and outwardly, and has forbidden him to disobey Him inwardly and outwardly. He has decreed whatever obedience and disobedience occur in him, inwardly and outwardly, and has created the servant and all his deeds, inwardly and outwardly. All this comes into being through His saying, “Be,” inwardly and outwardly.

Divine decree provides the son of Adam with neither a justification nor an excuse. Rather, divine decree is to be believed in, not invoked as a justification. Whoever invokes it as a justification is unsound in reason and religion and contradicts himself. For if divine decree were a justification and an excuse, it would follow that no one could be blamed, punished, or subjected to retribution. Thus, when someone who invokes divine decree is wronged in his person, property, honor, or inviolability, he would have to refrain from seeking redress against the wrongdoer, becoming angry with him, or condemning him. This is contrary to human nature: no one can do it. It is therefore impossible by nature and forbidden by religious law.

If divine decree were a justification and an excuse, neither Iblīs nor Pharaoh, the people of Noah, ʿĀd, Thamūd, or any other disbelievers would deserve blame or punishment. Nor would fighting the disbelievers or enforcing the prescribed punishments be permissible: neither amputating a thief’s hand, nor flogging or stoning someone who commits fornication or adultery, nor putting a killer to death, nor punishing an aggressor in any way whatsoever.

Since invoking divine decree as a justification is invalid according to people’s innate dispositions and reason, no nation has adopted it, nor is it the position of any rational person who consistently follows through the implications of his view. No one’s welfare, either in this world or in the Hereafter, can be maintained on this basis. Indeed, two people cannot live together for even a single hour unless one observes some form of law in his dealings with the other. Religious law is Allah’s light on His earth and His justice among His servants.