The Hanbalites so far as said that...

The Hanbalites so far as said that, Not only were the words and sounds of the Qur’an eternal, so that even its recital was uncreated, but its parchment and binding shared the same qualities.

In the so-called Testament of Abu Hanifa a more moderate view is expressed: We confess that the Qur’an is the speech of Allah, uncreated, His inspiration, and revelation, not He, yet not other than He, but His real quality, written in the copies, recited by the tongues, The ink, the paper, the writing are created, for they are the work of man.” (9). But, as we, the Shia, distinguish between His personal Virtues and His actions.

And, we say: “Our belief about the Quran is that it is The Speech of Allah, and His Revelation Sent by Him, and His Word and His Book. And that Allah is its Creator and its Sender and its Guardian”(10). The bitter quarrels, among two groups of Sunnis i.e. the Mutazilites and the Asharites on this subject are well-known, and there is no need to relive them. PLACE OF REASON IN RELIGION This is one of the most important distinctions between Sunnis on one side, and the Shia on another.

To be more exact, I should have used the word Ash’arites, in place of Sunnis. But all Sunnis nowadays are Ash’arites. Muitazilites have become extinct long ago, though some of the great scholars of the recent times like Justice Amir Ali were Muitazilites.

Anyhow, the Shia say: “That irrespective of religious commandments, there is real merit or demerit in different courses of actions, and it is because a certain thing is good that Allah orders it, and because the other is bad that He forbids it.” Sunnis deny this conception. They say that nothing is good or evil in itself. Only what Allah has commanded us is good and what He has forbidden us is evil.

If a thing is forbidden by Allah, it is bad; then if Allah cancels the first order, and allows it, it will become good, after being bad. In other words, Shia says that Allah has forbidden us to tell lie because it is bad; Sunnis say that lie has become bad because Allah has forbidden it. Shia recognizes the relation of cause with effect. Sunnis deny it. They say that there is no cause except Allah.

In addition, it is just a habit of Allah that whenever, for example, we drink water He quenches our thirst. Based upon the above difference of attitude about the position of reason in religion are the following differences: The Shia says, “That Allah never acts without purpose or aimlessly.