1-Their statements: Allah, Exalted is He, is too great for something to occur in His dominion that He does not will; Glory be to the One in whose dominion nothing occurs except what He wills. And their statement: What Allah wills occurs, and what He does not will does not occur. And their statement: From affirming the oneness of Allah is attributing all the actions of the servants to Him, Exalted is He; Whoever claims that he is the doer of his own action is an associator, not a monotheist; and the like of that are nothing but deceptive methods and cunning tricks by which they promote their doctrine among the weak minded and the simple.
Yet in all that they have mentioned, there is nothing that contradicts the greatness of Allah, His transcendence, or His oneness. For He, Exalted is He, said: “And Allah does not love corruption” [al and there is no doubt that corruption in the world is abundant. And He, Exalted is He, said: “And Allah wants to accept your repentance, while those who follow desires want you to incline with a great inclination” [al Nisāʾ]. And He, Exalted is He, said: “And He does not approve disbelief for His servants” [al
Zumar: 7]. And there is no doubt that the world is filled with disbelief and disbelievers.
2-Their statements: it has already preceded in the knowledge of Allah Exalted is He that the disobedient will commit the act of disobedience, so how can he be able to refrain from it despite that?
We said in response to them: the knowledge of Allah Exalted is He has no effect upon the occurrence of the act of obedience or disobedience, by agreement between us and the determinists. As for us, this is clear; and as for the determinists, they say that the acts of the servants occur by the power of Allah and by His act, not by His knowledge.
3-If they say: the knowledge of Allah, Exalted is He, drives the one who has ability toward the act, not that it is itself the effective cause; rather, the effective cause is ability, and knowledge is a driver.
We say: if the matter is as such, then it necessarily follows according to your doctrine that the Creator, Mighty and Exalted, is compelled in creating the acts of His servants, of obediences and disobediences, having no choice in them, and likewise in all of His acts, due to the precedence of knowledge. Yet you do not say that.
4-Their statements: if Allah Exalted is He were to create for His servants an ability by which they act, and then they disobeyed Allah Exalted is He, their disobedience would amount to disputing Allah Exalted is He in His sovereignty and contending against Him, Mighty and Exalted, since He forbade them from that and they disobeyed Him, opposed Him, and contended with Him and thus overcame Him. This would entail that Allah Exalted is He is overcome, and that is neither permissible nor valid thus do they argue.
The response and Allah is the One who grants success is that there is no disputation nor contention in what you have mentioned. That is because Allah Exalted is He clarified to those morally responsible what He loves of deeds and what He dislikes, encouraged them toward obedience to Him, and warned them against disobedience to Him. Thus, whoever obeys Him, He admits him into Paradise, and whoever disobeys Him, He admits him into the Fire. And He enabled them to choose either of the two paths by what He has instilled in them of intellects and ability. Therefore, the disobedient one is not considered to be contending with his Lord nor disputing Him in His sovereignty. This is nothing but like the action of a servant whose master says to him: “I do not approve of you eating wheat, nor do I forbid you from it; but if you do it, I will punish you.” The servant’s disobedience of his master is not considered contention nor disputation against him, for contention and disputation consist of resistance by numbers, equipment, and the like. It is not said of a servant that by his disobedience he is an overcomer or a contender. Likewise, are the rulers among humans with their subjects: the disobedience of subjects is not considered contention or disputation, nor is it said “overcomer” or “overcome,” except when the ruler is unable to requite the disobedient and discipline him. But if the ruler disciplines the disobedient and imposes upon him the consequence of his disobedience, it is not valid to say that the disobedient is an overcomer, nor that the ruler is overcome.
5-Their statements: Allah Exalted is He wills all acts of obedience and all acts of disobedience, and that there is no motion or rest that occurs in existence except that it occurs by His power, His will, and His volition; that all acts of immorality and disobedience are by His will and His power; and that He alone is the one who creates them and wills them, apart from His servants.
Then they said: as for acts of obedience and disobedience that do not occur, Allah Exalted is He neither wills them nor intends them. The sum of their statement is that whatever occurs, Allah wills it; and whatever does not occur, He does not will it then, when it occurs, Allah wills it.
We say: if Allah Exalted and Sanctified is He is the One who undertakes the creation of disbelief, misguidance, indecencies, sins, crimes, obediences, and disobediences according to Al Mujbara, then why do they object to Allah, to His will, His decree, and His predestination?
That is because they denounce the doctrines of the Shiʿa and the Muʿtazilah, declare them misguided, and even declare them unbelievers, while they themselves believe and affirm that Allah Exalted is He is the One who created these things, brought them into existence, willed them, intended them, decreed them, and predestined them.
This doctrine, in reality, is among the doctrines of the polytheists, as evidenced by His saying exalting what He related about them: “Those who associated others with Allah will say: If Allah had willed, we would not have associated [others with Him] …” until His saying: “Thus did those before them deny until they tasted Our punishment. Say: Do you have any knowledge that you can bring forth for us? You follow nothing but conjecture, and you are nothing but guessing.” [al Anʿām].
This polytheistic creed infiltrated the religion of the Muslims, and it received the support of the Umayyad rulers from the moment of its emergence during the reign of Muʿa wiyah ibn Abī Sufya n, who was the first to promote it.
The reason Muʿa wiyah, and thereafter the rest of Banu Umayyah, promoted this doctrine was what it contained of consolidating and strengthening the caliphate. For if people believe in this doctrine, they will be content with whatever Allah has willed, intended, decreed, predestined, and brought about regarding the authority of Muʿa wiyah.
Thus, Muʿa wiyah clothed his authority, through this doctrine, in the garb of legitimate caliphate, draped it in the mantle of religion, and thereby made it held high, even though the proofs of the Book openly proclaim the invalidity of this doctrine. Among them is His saying: “And Allah does not intend injustice for the servants” [Ghāfir: 31]; “And Allah does not love corruption” [al Baqarah: 205]; “And He is not pleased with disbelief for His servants” [al Zumar: 7]; “All of that its evil is disliked by your Lord” [al Isrāʾ]; “Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship” [al Baqarah: 185].
And He, Glorified and Exalted, said: “And I did not create the jinn and mankind except that they may worship Me” [al Dhāriyāt]. In this verse Allah Exalted is He clarified His intent in creating the jinn and mankind. And He, Glorified, said: “And We did not send you except as a mercy to the worlds” [al Anbiyāʾ]. In this verse He Exalted is He clarified what is intended by the sending of the messengers.
6-Their statements: Allah does not approve disbelief for His servants, nor does He love corruption; yet He Exalted is He wills and intends it.
We say: the coexistence of that is not valid, due to the contradiction it entails.
Do you not see that if a man were to say to his children: “I do not approve of you chewing qat, nor do I love it, but I will and intend that you chew it,” how would listeners view that man and his statement? There is no doubt that they would judge him to be ignorant and contradictory, and his speech contradictory if they do not judge him insane or foolish.
7-If they say: the fasting person may love eating during the daytime of Ramadan due to hunger, yet he does not will it because it involves disobedience to Allah Exalted is He; thus there is neither contradiction nor inconsistency.
We say: the believing fasting person does not love eating during the daytime of Ramad a n because it involves disobedience to Allah Exalted is He. Rather, he recoils from it with the utmost aversion and detests it; indeed, he detests the one who does it and is repelled by him. He neither wills it nor intends it all of that due to what eating entails of disobedience to Allah.
Source: Qaṣd Al-Sabīl ilā Maʿrifat Al-Jalīl
The Direct PathTo Knowing the Majestic
Authored by:Al-Sayyid al-‘Allamah al-Mujtahid
Muhammad bin Abd Allah Awad
(May Allah preserve him and prolong his life)