—its presence is not equivalent to its absence in this respect, nor is it merely a sign, as the Quran and Sunnah demonstrate. Certain groups among Muslims and others have disputed this, although the vast majority of humankind—Muslims, Jews, Christians, Sabians, Magians, and polytheists—acknowledge it.
Yet some polytheists and Sabians among the Peripatetic philosophizers who follow Aristotle, together with his followers among the philosophizers of the religious communities—such as al-Fārābī, Ibn Sīnā, and those who follow their path, including those who blend this with speculative theology, Sufism, and jurisprudence—and others like them, explain supplication’s effect in attaining what is sought in the same way that they explain the effects of other contingent, created things: celestial and natural forces, and the powers of the soul and intellect. They attribute the results of supplication to the influence of human souls, without affirming that the Creator, glorified be He, has detailed knowledge of this or the power to change the world, or that, had He willed to do otherwise than He did, He could have done so. In their view, He is therefore unable to gather a human being’s bones and re-form his fingertips. Yet He, glorified be He, is the Creator of those souls and their powers. There is no might or power except through Allah.
As for his statement:
“If supplication is something that is going to occur, what benefit is there in commanding it, when it must inevitably occur?”
The reply is:
The supplication that is commanded does not necessarily occur. Rather, when Allah commands His servants to supplicate, some obey Him: their supplication is answered, and they attain what they seek. This indicates that what was foreknown and decreed was both the supplication and its answer. Others disobey Him and do not supplicate, so they do not obtain what was made dependent upon supplication. This indicates that neither the supplication nor its answer was among what was foreknown and decreed. Thus, the supplication that occurs is that