and asking means of obtaining His forgiveness, mercy, guidance, help, and provision. If He decrees that a servant will obtain some good through supplication, it will not be obtained without supplication. Whatever Allah has decreed and known concerning His servants’ circumstances and ultimate outcomes, He has decreed through causes. He brings decreed events to pass at their appointed times. Nothing in this world or the Hereafter occurs without a cause, and Allah is the Creator of causes and their effects.

For this reason, some have said:

“Relying on causes is to associate partners with Allah, contrary to belief in His oneness; denying that causes have a causal role is a deficiency of reason; and disregarding causes altogether undermines the revealed Law.”

Causes alone do not necessarily produce their effects. When rain falls and seeds are sown, that alone is insufficient for plants to grow. There must also be a wind that fosters growth by Allah’s permission, and their failure to emerge must be averted. All the necessary conditions must therefore be fulfilled and all impediments removed, and all of this occurs by Allah’s decree and predestination. Likewise, a child is not born merely because semen is deposited in the vagina. How many men have ejaculated without fathering a child! Rather, Allah must will the child’s creation, so that the woman conceives and nurtures it in her womb, together with all the other conditions and the removal of impediments necessary to complete its creation.

The same applies to the Hereafter: a person does not attain blessedness through deeds alone; rather, deeds are a cause. For this reason, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“None of you will enter Paradise by his deeds.” They asked, “Not even you, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “Not even I, unless Allah envelops me in mercy and bounty from Him.”

Yet He has said:

“Enter Paradise for what you used to do.”

Here, the preposition bi- indicates causation—that is, “because of your deeds.” What the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, negated was bi- indicating exchange, as when one says, “I bought this in exchange for that.” In other words, deeds are not sufficient payment or a sufficient price for entering Paradise. Rather, there must also be Allah’s pardon