It is also established in the two Sahīhs that ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd said:

“The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—who is truthful and whose truthfulness is attested—told us: ‘The creation of each of you is gathered in his mother’s womb for forty days as a drop of fluid. Then he becomes a clinging clot for a similar period, then a lump of flesh for a similar period. Then the angel is sent to him and instructed to record four things. He is told: “Write down his provision, his lifespan, his deeds, and whether he will be wretched or blessed.” Then the soul is breathed into him.’”

Allah has decreed his provision and lifespan just as He has decreed his deeds. It is well known that the provision he eats is created, even though it is decreed. The same applies to his deeds, and likewise to his blessedness and wretchedness. His blessedness and wretchedness consist in the reward and punishment for his deeds. All of this is decreed, just as his provision is decreed, and what is decreed is created.

As for their claim that deeds are religious prescriptions and that religious prescriptions are uncreated, they should likewise be told: The term “religious law” can refer to Allah’s speech by which He prescribed the religion, or to the deeds He has prescribed. Such expressions can refer either to the act or to its result, as with the word “creation” and similar terms.

If you say that people’s deeds are the religious law that is Allah’s speech, this is plainly false. But if you mean that these deeds are prescribed because Allah has commanded them, this is true. Yet Allah’s command is uncreated, whereas what is commanded—whether brought into being by Allah’s command or carried out in obedience to His command—is created, just as the servant who receives the command is created.