anything.”

Although those Qadariyyah resemble the Magians in affirming an agent other than Allah—glorified is He—for what they consider evil, these others resemble the polytheists who said:

“Had Allah willed, neither we nor our forefathers would have associated partners with Him, nor would we have forbidden anything.”

The polytheists are worse than the Magians. Muslims unanimously agree that the Magians may retain their religion upon payment of the jizyah, and some scholars have held that marrying their women and eating their food are lawful. As for the polytheists, the Muslim community unanimously agrees that marrying their women and eating their food are forbidden. The position of al-Shāfiʿī, Ahmad—according to the well-known report from him—and others is that they may not retain their religion upon payment of the jizyah. The majority of scholars hold that the Arab polytheists may not do so, even though the Magians may. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not accept the jizyah from any of the polytheists. Rather, he said:

“I have been commanded to fight the people until they testify that none is worthy of worship but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah. If they say this, their lives and property are protected from me, except when its requirements warrant otherwise, and their reckoning rests with Allah, Mighty and Majestic.”

The point here is that whoever affirms divine decree and invokes it to invalidate the divine commands and prohibitions is worse than someone who affirms the divine commands and prohibitions but does not affirm divine decree. This is agreed upon by Muslims and adherents of other religions—indeed, by all creation. For whoever invokes divine decree and the witnessing of Allah’s universal lordship over all created beings, without distinguishing between what is commanded and what is forbidden, between believers and disbelievers, and between the obedient and the disobedient, believes in none of the messengers and none of the scriptures. To him, Adam and Iblīs are alike; Noah and his people are alike; Moses and Pharaoh are alike; and the first and foremost believers and the disbelievers of Mecca are alike. This error has become widespread among many practitioners of Sufism, asceticism, and worship, especially