Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām - Abd Allah al-Bassam - (2/605)

Tawḍīḥ al-AḥkāmAbd Allah al-Bassam

Such people have leveled the charge of injustice against their Lord: He, they claim, punishes human beings for deeds that are not truly theirs, that occur without their will or power, but are instead the action of the very One who punishes them. They further allege that their Lord has obligated His servants with acts they cannot possibly perform and has forbidden them from deeds they are powerless to avoid, while compelling them to do those very deeds. In their eyes, therefore, He has burdened His servants with what lies beyond their ability.

By the same token, they accuse their Lord of frivolity in imposing duties that exceed human capacity, and they effectively nullify Allah’s commands and prohibitions, arguing that they are directed to people who possess no power either to carry them out or to refrain from them.

Allah, however, has guided the saved faction—Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah—to the truth on which those two deviant sects went astray. They have established that there is no contradiction between Allah’s all-embracing creation of every thing and the fact that the servant himself performs his deed in reality, not merely by figurative attribution.

Thus they say: the servant is genuinely the one who prays and fasts, just as he is genuinely the one who fornicates and steals. Every deed—good or evil—is something he carries out by his own will and choice; he is not coerced into acting or abstaining. If he wishes, he acts; if he wishes, he refrains. Therefore he deserves recompense for what he has sent ahead, whether it be righteous or wicked.

This reality is affirmed by revelation, by sensory experience, and by sound reason. Yet while establishing human action, Ahl al-Sunnah also hold that Allah is the One who created people’s capacity, will, and volition by which they choose and act, and He is the One who granted them this will and choice. He is the Creator of all the causes through which their actions come to be.

With this balanced, wise, middle position, the transmitted texts and rational proofs are brought into full harmony.

First, the Exalted says: “for whoever among you wishes to be upright. Yet you cannot will it unless Allah, Lord of all worlds, so wills.” (al-Takwīr 81:28-29)

وهؤلاء اتَّهموا ربَّهم بالظلم؛ لأنَّه يعذب الناس على أفعالٍ وأعمالٍ لا تنسب إليهم، ولم تقع بإرادتهم ولا قدرتهم، وإنما هي بفعل من عذَّبهم، واتَّهموا ربَّهم؛ بأنه كلف عباده بأعمالٍ لا قدرة لهم عليها، ونهاهم عن أعمالٍ لا يستطيعون الامتناع منها، فهم مُجبرون عليها. واتَّهموا ربهم بالعبث في تكليف عباده بما لا قدرة لهم عليه. وعطَّلوا أوامر الله تعالى ونواهيه؛ لأنَّها وُجِّهتْ إلى من ليس له قدرةٌ على القيام بها، ولا عن الامتناع منها. وهدى الله تعالى الفرقة الناجية: "أهل السنة والجماعة" إلى الحق، فيما اختلفت فيه هاتان الطائفتان الضالتان. فقرَّروا أنه لا منافاة بين عموم خلق الله تعالى لجميع الأشياء، وبين كون العبد هو فاعل فعله، حقيقةً لا مجازًا. فقالوا: إنَّ العبد هو المصلي والصائم، وهو الزاني والسارق حقيقةً، فأي عملٍ: خيرٍ أو شرٍّ هو الذي فعله بإرادته، واختياره إياه، فهو غير مُجْبر على الفعل أو الترك، فإنه لو شاء فعل، ولو شاء ترك، وبهذا فهو مستحقٌّ للجزاء على ما قدم، من فعلٍ طيبٍ أوسيءٍ. وإنَّ هذه الحقيقة ثايتة شرعًا وحسًّا وعقلاً. ومع إثبات ذلك للإنسان، فإنَّ الله ﵎ هو الذي خلق قدرتهم، وإرادتهم، ومشيئتهم، التي بها يريدون ويفعلون، وأعطاهم هذه الإرادة والاختيار، فهو الخالق لجميع الأسباب التي وقعت بها أعمالهم. وبهذا القول الوسط السليم الحكيم، تجتمع النصوص النقلية، والبراهين العقلية. أولاً: قال تعالى: ﴿لِمَنْ شَاءَ مِنْكُمْ أَنْ يَسْتَقِيمَ (٢٨) وَمَا تَشَاءُونَ إِلَّا أَنْ يَشَاءَ اللَّهُ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ (٢٩)﴾ [التكوير].