Mūsā, the Kalīm of Allah

There is a very interesting discussion about Mūsā (peace be upon him) being the Kalīm of Allah. That was a special designation. Allah spoke to many of the prophets. Allah spoke to the Prophet (peace be upon him), in fact more closely than to any other prophet. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) went on his miʿrāj, on his ascension, beyond the lotus tree, beyond the Sidrat al-Muntahā, where even Jibrīl (peace be upon him) could not come, he met with Allah (swt). There is a difference of opinion among the Ṣaḥābah about whether he saw Allah or not. The stronger opinion, it seems, is that he did see Allah (swt). But all that aside, Allah spoke to him. And Allah spoke to Mūsā (peace be upon him).

So what is it that makes Mūsā (peace be upon him) special, as the Kalīm of Allah: the interlocutor, the one who spoke to Allah (swt) in the wādī, when he heard His voice from Allah (swt)? There is a bit of a difference of opinion here between the Ashʿarīs and the Māturīdīs about exactly how that took place. Again, this is not one of those differences which are serious; it is just a difference of opinion in terms of the description.

The Ashʿarīs consider that Mūsā (peace be upon him) actually heard the divine speech of Allah. He heard the eternal speech of Allah; that is why he is called the Kalīm of Allah. How did he hear it? It was not sound, it was not words; but it was an absorption through all the pores of his body. So it was this kind of a transfer that he received, and Allah knows best. Again, these are things that are beyond us, and that is why these are just speculations and possibilities.

The Māturīdīs say: no, nobody in this world has the ability to comprehend the divine, eternal speech of Allah. They just do not have that ability. So why is Mūsā (peace be upon him) special? Because of the special circumstance in which He spoke to him and addressed him, and He related that in the Qur'an. The Qur'an mentions that it came from a tree: the sound was projected into a tree, a created sound. They say it was just like the Qur'an: a created sound, specially projected by Allah (swt), that reflected His divine speech, which He wanted to speak to him. And that was what Mūsā (peace be upon him) heard. So it was a created speech that he heard.

Again, this is not something that we are going to be asked about on the Day of Judgement. This is just additional information we relate about the kalām of Allah (swt). The one thing that is important is that the speech of Allah (swt) is eternal; and what we have is the absolute reflection. And its source was Jibrīl (peace be upon him), the angel, the trustworthy angel, the most reliable angel, and then the Prophet (peace be upon him). So there is no corruption in the transmission, the transfer, either.