and it is self-evident, by both reason and religion, that this brings ruin to worldly affairs and the Hereafter.

As for (the fourth category:
it is the worst of all, as Shaykh Abū al-Faraj ibn al-Jawzī said: “When obeying, you champion free will; when sinning, you champion determinism. Whatever doctrine suits your desires, you adopt it.”

Such people are the worst of Satan’s followers. This is not the doctrine of any recognized group; rather, it is the usual condition of those who have cast off the restraints of commands and prohibitions. When such a person performs an act of obedience, he attributes it to himself and becomes so conceited that he nullifies his deed. When he commits a sin, he invokes divine decree as an excuse and appeals to divine ordainment. Yet this is a futile argument and an unacceptable excuse.

You see him refuse to submit to divine decree when a calamity befalls him through the actions of people or other causes. Yet when he wrongs himself or someone else, you see him invoke divine decree, saying: “The servant is helpless: neither capable nor excused.” He also says:

“He cast him into the sea with his hands bound, then told him …
‘Beware, beware of getting wet!’”

But if someone else wrongs him to a lesser degree, or he merely imagines that someone has wronged him, he seeks revenge many times greater than the wrong. He will not excuse another person on the grounds of divine decree, although he used it to excuse himself, even though their situations are the same.

These principles, then, must be believed. As for discussing the reality that necessitates attributing sins to the servant, despite the all-encompassing nature of Allah’s creation