explanation.

“And whoever Allah does not grant light has no light.”

If you say: “Affirming power as a cause is, in reality, to deny its efficacy. Why, then, is the act attributed to the servant? Why is he commanded and forbidden, rewarded and punished? Is this anything but sheer compulsion? If you liken human power to the writer’s pen and the striker’s stick, have you ever seen a pen rewarded or a stick punished?”

I now say to you: Allah willing, your guidance is assured through your Master’s aid, even if your insight into the secrets of divine decree amounts to no more than something like a faint imprint. Listen with an attentive heart; perhaps Allah will sustain you with His support.

Know that the servant truly acts, possesses a real will, has a firm intention, and possesses power suited to action. The Quran explicitly affirms the will of human beings in numerous verses, such as His words:

“For whoever among you wills to take a straight path.”

“But you do not will unless Allah wills, the Lord of all worlds.”

“So whoever wills may take a path to his Lord.”

“So whoever wills may heed it.”

“But they will not heed it unless Allah wills. He alone is worthy of being feared and worthy of granting forgiveness.”

It also explicitly affirms human action throughout the Quran: “they work,” “they do,” “they believe,” “they disbelieve,” “they reflect,” “they observe,” and “they fear Allah.”

Just as we have distinguished ourselves from the Magians of this community by affirming that He, Most High, is the Creator, we have distinguished ourselves from the proponents of compulsion by affirming that the servant is an acquirer of acts, an agent, a maker, and a doer. Compulsion, in the intelligible sense rejected by the early generations of this community and the scholars of the Sunnah, is for an action to be imposed upon something without intention or will