30 - The reformer says:

"There was nearly no Ottoman family in which they did not blunt and kill the abilities of comprehension, observation and inquiring in children with crushing, ignorant answers. The utterly ignorant people, who believed that men were of infinite impotence, that everything was made by Allah, that grave was an intermediary that interceded with Allah for man, that the head of the state was the absolute ruler, and who lived in the world of dreams full of genies, fairies and vampires, always answered their children's questions as 'Allah makes,' 'Allah has predestined so,' 'Don't ask too many questions.' or 'Be quiet, it is a sin, it is disbelief!'

Religious scholars did not or could not tell people the moral, social uses in worshiping. Parents' crushing treatment of children was because scholars misunderstood and misstated Islam. It was forbidden for the child to think and ask about religion, morals, customs and honesty. Thus, it resulted in tawakkul, resignation, loss of power of will and hesitation, and these resulted in viciousness and impersonality in the child. All these were qualities that caused easy defeat and settlement of bad habits."

All the evils which the religion reformer writes down are, in actual fact, imputed to the religion, especially to the teachings of qada' and qadar and to the unquestionableness of religious knowledge.

It is never right to blame Islam and its scholars by putting forth the idea that graves are intermediaries between Allahu ta'ala and men. All Islamic scholars refute this idea. The Ahl as-Sunnat scholars have unanimously prohibited Muslims from worshiping anybody besides Allahu ta'ala. The belief that the dead, and even the alive, are intermediaries between the Creator and His human creatures exists not in Islam but in Christianity. While they impute this to Muslims and regard it viciousness, why don't they regard Christian Europeans vicious? Recently, the viciousness and immoralities of the children brought up in European fashion by modernist families have been filling the columns of daily papers even though they do not have that "old-fashioned" religious training. It is very unfair to impute to Islam the harm of bizarre wish to please our children, to keep them away from any inconvenience and to encourage them in laziness, since in Islam the father does not have to continue to care for his child who has matured mentally and reached the age of puberty and who should work and earn; therefore, every father has to teach his child a craft as well as knowledge and manners.

There are three principle groups having different views concerning the effect of man's will on his actions: the Mutazila, Jabriyya and Ahl as-Sunnat.

According to the Mutazila, Allahu ta'ala has given men power and will and man creates all his actions. They say that trembling of the arm and beating of the heart occur from themselves, but man creates the raising of his arm and the stepping of his foot, and if man did not create his optional actions Allahu ta'ala would be unjust for rewarding for goodness and torturing for evils. They put forth the ayats, "Allahu ta'ala does not treat men cruelly. They treat themselves cruelly," and "It is the retribution for what they have done."

And according to the Jabriyya, "The pencil has written in eternity all that would happen, and its ink has dried lest it might be changed later. Everything has been predestined in eternity. Things that are in Allahu ta'ala's knowledge and everything which He has predestined in eternity will come out just as it is predestined. No one can change this. The eighteenth ayat of the surat ar-Rad says, 'Allahu ta'ala is the Creator of everything.' Allahu ta'ala is the One who creates man, who gives man power and will, and who creates all his actions."

Muhammad Mathum al-Faruqi (rahmat-Allahi 'alaih) wrote:

"Those who belonged to the Jabriyya said, 'There is no will or option in man. Man is compelled in his actions. He is like a tree swinging to and from by the wind. It is not correct to say that man did something. Everything is done by Allah.' These words cause them to become disbelievers. He who believes so is a disbeliever. According to them, 'Man will be rewarded for good deeds and he will not be tortured for evil deeds. Disbelievers and sinners are excusable. They will not be regarded guilty or punished, for the evils are done not by they themselves but by Allah who compels men to do them.' These words cause disbelief, too. Allahu ta'ala said in the twenty-fourth ayat of the surat as-Saffat, 'They will be questioned on their belief and on what they have done.' The hadith says that seventy prophets cursed those who belonged to the Jabriyya. Every reasonable person can easily understand that their words are wrong. It is obvious that trembling of the hand and raising the hand optionally are different. Trembling of the hand is not within man's wish, but raising the hand is within man's option and will. It is clearly understood from the Qur'an that the followers of the Jabriyya are in the wrong path. Allahu ta'ala declares in the fourteenth ayat of the surat al-Ahqaf, 'They will be rewarded for the good they have done.' He declares in the twenty-ninth ayat of the surat al-Kahf, 'You may believe or not. We have prepared fire for the cruel (disbelievers).' And it is declared in the thirty-third ayat of the surat an-Nahl, 'Allahu ta'ala did not torment them. They tormented themselves by disbelieving and sinning.' If there were no option or power of choosing in man, Allahu ta'ala would not say, 'They tormented themselves,' in this ayat. Many people think like the Jabriyya and say that men cannot do what they wish. They say that they are compelled to commit sins and that they commit them compulsorily. They consider themselves excusable and innocent. Whereas, Allahu ta'ala has given men as much option and power as to perform the commands and prohibitions. Beating of the heart and man's walking are certainly two different actions. Beating of the heart is not within man's power. But man walks if he wants and he does not if he does not want to. Because Allahu ta'ala is All-Bounteous and All-Merciful, He has not commanded men things that are not within their power. He has wanted them to do things which they are able to do. The last ayat of the surat al-Baqara, declares, 'Allahu ta'ala has commanded his human creatures things which they are able to do.' It is surprising that the Jabriyya group get offended by and oppose to these who do not listen to them and who annoy them. They take every trouble to bring up and train their children. They do not let other men approach their wives and daughters. They hurt those who do so. They do not say that they are compelled and therefore are excusable and tolerable. When the subject changes to affairs pertaining to the next world, however, they say, 'We cannot help it, Allahu ta'ala makes everything,' and shamelessly commit the evils prohibited by Islam and abstain from worshiping commanded by Islam.

"Though they say that there is not any wish or will in man, they commit whichever evil they wish. Allahu ta'ala says in the seventh ayat of the surat at-Tur, 'The day on which Allahu ta'ala will torture them will certainly come. No one can prevent it.' When they see a mad person in their own house or if they see him commit a sin, they tolerate him by saying that he does not have wisdom and option. Yet they punish sane people who commit sins. Then they punish them because they have option and commit sin willingly. The Jabriyya group departed from the right path by saying that man did not have option and the Mutazila group deviated because they disbelieved qada' and qadar. They became ahl al-bidat. They went wrong. It has been the lot of the Ahl as-Sunnat scholars to find the right path which is between these two paths. It is reported that al-Imam al-azam Abu Hanifa asked Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (rahmat-Allahi 'alaih) 'O the grandson of Rasulullah! Has Allahu ta'ala left the affairs to men's wish?' He said in response, 'Allahu ta'ala does not leave the attribute of being Rabb (Creator) of His human creatures.' Abu Hanifa asked again, 'Does He make His creatures do work under compulsion?' He answered, 'He neither forces them nor leaves it to their wish. It is something between these two.' Allahu ta'ala said in the one hundred and forty-eighth ayat of the surat al-Anam, 'The polytheists will say, "If Allah willed, we and our fathers would not be polytheists, and we would not prohibit anything by ourselves." ' As in this ayat, disbelievers and polytheists say that Allah has willed them to have disbelief and polytheism. Allahu ta'ala will not admit this pretext of theirs. Such words show their ignorance and foolishness.

"Question: The Ahl as-Sunnat scholars have said that every good and evil thing happens as predestined, willed by Allahu ta'ala. Then disbelievers disbelieve because Allah has willed it so, don't they? Is their pretext not justifiable? Why would not their words be admitted?

"Answer: Disbelievers do not say that they were forced into an evil state or that they are excusable. They do not regard disbelief and sins as guilts. They do not consider them evil. They say, 'Allah likes and approves everything He wills; if He did not like, He would not will. He wills our polytheism and disbelief and has us do what we do. Therefore, He likes and approves all. He will not torture those who do these.' Allahu ta'ala says at the end of the above-quoted ayat, 'So those who preceded them disbelieved [the prophets of their time]. Therefore they tasted Our torture. Tell them: "Do you have any knowledge that you can show us as a proof? But you just guess and lie." ' Allahu ta'ala declares in the Qur'an and in other holy books that disbelief is loathsome and that He never likes it. He announces that disbelievers are accursed, that they will never attain His Mercy and that they will be tortured eternally. He declares that they speak out of ignorance. Will to do something may not indicate like for it. It is for certain that Allahu ta'ala wills their disbelief and sins. No one can do anything which He does not will. Though He wills them, He does not approve or like them. The Qur'an expresses this clearly. These words of disbelievers agree with the Jabriyya belief. They said that they did not have option in their actions, and Allahu ta'ala refused their words and cast them to their teeth, since such a belief was wrong as pointed out above.

"Maybe these words of disbelievers are intended to ridicule but not to show their belief, for they do not regard their situation bad. They believe that they are good and say that Allahu ta'ala approves and likes their conduct.

"Question: 'Everything men do happens with Allahu ta'ala's will. good and evil things have been predestined and written down in eternity. Then is there place for man's option and choice? Doesn't everybody have to do the good and evil things predestined in eternity?"

"Answer: The predestination in eternal past is in this manner: 'So and so will do such and such a deed with his own desire.' Then the eternal predestination points out not that men do not have option, but that they do have option. If it showed that they did not have option, Allahu ta'ala would act without option in what He creates or makes every day, and He would be compelled to do so, for Allahu ta'ala creates everything in accord with the eternal predestination. Allahu ta'ala is autonomous. He wills, opts and creates what He wills and opts." [Maktubat vol. I, 83 rd. letter.]

The Ahl as-Sunnat's belief is between those of the Mutazila and Jabriyya. According to the Ahl as-Sunnat, man neither creates nor is compelled to do his deeds. The Ahl as-Sunnat's teachings can be explained as follows:

In Islam, like in all other heavenly religions, everything happens according to the predestination, the will of Allahu ta'ala. And, since man does not know how an action has been predestined in eternity, he has to work in accordance with Allahu ta'ala's command. Qada' and qadar are not obstacles against man's working. Men should think about qada' and qadar not before doing something but after doing it. The twenty-second ayat of the surat al-Hadid says, "Everything that would happen in the world was written in Lawh al-mahfuz and predestined in eternity before the world was created. We tell this to you so that you would not be sorry for the opportunities you have missed, nor should you feel arrogant for your good deeds and for the blessings Allahu ta'ala has given you. Allahu ta'ala dislikes the arrogant." This ayat shows that a person who believes in qada and qadar will never fall into despair, hopelessness or self-esteem. Belief in qada' and qadar does not prevent man from working. It incites him to work. The hadith, "Work! Everybody will attract himself to what has been predestined from him," tells that man's work will show how qada' and qadar will happen, that there is a strong relation between work and qada' and qadar. A man's working for goodness shows that goodness has been predestined in eternity for him, since everybody is attracted towards doing the actions which have been predestined for him in eternity.

As it is an obligation for Muslims to believe in qada' and qadar and to know that all the good and evils are from Allahu ta'ala, so it is their duty to do good and strive to abstain from bad actions. That Allahu ta'ala knows how something will happen before it happens or that He destines and decrees according to that knowledge of His is not a compulsion over man. Because He knew in eternity also how man would use his will and option. This knowledge or predestination is not contrary to the wish and will of men. Allah's knowing in eternity does not influence the happening or not happening of actions. "Knowledge is dependent upon the known," has been said in order to show that knowledge would not affect actions.

A person does some good or bad thing, and Allahu ta'ala knew in eternity that that thing would be done, and predestined it according to His knowledge. Allahu ta'ala's predestining will come true and His knowledge, which caused this predestination, will not prove wrong. It is seen that man is not compelled to do this work. Allahu ta'ala knew in eternity that this person would do that work with his own will and wish. Man's option or will is the cause of qada' and qadar in eternity. That is, man will wish to do that work not because Allahu ta'ala knew and predestined in eternity that work to be done so. Allahu ta'ala has predestined it so, because He knew in eternity that man would use his will to do so.

The first cause in man's doing something is his own will and option. Though Allahu ta'ala predestined in eternity an action which man would do with his own consent, man's will and option were within the divine knowledge in eternity, and probably before the predestination. For this reason, the eternal predestination helps man's will and option. Because man can do nothing by himself and everything must be created by Him. Allahu ta'ala with His predestination makes man wish to do action. The Ahl as-Sunnat differ on this from the Mutazila and their followers, the Shiites, who say, "Allahu ta'ala creates men and gives them power and will, and further than that He is not concerned." As for the Ahl as-sunnat, who follow the ayat, "Allah is the Creator of you and of the things you do," say that every movement, every work of man happens from Allahu ta'ala's creating, inventing, giving him power and having him do. His creating takes place after man uses his will and option. This part of the action, which is called "iradat juz'iyya" (partial free will) or "kasb" (acquirement), belongs to man and Allahu ta'ala does not create or invent it. Because, it is not a material being. Creation and invention happen in the beings which are not thought or imagined but which exist outside (kharij) and affect our sense organs.

Divine Knowledge is unlike human knowledge and it must always prove to be right. That Divine Knowledge has always proved to be right has been misunderstood by the Jabriyya and REFORMERS IN ISLAM, and they have supposed that Divine Knowledge was dominant, effective over men's actions. However this quality of Divine Knowledge does not change itself from knowledge to compulsion. A teacher may know beforehand that his pupil will not succeed in the examination. This knowledge of his will not be a compulsion over or a cruelty to the student if he cannot pass the examination. Allahu ta'ala knew in eternity everything that will happen later. That everything happens in accord with this knowledge does not show that there is no will or option in man. Allahu ta'ala knew in eternity also what He would create. Since His creating certainly in accord with this knowledge of His does not show lack of will or option in Him, so it is not correct to deny the existence of will and option in man.

When man wants to do something, first he opts, chooses, decrees or wishes to do it. Then he does it. For this reason, man does not have to do an action. He does if he wishes, and he does not if he does not wish.

Man's wish to do an action necessitates his initial remembrance of that action by seeing, hearing or thinking about it; it has to occur to his heart. Man either wishes or not to do it when it occurs to his heart. For example, one may find something useful and do it, but someone else may find it unnecessary and may not do it. Who brings an action, its usefulness or unnecessity to the hearts of those who are said to be free in their actions? Why does not one's thought occur to another? If it occurs, why does it seem unnecessary to another? Those various reasons are not within man's power. For this reason, some Ahl as-Sunnat scholars have said, "Men are free in their voluntary actions, yet they are not free but compelled in their will and option." Somebody said, "I do what I wish," to Hadrat Imam al-Ghazali. Hadrat Imam said, "Can you wish what you wish?" Hadrat Abu 'l-Hasan al-Ashari interpreted the ayat in the surat ad-Dahr of the Qur'an as, "You wish only what Allahu ta'ala wills!" [There is detailed information about qada and qadar in Endless Bliss, II, III.]

Allahu ta'ala declares: "Your Rabb creates what He wishes. He alone opts, chooses. They do not have will and option" (surat al-Qasas, 68); "Know for sure that Allahu ta'ala gets between the man and his own heart" (surat al-Anfal, 24); "You cannot bring whomever you love to the right course. Allahu ta'ala brings to the right course whomever He wishes" (surat al-Qasas, 56); "Even if We sent down angels to them and make the dead talk in front of them and We gave them everything they wanted, they would not believe unless Allahu ta'ala willed so" (surat al-Anam, 111); "Whomever Allahu ta'ala wills to guide to the right path, He widens his chest for Islam, and He keeps the chest of whomever He wills to send astray so narrow and tight that it is impossible for the truth to enter and for him to ascend to sky," (surat al-Anam, 125) and "Even if I want to advise you, it will not avail if Allahu ta'ala has willed that you remain in deviation." (surat al-Hud, 34) The Mutazila who disbelieve qada' and qadar and those who follow them are astonished at these ayats.

The conversation between Musa (Moses) and Adam ('alaihima 's-salam) about qada' and qadar is narrated at length in a hadith. [For its explanation, see Endless Bliss, III, Chapter 38.]

Alongside these documents showing that the human will is also under some compulsion, there is the obvious fact that man has freedom that will hold him responsible for what he does. The courts of the law all over the world and even everyone's conscience do not want a cruel man who hurts others to be forgiven. Even a fervent fanatic of the Jabriyya does find himself rightful to get angry with and even to retaliate upon a man who attacks him unjustly. A poet says, "Slap on the neck a member of the Jabriyya who says he is content even with the torments of qada' and qadar! If he says, 'What are you doing!' tell him that qada' and qadar made you do so! Let's see if he will acknowledge you to be right!"

All the laws of justice and moral principles over the world approve and emphasize the Divine Justice decreed in the seventh and eighth ayats of the surat az-Zilzal in the Qur'an, "He who does favor in the slightest degree will attain its rewards, and he who makes harm in the slightest degree will attain its retribution."

Allahu ta'ala declares in the hundred and forty-eighth and following ayats of the surat al-Anam, "The polytheists will say, 'If Allah willed, we would not be polytheists'... Tell them: 'Final decision belongs to Allahu ta'ala; He would have guided all of you to the right path if He had willed.' " This ayat does not oppose the words, "If Allah willed we would not be polytheists," of polytheists, and their wrongness is not in that they think that they are guilty because Allahu ta'ala has willed it so, but in that they utter these words in order to rebut prophets and rescue themselves from being guilty. Their words, "If Allah willed, we would not be polytheists," are right. As a matter of fact it is declared in this ayat, "He would have guided all of you to the right path if He had willed." It is declared in the hundred and seventh ayat of the surat al-Anam, "If Allahu ta'ala had willed, they would not have been polytheists." Though these words of polytheists are correct, they are loathsome because they utter these words in order to rebut prophets, and they are insulted in the ayat for this reason. As Allahu ta'ala did not have to will all the things which He has commanded, so He did not have to will any of the things which He has prohibited. That is, Allahu ta'ala willed in eternity all that would happen in the world, and among them were also the things which He has prohibited and disliked. Willing is different from being content, from liking. These two should not be mistaken for each other. It can be easily understood that Allahu ta'ala may have forbidden men to do an action though He might will that action to be done.

Also the eighth ayat of the surat al-Balad and the eighth ayat of the surat ash-Shams openly declare that Allahu ta'ala has given men material and spiritual power and showed the good and evil paths and that responsibility will be of man.

It is seen that in one respect man is a free agent. In this world and the next he is responsible for everything he does. But there is also al-Iradat al-Kulliyya (Total Free Will) that does not let man's will and option alone. Man cannot decide on whether he is capable or incapable. It is very difficult to solve this problem. It would be quite right to say that it is a puzzle having no equal in the world.

Hadrat Abu Mansur al-Maturidi interprets the ayat, "You wish only what Allahu ta'ala wills," as "Allahu ta'ala's Will united with your will. When you will you find His Will present." According to al-Ashari, this ayat does not unite but relates Allahu ta'ala's will with man's will and it wants men to will good things. It means that such will of theirs will get power from the Divine Will and that man's will like his every action needs Allahu ta'ala's permission. The ayat, "They do not have will and option," was said about the disbelievers of Quraish who said, "That Qur'an should have been sent down to one of the notables of Mecca or Medina," and it meant that men did not have the will of appointing the Prophet. The ayat, "Allahu ta'ala gets between the man and his own heart," was revealed in order to declare, as it is explained in the Qur'an commentary by al-Baidawi, that Allahu ta'ala sees and knows the secrets in the hearts.

As for the hadith reporting the conversation between Adam and Musa ('alaihima 's-salam) and the former's victory, according to the Ahl as-Sunnat scholars, in the disliked action of Hadrat Adam, kasb (acquirement), qada' and qadar and tawba (repentance) came together. Repentance and acquirement canceled each other like two opposite electric charges. There only remained qadar, and it is said that no one could be blamed for qada' and qadar. After the part concerning Hadrat Adam of what he did was corrected by his repentance, that part concerning his descendants, that is, that it caused men to live on the earth, is of Divine qadar for men.

The above-mentioned ayats about that deeds happen only from Allahu ta'ala's will are meant for cases when qadar turns into qada'. Man begins to do the action predestined in qadar with his own will, and after Allahu ta'ala wills it also, the action turns into qada', that is, it happens. Then, when the actions in qadar turn into qada', man's will cannot change it; felicity and misfortune cannot go back. The ayat, "We have barricaded them on their front and back. We have put a blind in front of their eyes; they will not see any more," in the surat Ya Seen, and the ayat, "Allahu ta'ala sealed their hearts and put a covering over their ears and eyes," at the beginning of the surat al-Baqara refer to this fact. These ayats indicate in addition that those who somehow attain love of Allahu ta'ala will be protected and led to the right path, and those who cause the Divine Wrath will be abandoned to their evil deeds. Very delicate and subtle actions may cause this love or this wrath. For this reason, man should be very careful towards Allahu ta'ala. Before the actions in qadar turn into qada', man's will and option is in his own power, though he may be influenced by exterior effects.

Men have will and are free in their thoughts and actions. Yet their thoughts and actions are related to some reasons, which do not deprive men of being free, because they exercise will also without these reasons and they will and do without any reason. When man does not will while there are reasons, the action does not happen most of the time. If the existence of reasons necessitated the action to be done, Allahu ta'ala's will and option also would get out of order. Before man wills to do an action, he thinks about it in his mind. Then he wills the alternative which influences him more. A salesman sells to the customer who will pay more. This customer is not forced to buy. The salesman is sort of compelled to sell to the one who gives more. If someone happens to anger him by saying, "You cannot sell it to the one who pays less", he may have to sell it out of different reasons and new evaluation.

Allahu ta'ala, through the religions He has revealed, has declared to men good and evil deed and His blessings and punishments, which are retribution for them, thus He has prepared reasons for man's will. On the other hand, He has also created in man's mind reasons and thoughts which may lead him to good or evil ways and which struggle and dispute with one another. If, after the struggle between the reason which Allahu ta'ala has declared and those which He has created in the human mind, the good alternative has more influence on man, he wills the good. For example, if an official who knows about the rules and regulations requiring that he should work well does not follow the rules, for instance, if he takes bribes, some reason in his mind, having more influence than the prohibition of the rules, has compelled him to commit this corrupt deed. He could not help an action which should not have been done, and he has done it. Though the money offer and the love of money which Allahu ta'ala has created in the human mind have compelled his will and option to take bribes, the law will not approve it.

Like the state laws, Allahu ta'ala has put religious and moral rules and commanded strictly to follow them. On the other hand, He has created an-nafs al-ammara, which is always malignant, in men. This can be likened to the State and official who should perceive that he is experiencing a vehement test and should be very alert when the State sends him a bribe in an underhanded way in order to try him.

The religious scholars have not left to Muslims the trouble of dealing with such subtle teachings, which exhausts the minds. They have studied them minutely and written thousands of books. It is surprising that the religion REFORMERS IN ISLAM, while they approve children's observations and questions, speak ill of what the religious scholars have studied and written.

Though communists and some naturalists say that everything is made by nature, (Allah forbid!) they cannot comprehend its secret power. Why should it be a guilt for Muslims to believe that everything is made under the secret power?

About qada' and qadar, Hadrat Shaikh-i Akbar Muhyiddin ibn al-'Arabi had a different comment, and Shihab ad-din Mahmud ibn 'Abdullah al-'Alusi, Mufti of Baghdad, followed him. According to them, willing the good or evils is a peculiarity in man and Allahu ta'ala does not create such peculiarities. For example, they say, "Allahu ta'ala did not make the apple to be apple. He only created it." Al-Alusi (1217-1270 A.H., Baghdad), in Ruh al-Ma'ani (his nine-volume tafsir printed in Egypt), interprets the ayat, "Final decision belongs to Allahu ta'ala," (al-Anam, 149) in the same viewpoint. In this respect, his thoughts are incompatible with the explanation of the Ahl as-Sunnat scholars, and they have not been approved by those who know the matter. According to him, since the reasons of evils in evil men are not created by Allahu ta'ala, it will not be cruelty for Him to punish them, yet because men cannot change these reasons, they must be excusable, that is, though men's deeds escape Allahu ta'ala's compulsion, they will go under nature's compulsion. Even if it is not cruelty to punish men who are under another compulsion, without Allahu ta'ala's compelling them, it is not right for him to say, "Those who are in Hell enjoy torment," in order to rescue men from this state. Furthermore, saying that Allahu ta'ala does not create peculiarities is an approach to naturalism and materialism.

Islamic scholars' writing many books about qada' and qadar does not mean busying with delusions, illusions and superstitions as the religion reformers say. Each of them is a study based on knowledge. It is big slander and irreverence for them to say about Islamic scholars that they mixed genies and fairies with the fancies of vampires. The origin of fancies and fables which are often told by women, ignoramuses and children must be the novels and motion pictures filled with fancies and murders produced in and brought from America and Europe and the corrupt beliefs of Jews and Christians, rather than the books of Islamic scholars.

Genies certainly exist, and it is necessary to believe in their existence. But it is wrong to take illusions and fancies as genies.

Nobody has the right to distort Muslims' belief in qada' and qadar as if it were an obstacle against working and progress. These slanders leak out from communists and freemasons. Belief in qada' and qadar prevent slackness and egoism. Instead of leaving the events beyond his comprehension, knowledge and power to the unconscious will of the coincidence, it is obvious that man's work will make him more successful if he connects the wheel of his will to the regular motions of a machine that includes everything from the atom to the sun, that is, if he tries to set his measures by the predestination. A member of the Jabriyya can be silenced by saying, "If you were at a dangerous place and told that the enemy would attacks and you believed it, would you say, 'They will do what is predestined. They cannot do anything else. There is no way out of what Allah has predestined,' and remain there or would you get ready to resist or go somewhere else?" Thus it will be affirmed also by the Jabriyya that the sense of need for escaping the danger and working for one's needs exists in man's creation. It is not reasonable that man believes in qadar in insignificant affairs and disbelieves it when he is in great danger or need.

It is because of ignorance, inattention and laziness that Muslims remain behind. And I wrote about the origin of the ignorance in the preface. Muslims' belief should not be corrupted by confusing such a noble knowledge of qada' and qadar with the guilt.