commit evil deeds think that We will make them like those who believe and do righteous deeds, equal in their life and death? How evil is their judgment!”

And He Most High said:

“Did you think that We created you without purpose, and that you would not be returned to Us?”

And He Most High said:

“Does man think that he will be left without responsibility?”

That is, left unattended, neither commanded nor forbidden.

It is established in the two Sahīh collections that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Adam and Moses disputed. Moses said, ‘O Adam, you are the father of mankind. Allah created you with His Hand, breathed into you of His spirit, and made His angels prostrate before you. Why did you cause us and yourself to be expelled from Paradise?’

“Adam replied, ‘You are Moses, whom Allah chose to speak to, and for whom He wrote the Torah with His Hand. How long before I was created did you find it written against me: “Adam disobeyed his Lord and went astray”?’

“He replied, ‘Forty years.’

“Adam said, ‘Then why do you blame me for something Allah decreed for me forty years before I was created?’”

He said: “Thus Adam prevailed over Moses in argument.” That is, he defeated him by his argument.

Two groups have gone astray concerning this hadith. One group rejected it because they thought it entailed absolving those who disobey Allah of blame and punishment on account of divine decree. Another group, worse than the first, took it as an argument in their favor. They may even say: “Divine decree