distorting words from their proper places, and deceiving ignorant people through their obfuscations. For this reason, advocates of compulsion were included under the designation of the condemned Qadariyya, because they engaged in false discourse about divine decree. This encompasses the grounds on which the Qadariyya were censured.

Thus, Imam Abū Bakr al-Khallāl gave a chapter in his Book of the Sunnah the heading: “Refutation of the Qadariyya and Their Claim That Allah Compelled His Servants to Commit Sins.”

He then narrated from ʿUmar ibn ʿUthmān, from Baqiyya ibn al-Walīd, who said:

“I asked al-Zubaydī and al-Awzāʿī about compulsion. Al-Zubaydī replied: ‘Allah’s command is too great, and His power too great, for Him to compel or obstruct. Rather, He decrees and determines, creates His servant and gives him whatever disposition He pleases.’

“Al-Awzāʿī said: ‘I know of no basis for compulsion in the Quran or the Sunnah, so I hesitate to speak of it. Divine decree, predestination, creation, and the formation of innate dispositions, however, are recognized in the Quran and in hadith from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. I have set this out only to counter doubt arising in a man of the Successor generation who adheres to the community and affirms the truth.’”