Tafsir al-Uthaymin Juz Amma - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (82)

Tafsir al-Uthaymin Juz AmmaIbn al-'Uthaymin

the messengers would not have constituted proof against us. There is therefore no doubt that a person acts by his own choice. Everyone knows that if he decides to go to Mecca, he does so by his own choice; if he decides to go to Medina, he does so by his own choice; if he decides to go to Jerusalem, he does so by his own choice; and if he decides to go to Riyadh—or anywhere else he wishes—he does so by his own choice. He neither considers himself to have been compelled by anyone nor feels that anyone has compelled him to do so. Likewise, whoever chooses to obey Allah does so by his own choice, and whoever chooses to disobey Allah does so by his own choice.

Thus, a person possesses a will. Yet we know with absolute certainty that he never wills anything unless Allah has already willed it. Hence He said: ﴾You do not will unless Allah wills.﴿ We do not will anything until Allah has willed it. When we will something, we know that Allah has willed it; had Allah not willed it, we would not have willed it. Allah the Exalted says:

﴾Had Allah willed, those who came after them would not have fought one another after clear proofs had come to them. But they differed: some of them believed and some disbelieved. Had Allah willed, they would not have fought one another.﴿ [al-Baqara: 253]

Thus, when we do something, we do it through our own will and choice, but we know that this will and choice came after the will of Allah—Glorious is His Majesty. Had Allah willed otherwise, we would not have done it.

If someone were to say, “Then we have an excuse for disobedience, since we willed it only after Allah had willed it,”

the answer is that we have no excuse, because we did not know that Allah had willed it until after we had done it, and we did it by our own choice. We therefore cannot say that Allah willed such-and-such until after it has occurred. Once it has occurred, by what means did it occur? It occurred through our own will and volition. It therefore does not stand to reason that a sinner should have an argument against Allah—Glorious is His Majesty. Allah has invalidated this argument in His words:

﴾Those who associated others with Allah will say, “Had Allah willed, neither we nor our forefathers would have associated others with Him, nor would we have forbidden anything.” Likewise, those before them denied until they tasted

الرسل حجة علينا، فالإنسان لا شك فاعل باختياره، وكل إنسان يعرف أنه إذا أراد أن يذهب إلى مكة فهو باختياره، وإذا أراد أن يذهب إلى المدينة فهو باختياره، وإذا أراد أن يذهب إلى بيت المقدس فهو باختياره وإذا أراد أن يذهب إلى الرياض فهو باختياره، أو إلى أي شيء أراده فهو باختياره لا يرى أن أحداً أجبره عليه، ولا يشعر أن أحداً أجبره على ذلك، كذلك أيضاً من أراد أن يقوم بطاعة الله فهو باختياره ومن أراد أن يعصي الله فهو باختياره، فللإنسان مشيئة ولكن نعلم علم اليقين أنه ما شاء شيئاً إلا وقد شاءه الله من قبل، ولهذا قال: ﴿وما تشاؤون إلا أن يشاء الله﴾ ما نشاء شيئاً إلا بعد أن يكون الله قد شاءه، فإذا شئنا الشيء علمنا أن الله قد شاءه، ولولا أن الله شاءه ما شئناه. كما قال تعالى: ﴿ولو شاء الله ما اقتتل الذين من بعدهم من بعد ما جاءتهم البينات ولكن اختلفوا فمنهم من آمن ومنهم من كفر ولو شاء الله ما اقتتلوا﴾ [البقرة: ٢٥٣] . فنحن إذا عملنا الشيء نعمله بمشيئتنا واختيارنا، ولكن نعلم أن هذه المشيئة والاختيار كانت بعد مشيئة الله ﷿، ولو شاء الله ما فعلنا. فإن قال قائل: إذن لنا حجة في المعصية لأننا ما شئناها إلا بعد أن شاءها الله. فالجواب: أنه لا حجة لنا لأننا لم نعلم أن الله شاءها إلا بعد أن فعلناها، وفعلنا إياها باختيارنا، ولهذا لا يمكن أن نقول إن الله شاء كذا إلا بعد أن يقع، فإذا وقع فبأي شيء وقع؟ وقع بإرادتنا ومشيئتنا، لهذا لا يتجه أن يكون للعاصي حجة على الله ﷿ وقد أبطل الله هذه الحجة في قوله: ﴿سيقول الذين أشركوا لو شاء الله ما أشركنا ولا آباؤنا ولا حرمنا من شيء كذلك كذّب الذين من قبلهم حتى ذاقوا