The Sunni’s Belief The position of the Sunnis in this...

The Sunni’s Belief The position of the Sunnis in this respect has been explained by Imam Abu Hamid al‑Ghazali as follows: "No act of any individual, even though it is earned (kasb) by him, is independent of the will of Allah for its existence; and there does not occur in either the physical or the extra‑terrestrial world the wink of an eye, the hind of a thought, or the most sudden glance, except by the decree of Allah, of His power, desire and will.

This includes evil and good, benefit and harm, success and failure, sin and rightqousness, obedience and disobedience, polytheism and true belief." [^2] It will not be out of place to mention that this belief was invented by, and under the influence of, Banu Umayyah to provide a respectable mask to their debauchery and tyranny As 'Allamah Shibli Nu'mani has admitted in his book 'Ilmu 'l‑Kalam: "Although all the causes were present which were responsible for the differences in faith, yet the political differences started the ball rolling.

The reign of Banu Umayyah was full of cruelty and bloodshed; and in reaction to that there was a spirit of revolt among the common people. But the well‑wishers of the government always silenced the people by saying that 'whatever happens takes place according to the will of Almighty, and as such people should not raise their voice at all. Everything was destined beforehand; and whatever happens, good or bad, happens according to the will of Allah; and we should bow down to that".

[^3] I think this disclosure‑that the idea of jabr (and its disguised version known as 'kasb') was nothing but a weapon of tyrant rulers to subdue the op­pressed masses‑is more than enough to discredit this belief. C. The Shiite Belief 1. al‑Amr Bayna 'l‑Amrayn The Shi'ah Ithna‑'Asharis, on the other hand, say that we know the difference between falling down from a roof‑top and coming down by ladders. The second act is done by our own power, will and intention; while the falling down is not so.

And we know that our actions are not like falling down from the roof‑top; instead they are like coming down the ladder with out own will and power. Therefore, what we do are our own actions and should not be attributed solely to Allah. Again, we see that there are some of our actions for which we are either praised or blamed, while for other happenings we are neither praised nor con­demned.