How to respond to one who argues that Allah did not decree guidance for him?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Now, there are two questions. The first is: What do we say to the one we call to repentance and return to Allah, who says, "Allah did not decree guidance for me"? And the second is: What do we say to the sinner who says, "Allah guides whom He wills, and you [claim] guidance is from Allah"?
The Shaykh : And he denies it.
The questioner : The beginning.
The Shaykh : And he denies it. Well, the answer to both is simple. As for the first, he says:
The questioner : Love, and that Allah did not decree his hands.
The Shaykh : "Allah did not decree guidance for me." Simply, we say: Have you seen the unseen, or have you taken a covenant with Allah? Have you seen the unseen that Allah did not decree guidance for you? If he says yes, what do we say to him? We say: You are a disbeliever, for claiming knowledge of the unseen is disbelief. If he says no, we say: You are defeated and overcome. If you have not seen that Allah did not decree guidance for you, then seek guidance. What prevented you from seeking guidance? Rather, He called you to guidance, encouraged you in it, warned you against misguidance, and forbade you from it. Does Allah the Exalted and Majestic will to leave His servants in misguidance forever?[An-Nisa 4:26] Repent to Allah. Allah the Exalted and Majestic is more joyful with your repentance than a man who lost his camel, on which was his food and drink, and he despaired of it and slept under a tree waiting for death. Then he woke up and found the camel’s rein hanging from the tree. So he took the rein of the camel in joy. Is that not joy? Can you imagine this joy?
Now, we cannot feel it because we have not experienced this thing, but the one who experiences it finds that it is a joy without parallel, because it is the joy of life after death. He was lying down waiting for death, and then he found the rein of his camel hanging from the tree. He took it and said, "O Allah, You are my slave and I am your Lord." Look at the error: "You are my slave and I am your Lord." What did he want to say? "You are my Lord and I am your slave." But because of the intensity of the joy, he went and uttered this word. So we say: Repent to Allah, and Allah the Exalted has commanded you to seek guidance and shown you the path of truth. This is the answer to the first part. The second part:
The questioner : And the second is the sinner who says that guidance is that Allah guides whom He wills, and he denies guidance.
The Shaykh : Well, likewise, the one who says that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, guides whom He wills, is that correct?
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : We say: If Allah guides whom He wills, then this is an argument against you. Seek guidance so that you may be among those whom Allah wills to guide. And the truth, my brothers, is that this answer from the sinner is meant to ward off the argument as far as we are concerned, but will it benefit him with Allah? No, because Allah says:[Al-An'am 6:148]
The Shaykh : And he denies it.
The questioner : The beginning.
The Shaykh : And he denies it. Well, the answer to both is simple. As for the first, he says:
The questioner : Love, and that Allah did not decree his hands.
The Shaykh : "Allah did not decree guidance for me." Simply, we say: Have you seen the unseen, or have you taken a covenant with Allah? Have you seen the unseen that Allah did not decree guidance for you? If he says yes, what do we say to him? We say: You are a disbeliever, for claiming knowledge of the unseen is disbelief. If he says no, we say: You are defeated and overcome. If you have not seen that Allah did not decree guidance for you, then seek guidance. What prevented you from seeking guidance? Rather, He called you to guidance, encouraged you in it, warned you against misguidance, and forbade you from it. Does Allah the Exalted and Majestic will to leave His servants in misguidance forever?
Allah wants to make clear to you [the lawful from the unlawful] and guide you to the [good] practices of those before you and to accept your repentance
يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُبَيِّنَ لَكُمْ وَيَهْدِيَكُمْ سُنَنَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ وَيَتُوبَ عَلَيْكُمْNow, we cannot feel it because we have not experienced this thing, but the one who experiences it finds that it is a joy without parallel, because it is the joy of life after death. He was lying down waiting for death, and then he found the rein of his camel hanging from the tree. He took it and said, "O Allah, You are my slave and I am your Lord." Look at the error: "You are my slave and I am your Lord." What did he want to say? "You are my Lord and I am your slave." But because of the intensity of the joy, he went and uttered this word. So we say: Repent to Allah, and Allah the Exalted has commanded you to seek guidance and shown you the path of truth. This is the answer to the first part. The second part:
The questioner : And the second is the sinner who says that guidance is that Allah guides whom He wills, and he denies guidance.
The Shaykh : Well, likewise, the one who says that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, guides whom He wills, is that correct?
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : We say: If Allah guides whom He wills, then this is an argument against you. Seek guidance so that you may be among those whom Allah wills to guide. And the truth, my brothers, is that this answer from the sinner is meant to ward off the argument as far as we are concerned, but will it benefit him with Allah? No, because Allah says:
Those who associated with Allah will say, "If Allah had willed, we would not have associated [anything] and neither would our fathers, nor would we have prohibited anything." Likewise did those before deny until they tasted Our punishment. Say, "Do you have any knowledge that you can produce for us? You follow not except assumption, and you are not but falsifying."
سَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا لَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا أَشْرَكْنَا وَلَا آبَاؤُنَا وَلَا حَرَّمْنَا مِن شَيْءٍ كَذَٰلِكَ كَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ حَتَّىٰ ذَاقُوا بَأْسَنَا قُلْ هَلْ عِندَكُم مِّنْ عِلْمٍ فَتُخْرِجُوهُ لَنَا إِن تَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَإِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلَّا تَخْرُصُونَ
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 21 - 22 - دروس وفتاوى المسجد الحرام للعام 1408 هـ الدرس الحادي والعشرين الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين — youtube.com (28:55)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.