8-Belief and Islam - Hakikat Kitabevi

do something, Allâhu ta’âlâ creates this action if He wills, too. If
man does not want or will and if Allâhu ta’âlâ does not will,
either, He does not create. Allâhu ta’âlâ creates upon not only
man’s wish; He creates if He wills, too. Allâhu ta’âlâ’s creating
man’s optional actions is similar to when fire touches
something, He creates burning of that thing, and if fire does not
touch it, He does not create burning. When a knife touches
something, He creates cutting. It is not the knife but He who
cuts. He has made the knife a means for cutting. In other words,
He creates man’s optional actions for the reason (sabab) that
he opts, prefers and wills these actions. However, the
movements in nature do not depend on man’s option, but are
created through some other causes when only Allâhu ta’âlâ
wills. There is no creator besides Him, who alone creates every
motion of everything, of suns, particles, drops, cells, germs and
atoms, their substances and properties. Yet there is a difference
between the movements of the lifeless substances and the
optional, voluntary actions of man and animal: when a man or
an animal opts, prefers and wills an action and if He wills, too,
He makes him or it act, and He creates his or its action. Man’s
action is not in man’s power. In fact, he does not even know
how he acts. [1] There is no option in the movements of the
lifeless. Allâhu ta’âlâ creates burning when fire touches
something, and it is not through fire’s preferring or opting to
burn. [2]
Man’s optional actions happen after two circumstances.
First, his heart’s option, will and power are involved. For this
reason, man’s actions are called kasb (acquirement), which is
[1] His each action is a result of so many physical and chemical events.
[2] Allâhu ta’âlâ, too, wishes and creates the good, useful wishes of those
slaves of His whom He loves and pities. He does not wish or create the
realization of their evil and harmful wishes. Always good, useful deeds
are done by those beloved slaves. They regret having been unable to
do many things, but if they thought and knew that those deeds were not
created because otherwise they would have been harmful, they would
not be sorry at all. Instead, they would be pleased with it and would
thank Allah, who willed in eternity that He would create men’s optional,
voluntary actions after their hearts’ opting and willing them; He willed it
so. If He had not willed it so in eternity, He would always create even
our optional actions by force, involuntarily, without our wishing them.
His creating our optional actions after we wish them is because He
willed it so in eternity. Then, the only dominant factor is His Will.
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