when he said: “An agent’s act is his principal’s act, for whoever swears not to perform an act and then appoints someone else to perform it has broken his oath.” He supported this with the words of Allah, Mighty and Majestic:
“Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and those that do not die during their sleep.” [al-Zumar: 42]
And His words, exalted is He:
“Say, ‘The Angel of Death who has been entrusted with you will take you.’” [al-Sajdah: 11]
He said: “Thus, the Angel of Death’s act is Allah’s act, Mighty and Majestic.”
This is ill-considered reasoning of the utmost unsoundness. The Angel of Death’s act is indeed Allah’s act, exalted is He, because He creates it and truly brings it about. The same applies to the acts of all other servants: Allah creates them and brings them about. Allah, exalted is He, says:
“Allah created you and what you do.” [al-Sāffāt: 96]
And He says:
“Indeed, those you invoke besides Allah will never create a fly, even if they gathered together for that purpose. And if the fly should snatch anything from them, they could not recover it from the fly. Weak are the pursuer and the pursued.” [al-Hajj: 73]
And He, the Almighty, says:
“Whether you conceal your speech or declare it openly, He certainly knows what is within the hearts.” [al-Mulk: 13] “Does He who created not know, when He is the Most Subtle, the All-Aware?” [al-Mulk: 14]
An agent’s act, however, cannot be his principal’s act; it is only equivalent to it in the legal consequences that follow. When a ruler has not personally struck, killed, or written, but has merely instructed someone else to do so, saying that the ruler struck, killed, or wrote is figurative, not literal. How, then, can the acts of a principal and an agent, both created beings, properly be compared with the acts of the Creator, exalted is He? This argument holds only according to the doctrine of the Qadariyyah, who maintain that people create their own acts. Allah is exalted far above that! Had Ibn Sha‘bān reflected on these words, he would not have uttered them. Yet this was an oversight and a mistake, and no one is immune from error and mistakes. Success comes only through Allah, who has neither partner nor equal.
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Scholars differed over whether an agent’s authority terminates upon the principal’s death. Ibn Habīb related in al-Wādihah, from Mutarrif and Ibn al-Mājishūn, that his authority does not terminate and that he continues to act under it