He, exalted be He, also says:

“Shall We place those who believe and do righteous deeds on a par with those who spread corruption on earth? Or shall We make the devout like the wicked?” [Q 38:28]

And He says:

“Do those who commit evil deeds imagine that We shall treat them as We treat those who believe and do righteous deeds—equal in their life and in their death? How badly they judge!” [Q 45:21]

And He says:

“The blind and the seeing are not alike, nor are those who believe and do righteous deeds and the evildoer. How seldom you reflect!” [Q 40:58]

For this reason the creed of the earliest generations of the ummah and its leading imams has always been that Allah is the Creator, Lord, and Sovereign of everything: whatever He wills comes to pass, and whatever He does not will cannot occur. There is no Lord besides Him. At the same time, He commands obedience and forbids disobedience; He does not love corruption, is not pleased with unbelief for His servants, and never enjoins indecency. Though such deeds take place by His will, He neither loves nor approves of them; rather, He hates them, denounces their perpetrators, and punishes them.

As for the third level, it is for a person to acknowledge neither obedience nor disobedience at all, because he views existence as a single reality. In their eyes this is the summit of realization and of closeness to Allah, whereas in truth it is the pinnacle of atheism regarding Allah’s names and signs, and the height of enmity toward Him. A person in this state befriends the Jews, the Christians, and every other unbeliever—yet Allah says, “Whoever of you takes them as allies is surely one of them” [Q 5:51]—and he does not disavow them