So their Lord intended that they should come to their full...

So their Lord intended that they should come to their full strength and should bring forth their treasure, as a mercy from their Lord, and I did not do it upon my command." (18:66‑82) I hope this example will suffice to explain our point of view about the actions of God.

* * * * There is a saying in the Principles of Islamic jurisprudence ( usulu 'l fiqh) that, "Whatever is ordained by reason, is also ordained by the shari'ah; and whatever is ordained by the shari’ah, is ordained by reason." A layman often misunderstands this saying. He thinks that whatever we decide to be good must be confirmed by the shari’ah as good accordingly. It is not so.

The meaning of the above saying is that if we were to know the reason behind a certain law of the shari'ah, our intellect would certainly admit that the law is as it should have been. And that all laws of the shari ah are based upon wisdom. D. Aslah, The Most Beneficial We, the Shi'ahs, believe that all the actions of God are intended for the ultimate benefit of His creatures. Aslah means the most beneficial, and it is used by us to describe the actions of God.

This belief of ours is based on the following reasons: Firstly, He Himself has no need, and there­fore whatever He does is for His creatures. Secondly, if His actions became devoid of the creature's benefit, then they will become purposeless; and doing something purposeless, as explained earlier, is rationally not good.

[^6] May be a man who is repair­ing his roof feels annoyed because of heavy torrents of rain, but rain is for the general benefit; and even the person who at this particular time feels annoyed by it, will derive benefit from it in the long run. The Asha'irah deny that all God's actions are for the benefit of His creatures because they reject the concept of rational good or evil.

[^7] Based on our belief in aslah, we believe that every instinct and desire in human beings has been created for some reasons. These instincts or desires should not be crushed but harnessed for the general benefit of mankind. For instance, sexual desire has been embodied in human nature by God Himself. To crush that instinct will be a protest against the Creator. It should not be, and cannot be, crushed; but, of course, its function should be regulated for the benefit of mankind.

And hence the necessity of mar­riage. Likewise, fear and desire are natural instincts and should be utilized for human upliftment.