and He, Exalted be He, also says:

“Does man think that he will be left without purpose?” (Qur’an 75:36) — that is, unattended, with no commands to carry out and no prohibitions to avoid.

[Hadith: “Adam and Moses disputed” — authentication and commentary]

The two authentic collections report that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said:

“Adam and Moses engaged in a debate. Moses said, ‘O Adam, you are the father of humankind. Allah created you with His own Hand, breathed into you of His spirit, and commanded His angels to prostrate to you. Yet you expelled us and yourself from the Garden!’

Adam replied, ‘And you are Moses, whom Allah selected for His speech and for whom He wrote the Torah with His own Hand. How many years before I was created did you find it written against me, “Adam disobeyed his Lord and went astray” (Qur’an 20:121)?’

Moses said, ‘Forty years.’

Adam said, ‘So do you blame me for a matter Allah had decreed for me forty years before He created me?’

The Prophet added, ‘Thus Adam prevailed over Moses in the argument,’ meaning that he silenced him with proof.

Two sects have gone astray over this hadith. One group rejected it outright, imagining that it removes reproach and punishment from anyone who disobeys Allah on the grounds of predestination. A second group—worse than the first—actually used it as proof for that claim. They sometimes say that destiny is a valid plea for those “people of reality” who have witnessed it, or for those who fail to see