Fatawaa

Subject : Are Good and Evil Allah`s Creation?
Fatwa Number : 3242
Date : 02-11-2016
Classified : Divinities
Fatwa Type : Search Fatawaa

Question :

Is it correct to attribute evil that befalls a person to Allah The Almighty?



The Answer :

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of The Worlds, and may His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.


Any good or evil that a person experiences happens by virtue of fate and the will of Allah The Almighty; however, it is impolite to attribute evil and harm to Allah, although He has created them. Allah The Almighty says through Prophet Ibrahim: " "And when I am ill, it is He Who cures me"{Ash-Shu`ara/80}. Prophet Ibrahim(PBUH) didn`t say: " If Allah makes me sick." Allah the Exalted also reported the story of Prophet Ayoob(PBUH): " And (remember) Job, when He cried to his Lord, "Truly distress has seized me, but Thou art the Most Merciful of those that are merciful."{Al-Anbiya/83}.


When a person commits an evil act, it doesn`t mean that Allah The Almighty forced him to do it; rather, he did it by his own choice.


Al-Imam An-Nawawi(May Allah have mercy on him) said: "All creatures as well as their good and evil deeds are the creation of Allah The Almighty."{Shareh Sahih Muslim, 6/59}.


It was stated in "Hashyat As-Sawee Ala Jawharat At-Tawheed/230}: "Allah is the creator of His servants as well as whatever good or evil they have done, willingly or unwillingly. The slave merely inclines (to one or the other) when he is acting from his own volition; therefore, the Law-giver commanded them to make repentance, refrain from evil acts, and show remorse. He has also set up reward and punishment. This is because they have earned this by their own hands." Moreover, it was stated in "{Hashyat Al-Baijoori Ala Jawharat At-Tawheed, 168}: "


Although good and evil deeds are God`s creation, only the good must be attributed to Him, out of etiquette, and the evil must be attributed to the person because it is earned by his own hands. Allah The Almighty said: Whatever of good befalleth thee (O man) it is from Allah, and whatever of ill befalleth thee it is from thyself"{An-Nissa`/79}, i.e a person has earned it, as indicated by the verse: " Whatever of misfortune striketh you, it is what your right hands have earned. And He forgiveth much"{Ash-Shura/30}. As for the verse where Allah The Almighty says: " Say (unto them): All is from Allah"{An-Nisa`/78"}, it is going back to the truth: all is from Allah. And Allah knows best.







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