The Qadariyyah deny this “permission.” What their position really amounts to is that sorcery causes harm without Allah’s permission. Likewise, He says:

“Whatever befell you on the day the two armies met was by Allah’s permission.”

For if the killing, wounding, mutilation, and defeat that befell them occurred by His permission, then He is the Creator of both the disbelievers’ deeds and the believers’ deeds.

The second kind is illustrated by His statement:

“Indeed, We have sent you as a witness, a bearer of glad tidings, and a warner, and as one who calls to Allah by His permission.”

And His statement:

“Whatever palm trees you cut down or left standing on their roots, it was by Allah’s permission.”

This entails His allowing and authorizing that action and absolving its doer of blame and sin, while it also occurs by His will and decree. Thus, His statement:

“Who can intercede with Him except by His permission?”

refers to this permission, which accords with both His decree and His revealed law. He did not mean merely His will and decree, for sorcery and the disbelievers’ victory over the believers occurred by permission in that sense.

Thus, anyone who holds that people perform their deeds without Allah creating those deeds, having power over them, or willing them holds that every intercessor and supplicant has acted without Allah’s creation and power—even if He has permitted intercession.

As for disbelief, sorcery, and the fighting undertaken by the disbelievers, these, in their view, occur without His permission