And He says...

And He says: “Allah desireth for you ease; He desireth not hardship for you” (Qur'an 2:185) . And He says: “And Allah wishes to turn to you in mercy; but those who follow their lusts desire that ye should go greatly astray” (Qur'an 4:27) . And He says: “And Allah desireth no injustice for (His) slaves “(Qur'an 40:31). This is our belief concerning (Allah's) Intention and (His) Will.

Our opponents denounce us for this, and say that according to our belief, Allah intends (that man should commit) crimes and that He desired the murder of Husayn bin 'A1i, on whom both be peace.[^6] This is not what we believe.

But we say that Allah desired that the sin of the sinners should be contradistinguished from the obedience of those that obey, that He desired that sins, viewed as actions, should not be ascribed to Him, but that the knowledge of these sins may be ascribed to Him, even before the commission thereof.[^7] And we hold that Allah's wish was that the murder of Husayn should be a sin against Him and the opposite of obedience.

And we say that Allah intended that his (Husayn's) murder should be prohibited, and something which was not commanded. And we say that his murder was something that was disliked and not approved;[^8] and we say that his murder was the cause of Allah's displeasure and it was not the cause of His approval, and that Allah the Mighty and Glorious did not desire to prevent his murder by means of (His) compulsion or power, but merely by prohibition and word.

And if He had prohibited it by (His) compulsion and power, even as he prevented it by prohibition and word, surely he would have escaped being murdered, just as Abraham was saved from the fire, when Allah, the most Exalted, said[^9] to the fire in which he (Abraham) was thrown: “O fire, be coolness and peace for Abraham” (Qur'an 21:69) . And we say that Allah always knew that Husayn would be killed by force, and by such death, attain everlasting merit, and his murderer, everlasting wretchedness.

We hold that what Allah wills; happens; and what He willeth not, will not happen.[^10] This is our belief regarding Allah's intention and will, and not that which is ascribed to us by our opponents and for which we are reviled by those who hold heretical views. [^1]: Cp. Affifi, 160. According to Ibnu'l-`Arabi, mashi 'a is the divine commonsense, and is an emanation from God, something like Plotinus' First Intellect; whereas irada is the creative will.