The Mu‘tazilah affirmed goodness in the acts of Allah Most High, but not in the sense that any consequence of His acts accrues to Him. Their opponents, believing that an act can be good or bad only insofar as it has some consequence for its doer, denied this and said: “With regard to Allah Most High, what is bad is what is intrinsically impossible; every act conceived as possible is good.” For, according to them, there is no distinction between one thing He brings about and another with respect to Him.

The Mu‘tazilah, by contrast, affirmed goodness and badness without any consequence accruing to the doer that subsists in His essence. For, according to them, neither an attribute, nor an act, nor anything else subsists in His essence, although they may contradict themselves. They then began drawing analogies with what is good or bad on the part of a servant. Thus, they imposed upon Allah, glorified be He, the obligations they imposed upon the servant, and forbade Him things of the same kind as those they forbade the servant. They called this justice and wisdom, despite their reason’s inability to comprehend His wisdom and justice.

They affirm neither an all-encompassing will nor perfect power for Him. Thus, they do not acknowledge that He has power over all things, nor do they say, “Whatever Allah wills comes to pass, and whatever He does not will does not come to pass.” Nor do they acknowledge that He is the Creator of all things. They ascribe to Him forms of injustice from which He, glorified be He, has declared Himself free. For He said:

“Whoever does righteous deeds while being a believer need fear neither injustice nor loss.”

That is, he need not fear being wronged by being made to bear the sins of others, nor having his good deeds diminished. And He Most High said:

“My word cannot be changed, and I am never unjust to My servants.”

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said in the hadith of the card, narrated by Imam Ahmad, al-Tirmidhī, and others:

“A man from my nation will be brought forward on the Day of Resurrection, and ninety-nine scrolls will be unrolled before him, each extending as far as the eye can see. He will be asked, ‘Do you deny any of this?’ He will reply, ‘No, my Lord.’ He will be asked, ‘Do you have any excuse? Do you have any good deed?’ He will reply, ‘No, my Lord.’ Then He will say, ‘Indeed you do!