Intelligence and Wisdom

aware of your views as you are the progeny of great Mystics. You have been taught the knowledge of Allah and you are witness on people from Allah.” Hasan ibn Ali wrote in response to this letter: “My view about this matter is that the person who does not believe that destiny of everything, good or bad, is from Allah, is depraved. One cannot obey Allah forcibly neither one can disobey Him out of compulsion. He does not allow His slaves to intervene in His kingdom either. Although He has given authority to His men but He is the Master of everything upon which He has made His men authoritative. Thus, if they intend to obey Him, He does not stop them from His obedience. Also, if they intend to commit a sin and He wills to bestow His favour, He intervenes between them and the sin. However, if He does not intervene, then He has neither compelled them to commit sin nor made disobedience forcibly incumbent upon them. He has given people the freedom to decide whether to do an act or not, hence absolved Himself from the responsibility of their deeds. Nevertheless, He facilitates in adopting the path to which He has invited them and to abandon the path which He has forbidden. And only Allah‟s power is dominant. (Kashf-ul-Mahjub)

Once in the era of Ali ibn Abi Talib, a case came in his court where two persons were confessing a single homicide. People caught one person considering him the murderer while the other presented himself as guilty. When Ali asked the first accused the reason of confession, he said, “I was arrested in such circumstances where I had no choice but to confess the murder as no one would have believed if I had refused.” Upon asking about the incident, he explained: