[Commentary on his statement that He is just and wise, wrongs no one, and does nothing evil, for otherwise ignorance or need would necessarily follow]

As for his statement(1):

“He is just and wise. He wrongs no one and does nothing evil—for otherwise ignorance or need would necessarily follow(2). Exalted is Allah above both.”

The reply is:

Muslims agree on this in general: Allah does nothing evil and wrongs no one. The dispute, however, concerns how this is to be understood. The question(3) is: if He is the Creator of His servants’ actions, may it be said(4) that He has done something evil on His part and has committed injustice, or not?

Ahl al-Sunnah, who affirm divine decree(5), say that this does not make Him unjust or a doer of evil. The Qadariyya, however, say that if He were the Creator of His servants’ actions, He would be unjust and would have done what is evil(6).

An action’s being evil when performed by its doer does not entail that it is evil on the part of its Creator. Likewise, its being an act of eating or drinking for the one who performs it does not(7) entail that it is such(8) for its Creator. This is because what the Creator creates in another does not subsist in His own essence. The one characterized by the action is the one in whom it subsists, not the one who created it in another. Likewise, when He creates in another a color, an odor, motion, power, and knowledge(9),