The necessitarian Qadarites—the Jahmites—affirm neither wisdom nor mercy for Him. Rather, in their view, He acts by sheer will, devoid of wisdom and mercy. Jahm ibn Safwān, the leader of this group, would go out among those afflicted—lepers and others—and say, “Would the Most Merciful of the merciful do this?!” He meant that Allah possesses no mercy.

Thus, these and those stand at two opposite extremes.

The third position is that of the majority: Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise, and Most Merciful, and He upholds justice. Glorified is He, He has prescribed mercy for Himself, and He is more merciful to His servants (1) than a mother is to her child. This is stated by the texts of the Quran and the sunnah, and is likewise attested by reflection (2), through both sense and reason. All this proceeds from His wisdom and mercy, and by virtue of His having prescribed mercy for Himself and forbidden oppression to Himself—not because created beings impose obligations or prohibitions upon Him, nor because He resembles created beings in what is obligatory and forbidden. Rather, every blessing from Him is grace, and every punishment from Him is justice. No created being has any right against Him except what He Himself has established as a right incumbent upon His holy Self, as in His words:

“Your Lord has prescribed mercy for Himself.”

[Surah al-Anām: 54]

And His words:

“It was incumbent upon Us to support the believers.”

[Surah al-Rūm: 47]

This is so by virtue of His promise and the truthfulness of His word, concerning which the Muslims are agreed. As for its being by virtue of what He has prescribed for Himself and of His wisdom and mercy, this (3) is subject to further qualification and disagreement, as discussed elsewhere.

The Qadarites who maintain that Allah must secure what is best then say: He created them only to afford them the opportunity to attain reward.