The historical controversy over the createdness of the Qur’an involved divergent meanings of similar statements. Some speakers meant the temporal production of letters and sounds; others disputed the eternity of the attribute itself; still others used language that seemed to imply more than they intended.
A short slogan cannot therefore justify a definitive judgment on a person. One must establish the intended referent, subject of the predicate and actual theological claim.
The historical material also transmits severe condemnations by some disputants. Such statements are studied as attributed historical positions, not as permission for hostility toward individuals or communities. Analysis proceeds by careful interpretation and argument.