you pasture your livestock.”

“Through it He causes crops, olives, date palms, grapes, and every kind of fruit to grow for you.”

Allah Most High also says:

“Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to set forth a parable”—up to His words—“Through it He leads many astray and guides many.”

He also says:

“There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book.”

“Through it Allah guides those who seek His pleasure to the ways of peace.”

There are many such passages in the Quran. The same is true of the hadiths of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, such as his saying:

“Whenever any of you dies, be sure to inform me so that I may offer the funeral prayer for him, for through my prayer for him Allah will bring blessing and mercy.”

He also said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“These graves are filled with darkness for their occupants, and through my prayer for them Allah will bring light.”

There are many such examples.

Comparable to those who deny the causes decreed in Allah’s creation are those who deny the means prescribed in His commands. Such are those who suppose that if the good things attained through supplication, righteous deeds, and other such means are decreed, they will occur without those means; and if they are not decreed, those means will not bring them about.

These people are like those who said to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “Should we not then give up deeds and rely on what has been written?” He replied, “No. Act, for everyone will be enabled to do that for which he was created.”

It is also reported in the Sunan collections that he was asked, “O Messenger of Allah, what do you say about medicines we use to treat ourselves, healing recitations we ask others to recite over us, and precautions we take? Can they ward off anything of Allah’s decree?” He replied, “They are part of Allah’s decree.”

Hence some scholars have said: Reliance on causes compromises monotheism by associating partners with Allah