In the Qur’an, Allah attributes to Himself the following: Will (iraada), to command (amr), ruling or decision (qadhaa’), permission (idhn), prohibition (tahreem), to dispatch (ba’th), to send (irsaal), talk or words (kalaam), and to effect or make (ja’l). Each of these have been mentioned in the Qur’an with two different meanings. One meaning pertains to the decree of Allah, His creation of things and events, His determination, and His providence, even though they may not be of that which He has ordered, nor what He loves or that for which its doers deserve His reward, or that which makes them among the allies of Allah, those of pious practice.
The other meaning pertains to the order of Allah, His law, those actions whose doers are rewarded and honored, and whom He has made among His allies, those of pious practice, His successful party, and His victorious forces. This is one of the greatest differences between the allies of Allah and His enemies: whoever Allah puts to work in that which He loves, accepts, and is pleased with and who dies in that state is one of His allies. On the other hand, one whose actions were of that which Allah dislikes and is displeased with and dies in that state is among the enemies of Allah.
The will of Allah which pertains to His decree for His creation and his determination of things and events envelopes all of His creation. The will of Allah which pertains to his order , on the other hand, includes that which is determined by His love and His acceptance i.e. that with which He has ordered His creation and made it for them a law and a way of life. This deals specifically with faith and righteous action.
About His will as pertains to His decree, Allah said:
“Whosoever Allah wishes (Iraada, decree) to guide, He expands his breast (to accept) Islam, and whosoever Allah wishes to send astray, He makes his breast tight and restricted as one who climbed up rapidly into the atmosphere.” Qur’an 6:125
(Nuh is speaking): “My counsel is of no benefit to you even though I wish to counsel you if Allah wishes (Iraada, decree) to misguide you.” Qur’an 11:134
“When Allah decrees (Iraada, decree) for a people evil, there is no way to turn it back, and they have no protector other than Him.” Qur’an 13:11
And, about His will (iraada) as pertains to His order and His law, Allah said:
“Whoever is sick or on a journey (let him fast) they number (of days he breaks fast) during other days. Allah wants (Iraada, order) ease for you and does not want (same) hardship for you.” Qur’an 2:185
“Allah does not want (Iraada, order) to inflict any hardships on you, rather, He wants (same) to purify you and to complete His favor upon you that perhaps you may give thanks.” Qur’an 5:6
After mentioning that which He has made halal and that which He has made haram in the area of marriage, Allah said:
“Allah wants to make things clear to you, and to guide you to the ways of those who came before you, and to turn to you in acceptance, and Allah is all- knowing, Wise. Allah wants to turn to you in acceptance, and those who follow their whims and lusts want you to deviate a great deviation. Allah wants to lighten your burden, and man was created weak.” Qur’an 4:26-28
And, when He mentioned that with which He ordered the wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) and that which He forbid them, He said:
“Allah only wishes to put away from you all filth, O people of the (Prophet’s) household and to thoroughly purify you.” Qur’an 33:33
The meaning here is that He has ordered you, people of the household, with that which will put away from you all filth, and thoroughly purify you. So, whoever obeys His order becomes purified, all filth having been put away from them. The opposite holds for the one who disobeys Allah.
About His command (amr) as pertains to His decree, Allah said:
“Our only statement to any thing when we will it, is to say to it “Be!”, and it is.” Qur’an 16:40
“Our command is no more than like the bat of an eye.” Qur’an 54:50
“The analogy of the life of this world is none other than like the water which we send down from the sky. It mixes with the plants of the earth, that which is eaten by people and cattle. Then, when the earth has taken on its adornment and become beautiful, and when its people imagine that they have gained power over it, our command comes to it by night or by day, and we make it dry and barren, as if it had never been fertile and alive. Thus we explain our signs to a people who ponder.” Qur’an 10:24
And, about His command (amr) as pertains to His order and His law, Allah said:
“Verily, Allah commands you with justice, doing of good, and giving to (needy) relatives and forbids you obscenity, disreputable acts, and transgression on the rights of others. He warns you that perhaps you may take heed.” Qur’an 54:90
“Verily, Allah commands you to render back your trusts to those to whom they are due, and when you judge between the people to judge with justice. How excellent is the warning which Allah gives you. Verily, Allah is all-hearing and all-seeing.” Qur’an 4:58
About His permission as pertains to His decree or determination, Allah said speaking about sorcerers:
“But they are not capable of bringing harm to anyone except with the permission of Allah.” Qur’an 2:102
i.e. except by His decree and His determination of that harm to take place. The meaning cannot be His permission in the other sense, because sorcery is never part of that for which Allah has given His permission in the law. About His permission pertaining to His order and His law, Allah said:
“Or, do they have some partners (which they associate with Allah) who have ordained for them laws in the deen for which Allah gave no permission?” Qur’an 42:121
“Verily, we have sent you as a witness, a bringer of glad tidings, a warner, and a caller to Allah with His permission.” Qur’an 33:45-46
“And we have never sent a prophet except in order that he be obeyed with the permission of Allah.” Qur’an 4:64
“Those date trees which you cut down and those which you left standing on their roots were all with the permission of Allah.” Qur’an 59:5
About His ruling, setting, or decision which pertains to His decree, Allah said:
“And He decided (that they would be) seven heavens in two days.” Qur’an 32:12
“When He decides anything, He merely says to it “Be!”, and it is.” Qur’an 2:117
And, about the same word (qadhaa‘) to decide, but pertaining to His order and His law, Allah said:
“And Allah has decided that you should worship nothing except Him.” Qur’an 17:23
i.e. He ordered that we would worship nothing except Him, and not that He decreed or determined that, for people have surely worshipped other than Allah as He has informed us in many places in the Qur’an, as in the verse:
“And they worship other than Allah that which will not harm them nor benefit them, and they say: “These are our intercessors before Allah.”“ Qur’an 10:18
Allah reports the prophet Ibrahim saying to his people:
“Do you see that which you worship – you and your forefathers – all of them are enemies to me except for the Lord of the worlds.” Qur’an 26:75-77
“There is for you a good example in Ibrahim and those with him when they said to their people: “We are innocent of that which you worship other than Allah. We reject you and enmity and hatred has appeared between us forever unless and until you believe in Allah alone.” With the exception of Ibrahim’s statement to his father: “I will seek forgiveness for you, but I possess no power to help you in front of Allah.” Qur’an 60:4
“Say, O, you disbelievers * I do not worship that which you worship. * And you do not worship that which I worship. * And I do not conform to your manner of worship. * And you do not conform to my manner of worship. * You have your deen and I have mine.” Qur’an 109:
These words indicate His lack of association with their deen, and do not indicate His acceptance thereof, as Allah said in another verse:
“If they call you a liar, say: “To me are my actions, and to you are your actions. You are innocent of that which I do, and I am innocent of that which you do.” Qur’an 10:31
Whoever among the deviants thinks that this indicates Allah’s acceptance of the deen of the disbelievers is among the greatest in lies and disbelief (kufr), just as one who believe that Allah’s statement:
“And Allah has decided that you should worship nothing except Him.” Qur’an 17:23
means that He has decreed that, and that since Allah’s decree is never turned back and must be, that the idol worshippers did not worship other than Allah. Such people are among the biggest disbelievers in the revealed books.
About His act of dispatching (ba’th) pertaining to His decree, Allah said:
“When the first of the promises comes, we will dispatch upon you some slaves of ours, very vicious in warfare, who will (take over your countries such that they) move freely among your houses. This is the promise of Allah which will come to pass.” Qur’an 17:5
And, about the same act of dispatching, but pertaining to His order, Allah said:
“He is the one who dispatched among the illiterate folk a messenger from among them. He recites to them Allah’s verses, purifies them, and teaches them the book (i.e. Qur’an) and the wisdom (i.e. the Sunnah).” Qur’an 62:2
“And we have dispatched in every nation a messenger (who enjoins them) to worship Allah, and stay away from the devils.” Qur’an 16:36
About His act of sending, and pertaining to His decree, Allah said:
“Do you not see that we send the devils upon those who disbelieve. They excite them and get them greatly stirred up.” Qur`an 19:83
“He is the one who sends the winds as harbingers of His mercy.” Qur’an 25:48
And, about His act of sending, but pertaining to His order, Allah said:
“Verily, we have sent you (i.e. Muhammad (ﷺ)) as a witness, a bringer of glad tidings, and a warner.” Qur’an 33:45
“And We sent Nuh to his people” Qur’an 71:1
“And we have sent to you a messenger as a witness over you just as we sent a messenger to Pharaoh.” Qur’an 73:15
“Allah selects messengers (i.e. those who are sent) from among His angels, and from among the people.” Qur’an 22:75
About His effecting something or making, pertaining to His decree, Allah said:
“And we made them (i.e. Pharaoh and his followers) imams who call people to the fire, and on the day of Qiyama, they will not be helped.” Qur’an 28:41
And, about His making, but pertaining to His order, Allah said:
“And for each (i.e. of the prophets) we assigned a law and a program.” Qur’an 5:48
“Allah did not make baheera, sa’iba, waseela, nor haam.” Qur’an 5:103 About His act of prohibition pertaining to His decree, Allah said:
“And we had prohibited him (i.e. Musa) breast-feeding before that (i.e. decreed that it would not take place.)” Qur’an 28:12
“Verily, it (i.e. Palestine) is prohibited to you for forty years (i.e. you will not enter it). You will wander aimlessly in the earth.” Qur’an 5:26
And about His prohibition, but pertaining to His order, Allah said:
“Prohibited to you are the meat of animals found dead, blood, the meat of pigs, and of that which was sacrificed to other than Allah.” Qur’an 5:3
“Prohibited to you (i.e. for marriage) are your mothers, daughters, sisters, paternal aunts, maternal aunts, your brother’s daughters, and your sister’s daughters…” Qur’an 4:23
Allah also mentioned His words in the two senses being discussed. About His words pertaining to His decree, Allah said:
“And Maryam, the daughter of ‘Imraan who preserved her chastity until we blew into her of our spirit. She believed in the words (i.e. the decree) of Allah and His books (i.e. His law), and was of the obedient ones.” Qur’an 66:12
The Prophet (ﷺ) (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) used to say:
“I seek refuge in all of the perfect words of Allah from the evil which He has created, from His anger, His punishment, the evil ones among His slaves, from the whisperings of the devils, and from their attending me.”
“Whoever settles down in a place of rest (for the night) and says: {I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil which He has created} will not be harmed by anything for the period of his stay at that place.” (Muslim)
The Prophet used to say:
“I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah beyond which neither righteous nor corrupt can go from that which He has caused to procreate in the earth and that which comes out therefrom; from the evil of the temptations of the night and the day, and from the evil of every unexpected visitor, except one who comes unexpectedly with good, O Merciful.”
The “perfect words of Allah beyond which neither righteous nor corrupt can go” are the words with which He created all creation, both things and events. Neither righteous nor corrupt nor anyone else can overcome or circumvent Allah’s decree, His power, His determination of events, and His creation of them. As for the words of Allah as pertains to His order and His law, they are the revealed books and all that is contained therein in terms of His orders and His forbiddances. The righteous are those who obey these words of Allah, and those who disobey them are the corrupt ones.
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