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Quranic createdness
In Islamic theology, createdness of the Qurʾān (خلق القرآن, kḫalq al-qurʾān) is the doctrinal position that the Quran was created rather than having always existed and thus being "uncreated."
One of the main areas of debate in aqida (Muslim theology) was the divine attribute of kalam (lit. word, speech) revealing itself through waḥy "revelation". Kalam is a counterpart to 'aql (Greek logos, "word," and thus "reason"). If the ʿaql/logos was part of God's essence or nature, then the Qur'an must therefore not be created. On the other hand, the Qur'an is written in Arabic (human speech) in the Arabic script, neither of which is eternal.
The dispute over which position was factual became a significant point of contention in early Islam. The rationalist philosophical school known as the Mu'tazilites held that if the Quran is God's word, then logically, God "must have preceded his own speech". The Mu'tazilites and the Jahmites negated all the attributes of God, and believed that God could not speak, hence the Quran was not the literal word of God. It was instead a metaphor for his will.
In the Muslim world today, the opposite point of view—that the Quran is uncreated—is the accepted stance among Sunni Muslims. Shia Muslims argue for the createdness of the Quran.
The controversy over the doctrine in the Abbasid Caliphate came to a head during the reign of Caliph al-Ma'mun. In 827 CE, al-Ma'mun publicly adopted the doctrine of createdness, and six years later instituted an inquisition known as the mihna ("test, ordeal") to "ensure acquiescence in this doctrine". The mihna continued during the reigns of Caliphs al-Mu'tasim and al-Wathiq, and during the early reign of al-Mutawakkil. Those who did not accept that the Qur’an is created were punished, imprisoned, or even killed.
According to Sunni tradition, when "tested", traditionist Ahmad ibn Hanbal refused to accept the doctrine of createdness despite two years imprisonment and being scourged until unconscious. Eventually, due to Ahmad ibn Hanbal's determination, Caliph al-Mutawakkil released him and the Mu'tazila doctrine was silenced for a time. In the years thereafter in the Abbasid state, it was the minority of Muslims who believed in Quranic createdness who were on the receiving end of the sword or lash.
The influential scholar al-Tabari (d.923) declared in his aqidah (creed) that (in the words of Islamic historian Michael Cook) the Quran is
God's uncreated word however it is written or recited, whether it be in heaven or on earth, whether written on the 'guarded tablet' or on the tablets of schoolboys, whether inscribed on stone or on paper, whether memorized in the heart or spoken on the tongue; whoever says otherwise is an infidel whose blood may be shed and from whom God has dissociated Himself.
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Quranic createdness
In Islamic theology, createdness of the Qurʾān (خلق القرآن, kḫalq al-qurʾān) is the doctrinal position that the Quran was created rather than having always existed and thus being "uncreated."
One of the main areas of debate in aqida (Muslim theology) was the divine attribute of kalam (lit. word, speech) revealing itself through waḥy "revelation". Kalam is a counterpart to 'aql (Greek logos, "word," and thus "reason"). If the ʿaql/logos was part of God's essence or nature, then the Qur'an must therefore not be created. On the other hand, the Qur'an is written in Arabic (human speech) in the Arabic script, neither of which is eternal.
The dispute over which position was factual became a significant point of contention in early Islam. The rationalist philosophical school known as the Mu'tazilites held that if the Quran is God's word, then logically, God "must have preceded his own speech". The Mu'tazilites and the Jahmites negated all the attributes of God, and believed that God could not speak, hence the Quran was not the literal word of God. It was instead a metaphor for his will.
In the Muslim world today, the opposite point of view—that the Quran is uncreated—is the accepted stance among Sunni Muslims. Shia Muslims argue for the createdness of the Quran.
The controversy over the doctrine in the Abbasid Caliphate came to a head during the reign of Caliph al-Ma'mun. In 827 CE, al-Ma'mun publicly adopted the doctrine of createdness, and six years later instituted an inquisition known as the mihna ("test, ordeal") to "ensure acquiescence in this doctrine". The mihna continued during the reigns of Caliphs al-Mu'tasim and al-Wathiq, and during the early reign of al-Mutawakkil. Those who did not accept that the Qur’an is created were punished, imprisoned, or even killed.
According to Sunni tradition, when "tested", traditionist Ahmad ibn Hanbal refused to accept the doctrine of createdness despite two years imprisonment and being scourged until unconscious. Eventually, due to Ahmad ibn Hanbal's determination, Caliph al-Mutawakkil released him and the Mu'tazila doctrine was silenced for a time. In the years thereafter in the Abbasid state, it was the minority of Muslims who believed in Quranic createdness who were on the receiving end of the sword or lash.
The influential scholar al-Tabari (d.923) declared in his aqidah (creed) that (in the words of Islamic historian Michael Cook) the Quran is
God's uncreated word however it is written or recited, whether it be in heaven or on earth, whether written on the 'guarded tablet' or on the tablets of schoolboys, whether inscribed on stone or on paper, whether memorized in the heart or spoken on the tongue; whoever says otherwise is an infidel whose blood may be shed and from whom God has dissociated Himself.