By accepting this doctrine all the deeds of the criminals...
By accepting this doctrine all the deeds of the criminals and the sins of the sinners would become justified and there would be no difference between an offender and an obedient person.[^3] The verse: وَ مَا رَبُّكَ بِظَلاَّمٍ لِلْعَبِيدِ “And your Lord is not in the least unjust to the servants” [^4] is a clear proof with regards to the issue of ikhtiyar and freedom of will, and is illustrative of this reality that Allah (s.w.t.) neither punishes anyone inexplicably nor does He increase the punishment of anyone unwarrantedly.
His work is absolute justice; this is so since oppression stems from shortcomings, deficiencies, ignorance, unawareness or carnal desires, and His Holy Essence is free from all of these.
Qur’an, in its manifest verses, simultaneous to pronouncing the doctrine of jabr - which is a source of dissemination of wickedness, an approval for various kinds of evils, and a tool for the rejection of every kind of obligation and responsibility - as being incorrect, considers each person to be answerable for his own deeds and is of the view that the consequences of every person's deeds would be directed towards that person himself.
And hence we read in a tradition that one of companions Imam 'Ali ibne Musa al-Ridha (a.s.) asked: هَلْ يَجْبُرُ اللٌّهُ عِبَادَهُ عَلى الْـمَعَاصِي؟ “Does Allah (s.w.t.) compel His servants to commit sins?” فَقَالَ: بَلْ يُخَيِّرُهُمْ وَ يُـمَهِّلُهُمْ حَتَّـى يَتُوبُوا. Whereupon he (a.s.) replied: “No. Rather, he gives them the choice and respites them until they repent.” The companion persisted: فَهَلْ يُكَلِّ
✦ ✦ ✦