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The createdness of the Qur'an

خلق القرآن

A question of creed over which the mihna took place in the days of Imam Ahmad. Ibn Badran's book reports the Imam's position and the positions of the sects that opposed him, and how the Jahmiyya divided over the question.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
Levant & Iraq
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

CreedDissent, heresy and freethought

Overview

Imam Ahmad said in his epistle that the Qur'an is the speech of God, that what God has spoken is not created, and that what is in the codex and in people's recitation is the speech of God, uncreated. 1 He added that whoever says the Qur'an is created is a disbeliever, and whoever does not declare him a disbeliever is also a disbeliever. 1 The author notes that the scholars agreed that the Jahmiyya split into three groups over the question of the Qur'an. 2 One group said the Qur'an is the speech of God and that it is created; another said the Qur'an is the speech of God and remained silent on whether it is created or uncreated; and a third said the words of the Qur'an are created. 2

Opinions on the question

First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame) · Sunni (Hanbali)Main reference

Held by: Ahmad ibn Hanbal

Basis: al-Madkhal ila Madhhab al-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal — Ibn Badran (al-Turki edition)

More opinions (2)

Sunni tradition (the museum's frame) · Sunni (Hanbali)Main reference

Basis: al-Madkhal ila Madhhab al-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal — Ibn Badran (al-Turki edition)

Sunni tradition (the museum's frame) · Sunni (Hanbali)Main reference

The Lum'at al-i'tiqad position on this question as it appears in the edited text

Lum'at al-i'tiqad (2nd ed.), pages as printed

Held by: Ibn Qudama al-MaqdisiLum'at al-I'tiqad

Basis: Lum'at al-I'tiqad, Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi (ed. Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Furayhan ibn Uraye'ir, Dar Rakaez, 1443 AH) 2nd edition

People and things also explored

Blind imitation (taqlid)· The people of the qibla and not declaring takfir for sin· The hereafter: the grave, resurrection and reckoning· Islamic eschatology· Reason and heart· The Throne (al-Arsh)· Al-din al-qayyim (the upright religion)· Absolute unseen (al-ghayb al-mutlaq)

Sources

  1. al-Madkhal ila Madhhab al-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal — Ibn Badran (al-Turki edition) , p.53
  2. al-Madkhal ila Madhhab al-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal — Ibn Badran (al-Turki edition) , p.54
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The createdness of the Qur'an”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/khalq-al-quran/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-25.

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Wing

Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Blind imitation (taqlid)

Wajdi reports, without naming them, that scholars of Islam held the faith of a mere imitator unacceptable, because imitation can be of falsehood as well as truth. He reads Islam as calling each responsible person to use reason in inference and deduction, as protection against the rigidity that the ill-intentioned exploit. The statement is attributed to the author's report.