However, reasoning from such passages rests on the premise that an act is not identical to its result, and that the act of creation is not identical to what is created. This is the view of the majority of people, despite their differing affiliations, and it has been established elsewhere.

These people, in turn, hold two views. Some say that the act is eternal and inseparable from the Divine Essence, and is not subject to His will and power. Others say that it is subject to His will and power, even if action as a kind is said to be eternal. These latter appeal to the apparent meaning understood from the texts.

If an opponent interprets these texts to mean that only the result—the created thing—newly occurs, without any new act occurring, this is comparable to interpreting the texts concerning will, love, hatred, pleasure and displeasure to mean that, here too, only the created things that are willed, loved, approved of or disapproved of newly occur. Likewise, it is comparable to interpreting the texts concerning utterance, speech, discourse and the like to mean that only the creatures’ perception of these newly occurs, and to interpreting coming and arrival to mean that only some created thing newly occurs.

All these interpretations follow the same pattern, and there is no disagreement among people that they run contrary to the apparent meaning conveyed by the Quran and hadith.