that it will not occur, just as He knows that what He does not will will not occur, even though, if He willed it, He would do it.

To the objector’s statement, “If it occurred, knowledge would turn into ignorance,” the reply is:

This is correct. It indicates that the act will not occur, but it does not indicate that the person charged with it is incapable of it—that he could not perform it even if he willed to. It does not occur because he does not will it, not because he lacks the ability to do it. The same applies to those things within the Lord’s power which He would do if He willed, although He knows that He will not do them. It is not permissible to say that He is unable to do them, as some extremists among the people of innovation have claimed. Rather, He, glorified be He, has said:

“Does man think that We will not assemble his bones? Yes indeed! We are able even to restore his fingertips.”

And He, Most High, has said:

“Say: He has the power to send punishment upon you from above you or from beneath your feet, or to divide you into factions.”

Yet it is established in the two Sahīh collections, on the authority of Jābir:

“When His words, ‘Say: He has the power to send punishment upon you from above you,’ were revealed, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘I seek refuge in Your Face.’ At ‘or from beneath your feet,’ he said, ‘I seek refuge in Your Face.’ At ‘or to divide you into factions and make some of you taste the violence of others,’ he said, ‘These two are less severe.’”

Thus, some of the things He has declared Himself capable of will not occur—namely, sending punishment upon the Muslim community from above them or from beneath their feet. Others will occur—namely, dividing them into factions and making some of them taste the violence of others, as is established in the Sahīh