and He is pleased to bring disbelief (kufr) into existence, even though He is not pleased with disbelief itself.

I said, “But Allah the Exalted has said, ‘He is not pleased with disbelief for His servants’ (Qur’an 39:7). How, then, can He be pleased to create disbelief?”

He replied, “He wills it for them, yet He is not pleased with it.”

I asked, “Why?”

He said, “Because He created Iblīs: He was pleased to create Iblīs, but He is not pleased with Iblīs himself. The same holds true for khamr (wine) and khanāzīr (swine): He is pleased to create them, but He is not pleased with them in and of themselves.”

I said, “For what reason?”

He answered, “Had He been pleased with wine in itself, then whoever drank it would be consuming something Allah approves of. Yet Allah is not pleased with wine, nor with disbelief, nor with Iblīs, nor with his deeds; rather, He is pleased with Muḥammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.”

I asked, “What of the Jews who said, ‘Allah’s hand is shackled—may their hands be shackled’ (Qur’an 5:64)? Was Allah pleased for them to say that?”

He said, “No.”