And in the authentic [hadith]: (1)
(“When Allah completed creation, He wrote in a book (2) kept with Him above the Throne: ‘My mercy has prevailed over My wrath.’”) (3)
Whatever Allah (4) has prescribed for Himself, or forbidden Himself, must be within His power (5), [glorified is He] (6). That which is intrinsically impossible is not something He prescribes for Himself or forbids Himself.
This is the position of most of Ahl al-Sunnah and of those who affirm (7) divine decree among the people of hadith, Quranic exegesis, jurisprudence, theology, and Sufism [including followers of the four imams and others] (8).
According to this position, it is they (9) who affirm the justice and beneficence of Allah [Most High] (10), rather than those among the Qadariyya who say that whoever commits a major sin has his faith rendered void. This is a form of the injustice from which Allah [glorified is He] (11) has declared Himself free, for He is the One who says:
(1) N, M: “and in the Sahih.”
(2) A, B: “He wrote a book.”
(3) The hadith narrated by Abū Hurayra—may Allah be pleased with him—is found in: al-Bukhārī, 4/106 (Book of the Beginning of Creation, chapter on Allah Most High’s saying: “He is the One who originates creation, then repeats it”), and 9/159 (Book of Tawhīd [Monotheism], chapter on Allah Most High’s saying: “Rather, it is a glorious Quran”); Muslim, 4/2107–2108 (Book of Repentance, chapter on the Vastness of Allah Most High’s Mercy); Sunan Ibn Mājah, 2/1435 (Book of Renunciation, chapter on the Mercy of Allah Hoped for on the Day of Resurrection); Sunan al-Tirmidhī, 5/209–210 (Book of Supplications, chapter 109); and al-Musnad, Maārif ed., 13/23, 243, 265; Halabī ed., 2/313, 358, 381.
(4) The name “Allah” occurs only in N.
(5) A: muqaddiran lahu (“decreeing it for Him”).
(6) “Glorified is He” is added in A and B.
(7) N, M: “the adherents of the Sunnah who affirm [divine decree].”
(8) The text between square brackets is omitted from N and M.
(9) “They” is omitted from A and B.
(10) “Most High” is added in A and B.
(11) “Glorified is He” is added in A and B.