He opens his breast to Islam; and whomever He wills to lead astray, He makes his breast tight and constricted, as though he were climbing into the sky.” Allah Most High also says:
“Had Allah willed, they would not have fought one another, but Allah does whatever He wills.”
Noah said:
“My advice will not benefit you, even if I wish to advise you, if Allah wills to lead you astray.”
And He says:
“His command, when He wills something, is only to say to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.”
This is a valuable distinction. It also occurs in the Book of Allah regarding permission, command, words, prohibition, judgment, and decree, as we have explained elsewhere. Understanding it dispels serious misconceptions.
Among the sources of confusion and error is the disagreement over “ability”: must it accompany the act, or must it precede it?
The precise position upheld by the leading jurists is that the capacity stipulated as a condition for commands and prohibitions—the capacity discussed earlier—need not accompany the act. Allah has made Hajj obligatory only upon those capable of performing it. Any such person who fails to perform Hajj is sinful, by the agreement of the Muslims, yet in his case there has been no capacity accompanying the act. Likewise, everyone who disobeys Allah while subject to His commands and prohibitions possesses the capacity stipulated as a condition for those commands and prohibitions.
Capacity accompanying the act, however, exists only in someone who actually performs it. The person acting must resolutely will the act and be capable of it. When both are present, the act necessarily occurs.
For anyone who says that capacity is that which accompanies the act, it is the sum of what one desires of the act, including the will and other things. According to this terminology, it is said: if a person does not will the act, he is not