Qadari Contention: You say that Allah has willed some to do bad and go to Hell for it, but I have never read that one of Allah’s Attributes or Names was cruelty.
Sunni Response: And it isn’t, because whatever Allah does with His creation, He does so with a full right. The word “cruelty” implies injustice. Allah has created some humans to be disobedient, and some to be obedient, then He punishes some of the former. When you say that it would be cruelty, you are making yourself a judge of Allah’s action, merely based on your mind. This is the problem with the Mu`tazilah; they gave the mind a much larger role in religion than it can justifiably take. It is like when Ibliis questioned Allah for giving Adam a higher rank. Yours is a judgment that draws analogy between creation and the Creator (saying “if a human did that, then…”). One cannot judge Allah in human terms, or any other terms for that matter. Aļļaah said:
لا يُسْأَلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ وَهُمْ يُسْأَلُون
Meaning: “He is not asked about what He does to creation, but the creation is asked.” (Al-Anbiyaa’, 23).
Clearly then, to make a judgment of Allah’s actions is nothing less than a rebellion.
Al-Bukhaariyy narrated that the Prophet said:
إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ يُجْمَعُ فِي بَطْنِ أُمِّهِ أَرْبَعِينَ يَوْمًا ثُمَّ عَلَقَةً مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ ثُمَّ يَكُونُ مُضْغَةً مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُ اللَّهُ مَلَكًا فَيُؤْمَرُ بِأَرْبَعٍ بِرِزْقِهِ وَأَجَلِهِ وَشَقِيٌّ أَوْ سَعِيدٌ فَوَاللَّهِ إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ أَوْ الرَّجُلَ يَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهَا غَيْرُ بَاعٍ أَوْ ذِرَاعٍ فَيَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابُ فَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ فَيَدْخُلُهَا وَإِنَّ الرَّجُلَ لَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهَا غَيْرُ ذِرَاعٍ أَوْ ذِرَاعَيْنِ فَيَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابُ فَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ فَيَدْخُلُهَا
“Verily one of you is gathered in his mothers stomach for forty days, then he is a blood-clot for forty days, then a piece of meat for forty days, then Allah sends an angel ordered with four words: his provision, his end, happy or miserable (1). By Allah, verily one of you may be committing the deeds of the people of Hell, until he is only an arm’s length away, when (it is as if) his destined end overwhelms him (2) and he starts to perform the works of the people of Paradise, and enters it. And verily one of you may be committing the deeds of the people of Paradise, until he is only an arm’s length away, when (it is as if) his destined end overwhelms him and he starts to perform the works of the people of Hell, and enters it.”
This is why one should always ask Allah to make one die as a Muslim.
Notes on the hadith:
1. Some said that it is four matters, and that the fourth matter is gender, but that it is well known from other narrations of the same hadith, so it was left out in this one. Others said that the fourth matter is his actions, but that this is understood from the context. (Umdat-al-Qaari).
2. Everything is always according to predestination, no one can ever do against it, so this is a figurative expression.
Author: Shaykh Abu Adam al Naruiji
Sunni Answers 
Assalam-o-Alaikum,
JazakAllah Khair, this is truly amazing!
The remarkable thing is that i used very similar arguments to refute the kuffar, especially those who don’t believe in God.
How can anything Allah do be unjust when He is the Creator of all and they have no rights over Him?
Surely injustice requires the infringement of rights whilst Allah Most High has the right to do anything and the creation has no right over Him.
Wa Salam
Forgot to mention that however the only rights that the creation have are the rights that Allah has given to them right?
loveProphet May 10, 2008 at 10:03 pm Says:
Forgot to mention that however the only rights that the creation have are the rights that Allah has given to them right?
Yes, that is why Ahlu-s-Sunnah says that before one knows the judgment of an act one must learn what the religion teaches about it. For example, ˆUmar ibn Al-Kħaţţaab used to be strict about whom he allowed to trade in the markets. He wanted to be sure that no one was engaging in forbidden contracts.
Abu Adam
Assalam-u-Alaikum,
I am sorry but I actually forgot the topic under which I asked this question. Maybe it has been answered, if yes, let me know the link please. Otherwise, I repeat my question.
Consider this. There is a person who is borned in an Islamic enviorment, he has been taught Islam from the very beginning of his life and he has been brought up in the same Islamic atmosphere.
There is another person who is borned in a Christian/Hindu family, he has been taught Hinduism/Christianity from the very beginning of his life and he has been brought up in the same Hindu/Christian atmosphere.
Now, there are people who argue that it is in the psychology of a person that he does not easily denies the belief he has been taught from the very beginning of his life, its quite difficult for him to take a stand against it and use a neutral approach as he had listened from his ancestors about the so-called extreme destructions of deviating from his faith. We also know that it is a fact that there are more borned Muslim than reverts similarly there are more borned Hindus/Christians than converts.
So, what is the fault of the person who was borned in the family of kuffar and why is the person who was borned in an Islamic family been given such a great prize?
Yours Sincerely,
Rashid
I think it is answered above, but I also addressed your question specifically here: https://sunnianswers.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/response-to-a-comment-calling-allah-a-cause-is-kufr/
As salaam o alaikum,
This issue becomes quite clear to people who have some self-reflection whether they have studied the textual proofs on this issue or not.
When I was a child, I learned one day that I could break a pencil in two as I had grown strong enough to do so. I would test my new found power frequently and most of my pencils would get broken into two halves. No one ever criticized me for being cruel or unjust. We smash our old cars into bits, we cut plants with blatant irreverence, and we are even trying our best to destroy our planet. No one goes to jail for wrecking an old car, or cutting grass, or burning his books, or breaking pencils. This is not injustice or a crime.
So if we don’t apply the concepts of “cruelty” or “injustice” to our actions done to things we did not really create, how dare we be so arrogant as to apply these concepts to Allah who created us out of nothing?
I like your examples of old cars, and grass. This is true, but I just want to point out that destroying things that have value for no reason is not allowed in Islam, even if one owns it. Breaking a perfectly good pencil for no reason would be haram, even if secular law permits it. This is because human ownership is not absolute. The true owner of all things is Aļļaah, so our rights of worldly ownership is restricted by Him. For example, when we die, our properties are distributed among inheritors and its is no longer ours. That is why it was narrated that the Prophet said, “What property do you like the most, your own or your children’s?” They said, “Our own.” He said, “Your own property is the one you spend.” This is because what you don’t spend goes to your children!
as salam `alaykum
Rashid, your question is answered here.