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Back You are here: Home Library God The Justice of God A. THE DIFFERENCES

A. THE DIFFERENCES

Chapter 2 

Compulsion or Freedom

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 A. THE DIFFERENCES

Now comes the most vital difference amongst the Muslim sects; and that is the question of com­pulsion or freedom of man in his actions.

 There are four groups:

1. The Mu'tazilah say that man is completely free to do whatever he wished, and that God has no power over his actions at all. This view is known as tafwiz‑delegation of power by God to man. This group is also known as Qadariyyah.

 2. The Mujabbirah (also known as Jabriyyah) say that "man has no power over any of his actions. He is a tool in the hands of Allah like pen in our hand." This view is known as jabr‑compulsion.

 3. The Asha'irah say that man has no power or will of his own in his actions; but he still "earns" or "acquires" the action. The term they use to describe their belief is kasb which literally means to earn, to acquire. What they actually mean is a riddle.

4. The Shi'ah Ithna‑'Asharis says that man is neither completely independent of Allah nor compelled by Allah, but the actual position is between these two extremes. The Shiite belief is known as al‑amr bayna 'l‑amrayn. This will be explained later on.

 It will be seen that the theories of Mu'tazilah, the Mujabbirah and the Shi'ah are easily understood for what they stand. But the Asha'irah's theory of kasb is as incomprehensible as the Christians' belief of three‑in‑one god. It is clear that they have used the term kasb as a mask to hide their actual belief which is completely identical to the Mujabbirah's belief of compulsion. 'Allamah Shibli Nu'mani, a famous Sunni scholar of India, says, "Those who were bold enough, openly adopted the belief in compulsion and came to be known as Jabriyyah. Those who were hesitent to use the word jabr, used the guise of 'kasb' and 'iradah'. This guise was invented by Abu 'l ­Hasan al‑Ash'ari." [1] I therefore, will treat both the Jabriyyah and the Asha'irah as one. And as the present day Sunnis are all Asha'irah and as the topic under discussion is of vital importancE, I propose to deal with it in some detail.

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