Our belief about God’s will and desire was in line with the teachings of Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq (‘a). He stated that God desired and willed but He did not like and agree.1

An explanation of these four phrases is like this. God’s desire and will means that whatever was happening in the world would not occur without His knowledge. He did not like that He should be called One of the Trinity, and His disagreement denoted that He was not agreeable with people on kufr. Therefore, He said in the Qur’an:

إِنَّكَ لَا تَهْدِي مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاءُ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ

“Surely you cannot guide whom you love, but Allah guides whom He pleases, and He knows best the followers of the right way” (28:56).

وَمَا تَشَاءُونَ إِلَّا أَن يَشَاءَ اللَّهُ

“Yet ye will not, unless Allah willeth...” (76:30; 81:29).

وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ لَآمَنَ مَن فِي الْأَرْضِ كُلُّهُمْ جَمِيعًا أَفَأَنتَ تُكْرِهُ النَّاسَ حَتَّىٰ يَكُونُوا مُؤْمِنِينَ

“And if thy Lord willed, all who are in the earth would have believed together, wouldst thou (Muhammad) compel men until they are believers?” (10:99).

وَمَا كَانَ لِنَفْسٍ أَن تُؤْمِنَ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ

“It is not for any soul to believe save by the permission of Allah…” (10:100).

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ

“Every soul shall taste of death” (3:185).

يُخْفُونَ فِي أَنفُسِهِم مَّا لَا يُبْدُونَ لَكَ يَقُولُونَ لَوْ كَانَ لَنَا مِنَ الْأَمْرِ شَيْءٌ مَّا قُتِلْنَا هَاهُنَا قُل لَّوْ كُنتُمْ فِي بُيُوتِكُمْ لَبَرَزَ الَّذِينَ كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقَتْلُ إِلَىٰ مَضَاجِعِهِمْ

“…They hide in their minds what they dare not reveal to thee. They say (to themselves): "If we had had anything to do with this affair, We should not have been in the slaughter here." Say: "Even if you had remained in your homes, those for whom death was decreed would certainly have gone forth to the place of their death…" (3:154).

وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ مَا فَعَلُوهُ فَذَرْهُمْ وَمَا يَفْتَرُونَ

“...If thy Lord willed, they would not do so; so leave them alone with their devising” (6:112).

وَلَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا أَشْرَكُوا

“Had Allah willed, they had not been idolatrous” (6:107).

And He says:

وَلَوْ شِئْنَا لَآتَيْنَا كُلَّ نَفْسٍ هُدَاهَا

“And if We had willed, We could have given every soul its guidance” (32:13).

وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ لَجَعَلَ النَّاسَ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً

“And if thy Lord had willed, He verily would have made mankind one nation” (11:118).

فَمَن يُرِدِ اللَّهُ أَن يَهْدِيَهُ يَشْرَحْ صَدْرَهُ لِلْإِسْلَامِ وَمَن يُرِدْ أَن يُضِلَّهُ يَجْعَلْ صَدْرَهُ ضَيِّقًا حَرَجًا كَأَنَّمَا يَصَّعَّدُ فِي السَّمَاءِ

“If God desires about a person that he should be guided; He opens his heart, and whom He wants to keep away from the faith, He squeezes his heart, as if he wants to climb up the Heavens” (6:125).

يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُبَيِّنَ لَكُمْ وَيَهْدِيَكُمْ سُنَنَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ وَيَتُوبَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ

“Allah desires to explain to you, and to guide you into the ways of those before you, and to turn to you (mercifully), and Allah is Knowing, Wise” (4:26).

يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ أَلَّا يَجْعَلَ لَهُمْ حَظًّا فِي الْآخِرَةِ

“… Allah intends that He should not give them any portion in the hereafter…” (3:176).

يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ أَن يُخَفِّفَ عَنكُمْ

“Allah desires that He should make light your burdens” (4:28).

يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ بِكُمُ الْيُسْرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ الْعُسْرَ

“Allah desires ease for you, and He does not desire for you difficulty” (2:185).

وَاللَّهُ يُرِيدُ أَن يَتُوبَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَيُرِيدُ الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الشَّهَوَاتِ أَن تَمِيلُوا مَيْلًا عَظِيمًا

“God desires to accept your apology, but those who follow their own desires, wants you to abandon your faith” (4:27).

إِن تَجْتَنِبُوا كَبَائِرَ مَا تُنْهَوْنَ عَنْهُ نُكَفِّرْ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَنُدْخِلْكُم مُّدْخَلًا كَرِيمًا

“…and Allah does not desire injustice for (His) servants” (4:31).

This being the summary of our beliefs about God’s will and desire, while opponents of Shi’as blame that it was God Who compel people to commit sin, and it was (thus) God’s desire that Imam Al-Husayn should be martyred. We would not say like that.

In this respect our view would be that God did not wish that the defiance by the rebellious (servants) be equated with the support by the obedient (servants). Not only this, He did not want that evil should even be mentioned along with His name and He certainly knew about the sins of the people before they were committed.

We would also say that it was His desire that the murder of Imam Al-Husayn be counted as disobedience against Him and (it would be treated) as the sin of those who wilfully disobeyed Him. We also say that the murder of Imam Al-Husayn was neither ordained nor annulled, and it became the reason for God’s displeasure. Yes, it was God’s will that He did not foil the act (of murder) caused by the overwhelming strength of Imam Husayn’s enemies – an act, which He had prohibited through His statements. Therefore, if He had wanted to put a stop to it with compulsion (by the use of His unparalleled power), then certainly the Imam would not have been murdered, in the same way that He had ordered fire to be harmless to Abraham.

“O fire, be coolness and peace for Abraham” (21:69).

We would also say that God had been aware from the beginning that Imam Al-Husayn would be murdered and that he would achieve permanent glory through this martyrdom, and that his murderers would be marked with brutality and adversity.

Anyhow, it would remain our view that the occurrence or non-occurrence of events depended on God’s will. Our views about God’s will would remain free of those unintelligent and baseless accusations, which our opponents spread about us.

• 1. Shaykh Al-Mufid has bitterly criticized Allama Shaykh As-Saduq by saying that whatever, the respected author has mentioned in this chapter, is of no use and it is strictly contradictory, and this is the result of following every Hadith without due care.