What is meant by the passage stating that the Ash'aris believe Kalām (God's Speech) is an attribute subsisting in His essence, and that expressing it in Arabic makes it the Qur'an, in Hebrew the Torah, and in Syriac the Injil (Gospel)? And does this mean that they consider God's Speech in all the books to be one, differing only in language?

The Ash'aris hold that the Speech of Allah is a single meaning subsisting in the Self [of Allah], in which command, prohibition, narration, and inception are all equal. And that if it is expressed in Arabic, it is the Qur'an; if expressed in Syriac, it is the Gospel; and if expressed in Hebrew, it is the Torah.

This assertion is unacceptable, both rationally and religiously. It implies that the meanings of the Qur'an are the same as the meanings of the Torah and the Gospel, which is false. For "Say, He is Allah, [who is] One" is not like "May the hands of Abu Lahab be ruined."

Their disagreement over the one who expressed it, whether it was Jibril or Muhammad (peace be upon him), resembles the saying of those who claimed that the Qur'an is the word of humans.

What led the Ash'aris to this position is their denial that Allah speaks with audible words, with letters and sounds, and their invention of the "inner speech" (Kalam Nafsi). This implies that Allah does not truly speak and that the Qur'an is a created thing with which Allah did not speak.

This concept contradicts the Qur'an, the Sunnah, the people of language, and common understanding. For Allah Almighty did not call Zakariya's sign a speech, and Maryam said: "So I will not speak today to [any] human being."

In the Sunnah: "Indeed, Allah has forgiven my Ummah for what they speak to themselves, as long as they do not utter it or act upon it."

The people of language agree that speech consists of nouns, verbs, and particles. The jurists agree that if someone swears not to speak, they do not break their oath if they merely speak to themselves.

Whoever contradicts the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the people, their saying is not considered valid.