1 – Entertaining evil thoughts about Allah
Entertaining evil thoughts about Allah is perilous, for having good expectations of Him is one of the obligations of tawḥīd, whereas thinking ill of Him contradicts tawḥīd.
Allah has described the hypocrites as people who entertain thoughts about Him that are untrue. He said:
“Then, after the distress, He sent down upon you tranquillity—drowsiness overtaking a group of you—while another group, anxious only for themselves, thought wrongly of Allah, the thoughts of the Age of Ignorance, saying, ‘Do we have any share in the matter?’ Say, ‘Indeed, every matter belongs entirely to Allah.’” 1
In another verse He informs us that they think evil of Him:
“He will punish the hypocrite men and hypocrite women, and the polytheist men and polytheist women—those who think evil thoughts about Allah. Upon them shall be an evil turn of fortune; Allah is angry with them, has cursed them, and has prepared Hell for them—an evil destination.” 2
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim, commenting on the first verse, said:
“This suspicion has been interpreted to mean that Allah, exalted is He, will not support His Messenger and that his mission will fade away; it has also been interpreted to mean that whatever befell them did not occur by Allah’s decree and wisdom. In other words, it amounts to denying wisdom, denying the divine decree, and denying that Allah will complete the mission of His Messenger and give him dominance over the entire religion. This is the evil thought entertained by the hypocrites and the polytheists in Sūrat al-Fatḥ. It is deemed evil because it is unbefitting of Allah, His wisdom, His praise, and His true promise. Whoever imagines that Allah grants falsehood a lasting victory over truth such that truth disappears, or denies that events unfold by His decree and predestination, or refuses to recognise that His decree is driven by a profound wisdom for which He deserves praise—claiming instead that it is mere arbitrary will—such a person holds the view of those who disbelieve. So woe to the disbelievers from the Fire!
“Most people think ill of Allah regarding what happens to themselves or to others, and none are safe from this except those who truly know Allah, His names, His attributes, and the implications of His wisdom and His praise. Let the intelligent person who desires his own well-being pay close attention to this, repent to Allah, and ask His forgiveness for harbouring evil thoughts about his Lord.”
Were you to examine whomever you wished, you would find in him some resentment of the divine decree, some blame directed at it, and that he was