Is it permissible to argue using divine decree?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Shaykh, may Allah bless you. Here, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stated that it is Allah the Exalted who takes their souls and releases them whenever He wills. And 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) attributed the same statement to Allah the Exalted when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered upon him and Fatimah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) left, and it was as if he was not pleased with 'Ali's words. Yes, it was the same statement.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Ah.
The Shaykh : Is it not Allah the Exalted? Did not Allah the Exalted refute and reject the argument of those who argued using divine decree and the will of Allah?
So He said:[Al-An'am 6:148] And Allah the Exalted said to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): [Al-An'am 6:107]. Thus, He distinguished between the one who argues using divine decree to justify an unacceptable act,
and the one who argues using divine decree as a surrender to Allah the Exalted. The latter is not to be blamed, while the former is to be blamed. 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) only said this in defense of himself, where the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him, "Do you not pray?" Therefore, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) called it a dispute. So he went out, striking his thigh and saying:[Al-Kahf 18:54]
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Ah.
The Shaykh : Is it not Allah the Exalted? Did not Allah the Exalted refute and reject the argument of those who argued using divine decree and the will of Allah?
So He said:
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.
سَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا لَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا أَشْرَكْنَا وَلَا آبَاؤُنَا وَلَا حَرَّمْنَا مِن شَيْءٍ كَذَٰلِكَ كَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ حَتَّىٰ ذَاقُوا بَأْسَنَاBut if Allah had willed, they would not have associated. And We have not appointed you over them as a guardian
وَلَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا أَشْرَكُوا وَمَا جَعَلْنَاكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَفِيظًاand the one who argues using divine decree as a surrender to Allah the Exalted. The latter is not to be blamed, while the former is to be blamed. 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) only said this in defense of himself, where the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him, "Do you not pray?" Therefore, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) called it a dispute. So he went out, striking his thigh and saying:
but man has ever been, most of anything, [prone to] dispute.
وَكَانَ الْإِنسَانُ أَكْثَرَ شَيْءٍ جَدَلًا
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 713 - 4600 هل يجوز الإحتجاج بالقدر؟ ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.