The proof for these two levels is Allah’s statement: “Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is, over all things, Disposer of affairs; His are the keys of the heavens and the earth” (Q 39:62–63). And His statement: “To Him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. He has taken no son and has no partner in His dominion. He created all things and measured them with precise determination” (Q 25:2). And His statement: “Allah created you and what you do” (Q 37:96).

He created nothing except by His will, for none can compel Him; His sovereignty is perfect and His authority absolute.

Allah, clarifying that His own acts occur by His will, says: “Allah does whatever He wills” (Q 14:27), and: “Allah enlarges provision for whom He wills and restrains it” (Q 28:82).

Likewise, making clear that the acts of His creatures are by His will, He says: “For whoever among you wishes to be upright—but you do not will unless Allah, Lord of the worlds, wills” (Q 81:28–29). And He says: “Had Allah willed, those who came after them would not have fought one another after the clear proofs had come to them; yet they differed—some believed and others disbelieved. Had Allah willed, they would not have fought, but Allah does whatever He intends” (Q 2:253).

Divine decree (al-qadar) does not conflict with the creational or revealed causes that Allah has appointed, for the causes themselves form part of His decree. His linking of effects to their causes accords with the wisdom that is among His most exalted attributes—an attribute He has affirmed for Himself in many passages of His Book.

Among the creational causes is His statement: “Allah is the One who sends the winds; then they raise clouds, which He spreads in the sky as He wills, and He makes them fragments, so that you see the rain emerging from within them,” up to His words: “So look at the effects of Allah’s mercy: how He revives the earth after its death. Indeed—” (Q 30:48–50).