It clearly shows that the first category is within our power and will...
It clearly shows that the first category is within our power and will, and the second category is beyond our power and will. For example, we may be advised to treat an ailment in this or that way, but we cannot be advised to recover from the illness. It means that getting treatment is within our power, but getting well is not within the sphere of our activities.
Therefore, we say that there are many things and aspects of life which are within our power and will, while some others are not within our power. Those things for which we can be advised, praised or blamed, are within our power and will. And the commandments of religion (the shari'ah) come under this category, because w e have been advised or ordered to do this and not to do that, and because we are praised when we obey those commands and blamed when we disobey them.
Therefore, it is absolutely wrong to say that our sins and righteousness, our obedience and disobedience, our true beliefs and wrong belief are by decree of Allah and His desire and will. Shaykh as‑Saduq says, "Allah possesses foreknowledge of human actions, but does not compel them to act in any particular manner." [^4] But neither does this mean that man is completely independent of Allah. In fact, the power and wiil to act as we like is given to us by Allah.
Thus Imam Ja'far as‑Sadiq (peace be upon him) said, "There is no compulsion (by Allah), nor is there absolute delegation of power (from Allah to man); but the real position is between these two extremes: al‑amr bayna 'l‑amrayn . [^5] The following example clearly portrays this "middle position". Suppose a man's hand is totally paralysed to an extent that he cannot move even a finger.
A doctor has fitted an electrical device on his hand which, on being switched on, enables the man to use his hand freely in a normal way. The device is activated by a remote control which the doctor keeps in his own custody. When the doctor switches the device on, the man uses his hand in any way he intends, but when the device is off, he cannot do nothing. Now if the device is on and the patient does any work, can that work be attributed independently to him?
No, because the power comes from that device which is fully controlled by the doctor. Then can it be attributed to the doctor? No, because the man had done it by his own free will and choice. This is exactly the position of our activities.