Eternal Qur'an?

Allah was, still is, and will always be capable of Speech.
-> Genus [i.e. Speech] is eternal.

Being capable of Speech means the capacity to speak at will.
-> Occurrence of particulars.

When Allah spoke to Adam, that was a different instance than speaking to Musa.
-> Particulars are not eternal.

The Qur'an is a particular speech of Allah that He spoke to Jibreel.
-> Quran is a particular from amongst the genus.

It was spoken at one point after having not been spoken before.
-> Quran is not eternal.

The belief of AhlusSunnah is that He speaks with letters and sound.
-> There's order in the letters and sounds of speech.

This makes His speech an occurrence with many instances following one another.
-> Order directly opposes eternality.

The Qur'an is not eternal, meaning it had a beginning. It is uncreated.
This is the belief of AhlusSunnah.




Shaykhul-Islam ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The early generations said: The Quran is the word of Allah that was revealed and is not created. And they said that He speaks when He wills. Then they explained that the words of Allah are eternal, meaning that the divine attribute of speech is eternal.

Not one of them said that any particular words of His are eternal, and not one of them said that the Quran is eternal.

Rather they said that it is the word of Allah; it was revealed and is not created.

As Allah uttered the Quran by His will, the Quran is His word, and it was revealed from Him and not created, yet despite that it is not eternal as Allah is eternal, even though Allah has the attribute of speech and speaks whenever He wills. So the attribute of speech is eternal (and part of His essence).

Whoever understands the words of the early generations and sees the subtle differences between the various statements will no longer have any doubt about these difficult issues that many people are confused about.

End quote from Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa (12/54)

And he (may Allah have mercy on him) also said:

The word of Allah is what Allah uttered Himself and spoke by His will and power. It is not something created that is distinct from Him; rather it exists with Him in His essence, even though He uttered it by His might and will, and it does not exist independently of His might and will.

The early generations said: Allah, may He be exalted, speaks when He wills. If it is said that the words of Allah are eternal, in the sense that speech is His eternal attribute and in the sense that His words are not created, and in the sense that His words are not a concept that exists in His essence – rather Allah speaks whenever He wills – then this is correct.

Not one of the early generations said that these particular words are eternal. Rather they used to say: the Quran is the word of Allah, revealed and not created; it originated with Him and will return to Him.

Not one of them said that the Quran is eternal, and they did not say that His words are a concept that exists in His essence. And they did not say that the letters of the Quran, or its letters and sounds, are eternal and exist in the essence of Allah, even though the letters themselves may be uttered by Allah whenever He wills. Rather they said that the letters of the Quran are not created, and they denounced those who said that Allah created the letters.

End quote from al-Fataawa (12/566-567)