that it could not speak to them nor guide them to a way? That they took it for worship, and they were the wrongdoers. (Qur’an 7:148)

“And he extracted for them the statue of a calf which had a lowing sound, and they said, “This is your god and the god of Moses, but he forgot.” (Qur’an 20:88)

Just because something produces a sound does not mean it can speak.

I would invite you dear reader to read the following articles:

The Qur’an is created.