As for their doctrine of “justice,” its gist is that Allah did not will everything that exists, did not create it all, and is not capable of controlling it all. In their estimation, the actions of human beings—whether good or evil—were not created by Allah; He willed only what He commanded legislatively, while everything else occurs outside His will.

Explanation
This, in their eyes, is justice. They say: Allah does not will everything; He does not will the deeds of His servants, nor did He create all things. Their argument is: if Allah willed people’s actions, created those actions, and then punished them for them, that would be injustice. Therefore, if we claim that He neither willed nor created those actions yet still punishes people because they themselves willed and produced them, that, they say, is justice. Present this reasoning to an average layperson and he will agree at once: “How could Allah will their deeds, create their deeds, and then punish them for those very deeds? That would be unjust.” Hence they conclude that Allah did not will the servant’s act and did not create it.

Our reply is that this view in fact disables and demeans the Creator: it posits that events occur in His realm that He neither wills nor desires, or that there exists a created entity He did not bring into being. Yet Allah says, “Allah is the Creator of everything” (39:62). We further say that injustice is negated on two grounds: rational and scriptural.

The rational proof is that Allah has granted human beings an intellect by which they discern what harms and what benefits them. They are not like cattle; rather, they possess a mind with which to act, and at no point has He deprived them of that intellect.