and was not accomplished through it, then this is false, as explained above. Compulsion does not then follow. Rather, the framework of the revealed Law is fully established, knowledge of commands and prohibitions is disseminated, and Allah’s argument is conclusive.

It has thus become clear to you that affirming or denying causal efficacy without qualification, without distinguishing the possibilities and explaining what efficacy means, amounts to embracing ignorance and holding misguided beliefs. Truly did someone say:

“Most disagreement among rational people arises from using the same terms for different meanings.”

It has also become clear to you that the relationship between the created act and created power is that of causes to their effects. This encompasses everything Allah Most High has created in the heavens and the earth, in this world and the Hereafter. Believing that causes operate independently is to enter into misguidance, while denying their effects and disregarding them is to embrace the impossible. Human power does, however, have a distinctive character that other causes do not, as we shall briefly indicate, if Allah Most High wills.

After this explanation, you may perhaps say:

“I do not understand causes; I remain confined to this dichotomy and the demand to choose one of its two alternatives.”

If you say this, multitudes of misguided people have said it before you:

“Those without knowledge have likewise said the same as they did; Allah will judge between them.”

Your position here is a crossroads leading either to Paradise or to the Fire. It is therefore explained to you again that causes have an effect insofar as they are causes, like the effect of a pen, but have no effect in the sense of originating and creating. We offer you examples so that you may understand the true situation. It is explained to you that affirming causes as originators is to associate partners with Allah, whereas affirming them as interconnected causes is precisely what it means to uphold Allah’s oneness. Perhaps Allah will cast into your heart a light by which you may see this