# Is the Quran eternal, or was it created?

*Does the Quran have a beginning, or has it always existed?*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/xznxiyp0b5s/s/21/
- Date: 2020-07-03 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Prof. Dr Khalil Andani | The Oral Text & the Ontology of The Quran | Mindtrap with Mufti #28 (1:36:51–1:38:38)
- Status: a view quoted in order to be discussed, not a position held
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xznXIYp0B5s&t=5811s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/xznxiyp0b5s/

**Topics:** Creed and the schools of theology; God and the divine attributes

**Question as asked:** What does the professor say about the Quran having a beginning? Has it always existed?

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** The guest says the Arabic Quran in the tablet is, on most views, pre-existent but created; only God's languageless speech is eternal for Ash'aris and Maturidis.

## Longer summary

A chat question asks whether the Quran has a beginning or has always existed. The guest says many mufassirun and some theologians held that God created the Arabic Quran in the tablet before the world, so that it is pre-existent but still created, while for Ash'aris and Maturidis God's eternal speech has no language and is pure meaning, a different concept. He says the Mu'tazila also held the Quran was in a tablet but always created, and that the popular idea of an eternal Quran in an eternal tablet makes no sense by most Muslim theological standards, since a tablet is a bodily thing.

## Sources and names cited

- Dr Khalil Andani (guest)
- Kalam Allah
- mufassirun
- Ash'ari
- Maturidi
- Mu'tazila
- al-Lawh al-Mahfuz (the guarded tablet)

## Transcript (machine tier, 1:36:51–1:38:38)

[1:36:50] Tying in question there, Abbas Aga asks, "What does professor say about if about the Quran having a beginning? Has it always existed?" Okay. So, for for the like one view on this is the Quran as Arabic, the Arabic text, according to the many mufassirun and some theologians, God created the Arabic Quran before the world, but he created it in the tablet.

[1:37:19] According to So, in in either case, like the Arabic Quran in this view, it's preexistent, but it's still created the Arabic text. When people say the Kalam Allah, the speech of God is eternal, at least for Ash'aris and and Maturidis, the eternal speech of God is not the same thing as the Arabic Quran. The eternal speech of God has no language. It's pure meaning. That is eternal.

[1:37:43] That's an eternal attribute of God. This These two claims, the preexistent Quran in the tablet, is not the same as the eternal speech of God. These are two completely different concepts. They do Sometimes they coexist and sometimes they don't coexist. So, Mu'tazilis believe that the Quran is was in a tablet. They believe that, but they believe that it's always been created.

[1:38:09] Right. So, the Mu'tazilis, if you say it was in a tablet, they'll say, "Yeah, it's in a tablet." Totally. I mean, many Mu'tazilis believe this. Some don't. But they still think that if it's in a tablet, it's created. The tablet is a material tablet. So, of course it has to be created. So, people confuse this and it it it sort of morphs into this weird idea of the Quran was eternal in an eternal tablet. And actually by most Muslim theological standards, you can't have eternal tablets.

[1:38:37] Like it doesn't make any sense cuz a tablet is a bodily thing. All right. So, a quick question here and we'll start to wrap up. Somebody says The Quran says Allah loves not the disbeliever. Mhm. Right. Uh Is I know that can go into a huge topic right there. I don't know if there's any quick words on that. So, so, so, look, a very literalistic reading is you could take all the groups that Allah does not love and you could literally say, "Okay, Allah is very preferential in his loving." You could say that if you wanted.

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment xznXIYp0B5s/s/21. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/xznxiyp0b5s/s/21/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.