Tahqiq al-Qawl fi Masalat: Isa Kalimat Allah wal-Quran Kalam Allah
- Author died
- 728 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Ṣaḥābah lil-Turāth
Tahqiq al-Qawl fi Masalat: Isa Kalimat Allah wal-Quran Kalam Allah (Verification of the Statement Regarding the Issue: Jesus Is the Word of God and the Quran Is the Speech of God) is a theological treatise by the Hanbali scholar Ibn Taymiyya (661–728 AH / 1263–1328 CE) addressing the distinction between Jesus being designated as the "Word of God" and the Quran being the uncreated speech of God .
Background and Purpose
The treatise was written as a response to a question concerning a debate between a Muslim and a Christian . The Christian interlocutor questioned why Muslims consider the Quran to be the uncreated speech of God while simultaneously accepting that Jesus is the "Word of God" ( كَلِمَةُ اللَّهِ ) yet created . Ibn Taymiyya noted that this argument was shared by Christians and by early theological opponents among the Jahmiyya and the Mu'tazila, who used the created status of Jesus to argue that God's speech must likewise be created . He also referenced that Ahmad ibn Hanbal had previously documented and refuted this line of reasoning in his work against the Jahmiyya .
Core Arguments and Method
Ibn Taymiyya resolves the theological objection by analyzing Arabic linguistic usage regarding homonymous terms (al-lafz al-mushtarak) and the dual usage of verbal nouns (masadir) to denote both the inherent act/attribute and the resulting created entity (al-maf'ul) :
- The Designation of Jesus as God's Word: Jesus is called the "Word of God" because he was brought into existence by God's creative command كُنْ ("Be") without a human father, representing a miraculous departure from customary human reproduction (kharq al-'ada) . He is not himself the eternal attribute of speech subsisting in God's essence .
- The Nature of the Quran: The Quran is God's actual speech, an intrinsic attribute (sifa) subsisting in His essence that originated from Him and does not separate from Him to inhere in created entities .
- Genitive Attributions to God (al-Idhafa): When something that cannot exist independently as a distinct physical entity—such as speech, knowledge, or power—is attributed to God, it is an attribution of an intrinsic divine attribute . Conversely, when an independently existing entity ('ayn qa'ima bi-nafsiha)—such as Jesus, the spirit ( وَرُوحٌ مِّنْهُ ), Gabriel, the Kaaba ("the House of God"), or the She-Camel of Thamud—is attributed to God, it represents an attribution of createdness, honor, and specific divine agency rather than an intrinsic attribute .
Polemical Scope
In the latter half of the treatise, Ibn Taymiyya critiques Christian doctrines of the Trinity, hypostases (aqanim), and incarnation (hulul / ittihad), arguing that an attribute cannot detach from its subject to inhere in a human body . He also draws a parallel between Christian views of incarnation and the monistic doctrines of existential unity (wahdat al-wujud) held by figures such as Ibn Arabi, Ibn Sab'in, Ibn al-Farid, al-Tilimsani, al-Farghani, and Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi, arguing that both groups fall into rational and theological contradictions .
Publication
The work was published under this title by Dar al-Sahaba li-l-Turath in Tanta, Egypt, in 1412 AH / 1992 CE .
Answer updated