and their Lord and Sovereign; that whatever He wills happens and whatever He does not will does not happen; that He has power over all things; that it is He who created the servant anxious—fretful when evil touches him and withholding when good comes to him—and other such truths—is that the servant truly acts and possesses will and power. Allah Most High says:

“For whoever among you wills to take a straight path.”
“But you do not will unless Allah, Lord of the worlds, wills.”

And He Most High says:

“Indeed, this is a reminder, so whoever wills may take a path to his Lord.”
“But you do not will unless Allah wills.”

And He Most High says:

“No! Indeed, it is a reminder.”
“So whoever wills may heed it.”
“But they will not heed it unless Allah wills. He is worthy of being feared, and He is the One who grants forgiveness.”

Those who have delved into divine decree have fallen into confusion over this point. The Muʿtazilah and others like them who deny divine decree said: “Disbelief, wickedness, and disobedience are evil acts. Muslims unanimously agree that Allah is exalted above doing evil, so these cannot be His acts.”

Those inclined toward the doctrine of compulsion replied: “Rather, they are His acts, not the servants’ acts; they are instead acquisitions on the servant’s part.”

They said that the servant’s power has no effect on bringing about the act within its scope, nor on any of its attributes. Rather, Allah has established the customary pattern of creating that act concurrently with the servant’s power. Thus, the act is a creation on Allah’s part, through His originating it and bringing it into being, and an acquisition on the servant’s part, because it occurs concurrently with his power. They also said that the servant neither originates his acts nor brings them into existence. Yet despite this, they may say: “We do not uphold absolute compulsion. Rather, we affirm that the servant possesses a created power. An absolute proponent of compulsion is someone who affirms no power for the servant.”