for the capacity specific to the act does not belong to the one who refrains from acting, but only to the agent. Capacity comes only from Allah, and whatever comes from Allah cannot be confined to the state in which the act exists. Then, when they recognized that capacity must precede the act, they said:

“It does not coexist with the act, because capacity is that by which either acting or refraining is possible, whereas once the act exists, refraining is impossible.”

For this reason, they said:

“Capacity exists only before the act.”

This is categorically false, because (1) it is impossible for an effect to exist when some of its positive conditions are absent (2). Rather, all the positive factors upon which the act depends must be present when the act occurs. Thus, the contrary of their position is true: the act (3) must be accompanied by capacity. However, those who affirm divine decree here (4) divided into two groups.

One group said:

“Capacity exists only together with the act.”

They said this because they assumed that capacity is of only one kind [and is not suited to both opposing alternatives (5)], and because some of them (6) assumed that capacity is an accident and therefore cannot endure for two moments, making it impossible for it to exist before the act.

The correct position, upheld by the leading authorities of Islamic jurisprudence and the sunnah, is that capacity is of two kinds. The first is a capacity that makes the act possible, such that either acting or refraining is possible through it. This is the capacity upon which commands and prohibitions depend. It is possessed (7) by both the obedient and the disobedient, exists before the act, and continues (8) until the time of