What is the difference between will and desire?

The questioner : The questioner says: What is the difference between the legislative will and the cosmic will?

The Shaykh : And what is your opinion? We only answer these questions because they may be obscure to most of the attendees.
I say yes, these are matters that may be obscure to most of the attendees.

The questioner : Most of the attendees are students of knowledge.

The Shaykh : I will answer this question and questions of its kind. Will is divided into two categories: cosmic will and legislative will. What is in the sense of desire is cosmic will, and what is in the sense of love is legislative will. Do you know the criterion now? Will is divided into two categories: cosmic will and legislative will. What is in the sense of desire is cosmic, and what is in the sense of love is legislative will. How many categories are there?

The questioner : Two.

The Shaykh : Yes. What is the criterion for each? What is the criterion? Yes, the criterion is not fixed. Good, brother.

The questioner : Cosmic will is divided into three categories... in the sense of love, and what is...

The Shaykh : And what is in the sense of desire is cosmic. Will is divided into cosmic and legislative will. What is in the sense of love is legislative, and what is in the sense of desire is cosmic. Good. Allah the Exalted said: What type of will is this, based on the criterion we mentioned? Say, brother, stop. It is legislative because it is in the sense of...

The questioner : Love.

The Shaykh : He loves. Good. Why is it not in the sense of desire? Why is it not in the sense of desire? Yes, because if Allah willed for us to repent, all the servants would have repented, and that is a matter that did not happen, for most of the children of Adam are disbelievers. So "He wants to accept your repentance" means He loves for you to repent. Good. Brother.

The questioner : Legislative will.

The Shaykh : Legislative will.

The questioner : Cosmic.

The Shaykh : Cosmic. Good. You have not fixed it now. If it is legislative will, it is in the sense of love; He loves ease for you, but ease may occur or it may not. This means that hardship exists. If the will here were in the sense of desire, no hardship would ever exist, because what Allah wills comes to be, and what He does not will does not come to be. So "Allah wants ease for you" is legislative will. Good. Hud (peace be upon him) said to his people: Yes.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Is it legislative will or cosmic will?

The questioner : Cosmic.

The Shaykh : Cosmic, because Allah does not love to misguide the servants. No, it is not correct to say that Allah loves to misguide you; that is impossible. Rather, the meaning is "He wants to misguide you," meaning He wills to misguide you. So it is cosmic will.

The questioner : Cosmic, in the sense of desire.

The Shaykh : Is there a witness from the Qur'an indicating that it is in the sense of desire?

The questioner : ... Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, to guide all of creation.

The Shaykh : So this is equivalent to "whom Allah wills to guide" and "whom He wills to misguide." So the will here is in the sense of desire, and thus it is cosmic. Good. It remains for us to say what is the difference between cosmic will and legislative will in terms of the intended object, meaning in terms of the occurrence of the intended object. Do you understand the question? What is the difference between them in terms of the occurrence of the intended object?

The questioner : The legislative will is the choice of the person; he may choose it himself, the path of good or the path of evil. As for the cosmic will, it is the decree and destiny of Allah.

The Shaykh : In terms of the occurrence of the intended object, we say the difference between them is: in the cosmic will, the occurrence of the intended object is necessary. If Allah wills something cosmically, it must occur. As for legislative will, it may occur or it may not. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, may will something legislatively and love it, but it does not occur, because what is loved may occur or it may not. Pay attention. If someone asks, "Does Allah want sins?" Who answers this?

The questioner : He wants them cosmically, not legislatively.

The Shaykh : He wants them cosmically, not legislatively. Why? Because legislative will is in the sense of love, and Allah does not love sins. But He wants them cosmically, meaning by His will. So everything in the heavens and the earth is by the will of Allah. Good. What do you say about the faith of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him)? Is it intended cosmically or legislatively? Abu Bakr believed in Allah. Is his faith intended legislatively or cosmically?

The questioner : Legislatively.

The Shaykh : Legislatively, but be certain.

The questioner : Legislatively and cosmically.

The Shaykh : Are you sure? Explain that.

The questioner : Because he loved Allah.

The Shaykh : Legislatively, because Allah loves him, and cosmically.

The questioner : And cosmically, because it is by the will.

The Shaykh : Because it occurred. Good. So the faith of Abu Bakr is intended legislatively and cosmically. Good. What about the faith of Abu Jahl?

The questioner : It was not intended cosmically.

The Shaykh : It was not intended cosmically. He did not believe, but hypothetically, he is now a disbeliever, meaning he died in disbelief, but his faith is intended...

The questioner : Cosmically.

The Shaykh : If Allah had willed it cosmically, he would have believed, my son.

The questioner : Legislatively, not cosmically.

The Shaykh : Legislatively, not cosmically. This means that Allah loves for Abu Jahl to believe, but He, Glorified and Exalted is He, did not will it for a wisdom. So it is intended legislatively, not cosmically. Good. What about the disbelief of a believer? This man is a believer in Allah, so his disbelief... he is a believer, but his disbelief, in terms of will, is not intended legislatively or cosmically. It is not intended legislatively because Allah does not love disbelief, and it is not intended cosmically because he did not disbelieve. Clear? So it is established by this that the two wills may coincide, may both be absent, or one may be absent while the other is present, according to what you have understood and we have established. Now, as for desire (mashiyah), it is only one category, and that is: what Allah wills comes to be, and what He does not will does not come to be. Everything in the universe, whether existence or non-existence, is by the will of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Everything in the universe, whether existence or non-existence, is by the will of Allah. Clear? If someone asks, "How does Allah, Mighty and Majestic, will the disbelief of the disbeliever?" The answer is that He, Glorified and Exalted is He, wills that for the great benefit in it. If disbelief did not exist, the virtue of faith would not be realized, because things are clarified by their opposites; they are clarified by their opposites. If disbelief did not exist, jihad in the path of Allah would not take place. If sins did not exist, there would be no enjoining of good and forbidding of evil. If disbelievers and sinners did not exist, there would be no trial for man, because if a person found everyone to be believers, his faith would become ordinary and follow that of others. So the existence of sins is undoubtedly a great wisdom. In fact, if sins did not exist, we would not raise our hands to Allah and say, "O Allah, forgive us and have mercy on us." If you reflect, you will find that what Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, wills is wisdom. And you must know that everything Allah wills, and every text that comes accompanied by the will, contains wisdom. Everything connected to the will is accompanied by wisdom. The proof of that is His saying, the Exalted: Read what comes after it: So His, Glorified and Exalted is He, will is based on knowledge and wisdom, unlike the will of creation, for a person may will something without wisdom. But the will of Allah is accompanied by wisdom.