He—may Allah have mercy on him—said:

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There are three interpretations of His words:

“You did not kill them,” and the remainder of the verse.

The first is that this rests on the view that an act generated by another act is not a human act, but an act of Allah. Killing is the extinguishing of life, which is a generated effect. Someone who denies generated causation may hold this view. It is weak, however, because He also negated the throwing, which is a directly performed act. Moreover, He said:

“Kill the polytheists wherever you find them.”

And He said:

“Whoever kills a believer intentionally.”

Thus, He did attribute killing to human beings. Furthermore, killing denotes an act capable of extinguishing life, not the departure of life itself, unlike causing death.

The second is that this rests on the doctrine that Allah creates acts. Many Sufis may hold this view, and I think it is reported from al-Junayd: attribution of the act is denied to the servant in view of the underlying reality, since Allah is the Creator of every maker and what he makes. This interpretation is weak for two reasons.

The first is that, even though we affirm that the act is created, the servant is not denied attribution of it; rather, it is attributed