And His is the dominion in its entirety. Every existent thing that has come into being by His permission is something for which He alone deserves praise; everything He assigns to His servants and for which they are themselves praised likewise calls for praise to Him. When He inspires them to offer praise, it is He who has made them praiseful.

Praise According to Ahl al-Sunnah and the Muʿtazilah

119 — The Muʿtazilah do not concede that He is the One who makes the praiser a praiser, the worshipper a performer of prayer, and the Muslim a submitter. They claim that righteous acts proceed from the servant, not from Allah, so on their principles He does not deserve praise for those deeds. The ability, empowerment, and removal of impediments He granted the believers, they say, He likewise granted the unbelievers; the believers simply carried out the good deeds on their own—like a father who gives two sons money, one of whom spends it in obedience while the other spends it in disobedience.

120 — According to them, the father is no more to be commended for the first son’s spending than he is to be blamed for the second son’s.

121 — Ahl al-Sunnah, however, maintain what Allah Himself has declared: “But Allah has endeared faith to you and made it beautiful in your hearts, and He has made hateful to you disbelief, defiance, and disobedience” (Q 49:7).

122 — The inhabitants of Paradise will say, “All praise belongs to Allah, who guided us to this; had Allah not guided us, we would never have found the way” (Q 7:43).

123 — And Abraham prayed, “My Lord, make me one who establishes the prayer” (Q 14:40).