Thus, if the servant has not fulfilled the obligatory duties as commanded, he will not attain the intended benefit of voluntary acts of worship. Yet Allah does not wrong him, for Allah does not wrong anyone even by an atom’s weight. Rather, He counts those voluntary acts towards their corresponding obligatory duties. This is like someone who owes debts to people and wishes to give them voluntary gifts:

If he repays them and also gives them gifts, he is both just and benevolent. If he repays them without giving them gifts, he is just. But if he gives them something that discharges his debt and regards it as a voluntary gift, he is mistaken in doing so. Rather, it counts towards the obligation that is their due.

It is astonishing that the Muʿtazilah pride themselves on being the people of “divine oneness” and “justice,” yet, in their conception of divine oneness, they deny Allah’s attributes in a manner that entails stripping Him of His attributes and associating partners with Him. As for “the justice with which Allah has described Himself,” it means that He does not wrong anyone even by an atom’s weight, and that:

“Whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.”

Yet they hold that all a servant’s good deeds and faith are nullified by a single major sin. This is among the injustices from which Allah has declared Himself free. It is therefore more fitting to describe the Lord, glorified be He, with the justice with which He has described Himself than to make justice consist in denying Allah’s decree.

(Fifth): Allah has made nothing nullify all good deeds except disbelief, just as He has made nothing wipe away all evil deeds except repentance. The Muʿtazilah, together with the Khawārij, hold that major sins nullify all good deeds, even faith. Allah Most High says:

“Whoever among you turns back from his religion and dies a disbeliever—their deeds will become worthless in this world and the Hereafter. They are the people of the Fire; they will remain in it forever.”

Thus, He made the nullification of deeds conditional upon dying in disbelief. It has already been established that such a person is not a disbeliever, and what is conditional upon something does not occur when that condition is absent.

And the Most High says: