that Allah created people’s deeds and that He wills all that occurs. Opposing them are the Qadariyyah who uphold compulsion, who say that the servant has no real power or will and is not truly an agent. All these are misguided innovators.

Worse still are those who regard Allah’s creation of deeds and His willing all that occurs as precluding commands and prohibitions, like the polytheists who said:

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

These people are greater in disbelief than the Jews and Christians. Their position amounts to nullifying all the commands and prohibitions brought by all the messengers.

Furthermore, their position is contradictory and self-evidently false. Human life cannot be sustained on this basis, since it necessarily entails humanity’s ruin. If people were subject to no commands or prohibitions, everyone would be free to do whatever he desired. As Allah Most High says:

“Had the Truth followed their desires, the heavens and the earth would have been ruined.”

Thus, if it were said that everyone should be allowed to do whatever he desires—killing people, committing indecencies, taking wealth, and so forth—this would be the utmost corruption. For this reason, no human society can survive without some form of law containing commands and prohibitions, even if instituted by a king and flawed in other respects.

If it is said:

“What you have explained shows that Allah’s prior knowledge and written record concerning blessedness, wretchedness, and other matters do not preclude these things from depending on the deeds and causes through which