Is the statement in Imam Al-Saffarini's book "Lawami' al-Anwar al-Bahiyya," which reads: "There is no dispute between the Ash'aris and the Mu'tazila regarding naming Allah Almighty as Mutakallim (Speaker), in the sense that He creates sounds and letters in others... The dispute is only that the Mu'tazila did not affirm, besides these sounds and letters created in others, a meaning subsisting in the essence of the Creator. They said: And we - meaning the Ash'ari community - affirm it," from the Shaykh's own words and belief, or is he quoting the words of the Ash'aris?
Al-Saffarini, in "Lawami' al-Anwar," transmitted that the Ash'aris' view on the attribute of speech (Kalam) aligns with that of the Mu'tazila, whereas he himself believed that the Qur'an is the ancient, uncreated word of Allah, brought by Gabriel, which is the path of the righteous predecessors (Salaf as-Salih). He substantiated this by quoting the sayings of the imams of the Salaf, such as Al-Muwaffaq Ibn Qudamah and Ibn Taymiyyah, and then refuted the Ash'ari position, clarifying that it is the view of the Jahmiyyah.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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