��This Religion Is a Science 155This formula horrified the Rationalists, and especially scholars
such as Ibn Sina (Avicenna in the West; 980–1037), who considered
God’s attributes—God’s knowledge, speech, etc.—to be nothing more
than “guideposts” that merely reflected the human mind’s under-
standing of the Divine, not the Divine itself. The Rationalists argued
that God’s attributes could not possibly exist coeternally with God,
but must be a part of creation. Assigning eternal attributes to God
would, according to Wasil ibn Ata (d. 748), founder of the Mu‘tazilite
school, be tantamount to arguing for the existence of more than one
eternal being.
The Traditionalist Ulama rejected Wasil’s argument, countering
that while God’s attributes may be separate entities, they nevertheless
inhere in God’s essence and are, consequently, eternal. “His attributes
are from eternity,” claimed Abu Hanifah, the Traditionalist founder of
the Hanafi school of law (the largest school of law in the modern Mus-
lim world). “Whoever says they are created or originated... is an
unbeliever.”
Of course, when talking about the relationship between God’s
attributes and God’s essence, both the Rationalists and the Tradition-
alists had one particularly significant attribute in mind: God’s Speech;
that is, the Quran.
A WONDERFUL STOR Yis told about the conversion of the Caliph
Umar to Islam. Umar’s fierce pride in his pagan ancestry and his tribal
heritage initially led him to lash out violently against Muhammad and
his followers. In fact, Umar had at one time planned to murder
Muhammad in order to put an end to his disruptive movement. But as
he was on his way to find the Prophet, a friend informed him that his
own sister had accepted the new religion and was, at that moment,
meeting with one of the believers in her home. Furious, Umar drew his
sword and rushed to her house, determined to kill her for betraying
their family and tribe. Before he could enter, however, he heard the
sacred words of the Quran recited from within. The power and ele-
gance of the recitation fixed him to the spot. He dropped his sword.
“How fine and noble is this speech!” he declared, his eyes filling
with tears. And like Saul of Tarsus, who was struck blind by the vision