But religious laws vary. Sometimes they are revealed by Allah, as conveyed by the messengers, and sometimes they are not. Revealed laws may subsequently be altered and changed—as the People of the Book altered their religious laws—or may remain unaltered and unchanged. Sometimes parts of them are abrogated, and sometimes they are not.

As for divine decree, no one invokes it as a justification except when following his own desires. When someone commits a forbidden act merely on the basis of his desire, personal taste, and inner feelings, without knowing that the act is good or beneficial, he appeals to divine decree, as the polytheists said:

“If Allah had willed, neither we nor our forefathers would have associated partners with Him, nor would we have forbidden anything.”

Allah Most High said:

“Likewise, those before them denied the truth until they tasted Our punishment. Say, ‘Do you have any knowledge that you can produce for us? You follow nothing but conjecture, and you do nothing but guess.’”

“Say, ‘To Allah belongs the conclusive argument. Had He willed, He would have guided you all.’”

He thus made clear that they had no knowledge supporting the religion they followed; they were merely following conjecture. These people did not regard it as permissible for everyone to invoke divine decree as a justification. Had someone destroyed the Kaaba, insulted Abraham, Allah’s intimate friend, or disparaged their religion, they would have opposed and harmed him. Indeed, they opposed the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, because of the religion he brought, even though his actions were also divinely decreed.

If invoking divine decree were a valid justification, it would have been one for the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his Companions. If everything that occurs in existence is decreed, then those in the right and those in the wrong could equally invoke divine decree—if invoking it were valid. But they deliberately took their stand on