Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

The Second Front in the Conflict of Thought

Oppositeto this trend, (AlMutazilah ) emerged as a reflex to the (Ashairah ) dogma. (AlMutazilah ) went to the extreme in understanding man and the universe - naturally as any other reflex may emerge; they believed that Allah the Sublime created the universe, rupturing thereafter all relations between Him and it; thus this universe runs within a static code of laws and regulations moving in isolation from Allah the Sublime’s will;

exactly similar to an engineer who had thoroughly composed a factory, assigning thereafter some other engineers to run it, to go then to his own business - such a factory will keep on running within a code fixed systems even though the engineer who composed it is absent.

Thus (AlMutazilah ) tend to imagine Allah the Sublime’s relation with this universe as a relation that is conditioned to the stage of making; man - after that - is free to act according to his own will and free choice on earth, for Allah the Sublime has let him to his own, and His only relation to man concerns making, innovating creating and composing him at the stage of making exclusively.

This approach safeguards AlMutazilah from attributing injustice to Allah the Sublime, but it confiscates Allah’s authority on man and the universe, limiting it to a single stage, theoretically excluding Allah the Sublime’s grace and assistance off man’s life; going so far to claim that Allah the Sublime had created man and bestowed on him whatever talents he chose, then he let go of him, leaving him to his own, alone to face his destiny and responsibilities.

The most dangerous thing in this approach - added to the ideological and intellectual dangers it imposes - is that it blocks or weakens man’s relation to Allah the Sublime in his daily life,work and movement. For man’s relation to Allah the Sublime at its mostis not attained through (ideology) or (worship) alone, rather it is attained through his permanent need to Allah the Sublime in his daily work and movement;

through the support, backing and assistance that Allah gives to man everywhere, at the market, at home, in his political activity, and in time of troubles and problems. Such troubles and problems that face man make him refuge to Allah the Sublime establishing a firm connection with Him. These troubles are in fact Allah’s examination to His good servants.

The Sublime says:

[ThenWe seized them (upon their disobedience) in distress and adversity in order that they might submit (to the truth) with humility] ALAna'm v. 42.

The theory of man’s independence to act and choose is situated right at the opposite end to this approach (which the gracious verses reveal); rupturing the daily relationship between man and Allah the Sublime; (AlMutazilah ) trend, - in order to confront (AlAshairah ) trend - deepens the concept of man’s independence and freedom to choose, decide, act move, asserting that Allah the Sublime authorized man these options, providing him with the essentials he requires in addition to the freedom to decide, choose and act.

The Holy Quran - on the other hand - gives different kinds of assertions that do not meet with this trend, rather they deepen in man a feeling that contradicts it.

Whoever reads (Al Quran) will no doubt feel that this book tries and intends to draw our feelings,minds and hearts towards Allah the Sublime through this point exclusively; exactly opposite to the (Mutazilah ) trend.Zuhdy Jar Allah in his book about (AlMutazilah ) says: (As ifAlMutazilah in theirdefence of the origin of monotheism went so far to fight and repudiate everything that opposes it claiming that: Allah the Sublime distributed the religious graces equally among men, neverfavouring the prophets and angels with a special grace or infallibility or any other divine grace that might distinguish them from the others.

Furthermore, (AlMutazilah ) denied any kind of intercession to forgive the people’s sins on the Day of Judgment for it implicates a sort of partiality to a certain party.

They went as far as saying that; theQuranic verses which connote that Allah guides people to virtue, success, delusion, deserting some of them and making their hearts (and minds) closed to conversion; those verses - according to them - contradict the principle of Divine Justice and the idea of individual freedom, thus they insisted that such verses should be interpreted in another way; thus they explained the meaning of (Guidance) by saying that it is figuratively used (as a word) to signify righteousness, correct judgment and conversion; Allah the Sublime has nothing to do with actual guidance of hearts.

Interpreting (success) they said: It is a general success achieved through showing people theQuranic verses, sendingmessengers and revealing His Book.

In respect of delusion, they justified it into two meanings: The first by saying (Allah the Sublime has deluded (misleaded )some one ) i.e. He has named him deluded, or that He has told us he ismisleaded .

The second by saying (Allah has punished man for his delusion.)

The same interpretation applies to the concept of desertion; for it is a figurative usage of the word (desert) to signify that the Sublime has doomed somebody with desertion. Such an understanding should not ever lead to the conclusion that Allah deludes, tempts, or prevents people from doing something. (AlFutty ) and his student (Abbad binSoliman ) were the most rigid among (AlMutazilah ) in relation to this matter.

((AlFutti ) for example used to refuse attributing some acts (deeds) to Allah the Sublime - even though the Holy Quran frankly attributed them to Him; hence we must not say that Allah the Sublime brings the Muslim’s hearts together, rather they themselves willingly bring their hearts together; nor should we say that the Sublime makes them tend to faith bringing it close to their hearts, nor should we say that He deludes the wrongdoers.). [6]

If the first concept (AlAshairah’s ) tends to suspect Allah the Sublime’s (Divine Justice); the current concept suspects (Monotheism) of Allah, and the relationship between man and Allah.

Hence forth the Progeny (A.S.) found themselves facing another front of conflict that was no less dangerous and important than the first one; and if they (A.S.) were defending the (Divine Justice) at the first place; they, at the second place were defending Monotheism as a doctrine. The Progeny (A.S.) confronted this enormous mass of mistakes and deviations that deeply inflict the (Divine Justice) and (Monotheism) as two fundamentals of the Islamic concept; politicians’ hands could easily reach those ideas and fundamentals.

Let us have a look, how did the Progeny (A.S.) face and deal with this case.

Notes

[1] (ALBayan Fi Tafseer AL Quran)Ayatullah Sayyed Ab AlQuasim AlKhooa'y . P. 102.

[2] (Sharh Aquaid As Sadoque ),Sayied Hebatullah . AlShahristany p. 197-200, AlHaidariah pub. House, Najaf, 1393Hijrah .

[3] Ibid. page 200.

[4]Tasheh Al -Eatequad . AlShaikh AlMuffeed : p. 200 AlHaydryah pub. House., Najaf 1393Hijrah .

[5] Ibid p. 202.

[6] AlMutazilah .Zudhi Jar Allah p: 100 - 102.

Chapter Four: The Progeny (A.S.) Defending (Justice) and (Monotheism)

Hereafter we shall try to collect and classify the fundamentals of thought, which the Imams of the progeny (A.S.) have presented to declare that misunderstanding of the Islamic concept. We shall introduce these ten fundamentals one after another.

1. Destiny and Fate as a System in the Universe

The system that reigns over this universe is a (necessary inevitable) and (punctual accurate) one; nothing might happen - under the same circumstances and factors - except the thing that had already taken place.

This system is established according to the system of (cause effect) ruling over the whole universe, this system is not limited to the physical material world; rather it reigns over the metaphysical world too.

Casualty system is the system of destiny and fate, for part of the fundamentals of (casualty) is the (inevitable) being of (effect) whenever the (cause) happens to be; in addition to the quantitative and qualitative identification of the (effect).

Thus, when a match is rubbed against the rough surface of a matchbox, fire and heat necessarily, inevitably and certainly are produced (unless there were some hindrances) furthermore, the heat emitted from this friction has a limited identified quantity that is proportionate to the size of the match stick, the degree of friction, and the nature of the rough surface. The inevitability of (effect) occurrence is (destiny), its quantitative, qualitative identification is (fate). Hence (destiny) means the inevitable necessity, and (fate) (AlQaudar ) means estimation and quantity.[ 1]

AlKulainy relates fromYunus bin AbdulRahman who relates a conversation between him andAbul Hassan ALRedha ( A.S.):

O,Yunus ! Do you know whatis fate ?

I said: No.

Hesaid: It is engineering and fixing the limits of being (survival) and nothingness (extinction).

He (A.S.) also said: (Destiny is arrangement (Ibram ).[ 2]

So , this universe is a band of organized links of a chain, and the law that governs over it is inevitability, necessity, estimation, and identification (AlTahdeed ).

The individual and social life of man is not an exception or a novelty in this universe, he is subject to thelaws and codes that rule over the universe, thus man, his deeds and individual or social movement are situated within the circuit of destiny and fate. If he stands up to support Allah giving and sacrificing for him, Allah will support him. The Sublime said:

[If you make efforts in Allah’s way, He will help you] Muhammad v.7 .

And if man languishes and slacks off, Allah will leave him to his own; if he moves, works and activates himself Allah will enrich him; if he turns lazy and weak Allah will leave him wadding through his laziness and weakness; if he becomes honest Allah will support and lead him to success, if he lies and cheats, Allah will leave him to his lying, cheating, trickery and bluff.

All these are part of Allah’s norms,destiny and fate. Man lives absolutely within the circuit of Allah’s destiny and fate, subject to the inevitability, system and the obligations they (destiny and fate) dictate.

Muhammad bin Jacob AlKulainy narrates:Ameeral Mumenien ( A.S.) after the battle of (Saffien ) was sitting somewhere in (AlKuffah ), and old man approached him and knelt before his hands saying:

(O,Ameeral Mumenien ! Is our campaign to (Al Sham) part of Allah’s destiny and fate?

Ameerul Mumenien said: AyeAye old man! You may never climb a hill or descend into a valley only by the destiny and fate of Allah.

The old mansaid: OAmeerul Mumenien ! Allah then will pay back formy efforts.

He (A.S.) said: O, old man! Wait a minute, by the name of Allah, He has already rewarded you; during your march during your stay and during your departure, never once were you obliged or compelled to do something.

The old man said:How come you say, “We were not obliged or compelled” while you yourself say, “our march, campaign and departure were part of destiny and fate?”

He (A.S.) said:

Now, do you think it was an inevitable destiny and a compelling fate?If it were so, Allah’s reward, punish-ment , commands and prohibitions, as well as His promises of a better end and threats for wicked deeds would have been meaningless; hence the guilty would not have been reproached and the good would not have been praised; rather the guilty would have much better deserved reward than the good; and the good would have much better deserved punishment instead of the guilty.

That is what the brethren of Satan worshipers, the foes of the Beneficent, the party of the devil, those who believe in determinism as well as theMagis say. Allah the Sublime has assigned to the people their tasks giving the option and warning them just to keep them alert, rewarding generously for a few good deeds, He has never been disobeyed unwillingly and He has never obliged the people to obey Him;

He has never given anybody any authorization to own something; he had never created heaven, earth and what isinbetween them in vain; He had never sent the Prophets heralding of heaven and warning of hell in vain. That is what the disbelieversthink, woe to the disbelievers, fire awaits them.

The old man stood up and started to recite the following couplets:

You are the Imam we obey anticipating

On the Day of Judgment that our obedience

May intercede for us before the Beneficent,

You have removed what is ambiguous in our problem

May God answer yourfavour to us by afavour from Him.[ 3]

The first part of the text pertains to (destiny) and (fate) in general; it contains all man’s activities and movement represented in what theImam( A.S.) said:

(Aye Aye O old man! You may never climb a hill or descend into a valley only by the destiny and fate of Allah).

2. (Destiny and Fate) is the Divine System in the Universe and in Man’s life

This system by all its details is Allah the Sublime’s creation and innovation; it embodies Allah’s will and desire. Whatever are find in the whole universe and in man’s life of deeds, reactions, movements, births, extinctions, weakness and growth only take place by Allah theSublime’s will and desire within the circuit of destiny and fate up to the levels of casualty laws that reigns over the universe.

Strange enough, some people seek Allah the Sublime and His deeds only by penetrating this universal system, never seeking Him at the core of the system itself, as if this system runs in a direction other than Allah the Sublime’s, and as if He only gets through, blocks and alters this system.

The late (Sadrul Mutaalihien ) discussing (Fakhruldeen AlRazy’s opinionssay:

(Themost strange thing is that whenever those people intend to prove any origin of religion like proving the potency of the Maker,Prophethood or the afterworld - they are compelled to cripple the quality of nature, repudiating the reasonable connection among things and the subjectiveexistenecialist order and the essential system of beings which is the changeless norm of Allah.)

They often refuge to this habit to prove most of the ideological origins, the way this man (the advocate of their theologians) has done (referring to ALRazi author of the Interpretation).

Believing that all events of the universe and every wicked and good deed in man’s life are only Allah the Sublime’s destiny and fate; and believing that everything in the universeis destined by Allah’s fate is an essential faith for the ideology of every Muslim.

AlSadouqu narrated from the Messenger of Allah(S.A.) (None of you may attain complete faith unless he believes in fate, its good side and its bad one, its sweet side and its bitter one.) [4]

(AlKulainy ) in his (AlKafi ) narrated from Abu Abdullah AlSadiqu (A.S.) who said:Ameerul Mumenien (A.S.) used to say: (No servant of God can find the nectar of faith unless he realizes that he would never have missed anything he had gained, and would never had gained anything that he had missed; and that Allah the Great and Al mighty is the only Useful and Harmful one).[5]

(AlSadouqu ) in (AlTawheed ) narrates from Ali bin Musa ALRidha (A.S.) who narrates from his father and great grand fathers up to Ali binAbi Taleb (A.S.) who said:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) saying:

(Allah (Exalted be His Supremacy) said: that who does not accept my destiny and fate ought to seek a god other than Me.). [6]

3. The Divine Permanent Guardianship on the System of Destiny and Fate in the Universe

Some may think that Allah the Sublime hasinnovated the system of destiny and fate in the universe and in man’s life, separating Himself from it thereafter, so that this system within the universe and society moves and acts the way the factory that has been composed by an engineer operates without his personal presence.

The universe - in turn - moves according to the law of destiny and fate innovated by Allah the Sublime at the stage of making, later on to move independently away from Allah’s reign and domination. Man too, makes his choice and acts within the circuit of destiny and fate system independent from Allah the Sublime’s will and intention; although this system originally was made by Allah’s will and intentions; this represents an old Jewish concept which claims that Allah’s reign and domination is restrained after the stage of making the universe.

[The Jews said: Allah’s hand is fettered,Be their hands fettered and they be cursed for what they uttered! Nay, Allah’s hands are widely outstretched: He spends (of His bounty) as He wills.]AlMaidah v. 64.

As we see in the verse, theQuranic concept ultimately differs from the precedent concept; theQuranic conceptis represented in short in the Sublime’s speech:

[Nay, Allah’s hands are widely out-stretched]

Allah is the eternal-living; slumber does not overtake Allah nor does sleep, His guardianship over this universe never comes to an end; so the system of the universe and society only runs by Allah the Sublime’s will and intention, man and universe are never separated from Allah’s will and intention even for a single moment.

Man’s will only runs according to Allah’s will and intention as the Sublime says:

[And you shall not wish the truth and shall not be in search of the straight path unless it be the will of Allah the creator of the worlds]AtTakwir v. 29.

[And you mankind do not decide something unless Allah decides so, verily, Allah is the knowingDecreer ]AlInsan v. 30.

AlSadouqu quoted the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) saying: “I narrate my speech from Allah: Allah the Sublime, Blessed be He says: O, son of Adam! By My intention you yourself intended what you wanted, and by My will you yourself willed what you wished, and by My grace upon you, you became strong enough to disobey Me, and by My support and protection you did my religious obligations… etc”.[7]

InAmeerul Mumenien’s (A.S.) speech to the old man who inquired about their trip to (Saffin ) a paragraph that says: (He has never given anybody any authorization to own something); which means that Allah the Sublime did not authorize anybody to His power and domination, rather He is always the guardian over it; and he is the Eternal Living; and whoever might think that Allah the Sublime has authorized him to do as he likes, suspending His guardianship so that he becomes independent from Allah the Sublime in his free choice and act; such a man is only degrading the authority of Allah the Great and Almighty, as is shown in the following texts:

(AlSadougu ) narrates fromHuraiz bin Abdullah who quotesAbi Abdullah( A.S.):

(People have three approaches to fate, some of them claim that Allah the Great and Al mighty compels man to disobey and commit misdeeds, such people with an approach like this are doing injustice to Allah, so they are non-believers.

Others claim that man is authorized todo as he likes; these people are degrading the authority of Allah the Great and Almighty; so they too are non-believers.

The third group claims that Allah has assigned to man duties and obligations that match his potency, never assigning to him tasks that overbear it, and if man does well he will praise Allah, and if he misbehaves he asks for Allah’s forgiveness; such people are real mature Muslims.) [8]

In this universe and in man’s life, nobody can give or holds his giving but for Allah’s will and decision; furthermore, every luxury and poverty, and every ease and difficulty in life are subject to Allah’s will and determination. AbuAbdullah( A.S.) is quoted saying:

(No act of giving or withholding a giving takes place without the will of Allah who determines whether they are part of destiny or an examination to man).[ 9]

Hence Allah the Sublime maintains a permanent presence in the whole universe and in the whole space of destiny and fate, he does not miss anything, and nothing might take place within this space without His presence, He has a permanent guardianship over this universe and He is the Eternal-Living.

[There is no God but Allah the Eternal-live, slumber does not overtake Allah, nor does sleep]AlBaquarah v.255.

4. Disobedience and peoples’ misdeedsare committed only by Allah’s destiny and fate; Allah is never disobeyed against His will

If every incident in this universe as well as in man’s life is determined by destiny and fate, and if destiny and fate only run by Allah’s will and permission, inevitably then all man’s deeds of good or evil, obedience or disobedience, should only take place and formulate by Allah’s permission and will; hence man’s sins and disobediences may never be excluded from the circuit of Allah’s authority, destiny, fate and leave. The Sublime said:

[Though they could not thus harm anyone except by Allah’s leave]AlBaquarah v. 102.

[And if Allah had willed they would not have done so] AlAna'm v. 137.

[And had Allah so willed they would not have fought]AlBaquarah v. 253.

[And had Allah willed, He would have taken away (by thunder and lightning) their faculties of hearing and seeing]AlBaquarah v. 20.

If man disobeys God the Great and Almighty, he will rather disobey Him by means of the power, potency and authority bestowed on him by Allah the Sublime; and if Allah the Sublime confiscates his power and potency man would not be able to disobey Allah, it is a fact the Quran authenticates and we ought to admit regardless of the lengthy arguments AlAsha'irah arise about this topic.

The late AlKulainy narrates fromHamza binHemran who said: I askedAbi Abdullah(A.S.) about the ability to act, he did not answer me; I tried again saying: May Allah amend your stance in the hereafter I say: Allah the Sublime Graces be upon Him did not assign to the people tasks that exceed their ability and did not ask them things beyond their capability, they themselves wouldno do anything of the kind only by Allah’s will, leave, destiny and fate.

Abu Abdullah (A.S.) said: (This is Allah’s religion to which I and my Dynasty adhere).[ 10]

Ali binIbrahiem AlHashmi said: I heardAbdull Hassan Musa binJaffar ( A.S.) saying:

(Nothing ever might be except for Allah’s leave, will, fate and destiny).[ 11]

(AsSadouqu ) in AlTawheed narrates from Ali binYaquteen who narrates fromAbi Ibrahiem (A.S.) who said: (Ameerul Mumenien (A.S.) passed by some people in AlKuffah who were enthusiastically discussing fate, he (A.S.) asked the major one who was talking: Are you able to act by Allah’s leave, with Allah’s leave or without Allah’s leave?

The man did not know what to say.

He (A.S.) said: if you claim that you are able (by) Allah, so you will have nothing to do with your deeds; and if you claim that you are able (with) Allah, you will makeyour self a partner in His dominion; and if you claim that you are able without Allah you will claim yourself a god other than Allah the Great and AL mighty).[12]

ALKulainy narrates from Ali bin Al Hakim and Abdullah binYazeed , all of them narrating from a man fromBassrah who said: I askedAba Abdullah( A.S.) about ability. He (A.S.) said: (can you do whatever Allah has not made?

I said: no!

He (A.S.) said: (can you forsake whatever Allah has made?

I said: no!

Abu Abdullah said: (Then when are you able to act?

I said: I do not know!

He (A.S.) said:

(Allah has created the people giving them the device of ability, but never authorizing them fully to act, thus they are able to act in time of action by means of the act itself in case they made that act. If they did not make it (under Allah’s domination they would not be able to make something which they have not done; for Allah the Great and Almighty is too great and dignified to be disobeyed (in His dominion) by anybody).

The man fromBasrah said: People then are compelled to act aren’t they?

He (A.S.) said: (If they were compelled to act, their misdeeds would have been excused and forgiven).

The mansaid: Then they have been authorized to act the way they like, are not they?

He (A.S.) said: No!

The mansaid: Then what about them?

He (A.S.) said: (Allah knew that theywill act, so He gave them the device of action, if ever they act, they will be able to act.)

The man fromBassrah said: I testify here it is right, and you are really the progeny of Muhammad the prophet and the Messenger.[ 13]

The late ALKulainy narrates from Muhammad binAbi Abdullah who relate fromSahl binZyad and Ali binIbrahiem who relates from Ahmed bin Muhammad and Muhammad binYahya narrating from Ahmed bin Muhammad relating from Ali bin AlHakam who narrates fromSalih Al Neely who said: I askedAba Abdullah(A.S.): Are the people able to do anything?

He (A.S.) said: (If they make an act, they are only able to do it by means of theability which Allah gave them).

I said: And what is this ability?

He(A.S.) said: (The device is similar to a fornicator who was able to fornicate when he did, and if ever he has given it up, preferring not to commit fornication he would have been able to do so. Then he (A.S.) added:

Before committing the deed more or less he has no ability, but he was able to act or forsake acting during the time of doing.

I said: Why should Allah torture him then?

He (A.S.) said: He tortures him for the pretext He has already shown him, and for the device of ability implemented in him by Allah, Allah never compels anybody to disobey Him, neither does He inevitably will anybody to disbelieve; but when he disbelieves it is part of Allah’s will, and it is part of Allah’s will and knowledge that no good will befall such people.

I said: Then Allah wanted them to disbelieve, did notHe?

He (A.S.) said: (I do not say this, rather I say: Allah already knew that they will disbelieve so he wanted them to do so for he knew their intention, this is not an inevitable will, rather it is the will of free choice).[14]

AsSadouqu narrated fromHafss binQurtt who related fromAbi Abdullah AsSadiqu ( A.S.):

(The Messenger of Allah(S.A.) said: That who claims that Allah commands the people to commit misdeeds and sins only lies to Allah, and that who claims that good and evil take place without the permission and will of Allah such a claimant in fact has cast Allah off his authority and dominion; and that who claims that sins are committed without reliance on Allah’s potency is in fact lying to Allah, and Allah for lying to Him will drive him to hell.) [15]

AsSaheh quotes AsSadouqu in AlTawheed and ALUoyoon as saying:

My father told us thatSaad bin Abdullah said that Ahmed bin Muhammad bin Khalid ALBarqui had told him (relating from his father fromSulaiman binJaffar AlJaffari fromAbi Al Hassan AlRedha (A.S.) who commented on the matter of Determinism and Authorization by Saying:

(MayI give you a fundamental suggestion that you may never differ about and by means of which you can win any argument?

Wesaid: AyeAye if youwhish .

He (A.S.) said: People have never obeyed Allah the Great and Almighty by force, neither have they disobeyed Him in spite of Him, He never did neglect the people in His dominion, never leaving them to their own; He possesses what He has made them possess; He is able to do whatever He has enabled them to do; if they accept to obey Him He would never prevent or prohibit them to do so, and if they choose to disobey Him, He might prevent them - if he wishes -, and if he does not and they went so far to commit that disobedience, He would not be the cause for it.

He (A.S.) then said: He whoever masters the connotation of this speech can win over anybody who argues about this case.[ 16] ALKulainy also related fromIsmaiel binJaber who said:

“In the mosque of AlMadinah there was a man lecturing a mass of people about fate.I said: “listen man, can I ask you something? He said: go onask? I said: could it be that something against the will of Allah the Sublimeget done under His dominion? The Man pondered for a long while then raised his head and said:

Listen man: If I sayyes there are things done under His dominion against His will, - I then - shall be affirming that He is overwhelmed. And if I say that only the things He wants, get done under His domination, I shall be affirming that sins and wrongdoings are done by Allah’s will and leave.

The narrator relates that on tellingAba Abdullah (A.S.) that incident with the man’s answer, He (A.S.) pondered for a while thus to say:

(Speaking otherwise he would have died.) [17]

AsSadouqu in AlTowheed quotes Ali bin Musa AlRedha As: (My father narrated from hisfathers up to Al Hussein bin Ali (A.S.) who said:

I heard my father Ali binAbi Taleb (A.S.) says:

Man’s deedsare classified into three categories:

1. Duties.

2. Virtues (supererogatory deeds).

3. Sins (disobediences).

Allah the Great and Almighty’s command, consent, determination, destiny and fate, will and knowledge, fulfill the duties.

The virtues: (supererogatory deeds) are donewith out Allah’s command but by His consent, fate, destiny,will and knowledge.

The sins: are committed without Allah’s command but by His fate, destiny, will and knowledge, thereafter He will punish man for them).[ 18]

This is a forthright text signifying that whatever sins and wrongdoings man may commit, they only may be committed by Allah’s fate,destiny and knowledge, never by Allah’s command.

5. “Distinguishing Allah’s Formative Will from His Legislative Will”

If Allah the Sublime may never be disobeyed against His will then disobedience may only take place by His permission,determination and will. This is a fact we must conclude; then we may ask: How come that Allah wants the people to disobey Allah, while He orders them not to do so, neveraccepting or willing it?This is a complex at which the historical debate between (AlAsha'irah ) and (AlMutazilah ) used to come to astand still .

Ibn ALKhayat says: Husham bin AbdulMalik (the Caliph) on hearing (Ghailan AlDamashqui )’s thesis of free choice sent for him and said to him: Woe for youGhailan ! People keep talking about you, so tell us what you really think, if it is right we shall adhere to you. ThenHusham asked the presence of (Maymoon binMarwan ) to discuss withGhailan his opinion.Ghailan asked him. Did Allah mean tobe disobeyed ?Maymoon answered by asking him Was He disobeyed against hiswill? Ghailan was stunned and could not answer, soHusham binAbdulMalik dismembered him.[ 19]

Itis also said that (Ghailan ALDamashqui ) who used to believe in man’s free choice came one day to (Rabiah AlRaii ) who used to believe in determinism of destiny and fate, addressing him thus: “Are you the one who claims that Allah likes to be disobeyed?

(Rabiah ) said: Are you the one who claims that Allah is disobeyed against His will?[ 20]

This incredible complex may be solved by distinguishing the formative will from the legislative will, an attitude which theProgeny( A.S.) adopted to solve this problem, perhaps for the first time during the reasonable history of Islam. Then and only then,Ghailan’s answer toMaymoon binMarwan or to (Rabiah AlRaii ) could be clear, He would not have meditated long before giving the decisive answer to this strange question.

The answer is:

Allah is never disobeyed by force against His will, if force and obligation is meant to signify the (formative will) rather Allah the Sublime is disobeyed by His own will without obligation or force as we have already clearly exposed. If force and obligation is meant to signify (the legislative will),

Allah then might be disobeyed though He dislikes disobedience for people who often disobey Allah the Sublime, a thing which He dislikes and abhors, and which brings about His wrath upon them, yet these disobediences take place by His own will and permission under His reign and dominion and by means of the potency and power that He had given to the people.

Thedifference between both wills (to give leave or not to give) connote no contradiction, if we thoroughly distinguish the formative will from the legislative will. We do not know for sure whether such a distinction between both wills was handy then or not.

It goes beyond suspicion that such distinction was not handythen, else (Ghailan AlDamashqui ) would have answered (Maymoon ) or (Rabiah AlRaii ) if that narration happens to be correct.

Anyway, let us ponder over the texts that distinguish these wills related by the Progeny (A.S.):

AlKulainy narrates fromAbi Abdullah( A.S.): I heard him says: (Allah has issued his command but He did not want; in other cases He wanted but did not issue His command.

He ordered Satan (Iblies ) to prostrate before Adam, though He did not want him to prostrate; ever he did, Satan would have prostrated. He also ordered Adam not to eat from the tree, but He wanted him to eat from it; ever He did not really want that; Adam would never have eaten).[ 21]

The late AlKulainy also relates from Ali binIbrahiem who relates from (AlMukhtar bin Muhammad ALHamdany ) and (Muhammad bin Al Hassan), from (Abdullah bin Al Hassan AlAlawy ), all these relate from (AlFateh binYazeed ALJurgany ) who relates from (Abi AL Hassan) (A.S.) who said:

(Allah has two wills and two wishes, a will of determinism and a will of intention, He disapproves of something, yet He wishes it, other where He commands man to do something yet He does not wish it, do not you see that He has prevented Adam and his wife from eating the fruit of the tree yet He did want them to eat; if ever He did not really want them to eat, they would not have violated Allah the Sublime’s wish.

Other where, He ordered (Ibrahiem ) to slay his son (Ismail), yet He did not really want him to slay his son, if ever did he want that;Ibrahiem’s will would have never exceeded the will of Allah the Sublime).[22]