“I have surrendered to whatever You decree for me;
so every action of mine is pure obedience.”

It is self-evident that this clashes with everything for which Allah sent His messengers and revealed His scriptures. The sin for which one deserves blame and punishment is to oppose the command of Allah and His Messenger, as He, exalted be He, says:

“These are the limits set by Allah. Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, He will admit him to gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein forever—that is the supreme triumph. But whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits, He will admit him to a Fire in which he will dwell forever, and he shall suffer a humiliating torment.” [Q 4:13–14]

Later we shall explain the distinction between the irādah kawniyyah (Allah’s universal will) and the irādah dīniyyah (His religious will), and likewise between the universal command and the religious command. This issue once perplexed a group of Sufis until Junayd—may Allah have mercy on him—clarified it for them. Whoever followed Junayd in this was on the right path, whereas whoever opposed him went astray.

Those Sufis spoke of everything occurring by Allah’s will and power and of “witnessing” this monotheism, a state they call the first gathering (al-jamʿ al-awwāl). Junayd explained to them that one must then arrive at the second differentiation (al-farq al-thānī): even while recognizing that all things share in being subject to Allah’s will, power, and creation, one must distinguish between what He commands, loves, and is pleased with and what He forbids, hates, and is angered by, and between His allies and His enemies—

as Allah the Exalted says: “Shall We treat the Muslims like the criminals? What is the matter with you—how do you judge?” [Q 68:35–36]