As for “the first,” without it no obligation would be established, in accordance with His words:

“So fear Allah as much as you are able.”

And His words, exalted is He:

“And those who believe and do righteous deeds—We do not burden any soul beyond its capacity.”

And similar passages. Thus, those who fall short or overstep the bounds in the fundamentals of religion, when unable to hear what was revealed to the Messenger, belong to this category.

Likewise, they disagree about “the commanded act” which Allah knows will not occur, or which He has also declared will not occur. Some people say that such an act is beyond one’s power, just as the extreme Qadariyyah deny that Allah could have known, declared, or recorded beforehand that it would not occur. This is because both groups agree that anything contrary to what is known is neither possible nor within one’s power. Most people, however, disagree with them on this.

They say that Allah’s own power refutes this position. They also say that Allah knows the act as it really is: He knows it to be possible and within the servant’s power, yet not occurring or coming into being because the servant does not will it, or dislikes it, or for some similar reason—not because he is incapable of it. This disagreement is resolved by distinguishing the kinds of power to perform it, as explained above. The act is beyond the power that accompanies the act, even though it is within “the power that makes the act possible,” upon which commands and prohibitions depend.

(As for the second type, an example is their agreement that someone incapable of an act cannot perform it, just as the blind, amputees, and the physically infirm cannot add dots to a Quran manuscript, write it out, or fly. They agree that requirements of this kind do not occur in the Shariah.