1013—Al-Hasan ibn al-Tabari informed us; Ali ibn Zayd al-Faqih said: Zakariyya ibn Yahya al-Saji informed us; he said: I heard al-Rabi‘ say: I heard al-Shafi‘i say:

“For a servant to meet Allah bearing every sin except associating partners with Allah is better for him than to meet Him holding any of these heretical beliefs.”

This was because he saw some people disputing about divine decree in his presence, so al-Shafi‘i said: “Allah has declared in His Book that the will belongs to Him alone, to the exclusion of His creation; and the will is Allah’s volition. Allah, Exalted is He, says: ‘And you do not will unless Allah wills.’ Thus He made His creation know that the will belongs to Him.” And he affirmed the divine decree.