And Shaykh al-Islam Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—said:

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Scholars of our school and others have discussed “the servant’s capacity to act”: does it accompany his action or precede it? They have treated these as two mutually contradictory positions.

Some hold that capacity exists only alongside the action. This is the predominant position among speculative theologians who affirm divine decree, including the followers of al-Ash‘arī and those who agree with them, whether from our school or elsewhere. Others hold that capacity precedes the action. This is the predominant position among those who deny divine decree, including the Mu‘tazilah and the Shī‘ah.

The former hold that power is applicable only to a single act, since it accompanies that act and is inseparable from it. The latter hold that capacity must allow for either of two opposite acts and never accompanies the action.

The Qadariyyah deviate further, for they deny that power can accompany the action under any circumstances. In their view, a cause must necessarily precede its effect and can never coincide with it, whether the cause in question is power, will, or command.