The response to the doubt that He misguides whom He wills and guides whom He wills
They said: How does God mislead people in the Quran? Does He whisper to people as Satan whispers? Does God command the person He wants to mislead to commit indecency?
They said: How does the Quran describe God with attributes that Satan is also described with in the Quran, such as misleading people and beautifying evil deeds in the eyes of their doers? They said: How does God do the same work as Satan?They said: Does the God of Islam guide whomeverHe wantsand mislead whomeverHe wantswithout standards or criteria? How can the God of Islam judge someone as being guided just because He wanted to guide him? How can He judge someone as being misguided just because He wanted to mislead him?
They asked: How will the God of Islam hold non-Muslims accountable when He has sealed their hearts and minds and is the reason that led to their disbelief and turning away from Islam? They started repeating some verses that may be misunderstood. In fact, most of the missionary programs and forums took these verses as a means to attack Islam and the Quran. In this topic, we will explain who are those whom Allah misguides, how Allah misguides them, and what are the reasons for their misguidance, while presenting all the verses that these people repeat and explaining them, God willing. Important note : In this topic, I am not discussing the issue of fate and destiny in itself, because this issue is very big and many scholars have spent their lives studying this issue. Also, the issue of fate and destiny is not raised by those who raise the suspicion of Allah misguiding people, because their suspicion lies in specific questions, which I presented above, and through specific verses, which I will present, God willing, in this topic, and their suspicion is not in the issue of fate and destiny in itself. Therefore, in this topic, I am not discussing the question of why Allah created the astray despite Allah’s knowledge that he would be astray and would lead people astray and that his fate would be Hell? Or why did Allah not decree that we all be guided? Or why did He create man subject to corruption? Or why did Allah create this one rich and that one poor? Or is this one miserable and that one happy? Or is this one sighted and that one blind? Or is this one a Muslim and that one a non-Muslim???? All of these questions, despite their connection to the subject of misguidance because they are all within the framework of the issue of fate and destiny, these questions and these topics are not raised in the minds of Christians as a suspicion about Islam because they believe that these questions are from the unseen in all religions and therefore they do not address them. However, they believe that God creates man and then Satan comes and misleads him and it is not God who misleads him. This is the reason for their raising the suspicion of God misleading in the Qur’an without the other questions. This topic discusses the issue of God misleading in the light of the Holy Qur’an and the interpretations of scholars only without addressing the issue of fate and destiny in itself. We will discuss this topic through eight points, which are:
1- Why did God attribute misguidance to Himself in the Holy Quran? 2- The difference between God misguiding His servants and His servants misguiding each other. 3- What is the meaning of “He misguides whomHe willsand guideswhom He wills”? 4-How does God guide and misguide? 5- Why does God misguide those who deserve misguidance? 6-What are the verses that Christians rely on in their suspicion?7-Does it mean that God attributed misguidance to Himself that it is unjust for Him to hold us accountable for our misguidance? 8-What is the position of Christian scholars on the misguidance of humans and what does the Bible say about that? Let us begin with God’s blessing.
And if good befalls them, they say, ‘This is from God.’ But if evil befalls them, they say, ‘This is from you.’ Say, ‘All is from God.’ So what is the matter with these people that they can hardly understand a word?” (An-Nisa’ 78) and also: “And you do not will except that God wills - Lord of the worlds.” (At-Takwir 29) 2- As reality confirms that God is the one who misguides and this is from His wisdom. The questioner will ask how is this? In response, we say that when God created Satan, God wanted him to worship Him like the rest of the creatures, but at the same time, God knew that Satan would disobey Him and would lead people astray and would be the cause of misguidance. However, God created him. The question is, why did He create him when He knew that they would not worship Him and would disobey Him and would lead people astray? The answer is that God wants Satan to lead people astray and gave him authority to lead people astray. But which people does God want Satan to lead astray? They are specific people, as Muslim scholars have agreed from the verses of the Holy Quran, and they are the ones who deny God’s verses, either by not believing in them or by not acting upon them. Satan believed that by misleading people, he was challenging God, but Satan’s stupidity did not allow him to understand that God uses him to misguide those who are destined to be misguided. Some scholars have given an example, and God has the highest example, and they said that God uses Satan like a fisherman who uses his net to trap his prey, but the prey here are those who are destined to be misguided, meaning they deserve to be misguided because of his denial, and it is not because he is unjust to them. This is from the Almighty’s saying:
And We had certainly sent to every nation a messenger, [saying], “Worship Allah and avoid false gods.” And among them were those whom Allah guided, and among them were those upon whom error was justly decreed. So travel through the land and see what was the end of those who denied. (An-Nahl 36) Just as it is said about the net that it caught the prey, it is also said about the hunter that he caught the prey. So Allah misguides those upon whom error was justly decreed because of their denial by using Satan. For this reason, He created the universe and created good and evil in it, and there is no fault in this. 3- Just as Allah is the Creator of everything, He created good and evil, guidance and misguidance, and this is also mentioned by Christians in their holy book. And when Allah created misguidance, He was … He knows that there are those who will choose misguidance, yet God created misguidance, knowing that there are those who will choose Him and go astray. But why did God create misguidance, knowing that there are those who will choose Him and go astray??? The answer is that God created misguidance so that those who deserve it would choose it. If God wanted everyone to be guided and not misguided , God would not have created misguidance , or He would have withheld misguidance from those who would choose it. However, He did not withhold it from them, but rather He created it and presented it to everyone so that those who would choose it would fall into it. Thus, God is the one who misguided those who choose misguidance by presenting misguidance to them, knowing that they would choose it without exempting the misguided from the responsibility of their choice . This is so that the wicked are not equal to the good, nor the one who deserves misguidance equal to the one who deserves guidance. 4- Also, Satan’s misguidance of those who follow him is the fulfillment of God’s predestined will. Therefore, we are not surprised at attributing misguidance to God. In order to understand this, we must know what God’s will is. Scholars have said that God’s will is of two types : The legal will : It is God’s will for all of His creation to be guided and righteous, and it is referred to in His statement, “ And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” (Adh-Dhariyat 56 ) and in His statement, “And God wants to accept your repentance, and those who follow their desires want to be guided.” They leaned a great inclination (An-Nisa 27 ) and God wanted to give man the freedom to go against this will and His will in that is the predestined will : and it is God’s will for His creation to go against His legal will when they want to do so and this will is according to what the servant deserves and what the servant wants and chooses according to what God gave him of freedom of choice and it is what is called the will and it is referred to in His saying: And if God had willed, they would not have fought, but God does what He intends (Al-Baqarah 253 ) and in His saying: It is decreed for him that whoever takes him as an ally - He will mislead him and guide him to the punishment of the Blaze (Al-Hajj 4)
They gave an example of this with the devil, so the scholars said: When God created the devil, knowing that he would disobey Him, God wanted him to be righteous and obedient, which is the legitimate will. However, God gave him the freedom to go against His legitimate will, and this is God’s predestined will. God knows in His eternal knowledge that when the devil disobeys Him, he will not repent or regret his action, as Adam regretted his action. Therefore, God wanted the devil to go astray according to what the devil chose, and God knows what the devil will choose in His eternal knowledge, and that will is the predestined will, which is God’s will.
Consequently, the devil’s misguidance of the misguided and the choice of the misguided to lead them astray is the implementation of God’s predestined will, that the devil should misguide those who follow him and cause those he wants to go against His legitimate will, which is His predestined will, which is the will
. 5- God also attributed misguidance and sealing the hearts, hearing, and sight of those who deserved misguidance to Himself, even though the devil is the one who misguides and seals , because He is the one who created the devil for the sake of those who deserve misguidance , and God is the one who gave him authority.
6- God also attributed the misguidance and sealing of hearts, hearing and sight to Himself so that no one would think that the actions of Satan were done without the will of God or in defiance of God or
that the misguidance of people is due to the strength of Satan in the face of the weakness of God (God forbid) or that this is due to his inability to protect people from Satan (God forbid ). 7- God is the one who decreed that Satan should misguide everyone who follows him and that he should enter the Fire, as He said: “ It has been decreed for him that whoever takes him as a friend, he will misguide him and guide him to the punishment of the Blaze” (Al-Hajj 4). Whoever follows Satan, Satan will misguide him and he will not be guided and he will enter the Fire in implementation of God’s command. Consequently, God is the one who misguides those who follow Satan because He decreed that Satan should misguide those who follow him and not guide them or leave them on their guidance as a punishment for him. Satan misguides those who follow him in terms of action, and God misguides those who follow Satan in terms of judgment upon him, and the servant misguides himself. 8- As guidance and misguidance are like an exam that a teacher sets and corrects, he is the one who passes and fails students,
and the teacher is not faulted for failing students because he fails those who deserve to fail and does not wrong them, and so is God, and God is the highest example, as God tests people by offering guidance and misguidance, so He guides those who deserve guidance and misguides those who deserve misguidance, and it is sufficient for God Almighty to say: “And We did not wrong them, but they were wronging themselves” (An-Nahl 118).
9- As God attributed punishment to Himself, just as He attributed punishment to the soul.This is forgiveness, and as the scholars said, the misguidance of one is the punishment in this world, so the punishment of God in this world is three: misguidance for those who persist in disbelief and sins, or plotting against those who plot against the believers, or afflicting with evil for those who do the evil deed, in addition to the punishment of God in the hereafter, which is torture or the frustration of deeds. All of these types of punishment were attributed to God in the Qur’an, as forgiveness, mercy, and guidance were attributed to Him, because He is the One who shows mercy and He is the One who punishes. So why did we not question the attribution of punishment or forgiveness to God, but we questioned the attribution of misguidance, which is the punishment for those who persist in misguidance, as the scholars agreed and the Holy Qur’an made clear
? 10- God also permits everything, good or evil, and this also exists in Christianity, and God permitted the misguided to be misguided, as the scholars of Christianity acknowledge, and God’s permission for evil, especially misguidance, does not prevent us from attributing misguidance to God, and this is not only the speech of the scholars of Islam, but also the speech of the Holy Book and the scholars of Christianity themselves, and we will discuss it in detail in the last part of the topic. Therefore, God’s permission for Misguidance makes misguidance related to God, according to the agreement of the scholars of Islam, Christianity, and the Holy Book.
2- What is the difference between God misleading His servants and His servants misleading each other?
The problem with anyone who knows that God misleads is that He brings up images of His servants misleading each other, such as inciting one person to another to commit a sin that he did not intend to do, or giving one person false and misleading information about the truth that he wants to reach. But when God misleads His servants, He misleads them by leaving them to Satan as they wanted and chose, and as a punishment for their choice and turning away from God, as God Almighty says: “ And whoever turns away from the remembrance of the Most Gracious, We appoint for him a devil, and he is to him a companion. ” (Al-Zukhruf 36-37) And God is the One who left Satan to mislead those who follow him and to beautify their sinful deeds, and He is the One who gave him this authority, as God Almighty says: He said: My Lord, because You have misled me. ” (39-42 ) The scholars said that if Allah had not exempted those who follow Satan, Satan would not have been able to lead anyone astray, even those who follow him, but Allah left those who follow him to be under the authority of Satan. This is Allah’s misguidance of them by leaving them under the authority of Satan as a punishment for following him. Allah
does not incite them to commit a sin, as He says, “Allah does not command immorality” (Al-A’raf 28) , or give them false and misleading information about the truth, as Allah says, “ And who is more truthful than Allah in statement?” (An-Nisa’ 87), but Satan is the one who… He orders them to commit indecency and gives them misleading and false information. God has warned us against him, as He says, “ He only orders you to do evil and indecency and to say about God that which you do not know.” (Al-Baqarah 169) . There are also some attributes that, if God is described with them, it is out of wisdom and entitlement, and if a servant is described with them, it is an ugly attribute for him, such as causing death. God is the one who causes His servants to die, but if a person causes another to die, he is a murderer and will be tried. The same applies to the attribute of transcendence. God is transcendent according to the text of the Qur’an and the Holy Book of the Jews and Christians . As for transcendence among humans, it is an ugly attribute. The same applies to misguidance. God misguides those who choose misguidance by leaving them to Satan to implement his choice and as punishment for him. As for humans, they do not know who deserves misguidance and who does not, and they misguide each other by inciting disobedience or providing false information.
3- What is the meaning of “He misguides whom He wills and guides whom He wills”?
This phrase came in many verses in the Holy Quran and in different wordings such as:
1- He whom Allah wills, He misguides, and whom He wills, He places on a straight path.
2- Allah misguides whom He wills and guides whom He wills.
Scholars said that Allah tells us from these verses that if He wills guidance for everyone, whether they deserve guidance or not, then Allah will guide them and He is able to do that. If He wills misguidance for everyone, whether they deserve misguidance or not, then Allah will misguide them and He is able to do that. However, He misguides whom He wills and guides whom He wills according to the criteria of the servant’s eligibility mentioned in the Holy Quran. He wills guidance for those who deserve guidance only and its conditions apply to them, and He does not will it for those who do not deserve guidance. He wills misguidance for those who deserve misguidance only and its conditions apply to them, and He does not will it for those who do not deserve misguidance.
The text “He misguides whom He wills and guides whom He wills” is like the text “He has mercy on whom He wills and punishes whom He wills” found in the Holy Quran. Scholars said that this does not mean that. Meaning that God can punish those who do not deserve punishment or have mercy on those who do not deserve mercy. Rather, He has mercy on whomever He wills and punishes whomever He wills within the framework of the texts of the Qur’an that declare who are those whom God punishes and who are those whom God has mercy on. Likewise, He misguides whomever He wills and guides whomever He wills within the framework of the texts of the Qur’an that declare who are those whom God misguides and who are those whom God guides.
Scholars have said that God misguides whomever He wills and guides whomever He wills. God has the highest example, like a teacher who gives prizes to some of his students and not others. When someone asks the teacher, “Why did you give to this one and not to that one?” the teacher says, “I give to whomever I will and I do not give to whomever I will.” This does not mean that He chooses randomly, but rather He gives according to the criteria that He sees. Likewise, God has the highest example. He misguides whomever He wills and guides whomever He wills according to the criteria mentioned for the servant’s eligibility in the Holy Qur’an.
Scholars have said that God sends two messages from every verse in which He mentions that He misguides whomever He wills and guides whomever He wills, or that whoever God misguides has no guide and will not be among the guided.
The message The first, which is for the disbelievers: God misguides whomever He wills and guides whomever He wills according to the conditions of the servant’s eligibility mentioned in the Holy Quran. So be among those who deserve guidance so that He may guide you, and do not be among those who deserve misguidance so that He will not misguide you. He will not guide you while you deserve misguidance, and He will not misguide you while you deserve guidance.
The second message, which is for the believers: We should not wish guidance for a person who does not deserve it because we love him, and we should not grieve over his misguidance, for God does not judge a person’s guidance or misguidance according to our will based on emotions, but rather He judges him according to His will based on the person’s eligibility for guidance or misguidance through the conditions mentioned in the Holy Quran.
The best evidence for that is when God addressed His Messenger, saying, “ You do not guide whom you love, but God guides whom He wills, and He knows best who are the guided.” (Al-Qasas 56) That is, you cannot guide whomever you want to guide, but Allah guides whomever He chooses, and Allah’s choice of guidance or misguidance is based on the servant’s eligibility, the conditions of which are mentioned in the Holy Quran.
The question now is: what are the conditions and criteria mentioned in the Holy Quran for eligibility for guidance or misguidance??? Scholars say: And some people who want to escape the responsibility of disbelief say that Allah, the Most High, said: {Indeed, Allah misguides whom He wills and guides whom He wills}. And since Allah has willed to misguide me, what is my sin? And can I prevent the will of Allah ? We say to him: If God restricts an absolute matter, we must resort to restriction. God Almighty says: “ Thus does God mislead the disbelievers” (Ghafir 74) and He says: “And God misleads the wrongdoers” (Ibrahim 27) and He says : “And He misleads thereby none but the wicked” (Al-Baqarah 26) and He says : “Thus does God mislead him who is a transgressor and doubtful” (Ghafir 34). So God misleads the disbelievers, the wrongdoers, the wicked, and the one who is a transgressor and doubtful. Every person who falls within these categories and does not change his condition is deserving of misguidance, and the manner of misguidance depends on the heart and actions of each person. However, if a person is going to change his condition, God does not judge him to be misguided, but rather He makes guidance easy for him when he changes his condition from being one who rejects faith without justification and is arrogant about it to being ready to believe sincerely if he finds that it is the truth. This is from the words of God Almighty: “Indeed, God will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.” (Ar-Ra`d 11) And God guides whoever follows God’s pleasure, and wherever His pleasure may be, He goes to it, as God Almighty says : “With it God guides whoever follows His pleasure to the ways of peace, and brings them out from darkness into the light, by His permission, and guides them to a straight path.” (Al-Ma’idah 16) And God guides whoever repents from his disbelief and sins, as God Almighty says: “ And He guides to Himself whoever turns back [to Him].” (Ar-Ra`d 27) And He guides to Himself whoever turns back [to Him].” (Ash-Shura 13) And God guides whoever believes, meaning he has the readiness to believe and submit to Islam without being arrogant, as God Almighty says : “And you cannot guide the blind from their misguidance. You only hear those who believe in Our verses, for they are Muslims.” (An-Naml 81 ) So whoever follows God’s pleasure, and repents from His sins, and is ready to believe without being arrogant, God guides them. What is strange about the Christians who raise doubts is that they take the phrase from the Holy Quran and raise their doubts about it, as if the Holy Quran only contains this phrase. Rather, what is stranger is that when they study a verse in Their holy book, we find them saying that we must understand this verse in the spirit of the book as a whole and not from the perspective of the verse separate from what the book says in general. I am satisfied with the comment of Father Tadros Yaqoub, who is one of the most famous interpreters of their book, in his explanation of the phrase “ He has mercy on whom He wills and He hardens whom He wills” mentioned in their book, saying (
What we would like to emphasize here is that the Holy Bible is not to be understood as separate parts independent of each other, but rather represents one integrated unit that deals with many different matters. Therefore, it is appropriate for the reader to enjoy the spirit of wisdom and discernment so that he does not use a phrase out of place, but rather in what suits it and the spirit of the book as a whole . Glory be to God for a people who use double standards.
4- How does God guide and misguide? Scholars said that there are two types of guidance : Guidance by indication : This is the guidance that God sends to all people, such as messengers, prophets, and heavenly books, and it is referred to in the Almighty’s saying : “And as for Thamud, We guided them, but they preferred blindness to guidance, so the thunderbolt of humiliating punishment seized them for what they used to earn.” (Fussilat 17 ) Guidance by assistance : This is the guidance to faith in God and the true religion and to establish hearts on faith, and it is specific to believers who accepted the first type of guidance, which is guidance by indication, and it is referred to in more than one place in the Holy Quran, including the Almighty’s saying : “And those who are guided - He increases them in guidance and gives them their righteousness.” (Muhammad 17 ) Scholars said that there are three types of misguidance : Misguidance without knowledge : This is the misguidance that people are upon before God sends messengers to them, and the misguidance that the prophets are upon before the revelation comes to them. Misguidance here is not knowing the truth because it did not come to them at that time, and it is misguidance. There is no blame on its owner, and this type of misguidance is referred to in the Almighty’s saying: “ And He found you lost and guided you” (Ad-Duha 7 ) , and also in His saying : “So remember Allah at the sacred monument and remember Him as He has guided you, although you were before that among those astray” (Al-Baqarah 198 ). Misguidance with knowledge without abandonment : This is the misguidance that people are in after the sending of the messengers and their turning away from the call and belief, but Allah did not want to leave them to Satan, so he would seal their hearts and hearing and constrict their chests, leaving them the opportunity to believe, and it is referred to in His saying: “And when it is said to them, ‘Fear what is before you and what is behind you that you may receive mercy’” (36:45-46 ). And His saying: “So why do they turn away from the reminder?” (Al-Muddaththir 49 ). Misguidance with knowledge of abandonment : It is the misguidance that people are in after sending the messengers and their turning away from the call and faith because God wanted to leave them to Satan, so He sealed their hearts and hearing and made their chests narrow because of their turning away from the call and faith when they were in the stage of misguidance without abandonment. The stage of misguidance with abandonment is referred to in several verses, including: “ And who is more unjust than he who is reminded of the verses of his Lord but turns away from them and forgets what his hands have put forth? Indeed, We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And if you call them to guidance, they will never be guided then.” (Al-Kahf 57 ) And His statement: “Indeed, those who disbelieve - it is all the same for them whether you warn them or do not warn them - they will not believe.” (Al-Baqarah 6-7 )
And Allah, when He judges someone to be astray, it is of the type of astray with knowledge of abandonment, meaning that Allah leaves them to Satan, so he takes control of them and controls them and turns them away from the path because they loved this path and because Satan wants them to be among his soldiers and uses them to fight good and sow evil. This is from His Almighty saying: Satan has taken control of them and made them forget the remembrance of Allah. Those are the party of Satan. Unquestionably, the party of Satan - they are the losers. (Al-Mujadilah 19 ) And His Almighty saying: And whoever turns away from the remembrance of the Most Gracious - We appoint for him a devil, and he is to him a companion. ( And indeed, they avert them from the path, and they think that they are guided.) (Az-Zukhruf 36-37) And His Almighty saying: And Satan wants to lead them far astray. ( An-Nisa 60 ) And His Almighty saying: It is He who has made you successors upon the earth. But whoever disbelieves - upon him is his disbelief. And their disbelief does not increase the disbelievers in the sight of their Lord except in hatred. And their disbelief does not increase the disbelievers except in (Fatir 39 ) The scholars said that hatred and loss is expulsion from the mercy of Allah, so Satan takes control of him and turns him away from the path and leads him astray far by sealing his heart, hearing and sight and increases their disbelief and disobedience to make their account with Allah heavy. This is the result of their first turning away.
Allah combined the first turning away and the second turning away in several verses, including His saying: But whoever opens his breast to disbelief - upon them is wrath from Allah, and for them is a great punishment (An-Nahl 106 ). The scholars said that opening the breast to disbelief is the first turning away and that Allah’s wrath is His leaving Satan to narrow his breast as a result of his opening his breast to disbelief first. Since this is his condition, Allah left him to Satan. Also in His saying: And whoever turns away from the remembrance of the Most Merciful - We appoint for him a devil, and he is to him a companion (And indeed, they avert them from the path, and they think that they are guided) (Az-Zukhruf 36-37) That is, when they first turned away from the remembrance of the Most Gracious, God left it to Satan, so he turned away even more by turning them away from the path. Also in His statement, “ They forgot God, so He forgot them” (At-Tawbah 67) , and His statement, “ And do not be like those who forgot God, so He made them forget themselves. Those are the wicked” (Al-Hashr 19), so they forgot God, meaning they turned away from Him, and this is the first turning away, so God forgot them and made them forget themselves, meaning He left them to Satan, so he drowned them in their desires and they increased in their turning away, and this is the second turning away. Also in His statement, “That is because they believed, then disbelieved, so their hearts were sealed, so they do not understand” (Al-Munafiqun 3) , meaning when they disbelieved after their belief, which is the first turning away, God sealed their hearts, so they turned away even more, which is the second turning away.
6- What are the verses that Christians rely on in their doubt ? In addition to the verse “He misguides whom He wills and guides whom He wills” that we explained, there are other verses that Christians use in this doubt, and we will explain them in a comprehensive manner without prejudice, God willing. I have divided them into titles in blue to make it easier for the reader, and all of these verses talk about the stage of misguidance with knowledge of abandonment, meaning that God judges him to be misguided, so he is not guided.
1- God does not will guidance for whomever He wills to misguide.
1- For God does not guide whomever He
wills. 2- Say, “Indeed, God misguides whomever He wills.”
The scholars said that its meaning is that God wills to misguide whomever is entitled to misguidance, but He does not will to guide him, and he deserves misguidance. If God willed to guide him, and he deserves misguidance, he would be guided, but He did not will guidance for him because he does not deserve it.
2- He whom God misguides, no one will guide him. 1- And he whom God misguides, you will not find for him a way. 2- And he whom He misguides, it is those who are the losers. 3- And he whom Allah sends astray - for him there is no guide. 4- Do you want to guide he whom Allah has sent astray? 5- So who guides he whom Allah has sent astray? 6- He whom Allah guides is the rightly guided one, and he whom He sends astray - you will find for him no protector to guide him. Scholars said that its meaning is that he whom Allah sends astray according to His will, which is based on the merit of the servant, no one will be able to guide him just because he wants to guide him due to his emotions. Guidance and misguidance are according to the will of Allah, which is based on the merit of the servant through the conditions and standards mentioned in the Holy Quran, and not according to the will of man, which is based on emotions. And he who deserves to be misguided will not find anyone to guide him, so we do not grieve for him or blame ourselves. And he who deserves guidance, no one will be able to misguide him, so we do not fear for him. And he who was on guidance and went astray was not worthy of guidance, and he who was in misguidance and was guided was not worthy of misguidance.
3- Allah narrows the chest of he who is not prepared to believe and is arrogant towards Islam. 1- So he whom Allah wants to guide, He opens his chest to Islam, and he whom He wants to If He misguides him, He makes his breast tight and constricted as if he were climbing up into the sky. Thus does Allah place defilement upon those who do not believe. (Al-An'am 125 ) This verse speaks about guiding a person to Islam and another turning away from Islam. This indicates that Islam was offered to both of them, which is guidance by indication. So Allah expanded the breast of one of them to Islam by removing Satan from him, so he entered it, which is indication by assistance. And Allah constricted the breast of the other by leaving him to Satan, so his breast became constricted, so he turned away from him, which is misguidance with knowledge of the abandonment. The question that arises is why did Allah remove Satan from this one, so he believed, and leave the other to Satan, so his breast became constricted and he turned away? We see the answer at the end of the verse, which is: Thus does Allah place defilement upon those who do not believe. The scholars said that defilement is misguidance and constriction of the breast, while disbelief is their unwillingness to believe if they find that it is the truth, and their rejection just for the sake of rejection. This is like the verse of Allah the Almighty: “ And you cannot guide the blind from their misguidance. You only hear those who believe in Our verses, for they are Muslims.” (Al-Naml 81 )
Whoever is prepared to believe, if he knows that it is the truth, Allah will guide him to Islam and they will enter it. As for those who are not prepared and refuse just for the sake of refusal, Allah will leave them to Satan. There is a difference between those who do not believe and those who do not believe. Those who do not believe, that is, they are not prepared to believe. As for the non-believers, it is a description of their state, whether they are prepared to believe or not. Also, the tightness of the chest is a result of their turning away, first by turning their chests away and being arrogant about Islam. This is from His statement, “ But they turn away their chests to conceal themselves from Him. Except when they cover themselves with their garments. He knows what they conceal and what they declare. Indeed, He is Knowing of that within the chests.” (Hud 5 ) And His statement, “Indeed, those who dispute concerning the verses of Allah without authority having come to them - there is in their chests nothing but arrogance. They will never attain it.” (Ghafir 56 ) So when they turned away their chests and were arrogant about it, Allah left them to Satan, so he whispered in their chests and constricted them. This is in confirmation of His statement, “Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people.” Until they change what is in themselves (Al-Ra`d: 11 ) . A person must change what is in himself and be ready for Islam with sincere intention if he knows that it is the truth. How many people are invited to Islam but they refuse just for the sake of refusing, despite answering all their questions about Islam with logical and rational answers, but despite that they refuse and cling to their disbelief and misguidance, so Allah leads them astray by leaving them to Satan, who narrows their chests according to what they wanted and as punishment for their denial of Islam and the Qur’an without justification or logical argument. Some may say that this person is not guilty, as he did not believe as a result of God leading him astray, but we tell them that by doing so they understood the verse the opposite, as the verse says: “Thus does Allah place defilement on those who do not believe,” meaning that defilement (misguidance and narrowness of chest) came as a result of their lack of faith, and the verse does not say: “Thus does Allah place defilement on them, so they did not believe,” or “Thus did they not believe because God placed defilement on them.” This is like what a teacher says to his students. (Thus I strike with a stick the hands of those who do not study their lessons) They did not study their lessons, so the teacher struck them as punishment for that. Thus we see that God lets the devil narrow the chests of those who are not prepared to believe and they bend their chests and become arrogant as punishment for them and as a gift for them for what they wanted. As for those who are prepared to believe in Him, if they find that there is no justification for rejection or denial and do not become arrogant towards Him, God will open their chests to Islam and they will submit, God willing.
1- And do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever in neglect (Al-Kahf 28 )
So when they deviated, Allah caused their hearts to deviate . ( Al-Saff 5 ) So whoever does bad deeds and deviates after his forbidden desires, Allah leaves him to Satan, so he hardens and He neglects and his heart deviates and places a veil over it so that he does not understand and in his ears is deafness so that he does not hear, so his affair was excessive. The meaning of his affair was excessive, as the scholars said, is someone who is excessive in his own affair, i.e. he turned away from the truth, occupying himself with its pleasures. This means that his affair was excessive before Allah neglected his heart, and that the heart’s neglect came as a result of his excessive affair, so he did not say, and his affair became excessive. This is like the saying, “I fed my companion and he was hungry.” This means that he was hungry before I fed him, and his hunger is what made me feed
him. Also, he forgot what his hands had put forth, i.e. he is the one who began with the bad deeds that he committed and forgot and ignored abandoning them and repenting from them. If he had not forgotten to abandon sins and tried to abandon them sincerely, Allah would have guided him in that and not left him to Satan. This is from the saying of Allah the Almighty: “ But as for those who believe in Allah and hold fast to Him, He will admit them to mercy from Him and bounty and guide them to Him on a straight path.” (An-Nisa’ 175 ) So the abundance of sins and the lack of… Giving up on it hardens and neglects the heart and makes the sinner unable to hear the verses of Allah with admonition and contemplation or to act upon them, so he turns away from them. The scholars said that his turning away from the verses of Allah due to the hardness of his heart and neglecting them and what is in them of concealment and what is in his hearing of reverence is only a result of his first turning away and not repenting from his sins referred to in His statement, “And his affair was in neglect” and His statement, “And he forgot what his hands had put forth. ” 5- Allah misguides whoever takes as his god his own desire. 1- Have you seen one who has taken as his god his own desire? And Allah has sent him astray due to knowledge and has set a seal upon his hearing and his heart and has put over his vision a veil. So who will guide him after Allah? Will you not remember? (Al-Jathiyah 23 ) Allah sets a seal upon the hearing, heart and sight of whoever takes as his god his own desire, i.e. follows his desire like the servant who follows his god. Rather, Allah has sent him astray due to knowledge, i.e. this person knows good from evil and distinguishes between disbelief and faith and knows the correct path from the destructive path, yet he chooses evil, disbelief and the destructive path, knowing that it is destructive. This is because His god was his desires, lusts and lusts, so he sacrificed his afterlife for the sake of his desires and lusts in this world, so God left him to Satan to seal his heart as a reward for that.
6- Allah misguides those who hasten to disbelief 1- And let not those who hasten to disbelief grieve you. Indeed, they will never harm Allah at all. Allah intends not to grant them any share in the Hereafter, and they will have a great punishment. (Al Imran 176 ) This verse speaks about those who turn away from Islam and the disbelievers who try to support disbelief over faith . Allah did not prevent them from going to disbelief and leaving Islam or trying to support disbelief because if He prevented them, and He is able to do that, He would make good for them in the Hereafter while they want to disbelieve, so they become equal to the believers. He would also take away the freedom of man that He gave him.
1- Why, when Our punishment came to them, did they not humble themselves? But their hearts became hardened, and Satan made pleasing to them what they were doing. (Al-An’am 43 )
2- Indeed, those who do not believe in the Hereafter - We have made their deeds seem good to them, so they wander blindly. (Al-Naml 4 )
3- Then is he to whom the evil of his deed has been made pleasing so that he sees it as good? Indeed, Allah leaves astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. So let not your soul perish over them in regret. Indeed, Allah is Knowing of what they do. (Fatir 8 )
1- Those who follow Satan, as Allah the Almighty says: “Indeed, My servants - you will have no authority over them, except those who follow you of the deviators.” (Al-Hijr: 42 )
2- Those who do evil deeds, for they did evil deeds first, then Allah wanted Satan to make them seem good to them.
3- Those whose hearts are hardened and who do not believe in the Hereafter . A questioner may ask: Why does Allah make Satan make the deeds seem good to the disobedient, and why does He not leave them without making their evil deeds seem bad to them so that they leave them? This is for several reasons, including: 1- That God knows that if we do a bad deed, He will make it seem attractive to us so that we do not come close to it. Likewise, if we do good deeds and come close to faith and love it, God will make it seem attractive to us and make bad deeds hateful to us. This is from the words of God Almighty: “ And know that among you is the Messenger of God. If he were to obey you in much of the matter, you would be in trouble. But God has endeared to you the faith and has made it pleasing in your hearts and has made hateful to you disbelief, wickedness and disobedience. Those are the [rightly] guided.” (Al-Hujurat 7 )
3- If Allah made the bad deed ugly in the eyes of its owner, He would leave it and evil would end in the world, but Allah wants evil to continue with good so that man can choose between them, and this is the purpose of our life in this world.
4- Also, making disbelief and committing sins attractive in the eyes of its owner will make him defend his disbelief and committing sins with his utmost determination, which leads to a conflict between good and evil, and this conflict is necessary in life and has existed since Adam and his wife until the Day of Judgment, because this conflict is a test for us: will we join good or will we join evil?
8- Allah misleads the people of false faith 1- Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to set forth an example - that of a gnat or anything larger than that. As for those who believe, they know that it is the truth from their Lord. But as for those who disbelieve, they say, "What did Allah intend by this as an example?" He misleads many thereby and guides many thereby. And He misleads thereby only the defiantly disobedient. ( Al-Baqarah 26 ) 2- The postponement is only an increase in disbelief by which He misleads those who disbelieve . They make it lawful one year and forbid it another year in order to conform to the number of what Allah has forbidden, so they make lawful what Allah has forbidden. (At-Tawbah 37 ) 3- And We have not made the keepers of the Fire except angels. And We have not made their number except as a trial for those who disbelieve - that those who were given the Scripture will be certain and those who have believed will increase in faith and those who were given the Scripture and the believers will not doubt and that those in whose hearts is hypocrisy and the disbelievers will say , "What did Allah intend by this as an example?" Thus does Allah mislead whom He wills and guides whom He wills. ( Al-Muddaththir 31 ) So Allah tests us and tests our faith, and those who fail this test They go astray, and therefore we can say that God led them astray because if He had not tested their faith, their faith would have remained strong before people and before themselves, but in reality, which God knows, their faith is false faith. God Almighty says: “ And among mankind is he who worships God on the edge. If good befalls him, he is reassured therewith, but if a trial befalls him, he turns back on his face. He loses this world and the Hereafter. That is what is the manifest loss.” (Al-Hajj 11 ) Here is an example of that. For example, there is a student who succeeded in an exam by cheating, and his teacher knows that he does not deserve this success. If the teacher tests him and the student fails, then we can say that the teacher is the one who failed him after he was among the successful ones. But this does not mean that the teacher wronged him, rather the injustice is that we leave him to believe that he is successful and everyone believes that he is successful and is equal to the truly successful ones. The evidence that the teacher did not wrong him is that he tested him and he failed, and the teacher did not judge him arbitrarily or without a test or evidence. The previous verses talk about the types of God’s tests, so God sets examples from which the wicked are repelled or makes there… Things that the unbelievers use to trick Him, or He mentions information that the unbelievers and those in whose hearts is disease use as an excuse . Therefore, we see that the test here fails the wicked, the unbelievers, and those in whose hearts is disease. The question that arises here is why does God test the people of false faith, and why does He make the unbelievers trick God, and why does He mention information that the unbelievers and those in whose hearts is disease use as an excuse? This is for several reasons, including 1-
God tests the people of false faith to distinguish the wicked from the good. If it were not for such tests, everyone would be equal in faith. As Paul says in one of his letters to Christians, “If it were not for the law, sin would not be known.” That is, if it were not for the commandments, everyone would be equal in not disobeying. God does not want people of false faith or those who worship Him on the edge, but rather He wants those whose hearts are full of faith or are reassured by it. This is in the Almighty’s saying, “That God may distinguish the wicked from the good, and put the wicked one upon another, and heap them all together and put them in Hell. Those are the losers.” (Al-Anfal 37 )
2- God makes the disbelievers trick Him so that He may expose them before themselves and before everyone else that their faith is not true faith. He teaches us that the path of disbelief leads to making permissible what God has forbidden by tricking God.
3- God mentions information that the disbelievers and those in whose hearts is disease use as an excuse to reveal to everyone that they are not neutral and that they make excuses for the flimsiest reasons so that they turn away from Islam and faith in God, and that they criticize just for the sake of criticism. Only
4- God wants us to believe in His words with absolute faith as long as His words do not incite vice or disbelief, and any information He says we believe in and submit to even if the wisdom of it does not appear at the moment or at any time or its wisdom appears at the appropriate time. He does not want us to examine every word and not believe in it until its wisdom or purpose appears, for this is the pinnacle of faith and submission as long as it does not incite vice or disbelief.
5- God tests the disbelievers, the wicked, and those in whose hearts is disease until their disbelief appears so that we may teach them and warn them and so that they do not have an argument with God when He admits them to Hell without a test that reveals the truth of their faith.
9- God misleads the disbelievers by sealing their hearts, hearing, and sight. 1- Indeed , those who disbelieve - it is all the same for them whether you warn them or do not warn them - they will not believe. () God’s seal Over their hearts, over their hearing, and over their vision is a veil, and for them is a great punishment. (Al-Baqarah 6-7 )
2- See how they lied against themselves, and what they used to invent has departed from them. And among them are those who listen to you, but We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And if they see every sign, they will not believe in it until, when they come to you, they argue with you. Those who disbelieve say, "This is not but legends of the former peoples." (Al-An`am 24-25 ) 3- And when you recite the Qur’an, We place between you and those who do not believe in the Hereafter an invisible veil. (And We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And when you mention your Lord in The Qur’an alone, and they turned back in aversion (Al-Isra 45-46 ). God seals the hearts, hearing, and sight of the disbelievers who lied about themselves and do not believe in the Hereafter.
As a result of their disbelief, describing them as disbelievers, liars, and not believing in the Hereafter is a description of their condition, as scholars have agreed. Since their condition was that they disbelieved, God left them to Satan, so he sealed their hearts and their hearing and their sight as a punishment for their disbelief, which they chose for themselves, and because no one is forced to believe.
10- God tests the Children of Israel with the calf
1- And Moses chose from his people seventy men for Our appointed time. But when the earthquake seized them, he said, “My Lord, if You had willed, You could have destroyed them before, and me as well. Could You have destroyed us for what the fools among us have done? It is not but Your trial by which You lead astray whom You will and guide whom You will. You are our Protector, so forgive us and have mercy upon us, and You are the best of forgivers.” (Al-A’raf 155)
This verse speaks about God testing Moses’ people with the calf to distinguish the wicked from the good before Moses and to teach Moses why God wrote for them to wander in the desert. The trial is the test so that the disbelief of the disbelievers would become apparent, so that We may teach them and warn them, and so that they will not have an excuse before God when He sends them to Hell without testing. It reveals the truth of their faith , as God Almighty says: “Do people think that they will be left to say, ‘We believe’ and they will not be tested?” (And We have certainly tested those before them, and God will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars.) (Al-Ankabut 2-3)
11- God misguides the disbelievers by giving them many blessings so that they may increase in sin and transgression. 1- God mocks them and prolongs their transgression while they wander blindly . (Al-Baqarah 15 ) 2- And let not those who disbelieve think that Our granting them respite is better for themselves. We only grant them respite so that they may increase in sin, and they will have a humiliating punishment. (Al Imran 178 ) 3- And Moses said, “Our Lord, indeed You have given Pharaoh and his establishment adornment and wealth in the life of this world. Our Lord, that they may lead [people] astray from Your way.” (Yunus 88 ) These verses speak about the disbelievers who reject Islam, so God increases their goodness and blessings or gives them respite and leaves them as they are of goodness and blessings and does not decrease this goodness and blessings so that they increase in sin and transgression by using these blessings for evil or they are deceived by this goodness and increase in disbelief and stubbornness. This indicates that they commit sin before God grants them respite with goodness, so when He grants them respite with goodness and does not decrease it, they increase in sin. Let us move on to the important question at this point, which is why does God want this person to increase in sin and transgression? This is for several reasons, as Sheikh Al-Shaarawy said in his thoughts, including: 1- The path of disbelief leads to many sins and transgressions, so we avoid them. 2- The more the disbeliever increases in sin and transgression, the closer his end will be, which will be a lesson for everyone who takes heed. 3- The more the disbeliever increases in sin and transgression, the more his transgression against the believers will increase, so they will be patient, and it will be in the balance of their good deeds. 4- The more the disbelievers increase in sin and transgression, the more the believers and rational people will be repelled by their disbelief. 12- God misguides the hypocrites who believe that they are deceiving God with their hypocrisy.
1- The hypocrites deceive Allah, but He deceives them. And when they stand up to pray, they stand lazily, showing off to people and not remembering Allah except a little. (Wavering between them, neither with these nor with those. And whomever Allah sends astray - you will find for him no way.) (An-Nisa’ 142-143).
The scholars said that Allah deceives the hypocrites who believe that they are deceiving Allah with their hypocrisy by making them waver between believers and disbelievers. They are neither believers nor disbelievers. So Allah led them astray by their wavering as punishment for their hypocrisy and their belief that they are deceiving Allah with their hypocrisy. They will not find a way out of their misguidance, which Allah has decreed upon them as punishment for them. But whoever abandons hypocrisy, Allah will change his condition, as Allah, the Most High, says: “ Indeed, Allah does not change what He has ordained for him.” With a people until they change what is within themselves (Al-Ra`d 11)
In these verses, God Almighty explains who God makes successful, that is, guides, and who God makes disappoint, that is, misguides. The one who purifies himself by following piety, that is, righteousness and the right path that God has inspired in him, God will guide him. As for the one who disappoints himself by following immorality, that is, the path of disobedience and disbelief that God has inspired in him, God will misguide him. So every person God has placed in him the love of disobedience, which is immorality, and the love of goodness, which is piety, together. So whoever follows the truth and righteousness, God will make this person’s piety overcome his immorality. And whoever follows disbelief and disobedience, God will make this person’s immorality overcome his piety. And whoever makes his piety overcome his immorality, God will guide him, and whoever makes his immorality overcome his piety, God will misguide him. So guidance and misguidance are caused by the servant.
Here are some of the scholars’ sayings that confirm that the cause of misguidance is the servant. Sheikh Al-Shanqeeti, may Allah have mercy on him, says in his book Adwaa Al-Bayan : If it is said: If they are unable to hear, see, or understand; Because God has placed veils that prevent understanding on their hearts, and the weight that prevents hearing in their ears, they are compelled. So what is the reason for torturing them for something that they cannot turn away from and turn to something else ?! The answer is that Allah, the Most High, has made clear in many verses of His great book that those barriers that He places on their hearts, hearing and sight, such as seals, imprints, coverings, and the like, He has only placed them upon them as a punishment in accordance with what they hastened to do of disbelief and denial of the messengers by their own choice. So Allah led their hearts astray by imprints, coverings, and the like, as a punishment for their disbelief. Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, says in his book Shifa’ al-Aleel : Allah led him astray, knowing that he was among the people of misguidance in His prior knowledge. Ibn Ashour, may Allah have mercy on him, says in his book At-Tahrir wa’t-Tanwir : And attributing misguidance to Allah, the Most High, is because He is the Creator of the original causes in human nature and the call of the prophets and righteous people to goodness, and the resistance of the leaders of misguidance to those calls, those are the causes that led the misguided to their misguidance and the guided to their guidance. And everyone who Allah created . And Allah’s will in that is connected to His knowledge of the behavior of the guided and the misguided . Imam Muhammad al-Ghazali, may God have mercy on him, says in his book, The Muslim’s Creed : “We find that the release of the will in one verse is restricted by another verse in which human choice is explicitly mentioned .” That is, God’s misguidance of a person means that this person chose error over guidance, so God confirmed his desire and fulfilled for him what was appropriate for himself . Sheikh al-Shaarawy, may God have mercy on him, says in his thoughts : A person confronted God with disbelief and refused to listen to the verses of God and His messengers and proceeded to make for himself the path of misguidance because he did that first and because he began with disbelief, he was the one who began. God sealed his heart.
If you choose disbelief, Allah will not force you to believe. If you choose injustice, Allah will not force you to be just. If you choose immorality, Allah will not force you to obey. He respects your choice because He gave you this choice to hold you accountable for it on the Day of Judgment. Allah has proven to Himself that He has absolute power, that He guides whomever He wills and misguides whomever He wills. But He, the Most High, said that He does not guide the disbelieving people, nor the unjust people, nor the immoral people. So whoever wants to deviate from the guidance of Allah, let him disbelieve, or commit injustice, or commit immorality. In this case, he is the one who chose, and Allah’s punishment is due to him . Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen, may Allah have mercy on him, says in his book, A Message on Fate and Destiny : If the matter is up to the will of Allah, the Most High, and that the whole matter is in His hand, then what is the path of man and what is the man’s solution if Allah, the Most High, has decreed that he should go astray and not be guided? We say: The answer to that is that Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, only guides those who are worthy of guidance, and He misguides those who are worthy of misguidance. Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, says : { But when they deviated, Allah caused their hearts to deviate} [Surah As-Saff: 5]. And He, the Most High, says : { Then because of their breaking of their covenant, We cursed them and made their hearts hard. They distort words from their [proper] usages and have forgotten a portion of that of which they were reminded} [Surah Al-Ma’idah: 13] . So Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, made clear that the reasons for His misguiding those who have gone astray are due to the servant himself, and the servant does not know what Allah, the Most High, has decreed for him, because he does not know the decree except after the decree has occurred . He does not know whether Allah has destined him to be astray or guided? Islamweb says about Muslim scholars : The person responsible has will, choice and ability, and the Creator of this will, choice and ability is Allah Almighty. The creature does not have a will except by the will of Allah Almighty. Allah Almighty said, explaining the combination of these texts: “For whoever among you wills to go straight. And you do not will except that Allah wills - Lord of the worlds.” But when does Allah Almighty will to guide a person or to misguide him? This is what came in the Almighty’s saying : “But as for him who gives and fears Allah and believes in the best, We will ease him toward ease. But as for him who withholds and considers himself free of need and denies the best, We will ease him toward difficulty.” So you will find that the reason for the servant’s misguidance is from himself, so he is the reason . The Islamic websites of the people of the Sunnah and the Community say the following summary :
Allah knows with His eternal knowledge who will choose misguidance and who will choose guidance, so He has judged those who choose misguidance with misguidance and those who choose guidance with guidance. Allah’s eternal knowledge of what a person will choose is an attribute that reveals what the servant will choose and does not force him to choose other than what he desires. He is the Knower of the unseen and the seen. He knows with His eternal knowledge what will happen to us. We humans have a past, present, and future, because our knowledge is not eternal and the unseen is not revealed to us. As for Allah, He does not have a past, present, or future. Rather, everything with Him happened and ended in His eternal knowledge. Therefore, He judged each one of us by what this person did in His eternal knowledge. The action that we are about to do now or will do and are ignorant of now is an action that we did and created in Allah’s eternal knowledge. Allah has judged those who choose misguidance with misguidance and has judged those who choose guidance with guidance. Whoever was misguided and then chose guidance, Allah has judged him with guidance at the moment he chooses guidance. Likewise, whoever abandons faith and hastens to… Misguidance, for God has judged him as misguided at the moment he chooses misguidance, as God Almighty says: “Indeed, God will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves ” ( Al-Ra’d: 11 ) . All of this is in His eternal knowledge before He created us. This does not mean that the will of the servant precedes the will of God, because the will of the servant does not occur except when it occurs in this world, while the will of God existed before the creation of the universe. Rather, it has been from eternity according to God’s eternal knowledge of what will happen in this world. So God’s will and knowledge are eternal by the eternity of His existence, but as for us, our will and knowledge are not eternal because our existence is not eternal.
There are many evils that happen to man without his being guilty of them and without him being the one who chose them, such as earthquakes, wars, volcanoes, accidents, death and distress. All of these are evils according to Pope Shenouda that God does not want, but He only allows them for the sake of trials, and they are binding for people to fall into them so that God may test them. Thus, these evils move from the clause of non-binding permission to the clause of binding will or effective will. Thus, we say that God wanted evil for these people, especially since He is the one who created this evil and no other god created it but Him. He is the one who brought this evil upon these people and no other god brought it but Him.
3- When God allows something, He has wisdom in that, for God is wise and does not allow anything except that He has wisdom in that. This is also in Christianity, for Christian scholars say that God allows evil for a wisdom in that, which is either a trial, discipline or showing miracles, as happened with Pharaoh. When permission is for a wisdom and for a reason that the one who allowed it wants, then in this case it is a will because He wants something behind His permission for the matter and He allows it in order to reach a goal that He wants, so it is thus about
4- This contradicts what is stated in the Holy Bible about God being the one who hardened Pharaoh’s heart. The Bible did not say that Satan was the one who hardened his heart, and God permitted it, although He did not want to. The Bible says , “ But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and I will multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:7 ) Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, to perform these signs of Mine among them.” (Exodus 1:10 ) And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he may strive to After them, I will be glorified by Pharaoh and by all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” And they did so (Exodus 4:14 ). Here, God is the one who hardened Pharaoh's heart and made it hard and made his heart so that Pharaoh would not believe, so God would punish him and God would be glorified by punishing Pharaoh. The Pharaoh of the Bible has no sin except that God hardened his heart so that he would not believe, so God would punish him and God would be glorified by punishing him. This is the greatest evidence that God led Pharaoh astray and wanted to do so so that God would be glorified by punishing him . 5- The saying of permission without will will not prevent us from attributing misguidance and temptation to God, and this is not my invention but from the Holy Bible and the words of Christian scholars
. *The Prophet Takla website says in response to a contradiction in the Holy Bible, which is: Who ordered David to count the people of Israel, which was a sin before God at that time ? Who prompted David to count the people? Was it the Lord (2 Samuel 24:1) or was it Satan (1 Chronicles 21:1)? The interpretation of the situation is easy and simple, and it has similar situations in the book.
So who is the one who led David into temptation? It was Satan, with God’s permission.
That is, when God pushed David to do the census, what was meant was that God allowed Satan to tempt David. Therefore, God’s permission for the census without His will did not prevent the Bible from attributing the matter to God.
*And Father Antonios Fikry says in his interpretation of God’s misleading of the false prophet
here that the Lord says that He misled this false prophet, meaning that God allowed these false prophets to do that because the consequences of sin are arranged by God. Therefore, it is said that God misled this prophet, meaning that God allowed this to be punished. That is, God’s permission for
the prophet to go astray made God attribute the misleading to Himself.
Therefore, the saying of permission without will is worthless as long as the misleading is attributed to God, whether by permission or will.
2- The Holy Bible attributes misleading to God, the Book of Isaiah 63:17 Why have you led us astray, O Lord, from Your ways? You have hardened our hearts from Your fear? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance. Ezekiel 14:9 And if the prophet errs and speaks a word, then I the Lord have led that prophet astray.
Why did they denounce the attribution of deception to God in the Qur’an and not denounce it in their holy book?
3- God commands seduction and giving false and misleading information. There is no difference between His deception and the misleading of the people of God to each other .
In addition to the incident of the seduction of Davidand David, which we referred to previously, there are other incidents, which are God’s seduction of Ahaband giving him misleading and false information, and God sendingdeceptionto the people so that they would believe the lies of 1 Kings 22 (20) Then the Lord said: Who will deceive Ahab? And he shall go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And this said thus, and that said thus . (21) Then the spirit went out, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will entice him. And the LORD said to him, With what? (22) And he said , I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets . And he said, You will entice him, and you will prevail; go out, and do thus . Tadros Yaqoub’s interpretation says : “ God has the power to establish kingdoms and to remove them. He gives the spirit of truth and wisdom, and also allows the spirit of deception to work in the sons of disobedience . God in His love offers the spirit of truth to those who seek Him, but those who insist on resistance, He allows the enemy of goodness to seduce them as long as they have surrendered their lives and hearts into His hands .”
2 Thessalonians (2:11 ) “ And for this reason God will send them a powerful delusion, so that they will believe the lie. ” Antonius Fikry’s interpretation says : “
Why does God allow Satan to be released from his captivity and for this sinner to appear? For one reason, people will reject God, seeking evil and sin, and the Holy Spirit says through the mouth of the Prophet David in the Psalm, “The Lord will give you according to your heart and fulfill your counsel” (Psalm 20:24), and people now want evil, so God will give them according to their heart, and God will send them the work of delusion so that they believe the liar = and God will expose their evil depths and fill their cup = so that this sinner will be condemned, he will destroy those who destroyed themselves by their pleasure in sin and their rejection of the truth )
and the interpretation of Nashed Hanna says ( God has given you the opportunity to believe the truth now, and if you reject it, he will hand you over to the judiciary to believe the lie of the man of sin and you will perish forever)
and some may say that this is a punishment for their choice, so we say to them, why did you accept that God commands the Spirit to give false information to Ahab and sends delusion to the people so that they believe the lies as a punishment, and you did not accept that God in Islam leaves the delusional to Satan, so he increases his delusion as a punishment for him ??? 4-God punishes by misguidance those who choose to commit sins Ezekiel 20 (24) Because they did not do My judgments, but rejected My statutes, and defiled My Sabbaths, and their eyes were after the idols of their fathers. (25) I also gave them statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live. (26) And I defiled them with their gifts, when they made everyone who opened the womb to pass through the fire, that I might destroy them, until They shall know that I am the Lord.Anthony Fikry’s interpretation says(This is equivalent to God giving them over to a depraved mind and God giving them over to the desires of their hearts, for God does not allow sin, but rather He makes sin the punishment of the sinner, for sin has its own punishment)Isaiah 14:19The Lord has mixed in the midst of them a perverse spirit, and they have caused Egypt to err in all her work, as a drunkard staggers in his vomit.Anthony Fikry’s interpretation says(God has the right to withdraw mental strength and wisdom from a person who does not deserve it when He wants)4:20To give you according to your heart, and to fulfill all your counselAnthony Fikry’s interpretation says(Everyone who walks according to the will of God, God will give him the desire of his heart, but to those with an evil heart, God will also give according to their heart)Deuteronomy 4:29But the Lord has not given you a heart to understand, eyes to see, and ears to hear, until this day.Tadros Yaqoub’s interpretation says: “God wants to give a heart of understanding, but He does not give it to those who resist. God gave man a heart that carries inner insight and spiritual ears, but when he refuses to obey God, he becomes like someone who was not given a heart of understanding, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.”Isaiah 10:6
The heart of this people has been made hard, their ears have been made heavy, and their eyes have been blinded, lest they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and return and be healed. Tadros Yacoub’s interpretation says : ( God blinded them and made them hard, just by leaving them and withdrawing His help from them .) Romans 1:24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves . Tadros Yacoub’s interpretation says : ( They left Him of their own free will, and since He values and honors human freedom, He gave them the desires of their heart, and He left them, so that they practiced the evil desires of their hearts. ) Romans 11:8 As it is written, God gave them the spirit of slumber, and eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this day . Anthony Fikry’s interpretation says ( And because of their stubbornness, God withheld His grace from them, since they did not deserve it, since they did not want it, so they became more blind and deaf as if they were in a deep sleep )
2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ should not shine on them. Tadros Yaqoub’s interpretation says ( Some believe that he means here God Himself, who, by withholding His grace from them because of their insistence on disobedience, deprives them of the light. So all of Saints Irenaeus, John Chrysostom, Augustine, Theophiolect, the scholar Tertullian, Father Theodoret, and others believe that the text means: “God has blinded the minds of the unbelievers who are of this age.” ".) And even those who say that the god of the world means Satan, we ask them the same questions that they throw as a doubt about Islam, so we say to them, why did God allow Satan to blind the minds of unbelievers so that the light of the Gospel would not shine for them?? And why did He not prevent Satan from blinding them so that they might return and believe?? And who gave Satan this ability and this power so that he could blind minds?? Is his authority innate or did God give him this authority and this power?? And if God gave him that, why did He give it to him?? Does God want to mislead people?? And of course the logical answer to them is that God allowed that or that He did it because they wanted that, and it is the same that the Qur’an came with. 5- The Holy Bible declares that God guides whom He wills and misleads whom He wills , so the letter of Romans 9:16 says, “So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy .” 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show my power in you, and that my name may be declared in all the earth .” 18 So then, he has mercy on whom he wills, and he hardens whom he wills .
Of course, the meaning is clear: “He has mercy on whom He wills” means guidance, and “He hardens whom He wills” means misguidance, because He is talking about Pharaoh’s misguidance, just as hardness of the heart is a type of misguidance, as we said. However, the translators’ manipulation of words is what prevented them from translating it as “He guides whom He wills and misguides whom He wills,” even though this is the intended meaning. Here is Tadros Yaqoub’s interpretation, as he tries to get out of the predicament of these texts, saying : “ God chose Moses over Pharaoh, and as the apostle said: ‘So He has mercy on whom He wills, and He hardens whom He wills . ’” We should not ask: Why did He have mercy on Moses and harden Pharaoh’s heart
? Because God’s wisdom is greater than our wisdom. God, who supported Moses with mercy, did not prevent Pharaoh from what his evil heart harbored, so Moses completes the cup of His glory and Pharaoh completes the cup of his wickedness, and God is glorified by this and that. The apostle Paul quoted from the Old Testament the example of the potter to confirm that man in his relationship with God is like clay in the hand of the potter, and like the form in the hands of its molder, he has no… “I object to God’s actions and wisdom, for it is the right of the potter to make from one lump a vessel for honor and another for dishonor, and he is glorified in both vessels .” William Barclay’s comment in his explanation of the previous verses is sufficient for us, saying: “ Paul said that the process of selection existed throughout the history of Israel, not on the basis of the individual’s merit or work, but on the will of God alone. Here the opponent asks, is this justice? Paul replies that God does what He wants, but we are faced with a shining truth that God does not build His relationship with people on the basis of justice, but man throws himself completely on the will of God and on His mercy .”
Conclusion : Christians reject everything that came in the Qur’an, and although the texts of their book declare that it is God who hardens, insolently, misleads, blinds, and tempts, and if the Qur’an had said that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh in order to be glorified by his punishment, the world would have been up in arms. But when it comes in the Holy Book, the matter would be simple. If they said that these texts mean that Satan is the one who does that and God only permitted it, then this statement matches the statements of Islamic scholars, but they replaced the term “predestined will” or “destiny” with “permission.” All of this is so that Christians can use the texts of the Holy Qur’an as an excuse for their rejection of Islam, which say that God misleads, turning away from other verses that explain who God misleads and how, although the interpreters of their book say that we must understand each verse in the spirit of the book as a whole and not from the perspective of the verse separately from what the book says in general, despite that, we find them using double standards and dealing with the Qur’an in a piecemeal manner. It would have been possible for us to say that God wills and does not want, or that will means permission without will, like their innovating statement, or we can say that God misleads. It means that God allows as they interpret their book, but why do we say that when God wants to misguide those who deserve misguidance and choose it by His will without God forcing them to do so , and therefore God created misguidance and Satan , but we say to them, if God allows even though He does not want to, then what is the evidence from the Holy Book that God allows even though He does not want to? Why did God create Satan knowing that he would misguide people? Why did He give him the authority to misguide people, or is Satan’s authority from himself? Why did the Holy Book attribute misguidance, hardening of the heart, and hardening of it to God? Why did their saints say that God blinds minds, and their interpreters say that God punishes the misguided with misguidance? Why did God create misguidance and disobedience when He knows that there are those who will fall into them and He did not hide them from them? All these questions will ultimately lead to one answer, which is that God wanted this in order to mislead those who deserve misguidance and choose it, and this is what the Qur’an says,
and for this reason God created the universe, but unfortunately Christians, as their book says about them in Jeremiah 21:5, have eyes but do not see, and have ears but do not hear, and as it says in Ecclesiastes 18:3, “God is testing them to show them that they are like beasts.” If they understood the matter, they would find that what the Qur’an came with is the same as what their book came with and what their saints and interpreters said, and that misleading those who deserve it is not a defect , but as the Holy Qur’an says, “ And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, and they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. They are like livestock, nay, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless.” (Al-A’raf 179 )
References to the topic:
1- Website Islam Web
2- Islam Question and Answer Website
3- Al-Nabulsi Encyclopedia of Islamic Sciences
4- Interpretations of Al-Qurtubi, Al-Baghawi, Ibn Kathir, Al-Shanqeeti and Al-Shaarawy, may God have mercy on them.
5- Letters of Ibn Uthaymeen on Fate and Destiny.
6- Islamic Monotheism website
. 7- The Comprehensive Islamic Library website.
8- Various Islamic researches in response to the suspicion that He misguides whom He wills.
9- The Anba Takla Orthodox website.
10- Interpretations of the Holy Bible.
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