{"id":30767,"date":"2026-08-30T11:10:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T11:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/?p=30767"},"modified":"2026-06-30T11:13:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T11:13:44","slug":"quranic-concepts-justice-and-leadership-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/quranic-concepts-justice-and-leadership-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Qur’anic concepts (justice and leadership) 4"},"content":{"rendered":"
Concepts of the Qur’an (Justice and Imamate) \u2013 Sheikh Ja’far al-Subhani \u2013 Vol. 1<\/h5>\n
#### **Chapter Four: Divine Justice and Human Agency**
\nHaving become acquainted with the manifestations of His justice in creation (*takw\u012bn*) and legislation (*tashr\u012b\u2018*), it is time to examine the remaining subjects related to Divine Justice, which revolve around human agency. Their main points are:
\n1. Divine Justice and the freedom of human will.
\n2. Divine Justice and His foreknowledge of human actions.
\n3. Divine Justice and the definitive nature of *Qad\u0101\u2019* and *Qadar* (Divine Decree and Destiny).
\n4. Divine Justice and the eternity of punishment.<\/h5>\n
Philosophers and theologians have explored these topics from various angles, and intense debate has surrounded them. Since our guide in these discussions is the Holy Qur\u2019an, we shall approach them from that perspective, leaving other dimensions to the specialized books prepared for this field.<\/h5>\n
—<\/h5>\n
#### **Divine Justice and the Freedom of Human Will**
\nThe inquiry into freedom of will\u2014whether man is a compelled agent or a free agent\u2014is one of the philosophical issues whose roots extend deep into the history of human thought. From the very beginning, people’s attention has turned toward it because it touches upon an aspect of their practical lives. Thus, the study of this issue is no longer limited to philosophers alone, but has come to include most people.<\/h5>\n
The Qur\u2019anic view is summarized in the principle that man is free in what he wills and desires. This view strikes a decisive blow against the polytheists\u2019 claim that God\u2019s will was attached to their idol worship, thereby making them compelled to commit polytheism (*shirk*). God, the Exalted, says in refutation of that claim:<\/h5>\n
\u201c*Those who associate [partners with Allah] will say, ‘If Allah had willed, we would not have associated [anything] and neither would our fathers, nor would we have forbidden anything.’ Likewise did those before them deny until they tasted Our punishment. Say, ‘Do you have any knowledge that you can bring out for us? You follow not except assumption, and you are not but falsifying.’*\u201d (6:148)<\/h5>\n
This verse clearly reflects a facet of the belief of the polytheists in the era of the Prophet\u2019s mission: they believed in compulsion (*jabr*), asserting that everything issuing from them was subject to His will\u2014a will that negates [human] choice.<\/h5>\n
In another passage, He says, clarifying that corrupt belief:<\/h5>\n
\u201c*And when they commit an immorality, they say, ‘We found our fathers doing it, and Allah has ordered it for us.’ Say, ‘Indeed, Allah does not order immorality. Do you say about Allah that which you do not know?’*\u201d (7:28)<\/h5>\n
The first part of the verse reflects the polytheists’ belief that were it not for His command and will, they would not have been polytheists. However, the second part refutes this by stating that polytheism is injustice and indecency, and God does not command such things; therefore, His will does not attach to them.<\/h5>\n
It is astonishing that this fallacious belief was not eradicated; rather, it remained lingering in the minds of several companions even after the dawn of Islam.<\/h5>\n
Al-Suy\u016b\u1e6d\u012b narrates from \u2018Abdullah ibn \u2018Umar that a man came to Abu Bakr and asked: “Do you consider adultery to be by [Divine] decree (*qadar*)?” He replied: “Yes.” The man asked: “Then God decreed it upon me and then punishes me?!” He replied: “Yes, O son of the ‘Lakhna’ (a term of disparagement). By Allah, if I had someone with me, I would have ordered him to strike your nose.” (*T\u0101r\u012bkh al-Khulaf\u0101\u2019*, p. 95).<\/h5>\n
It was not only the first Caliph who argued using [the concept of] *Qadar* to negate choice; others held this idea as well. Al-W\u0101qid\u012b narrates from Umm al-\u1e24\u0101rith al-An\u1e63\u0101riyya, while speaking about the flight of the Muslims on the day of Hunayn, she said: “\u2018Umar ibn al-Kha\u1e6d\u1e6d\u0101b passed by me in retreat, so I asked: ‘What is this?’ \u2018Umar replied: ‘It is the command of God.'” (*Magh\u0101z\u012b al-W\u0101qid\u012b*, 3:904).<\/h5>\n
We see that \u2018Umar resorts to the “command of God and His decree,” implying that the defeat was a definitive matter because God had willed and desired it, without considering the other causes that led them to that defeat.<\/h5>\n
The Umayyads adopted the issue of *Qadar* as a tool to justify their evil deeds, attributing their situation\u2014with all its various forms of corruption and depravity\u2014to *Qadar*. Abu Hil\u0101l al-\u2018Askar\u012b stated: “Mu\u2018\u0101wiyah was the first to claim that God wills all the actions of His servants.” (*al-Aw\u0101\u2019il*, 2:125).<\/h5>\n
—<\/h5>\n
### **Terminology Notes:**
\n* **\u0641\u0627\u0639\u0644 \u0645\u062c\u0628\u0648\u0631 \/ \u0641\u0627\u0639\u0644 \u0645\u062e\u062a\u0627\u0631**: *Compelled agent \/ Free agent*.
\n* **\u0627\u0644\u0642\u0636\u0627\u0621 \u0648\u0627\u0644\u0642\u062f\u0631**: *Divine Decree and Destiny* (often translated as *Qad\u0101\u2019* and *Qadar*).
\n* **\u0627\u0644\u062c\u0628\u0631**: *Compulsion* (the theological position of Determinism).
\n* **\u062a\u062e\u0631\u0635\u0648\u0646**: *Falsifying* or *conjecturing*.
\n* **\u0627\u0644\u0635\u062d\u0627\u0628\u0629**: *The Companions* (of the Prophet).<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Concepts of the Qur’an (Justice and Imamate) \u2013 Sheikh Ja’far al-Subhani \u2013 Vol. 1 #### **Chapter Four: Divine Justice and Human Agency** Having become acquainted with the manifestations of His justice in creation (*takw\u012bn*) and legislation (*tashr\u012b\u2018*), it is time to examine the remaining subjects related to Divine Justice, which revolve around human agency. Their …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":30761,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1498],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-koran-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30767"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30768,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30767\/revisions\/30768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}