—that is, His punishment (1)—from the guilty people when its appointed time comes.

“Those who associate others with Allah will say”: when the proof has been established against them and they have become certain of the falsity of their associating others with Allah and forbidding what Allah has not forbidden, [they said] (2), “Had Allah willed, neither we nor our forefathers would have associated others with Him, nor would we have forbidden anything,” such as the bahirah and saibah, and other types of consecrated livestock. By their words, “Had Allah willed, we would not have associated others with Him,” they intended to make an argument for remaining upon polytheism. They said: Allah, exalted is He, is able to prevent us from doing what we are doing. Had He not approved of what we are upon, willed it from us, and commanded us to do it, He would have prevented us from it. So Allah, exalted is He, refuted them, saying: “Thus did those before them deny”—the disbelievers among the former nations—“until they tasted Our punishment,” that is, Our torment.

The Qadariyyah cite this verse as evidence, saying: When they said, “Had Allah willed, we would not have associated others with Him,” Allah declared them to be lying and refuted them, saying, “Thus did those before them deny.”

We say: The refutation does not concern their words, “Had Allah willed, we would not have associated others with Him.” Rather, those words are true. It concerns their claim that Allah, exalted is He, commanded them to do so and approved of what they were upon, as He relates of them in Surah Al-A‘raf, verse 28: “Whenever they commit a shameful deed, they say, ‘We found our forefathers doing it, and Allah has commanded us to do it.’” The response to them on this point is as Allah, exalted is He, says: “Say, ‘Indeed, Allah never commands what is shameful.’”

The proof that the refutation concerns what we have stated, rather than their words, “Had Allah willed, we would not have associated others with Him,” lies in His saying, “Thus did those before them deny,” using the intensive form. 126\ Had this been a statement from Allah, exalted is He, reporting that they lied when they said, “Had Allah willed, we would not have associated others with Him,” He would have said, “Those before them (3) lied,” using the simple form; thus, He would have ascribed lying to them, rather than denial.

Al-Hasan ibn al-Fadl said: Had they made this statement out of magnification and reverence for Allah, exalted is He, and out of knowledge of Him, He would not have censured them for it. For Allah, exalted is He, says: “Had Allah willed, they would not have associated others with Him,” and He says: “They would not have believed unless Allah had willed” (Al-An‘am, 111). The believers say this as well. However, they said it in denial, conjecture, and contentious argument, without knowledge of Allah or of what they were saying. Its parallel is His saying, exalted is He: “They say, ‘Had the Most Merciful willed, we would not have worshipped them’” (Az-Zukhruf, 20). Allah, exalted is He, said: “They have no knowledge of this whatsoever; they do nothing but speculate” (Al-An‘am, 116).

It has also been said concerning the meaning of the verse that, although they spoke the truth in these words, they regarded them as an excuse for themselves and made them an argument for abandoning faith. They were refuted on this point because Allah’s command is distinct from His will and volition: He wills all that comes to pass, but He does not command everything that He wills. The servant must follow His command, and he has no right to invoke