ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Justice of God The Actions of God A. God Can Do No Wrong The Shi'ahs believe that God does nothing which is rationally wrong or evil. [^1] I do not use this phrase in the sense that "King makes no mistake." Because "King makes no mistake" actually means that he does nothing at all; he just signs whatever is passed by the parliament. So this tribute is based upon inaction.

But "God does no wrong" means that in spite of being active and Omnipotent, God can still not do anything wrong or evil. Why? Anyone who commits wrong or injustice does so because of one or more of the following reasons: either he does not know that it is wrong; or he needs something which cannot be obtained without wrongdoing; or he had been compelled by somebody else to commit that wrong.

But God is Omniscient and All‑Knowing; He is free from want and is not in need of anything; and He is Omnipotent and nobody can compel Him to do anything. So logically it is impossible for God to do any injustice or wrong. The Asha’irah, on the other hand, say that there is no such thing as rational good or evil.

Therefore, they say that "whatever God does is good, because there is nothing bad for Him or compulsory for Him." [^2] 'Abdu 'l‑'Aziz Dehlawi, a famous Sunni scholar, writes, "It is the madhhab of Ahlu's‑Sunnah that nothing is evil for Him; that the things which, if done by human beings or Shaytan, are called evil and for which they are blamed and accursed, are not evil if done by Almighty Allah." [^3] B.

God Does Nothing Without Purpose The Shi'ahs say that God never acts without purpose or aim because rationally it is not commen­dable to act without purpose. All His actions are based on wisdom and intelligent purpose, though we may not know them. "The Imamiyyah says that Almighty Allah does not do anything aimlessly, but does it because of a purpose and aim." [^4] The Asha'irah, because of their rejection of ra­tional merit and demerit, say that it is quite right for God to act aimlessly.

"It is the rnadh‑hab of the Asha'irah that the actions of Allah are not caused by any purpose; and they say that it is not permissible to say that His actions are caused by aims ... And He does whatever He wishes, and orders whatever He wills; if He wants to put all His creatures for ever in the Fire (of Hell), He is the Ruler and authority; and sin (of the creatures) have nothing to do with this matter. The effective cause (of all things) is He." [^5] C.