of all things, nor did they affirm that whatever He wills comes to pass and whatever He does not will does not come to pass. Rather, they said: “He wills what does not happen, and things happen that He does not will.” They then prescribed a law for their Lord concerning what is obligatory and forbidden for Him—by analogy with themselves. They discussed what is just and what is permissible on the basis of this false analogy, likening the Creator to His creation. Thus they went astray and led others astray.

At the opposite extreme were the Jahmiyyah, who carried their belief in compulsion to excess. They denied Allah’s wisdom and mercy, saying: “He did not create for a wise purpose, nor did He command for a wise purpose. There is no ‘lām of purpose’ in the Quran, whether concerning His creation or His commands.” They claimed that in His words:

“And He has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth—all of it,”

and:

“He created for you all that is on the earth,”

and His words:

“To Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth, so that He may recompense those who do evil for what they have done and reward those who do good with the best reward,”

and His words:

“and so that you may complete the prescribed period and glorify Allah for guiding you,”

and His words:

“so that people will have no argument against Allah after the messengers,”

—and in similar passages—the particle lām merely denotes an eventual outcome, as in His words:

“Then Pharaoh’s household picked him up, so that he would become an enemy to them and a source of grief,”

and the poet’s words:

“Bear children for death, and build for ruin.”

They failed to understand that the lām of outcome applies only to someone who is ignorant of the outcome of his action, such as Pharaoh, who did not know how matters concerning Moses would end; or to someone unable to avert the outcome of his action, just as human beings cannot ward off death from themselves or ruin from their homes. As for the One who knows all things, has power over all things, and wills all