Those who affirm divine decree may offer a different answer, though the majority dispute it. They say:

His doing whatever He wills and ordaining whatever He wishes is an attribute of perfection, unlike someone who is subject to commands and prohibitions—commanded to do one thing and forbidden another.

They also say:

For anyone other than Him, doing whatever he wishes is reprehensible only because of the harm that may befall him, whereas no harm can possibly befall Him, glorified is He.

The majority respond:

If we suppose one who does whatever he wills for no wise end that he loves and that pertains to himself, and with no mercy or benevolence extending to others, then one who acts with wisdom and mercy would be more perfect than one who acts with neither wisdom nor mercy.

They also say:

If we suppose one willing agent who does not distinguish one object of will from another, and another who does distinguish between them—willing what is fitting and ought to be willed rather than its opposite—the latter would be more perfect.

They further say:

Someone who is subject to commands and prohibitions imposed by a superior is deficient by comparison with one who has no superior commanding or prohibiting him. But if he commands himself to do what ought to be done and forbids himself what ought not to be done, while another simply does whatever he wishes without imposing any command or prohibition upon himself, then the one who abides by his own command and prohibition, both grounded in wisdom, is more perfect than the other.

Allah Most High says:

“Your Lord has prescribed mercy for Himself.”

[al-Anām: 54]

And He says:

“O My servants, I have forbidden injustice for Myself and have made it forbidden among you, so do not wrong one another.”

They also say:

If the statement, “He does whatever He wills and ordains whatever He wishes,” is intended to affirm His power—that none can thwart Him, that no other can prevent Him from attaining what He wills or cause Him to will—then this would be