it is that other being that is characterized by that color, odor, motion, power, and knowledge. It is the one moving with that motion, colored with that color, knowing through that knowledge, and capable through that power. So too(1), when He creates in another speech, prayer, fasting(2), or circumambulation, it is(3) that other being that speaks that speech, prays, fasts, and performs the circumambulation.(4)
[Likewise, when He creates a foul, putrid odor in another, it is that other being that is foul and putrid; the Lord, exalted is He, is not described by what He creates in another. And when He created man anxious and impatient—as He, exalted is He, says:
{“Indeed, man was created anxious: impatient when evil touches him and withholding when good touches him.”}
[Surah al-Maārij: 19–21]
—He Himself, glory be to Him, is neither anxious, impatient, nor withholding. Yet the Qadariyya claim that if He made man unjust and a liar, He Himself would be unjust and a liar. Exalted is He far above that!
This supports the position of the great majority of those who affirm divine decree and hold that He is the Creator of His servants’ actions. They say that Allah, exalted is He, is the Creator of the servant and of everything that subsists in him, including his will, power, movements, and all else.
One group among them—from the Karrāmiyya and others, such as Judge Abū Khāzim(5), son of Judge Abū Yalā—held that the meaning of His being the Creator of His servants’ actions is that He is the Creator