Those who associate others with Allah will say, "If Allah had willed, we would not have worshipped anything besides Him." They mean by their disbelief and rebellion. When they said this, Allah said, "And those who associate others with Allah will say, 'If Allah had willed, we would not have worshipped anything besides Him.'" They mean by their disbelief... etc." Ahmad may Allah have mercy on him said: The discussion on this verse has already been addressed, and we clarified that the response to them was due to their belief that they were deprived of their choice and ability. They claimed that their associating partners with Allah was done out of necessity, and they believed they were establishing a proof against Allah and His messengers through this. Allah refuted their words and denied their claim of lacking choice for themselves, likening them to those who were deceived before them by this illusion, who denied the messengers, associated partners with Allah, and relied on the notion that they were doing all of this by Allah's will. They sought to silence the messengers with this doubt. Then Allah, glorified and exalted is He, clarified that they have no proof in this, and that the decisive proof belongs to Him, not to them, saying, "For Allah is the decisive proof." Then He clarified that everything occurs by His will, and that He did not will for them except what they did. If He had willed guidance for them, they would all have been guided, as He said, "If He had willed, He would have guided you all." The purpose of this is to firmly establish the response to them and to eliminate the belief in the efficacy of will and its general attachment to every being from the response. The response is directed to their claim of being deprived of choice for themselves and to their establishment of proof through that specifically. If you contemplate this, you will find it sufficient to respond to those who claim from the people of the Qibla that the servant has no choice or ability at all, but is compelled in his actions and overpowered by them. They are the group known as the Jabriyyah. The author contradicts the truths by calling the people of the Sunnah Jabriyyah, even though they affirm for the servant a choice and ability, because they deny the effect of the servant's ability and make it concurrent with his voluntary actions, distinguishing it from his coercive actions. From this perspective, he equates them with the Jabriyyah and makes it a general title for the people of the Sunnah. The essence of the response to the Jabriyyah, whom we distinguished from the people of the Sunnah, is in Allah's saying, "Those who associate others with Allah will say..." until the saying, "Say, 'For Allah is the decisive proof.'" The continuation of the verse is a clear refutation of the group of the Mu'tazilah who claim that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, willed guidance for them all, but it did not occur for most of them. The response is that when "if" is placed before an affirmative action, it negates it. This implies that when Allah said, "If He had willed," the reality is that He did not will their guidance, and if He had willed it, it would have occurred. This is a clear statement of the invalidity of their claim and the basis of their belief. If it is established that the verse encompasses a refutation of the beliefs of the two mentioned groups, the Jabriyyah at the beginning and the Mu'tazilah at the end, then know that it encompasses the belief of the Sunnah, as its beginning, as we explained, affirms for the servant a choice and ability in a way that cuts off their proof and excuse for disobedience and rebellion. Its end affirms the efficacy of Allah's will in the servant, and that all his actions are in accordance with divine will, whether good or otherwise. This is precisely their belief, for they affirm for the servant a will and ability, but deny its effect and believe that their establishment of both is decisive for his proof, obligating him to obey according to his choice. They also affirm the efficacy of Allah's will and His ability in the actions of His servants, as you have seen, they follow the Noble Book, affirming what it affirms and denying what it denies, established by reason and transmission. And Allah is the Grantor of success. Their associating partners with Him and their forbidding what Allah has made lawful is by Allah's will and intention. Were it not for His will, none of that would have occurred, just like the belief of the Jabriyyah. The saying, "just like the belief of the Jabriyyah" means the people of the Sunnah, that every being is intended by Him, even if it is evil. The clarification of the difference between this and the saying of the polytheists in the science of monotheism is sufficient in that their saying is of the nature of mockery, as they said when it was said to them, "Spend from what Allah has provided you," "Should we feed whom if Allah had willed, He would have fed?" Likewise, those who denied before them came with absolute denial, for Allah, exalted and glorified is He, has instilled in minds and revealed in books what indicates His richness and His innocence from the will and intention of evils. The messengers informed of that. Whoever ties the existence of evils from disbelief and sins to Allah's will and intention has denied all denial, and this is a denial of Allah, His books, and His messengers, and has cast aside the evidence of reason and hearing behind his back until they tasted Our punishment, for We sent down upon them the torment for their denial. Say, "Do you have any knowledge of a matter that is known, which can be used as evidence for what you have said, so that you may bring it forth to us?" This is mockery, and a testimony that such a statement of theirs cannot have a proof. "You follow nothing but conjecture in this saying of yours, and you are nothing but guessing." You presume that the matter is as you claim or you are lying. It has been recited, "Thus, those before them denied" with a lighter tone. Say, "For Allah is the decisive proof," meaning if the matter is as you claimed, that what you are upon is by Allah's will, then the decisive proof belongs to Allah against you according to the implications of your doctrine. If He had willed, He would have guided you all, from you and from those who oppose you in religion. For your tying of your religion to Allah's will necessitates that you also tie the religion of those who oppose you to His will. So befriend them and do not oppose them, and agree with them and do not contradict them, for the will unites what you are upon with what they are upon.