The question of the eternal nature of the Quran does not properly come under the head of 'Ilm-i-usul, but it is a dogma fondly cherished by many Muslims. In the days of the Khalif Al-Mamun this question was fiercely debated. The Freethinkers, whilst believing in the Mission of Muhammad, asserted that the Quran was created, by which statement they meant that the revelation came to him in a subjective mode, and that the language was his own. The book was thus brought within the reach of criticism. In the year 212, A.H. the Khalif issued a decree to the effect that all who held the Quran to be uncreated were to be declared guilty of heresy. But the Khalif himself was a notorious rationalist, and so the orthodox, though they remained quiet, remained unconvinced. The arguments used on the orthodox side are, that both the words and their pronunciation are eternal, that the attempt to draw a distinction between the word as it exists in the Divine Mind and as it appears in the Quran is highly dangerous. In vain do their opponents argue that, if the Quran is uncreated, two Eternal Beings are in existence. To this it is answered: "This is the honourable Quran, written in the preserved Tablet." (Sura lvi. 76). A Tradition is also adduced which states: "God wrote the Thora (Law) with His own hand, and with His own hand He created Adam; and also in the Quran it is written, 'and We wrote for him upon the tables a monition concerning every matter,' in reference to the tables of the Law given to Moses." If God did this for former prophets and their works, how much more, it is argued, should he not have done it for the last and greatest of the prophets, and the noble Quran? It is not easy to get a correct definition of the term "the uncreated Quran," but it has been put thus: "The Word as it exists in the mind of God is 'Kalam-i-Nafsi' (spiritual word), something unwritten and eternal. It is acknowledged by the Ijma'-i-Ummat (consent of the Faithful), the Traditions, and by other prophets that God {65} speaks. The Kalam-i-Nafsi then is eternal, but the actual words, style, and eloquence are created by God; so also is the arrangement and the miraculous nature of the book." This seems to be a reasonable account of the doctrine, though there are theologians who hold that the very words are eternal. The doctrine of abrogation clashes with this idea, but they meet the objection by their theory of absolute predestination. This accounts for the circumstances which necessitated the abrogation, for the circumstances, as well as the abrogated verses, were determined on from all eternity.