These people found it impossible to reconcile justice with the divine decree. They argued that whoever affirms predestination cannot at the same time affirm justice, and that whoever upholds justice cannot possibly believe in predestination. Exactly the same difficulty, they said, attends the combination of monotheism and the affirmation of the divine attributes; to maintain the oneness of Allah, they felt compelled to deny His attributes. Their so-called monotheism thus turned into sheer negation, and their so-called justice into a flat rejection of the decree.

The people of the Sunnah, by contrast, affirm both. In their understanding, injustice is to place a thing outside its proper place—for example, to punish someone who obeys or one who has committed no sin—and Allah has declared Himself far above such injustice in many passages of His Book.

Although He, exalted be He, leads astray whom He wills and decrees sin and misguidance for whom He wills, that is pure justice, for He assigns misguidance and abandonment to the place that befits them. Is He not named al-ʿAdl, “the Just,” the One whose every act and judgment is sound, correct, and true?

He has clarified the paths, sent the messengers, revealed the scriptures, removed all excuses, and endowed people with hearing, sight, and intellect as means to guidance and obedience—this is His justice. He then grants success to whomever He wills with special care; that is His grace. As for those unworthy of His assistance, He forsakes them, leaves them to themselves, and does not will for Himself to guide them: He withholds His grace but does not withhold His justice.

This forsaking is of two kinds:

1. Retribution: a recompense for the servant’s turning away from Him, preferring His enemy through obedience and agreement, and neglecting His remembrance and gratitude. Such a person deserves to be abandoned.
2. That He does not will such favor for the servant from the outset, knowing that he would not recognize its worth