The Prophet said...

The Prophet said: `No man ever enters Paradise by virtue of his good actions alone except by the Mercy of Allah.' " (I`tiqadatu 'l-Imamiyyah, by ash-Shaykh as-Saduq) The Sunnis, on the other hand, do not believe that lulf i.e. Grace is incumbent on Allah. They say that even adl, i.e. Justice, is not incumbent on Allah, even if He sends good and virtuous persons to Hell, it will be quite right. iv) Then comes the most vital difference between Ithna `Asharis and Sunnis, i.e.

the question of jabr' (compulsion) and `ikhtiyar' (choice). The position of Sunnis in this respect, according to general belief, is that: "No act of any individual, even though it be done purely for his benefit, is independent of the will of Allah, for its existence; and there does not occur in either the physical or the extraterrestrial world the wink of an eye, the hint 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 righteousness, obedience and disobedience, polytheism and true belief." (al-Ghazzali). We the 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 power, will and intention; while the falling down is not done so.

And we know that our own actions are not like falling down from a roof-top; but they are like climbing down with our own will and power. Therefore, they are our acts and they cannot be attributed to Allah. Again we see that we are praised or blamed for some of our acts, while for other acts we are neither praised nor condemned. It means that the first category comes within our power and will; and the second is beyond our power and will.

We may be advised to treat our ailments in such and such a way, but we cannot be advised to recover from the illness. It means that getting treatments is within our power; but getting recovered is not within our sphere of activities. Therefore, we say that there are many things and aspects of life that are within our own power and will, while some are not within our power.

Those things about which we can be ordered to do or not to do, for which we can be advised, for which we can be praised or blamed, all those acts are within our power and will.