Ibn al-Qayyim—may Allah have mercy on him—said with regard to the first verse: “This assumption has been explained to mean that Allah, exalted is He, will not grant victory to His Messenger, that his mission will ultimately wither away, and that what befell the believers was not in accordance with Allah’s decree and wisdom. In other words, it was interpreted as a denial of wisdom, a denial of predestination, and a denial that He would complete His Messenger’s cause and make him prevail over all religion. Such was the evil assumption held by the hypocrites and the idolaters in Surah al-Fath; it is deemed evil because it is unfitting for Him, exalted is He, and contradicts His wisdom, His praise, and His truthful promise.

Whoever imagines that falsehood can gain a lasting, decisive upper hand over truth so that truth disappears, or denies that what occurs does so by His judgment and decree, or denies that He has ordained it with far-reaching wisdom for which He deserves praise—claiming instead that it proceeds from a mere, purposeless will—then: ‘That is the assumption of those who disbelieve; so woe to those who disbelieve from the Fire’ (Sad 38:27).

Most people entertain evil thoughts about Allah, whether regarding matters that affect them personally or what He does to others. None is safe from this except the one who truly knows Allah, His names and attributes, and the implications of His wisdom, praise, and truthful promise.

Therefore, let the intelligent person who wishes well for himself pay close attention to this, repent to Allah, and seek His forgiveness for any evil thoughts he has harbored about his Lord.

If you were to examine people—whomever you might examine—you would find in them some degree of objection to divine decree and fault-finding with it, saying, ‘It should have been like this or like that,’ some more and some less. So inspect your own soul: are you free of this?”