wisdom and causes. Rather, most Muslim groups affirm divine decree and say that Allah is the Creator of everything, including His servants’ deeds and all else. They also say: Whatever Allah wills comes to pass, and whatever He does not will does not come to pass.

As for acknowledging that Allah knew and recorded His servants’ deeds before they performed them, only the extremists among the Qadarites and others have denied this. Most Qadarites, whether Muʿtazilīs or others, acknowledge that Allah knew what His servants would do before they did it. They also believe what the truthful and trusted one reported: that Allah determined the destinies of His creatures before creating them.

Thus, it is established in Sahīh Muslim, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“Allah determined the destinies of His creatures fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth, and His Throne was upon the water.”

In Sahīh al-Bukhārī and elsewhere, ʿImrān ibn Husayn reports that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“Allah existed, and nothing existed before Him. His Throne was upon the water. He recorded everything in the Record and created the heavens and the earth.”

In another wording: “Then He created the heavens and the earth.”

In the two Sahīh collections, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd said:

“The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him—the truthful and trusted one—told us: ‘The creation of each of you is brought together 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 commanded 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. By Him in whose hand is my soul, one of you may indeed perform the deeds of the people of Paradise until only a cubit separates him from it; then what has been written overtakes him, and he performs the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters the Fire. And a man may indeed perform the deeds of