And if your Lord had willed a compulsion. [The saying 'a compulsion' is the view of the Mu'tazila, as they made it obligatory upon Allah to do what is right and best. They said that the faith of all is the best, but the verse contradicts their view. They said that He, the Exalted, intended the faith of all as a will to give choice to the servants, so the intended will does not necessitate the occurrence of what is intended. If He had intended it as a will of compulsion, it would have occurred. The people of the Sunnah did not make anything obligatory upon Allah, and the necessity of the occurrence of what is intended does not contradict the choice of the servants, due to their earning in their voluntary actions, even though the true doer of them is Allah, as established in the Oneness. (A) ] and coercion. [Mahamud said: 'The intended meaning is the will of compulsion and coercion.' Ahmad said: 'This is from the deception of the Mu'tazila, mixing falsehood with truth in a deceptive manner. When he realized that the verse necessitates the non-will of Allah, the Exalted, for the faith of creation in a universal sense, and that He only willed that for those who believed, not for those who disbelieved—since the implication of 'if not' is negation, which contradicts his false belief, as they claim that Allah, the Exalted, willed faith from all the people of the earth, yet only some believed—he began to distort the will of faith into the will of compulsion and coercion, so that it would be established that the intended will in the verse did not occur. However, we agree with him that Allah, the Exalted, did not compel creation nor take away their choice, but commanded them to believe and created for them a choice and intention for it. This, as you see, does not count as interpretation. Rather, it is more deserving of negation, so it must be rejected and the apparent meaning should be upheld as it is. We seek refuge in Allah from the deviation and misguidance of the devil, and Allah is the Grantor of success.] If all those on earth had believed, they would have all believed in a manner of comprehensiveness and inclusiveness, all united in faith without differing in it. Do you not see His saying: 'So would you compel the people?' This means that only He has the ability to compel them and force them to believe, not you. The use of the interrogative particle indicates that compulsion is possible and achievable, but the matter is about who is compelled. And it is only Him alone who has no partner in it, for He is the One capable of doing in their hearts what would compel them to believe, and that is not possible for humans.