The following is an excerpt from Dr. Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn al-Idlibī’s ‘Aqā’id al-Ashā’irah answering a common misconception that has been spread regarding the Ash’aris. By the will of Allah, this misconception will be answered now. He writes:
The researcher (salafi) writes following his statement regarding the Ash’aris:
“They (the Ash’aris) differ regarding the Qur’an specifically. Some of them say that Allah created it in the preserved tablet (al-lawḥ al-maḥfūẓ) first and then He revealed it in pages down to the sky of this world. Thereafter, Jibrīl would read this created speech and deliver it to Muḥammad ﷺ. Others say that Allah made Jibrīl understand His inner Speech (al-kalām an-nafsī), and Jibrīl made the Prophet ﷺ understand it. In addition, they differ regarding who expressed this utilizing the inner speech to these composed Arabic words. So some of them said it was Jibrīl, while some others said it was Muḥammad ﷺ. [Then the researcher wrote:] Bāqillānī has explicitly mentioned that it is the first, and Juwaynī followed him on that opinion.”
I say:
1- The statement of the researcher regarding what some of the Ash’aris have said in Allah creating the Qur’an in the preserved tablet and then sending it down in papers to the sky of this world, that is a statement which is contradictory to reality. For those who say that Allah created the Qur’an in the preserved tablet are the Muʿtazilah, not the Ash’aris. Can the researcher not distinguish between the two?!
2- The statement of the researcher regarding the Ash’aris differing on who expressed these set out Arabic words in collaboration with the inner speech, where some said it was Jibrīl and some said it was Muḥammad ﷺ, this is pure imagination.
The Ash’aris believe that the Qur’an, in meaning and wording, is all from Allah. I do not know of any others from them saying anything contrary to this.
3- The researcher may use as evidence what Bayjūrī has said. For he said regarding the noble Qur’an: “The preferred opinion is that what is revealed (munazzal) is the word and meaning. However, it is said that what is revealed is the meaning and Jibrīl expressed the words upon that from himself. It is also said that the revealed is the meaning and the Prophet ﷺ is the one who expressed the words upon that from himself. However, the most correct is the first.”
[Ḥāshiyah al-Jawharah, 56]
He does not have any evidence in this, for Bayjūrī has not ascribed these false opinions to any of the scholars of the Ash’aris. And what is apparent from what is intended by him is that these are the opinions of some of the people of kalām. He has ruled out the doctrine of the Ash’aris to be in contradiction to this and made it to be the preferred and verified opinion.
However, even if this were an opinion of some Ash’aris who are not from the verifiers (ahl at-taḥqīq), then why did he not mention those who stand by it?!
4- The claim of the researcher that Bāqillānī explicitly states that the one who expressed composed Arabic words in accordance with the inner speech is Jibrīl, and that Juwaynī followed him on that opinion; this is in contradiction to reality, rather it is pure imagination.
For it is upon you, oh reader, to look at the statements of these two lied upon Imams.
As for Bāqillānī, then he said:
“The one who reveals (munazzil) is Allah, the Most High. What is sent down, upon what we have explained regarding it being sent down in the sense of making acknowledge and understand, and not a sending down of movement; that is the eternal speech of Allah, the Most High, that is with His essence. The one it was sent down upon is the heart of the Prophet ﷺ. What it was sent with was the Arabic language that Jibrīl recited with and that which we also recite with until the Day of Judgement. Lastly, the one who came down in reality, from drop to drop (sky to sky) is the recitation of Jibrīl (qawl Jibrīl), may peace be upon him. The statement of the Most High indicates this: ‘it is the word (recitation) of a noble messenger, and it is not the word of a poet, little do you believe. Nor the word of a soothsayer; little do you remember, a revelation of the Lord of the worlds.’ From this it is concluded that Allah taught Jibrīl, peace be upon him, the Qur’an, and Allah taught Him the composed Arabic wording which is in his (Jibrīl’s) recitation. Thereafter, he (Jibrīl) taught the recitation to our Prophet ﷺ, and the Prophet ﷺ taught it to his companions.”
[Al-Inṣāf, 97-98]
You have now seen that Bāqillānī, may Allah have mercy on him, explicitly states that Allah taught Jibrīl, peace be upon him, the Qur’an and likewise taught the composed Arabic wording which is in his recitation. So is the composed Arabic of the Qur’an coming from Allah or the expression of Jibrīl?!
As for Imam Juwaynī, then he said:
“The speech of Allah is the revealed, so what is then meant by ‘revealing’ (inzāl) is that Jibrīl, glad tidings be upon him, understood the speech of Allah while he was in His place above the seven heavens. He then came down with it to earth and made the Prophet ﷺ understand what he understood at Sidra al-Muntahā.”
[Al-Irshād, 130]
So did Imam Juwaynī say that the one who expressed composed Arabic wording in accordance with the inner speech is Jibrīl, peace be upon him?!
5- A person may say: ‘Isn’t the previous statement of Bāqillānī: “Lastly, the one who came down in reality, from drop to drop (sky to sky) is the recitation of Jibrīl (qawl Jibrīl)” a clear passage to prove that he believed that the revealed Qur’an upon the Prophet ﷺ is the word of Jibrīl?!
I say: If the statement is from those who only memorized from the book of Allah, His statement: “Do not go close to prayer” and “woe to the praying ones” without the context, then the answer is, certainly yes!
And if the sayer is one who wishes to understand the speech of Allah, then I say: Read the given text from the beginning carefully. You will then find that Imam Bāqillānī, may Allah have mercy on him, has affirmed the revelation of the noble Qur’an on the heart of the Prophet ﷺ, and that Allah is the one who revealed it, and that what comes down are two matters: The first is the eternal speech of Allah that is His attribute of the attributes of His essence, and that this descent is a descent of understanding and teaching, not a descent of movement and displacement. The second is the composed Arabic wording of the Qur’an which Allah taught to Jibrīl and made only him understand, and that is in his recitation. This descent is a descent of movement and displacement. And the thing that actually comes down in the linguistic meaning, that which is moving from skies to the earth, that is the recitation of the words and letters of the Qur’an by Jibrīl. As for the attributes of Allah that are attributes of His essence, then they subside in His essence everlastingly without ending, they do not change, end, descend or move.