in it from disbelievers and highway robbers, while knowing that, once he builds it, the disbelievers will turn it into a fortress and the robbers into a refuge for themselves.

Similarly, it is like someone who gives a man money to spend on those who go forth on military expeditions and those who wage jihad, while knowing that he (1) will spend it only on disbelievers and belligerents who are enemies of the Messenger.

There is no doubt that these Qadarite Rafidites took these arguments from the principles of the Qadarite Mu'tazilites. Since the Mu'tazilites imposed upon Allah (* the duty to provide what is good and best (2), the Rafidites adopted this from them. The Mu'tazilites’ fundamental principle was that Allah is obligated *) (3) to do for every morally accountable person whatever is best for him in his religion and worldly life, [and this is] (4) a corrupt principle—even though the Exalted Lord, in His wisdom and mercy, wisely does for His creation what benefits them (5) in their religion and worldly lives.

People hold three positions concerning this principle:

The Qadarites say that Allah is obligated to provide what is best—or what is good—for every particular individual. They regard this obligation as being of the same kind as the obligations incumbent upon a human being. They thus erred by likening Allah to an individual human being with respect to what is obligatory and forbidden for Him. They were therefore those who assimilated divine acts to human acts, and they erred (6) by failing to distinguish between general, universal welfare and the welfare of particular individuals, which may (7) entail general corruption and conflict with general welfare.