We request clarification of the belief of the Jabriyyah, and how to refute them regarding the claim that Allah decreed the destinies long before the creation of the heavens and the earth.

The questioner : The questioner said: We request from your excellence clarification of the belief of the Jabriyyah, and how to refute them regarding the claim that Allah decreed the destinies long before the creation of the heavens and the earth; so how can it be said that man has a choice in his actions, such as obedience and forgetfulness?

The Shaykh : The Shaykh said: The issue is actually easy for one who has comprehensive knowledge of the divine decrees of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that precede events. If we study any event that has occurred, we have no doubt that this reality is what was previously recorded in the Preserved Tablet before it happened. Let us give some examples: the intentional killer and the accidental killer, and the mujtahid who is correct and the mujtahid who is mistaken. So-and-so killed intentionally; what do you see written in the Preserved Tablet? That he will kill intentionally. The other killed accidentally; what do you see was written in the Preserved Tablet? Will he kill intentionally or accidentally? There is no doubt that the divine decree precedes events, and with His eternal, pre-existing knowledge (Blessed and Exalted is He), He reveals these events and recorded them in the Preserved Tablet before their occurrence; so they were recorded exactly as they occurred. At that point, we ask: Did the intentional killer kill by his choice or by compulsion? And conversely: Did the accidental killer kill—also—by his choice or against his will?
The answer will come: The first killer killed by his choice, and the second killer killed against his will, not by his choice. So, because our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) informed us of the decree that He previously recorded for all created beings, and because we know this reality, does our knowledge of this reality compel us to change our knowledge of this reality? We said that one of the two killers killed by his choice; so do we say that he killed against his will because we believe that it was previously written in the Book of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that he would kill? Our answer is: It was previously written in the Book of Allah that he would kill by his choice. Therefore, choice is established in the decree just as compulsion is. Consequently, it is a very obvious result that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) punishes the intentional killer and does not punish the accidental killer; because the intentional killer killed by his choice. Choice cannot be denied merely because one believes that this killing was recorded in the Preserved Tablet. However, we should remember that what was recorded in the Preserved Tablet will occur with complete precision, and we have said that what occurred happened by his choice. Is this in accordance with the divine decree or contrary to it? It was in accordance with the divine decree. Therefore, those who hold to compulsion (jabr) are contradicting the divine decree, and they want to equate what was written in the Preserved Tablet and in the divine decree, whether by choice or by compulsion. For this reason, the Shari'ah, the law, and reason distinguish between one who has a choice in something and one who does not have a choice. The basis of religious obligation is the existence of choice; if choice is absent, religious obligation is absent. So, the claim of compulsion negates the decree, while they want to prove compulsion by saying it is established in the decree. The decree has two categories: what is recorded that he will do such-and-such by choice, and what is recorded that he will do such-and-such by compulsion. Therefore, their claim of compulsion, relying on divine decree and destiny, turns the argument against them contrary to what they claim.
There is a witty remark by some of the witty people: If the Jabri says to you: "Everything a person does is done under compulsion, because it is written in the Preserved Tablet, and it must happen," say to him: "Is the one under compulsion held accountable and obligated?" He will say to you: "No." So, after he says this misguidance, all you have to do is slap him on the cheek, for example. He will say: "Brother, why did you hit me?" Say to him: "Compelled, compelled." The talk of the compelled is the most foolish thing there is, and Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created man in the best of forms.
I say, for example: Where is the compulsion? I am speaking to you now; do you think I am choosing or am I compelled? If you say I am compelled, ha, ha, I am compelled to be silent, ha, I am speaking to you. Where is the alleged compulsion? So, Allah (Mighty and Majestic), the most wise of judges, created man and enabled him to do good just as He enabled him to do evil. And therefore He said: , so human will... good and evil... ... And yet our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) has distinguished between one who disbelieves by choice and one who disbelieves under compulsion: . And some scholars of tafsir, such as Ibn Hajar and Ibn Jarir al-Tabari and others, have narrated that this verse was revealed regarding 'Amir ibn Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him), where the polytheists tortured him as they tortured Bilal. Then it appeared that they felt some weakness and relaxation from them, so they offered him to disbelieve in Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and to say about him: that he is a liar, that he is a sorcerer, that he is a poet =
-- And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah --
= They said to him: If you say this, we will release you. So he proceeded... with this offer, and he said these words, and they released him. Then he came to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and after the relief he found, his reason returned to him, and his soul rebuked him: How did I say about the one through whom Allah guided me: that he is a liar, that he is a sorcerer, that he is a poet?! So he complained of the matter to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), hoping that his soul would be relieved from the mistake that came out of him. So he said to him (peace and blessings be upon him): , meaning: Are you at peace with these words, which are disbelief itself, and denying my truthfulness and my prophethood, and so on? He said: I find my heart at peace with faith. So he said to him (peace and blessings be upon him): .
So now: Who among the people of intellect, who has been given an atom of reason and understanding, equates the disbelief of 'Amir ibn Yasir with the disbelief of Abu Lahab and Abu Jahl? Are they equal, for example? The answer is: No. But both of these disbeliefs are recorded in the Preserved Tablet; because Allah said: . But this recorded matter is what happened. So why do these Jabriyyah take the previous writing as evidence that the one intended is compelled, while the written matter has details; sometimes it is written as compelled, and sometimes it is written as chosen? So the decree itself is in accordance with reality; so what was... there is no accountability, as in the story of 'Amir ibn Yasir, and what was by choice, as in the story of Abu Lahab and Abu Jahl and their like of disbelievers. By this, it is possible to refute these Jabriyyah. And it is sufficient for you to know the danger of their doctrine and the foolishness of their minds, as the poet said about them, representing how they believed in their Lord the suspicion that the most unjust of people would rise above; where they described their Lord by saying, as the poet said:
He threw him into the sea with his hands bound, then said to him: *** Beware, beware of getting wet in the water.
Does the unjust do this...? He binds him with chains, then throws him into the sea and says to him: "Be careful, a drop of water will hit you"?! The most unjust of people does not do this. But they have described their Lord with what is not fitting for the most unjust and most wicked of people:
He threw him into the sea with his hands bound, then said to him: *** Beware, beware of getting wet in the water.
As for Allah (Mighty and Majestic), He has explicitly stated that He does not wrong people in anything, but people themselves wrong themselves. And in the Qudsi Hadith, Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) said: .
Does this hadith, from its beginning to its end, indicate that man does not have control over his actions? He does not have the power to be righteous, and he does not have the power to be wicked. If he is wicked, then the Lord of the Worlds punishes him, and He says: , meaning: The injustice that you know among yourselves as injustice is injustice to Me; so purify Me and do not attribute injustice to Me. If we return to that verse that described the belief of the Jabriyyah:
He threw him into the sea with his hands bound, then said to him: *** Beware, beware of getting wet in the water.
In the custom of people, is this justice or injustice? It is injustice. So, our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) knows that people are the ones who are purest from injustice toward people, but people themselves are the ones who are unjust.
Yes.