by divine decree. He thus adheres to Allah’s commands, religion, and revealed law, seeking Allah’s help in doing so, as the Most High says:

“You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.”

When he sins, he seeks forgiveness and repents. He does not invoke divine decree to excuse the evil deeds he commits, nor does he consider any creature to have a valid argument against the Lord of all creation. Rather, he believes in divine decree without using it as an excuse, as in the authentic hadith containing the foremost supplication for forgiveness, in which the servant says:

“O Allah, You are my Lord; none has the right to be worshipped but You. You created me, and I am Your servant. I remain faithful to Your covenant and promise as best I can. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done. I acknowledge Your favour upon me, and I acknowledge my sin. So forgive me, for none forgives sins but You.”

He thus acknowledges Allah’s favour upon him in his good deeds and knows that Allah is the One who guided him and eased his way to goodness. He also acknowledges his sins and repents of them. As one of them said:

“I obeyed You by Your grace, and all credit is Yours. I disobeyed You with Your knowledge, and the case against me is Yours. I therefore beseech You, by Your established case against me and my lack of any defence, to forgive me.”

In an authentic divine hadith, Allah says:

“O My servants, these are but your deeds, which I record for you and then recompense you for in full. Whoever finds good, let him praise Allah; and whoever finds otherwise, let him blame no one but himself.”

This matter has been examined in detail elsewhere. Others may be mindful only of “the command,” so you find them striving to obey to the best of their ability, but they lack the awareness of divine decree that would bring about