سورة النحل

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): وَ لَوْ شَاءَ اللهُ لَجَعَلَکُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَة [And if Allah had pleased, He would have made you a single nation]; that is, a single nation upon one madhhab (school), one command, and one single creed. وَلکِن یُضِلُّ مَن یَشَاءُ [But He leads astray whom He pleases]; and He punishes them for breaking the covenant. وَیَهْدِی مَن یَشَاءُ [and He guides whom He pleases]; that is, He rewards whomever He wishes. وَلَتُسْئَلُنَّ عَمَّا کُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ [And you shall certainly be questioned about what you used to do].

Imam al-Hadi (peace be upon him): [In the book al-Ihtijaj it is narrated:] Imam al-Hadi (peace be upon him), in reply to the letter of the people of Ahwaz who had asked him about jabr (predestination) and ikhtiyar (free will), said as follows: ... If the people say, 'What is the proof and evidence in this divine saying: یُضِلُّ مَنْ یَشاءُ وَ یَهْدِی مَنْ یَشاءُ [He causes to err whom He pleases and guides whom He pleases], and their like?' We say: 'The interpretation of these verses altogether rests on two meanings. The first meaning is a statement of His power, in the sense that He is able and capable of guiding and misguiding whomever He wishes; and were He, by His power, to compel them to one of these two, they would neither earn reward nor suffer punishment, in the same manner as we explained in the letter. The other meaning is that what is meant by Allah's guidance is His showing the way, as in this verse: وَ أَمَّا ثَمُودُ فَهَدَیْناهُمْ فَاسْتَحَبُّوا الْعَمی عَلَی الْهُدی [As for Thamud, We guided them, but they preferred blindness over guidance] (Fussilat/17).'

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): In refutation of the view of the people of jabr (compulsion) I say this: the people of jabr are those who suppose that actions are attributed to the servants only metaphorically, and that this attribution is not real, and that the reality of the performance of these actions is attributed to Allah, not to Allah's servants! They also interpret verses of the Qur'an in accordance with their own view, though they have not understood their meaning, such as this saying of Allah who says: وَ لَوْ شاءَ اللهُ ما أَشْرَکُوا [And had Allah willed, they would not have associated (partners with Him)]. The answer of the people of truth and reality to them is this: if this statement of yours were correct, the principle of reward and punishment would be nullified, for when you attribute your deeds to Allah — while Allah is free from these attributions of yours — how can He punish His creation for something they did not do? Whereas Allah says: لَتُسْئَلُنَّ عَمَّا کُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ [You will certainly be questioned about what you used to do]... and the like of these verses is repeated many times in the Book of Allah, which is proof of the falsity of their claim and the falsity of the attribution which they ascribe to Allah. They have attributed to Allah that Allah commands His creation to do that which they have no power to do, or forbids them from something which they cannot do.

Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him): Himyari says: I said to Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him), 'What does إِنَّ عَلَیْنا لَلْهُدی [Indeed upon Us is the guidance] mean?' He said, 'Allah guides whom He wills and misguides whom He wills.' I said, 'May Allah keep you well! A group of our companions suppose that ma'rifa (recognition) is an acquired matter [and can be taught], and that if they correct their approach, they will grasp it. [Is this belief correct?]' The Imam (peace be upon him) rejected this view and said, 'Why is it that these people who say this [and, according to themselves, have found the way to discover ma'rifa] have not acquired any good [or ma'rifa] for themselves?! There is no one who does not wish to be better than he is; so if they say we are content with our present condition, they lie. Here are Banu Hashim — their standing is their standing and their nearness to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) is this nearness, and therefore they [in view of this standing and this nearness] are more deserving to take charge of this matter. Do you suppose that you are looking after yourselves but they are not, and have no ma'rifa of it?!' Imam al-Baqir (peace be upon him) said, 'If people were able [and had the understanding, and sin did not stand in their way], they would certainly love us.'