(The issue of the succession of events and its impossibility with regard to Allah the Exalted) And he ruled that Allah was in a state of denial of the divine attributes***and that action was impossible without the possibility of it, then it became impossible and became
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The Shaykh : Okay, this passage: "He ruled," meaning who? No, no, the doer? Al-Jahm and his followers say that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, was not capable of action, then He became capable of it, because he prevents the succession of events. He says: There is no created thing except that before it was a created thing. This is not correct, meaning this is his statement. We say: There is no created thing except that before it was a created thing, to infinity. He says: No, this principle is defective, it is not correct. Rather, there was a time that came upon the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, in which He was not capable of action, He could not, and then He became capable of action without a cause. If he had said, "A time passed in which the Lord did not act, then He acted," the matter would have been easier, for we would say that in the time He did not act, it may have been the requirement of His wisdom that He did not act. But he says that He was not capable of action, and that it is impossible for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to act, and then He became capable of action. Do you understand? So we ask: Is the impossibility of action in His case before the action a perfection or a deficiency? We ask him. If he says it is a perfection, we say: Then the action is a deficiency. And if he says it is a deficiency, we say: You have been defeated. So He is never incapable of action at any moment, whether eternal or everlasting. This does not resolve the issue, and this statement is in reality disbelief. But to say that He was capable but did not act, then He acted, perhaps we would permit it, as some scholars have said that succession in the past is impossible. But the correct view is that succession in the past and the future is permissible and obligatory by the information of Allah. It is permissible rationally, but it is obligatory religiously, according to what Allah has informed us. Yes, that is right.
Regarding succession, I mentioned the principle: There is no created thing except that before it was a created thing, to infinity.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : It will come to us, if Allah wills, it will come to us.
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : I did not mention to you that if he says that action was impossible and then became permissible, we ask: Is it a deficiency in the state of its impossibility or in the state of its possibility? If he says in the state of its possibility, yes, it is a deficiency, meaning it was a deficiency and then became possible. If the deficiency was before the action, then he has attributed a deficiency to Allah. And if it is not a deficiency, we say: Why did you not affirm the continuous action? Yes.
Regarding succession, I mentioned the principle: There is no created thing except that before it was a created thing, to infinity.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : It will come to us, if Allah wills, it will come to us.
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : I did not mention to you that if he says that action was impossible and then became permissible, we ask: Is it a deficiency in the state of its impossibility or in the state of its possibility? If he says in the state of its possibility, yes, it is a deficiency, meaning it was a deficiency and then became possible. If the deficiency was before the action, then he has attributed a deficiency to Allah. And if it is not a deficiency, we say: Why did you not affirm the continuous action? Yes.