Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Third Fascicle

and holding to causes and then have tawakkul.
In his 13th letter, Mazhar-i Jân-i Jânan ‘quddisa sirruh’, one of
the great scholars in India, says that even though our scholars
wrote so often about the matter of optional and obligatory
actions, some doubts come to the human mind automatically.
This is because of the fact that the human mind is not able to
comprehend some religious knowledge. If it were able to
comprehend, there would be no need or necessity to make
revelations to Prophets so that men’s deeds could be good and
useful. Claiming that man has full will, that is, saying that man
can do whatever he wants, or vice versa, i.e., claiming that man
has nothing so he only has to do the thing in destiny (qadâ and
qadar), means denying the Book and the Sunna. For, men’s
deeds, corpses, that is, their material beings, actions, and
movements are all created by Allâhu ta’âlâ, too. So, is it possible
to claim existence of full will in man? It will be injustice to call
someone to account for something he did involuntarily. Allâhu
ta’âlâ never acts unjustly. So, how can it be a true word to claim
that man is compelled to do? It is obvious that men’s actions are
not done involuntarily like tremulous motions. These actions are
done using our knowledge, our will and our power. Men’s
optional actions come out through these three things. However,
men cannot have these three things by willing them. They are
sent to them by Allâhu ta’âlâ when He wills. It is only to this
extent that the compulsion of man may be said to be the case.
Since men do not have full will and since they are not fully
compelled, either, their actions come into existence between
these two extremes. This effectuation of actions is called kesb
(acquisition). The existence of such a paltry amount of option in
man’s acquisitive actions has caused Allâhu ta’âlâ’s injunctions
[commands and prohibitions]. And since our option is weak, the
injunctions have been moderate. Allâhu ta’âlâ’s Attribute of
Rahmat (Compassion) for Believers has surpassed His Attribute
of Ghadâb (Wrath) against the disobedient ones among them.
None of His other Attributes has surpassed any of the others. On
the other hand, since Allâhu ta’âlâ’s deeds happen by His
knowledge, will and power, they are dissimilar to the slaves’
(men’s) deeds. Therefore, His calling men to account on account
of these deeds of theirs cannot be said to be incompatible with
justice.
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