He does is good. According to these people, it is inadmissible to say, “It would be good for Him to do such-and-such,” let alone to say that it is obligatory.

The second position is that of those who say that justice and mercy are incumbent upon Him because He has made them incumbent upon Himself, as Allah Most High says:

“Your Lord has decreed mercy upon Himself.”

[Surah al-An‘ām: 54].

Injustice is forbidden to Him because He has forbidden it to Himself, as He says in the authentic hadith:

“O My servants, I have forbidden injustice for Myself and have made it forbidden among you, so do not wrong one another.”

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They also say that this is rationally obligatory. On either position, no injustice has proceeded from Him—Glorified is He—and He has not failed to fulfill any obligation. He has therefore done all that is incumbent upon Him. Yet, despite this, He has not created that by which these intended benefits of the infallible person would be realized.

If these benefits would be realized merely by creating him, yet they have not been realized, it necessarily follows that creating him is not obligatory—and that is precisely the point to be proved. If, however, they can be realized only by creating him together with other things, so that the intended purpose is achieved by all of them collectively, then He has not created that totality, whether He created none of it or failed to create part of it.

Failing to fulfill an obligation is impossible for Him, whether little or much is involved. It therefore follows, under either supposition, that He is not obligated to create what would bring about these desired ends. If He is not obligated to do so, there is no difference between His creating an infallible person through whom those ends are not attained and His not creating him at all. Creating him is therefore not obligatory for Him. Consequently, it does not follow that such a person must exist. Thus, the claim that his existence is obligatory is false under every supposition.

If it is said, “The intended purpose is achieved through His creating him and through the obedience rendered to him by those who are morally accountable,”