As for the transmitted proof, Allah sent messengers to mankind, clarified for them the truth and falsehood, and established the evidence against them: “messengers bringing good tidings and warning, so that mankind would have no argument against Allah after the messengers” (4:165).

Real injustice would be for Him to say, “Do this,” you then do it, and He punishes you. But when He says, “Do not do this,” and you nevertheless do it and are punished, that is in no way unjust. If a father were to say to his son, “Do not do that,” and the son disobeyed and the father disciplined him, people would deem that fair and corrective. Observe, then, their deception—may Allah protect us—their contentious disputation, and the baselessness of their claim.

They further assert that Allah wills only what He commands, reducing divine will (irādah) to command—that is, to the prescriptive command (amr sharʿī). This is false: were He to will only what He legislatively commands, most people would be acting outside His will, for nine hundred and ninety-nine out of a thousand fail to carry out Allah’s prescriptive will. There is unmistakably a difference between approval, which follows the command, and the all-encompassing will (mashīʾa) that includes both what He has commanded and what He has not commanded.

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Later Imāmī Shīʿites such as al-Mufīd, Abū Jaʿfar al-Ṭūsī, and their like espoused the same view.

Explanation

Here the Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—refers to them as “Shīʿah,” whereas earlier he called them “Rāfiḍites.” They are Shīʿah by their own claim of supporting ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, yet they are in fact Rāfiḍites.