from among created beings. Rather, He—glorified be He—is the One who makes one of His actions a cause for another of His actions. This accords with the principles of Ahl al-Sunnah, who believe in divine decree: that Allah is the Creator of everything; that whatever He wills comes to pass, and whatever He does not will does not come to pass; and that nothing occurs except by His will. He is the Creator of His servants’ deeds, just as He is the Creator of all other created things.

Yahyā ibn Saʿīd al-Qattān said:

“I have always heard our companions say, ‘Allah is the Creator of His servants’ deeds.’”

This, however, contradicts the position of the Qadariyyah. For if they hold that the servant himself brings his deeds into existence and creates them independently of Allah’s will and creation, it follows that the servant has made his Lord perform an act He was not performing. Through his supplication, he has made Him answer him; through his repentance, he has made Him accept repentance; and through his intercession, he has made Him accept intercession.

This resembles the position of those who hold that a created being intercedes with Allah without His permission. For “permission” is of two kinds: permission in the sense of willing and creating, and permission in the sense of allowing and authorizing.

An example of the first is His statement concerning sorcery:

“They do not harm anyone through it except by Allah’s permission.”

For this occurs by Allah’s will and power; He has not, however, permitted sorcery.