Good and evil in the sense of blessing and misfortune are from God. Whenever one receives a blessing one should be thankful to God, and when one faces trouble one should bear it patiently and seek God’s forgiveness for one’s sins, for God does reward patience. However, good and evil in the sense of right and wrong action are from both God and men, and God does not do injustice to anyone.
(Ibn Taymiyyah) was asked about the belief that good is from God and evil is from Satan, that evil is in the hand of man, and that he is free to do it and not to do it as he wills… He replied:
Praise be to God. One should bear in mind two fundamental truths. The first is that God orders us to have faith and to do good deeds, that He loves right action and is pleased with them, that He honors those who do them, rewards them, protects them, is pleased with them, and loves them, and they love Him, and they from His army which shall be victorious. They are the true friends of God, the pious ones, the men of Paradise: Prophets, siddiqun (sincere lovers of truth), shuhada (witnesses, martyres) and salihun (the righteous)”‘ God prohibits all evil things – disbelief, arrogance and disobedience; He hates them and condemns them and their doers, and will punish them. They are the enemies of God and the Prophet, the friends of Satan, doomed to Hell and wretchedness. They are, however, of different levels. Some of them are disbelievers, arrogant and intransigent; others are disobedient but not infidel or arrogant.
The second truth is that God is the Lord of everything, its Creator and Owner, and there is no lord or creator other than He. What He wills happens and what He does not will does not happen. None has any power or might other than He, and no one can protect anyone against Him. All that is in the universe, be it objects, attributes, movements or events, is created by Him, brought into being by His power and according to His will. Nothing is beyond His power, and there is no one there to share with Him in these matters Man is completely dependent on Him for everything; he has to turn to Him for everything and can never dispense with Him for a single moment. None can mislead whomever He guides, and none can guide whomever He leaves astray.
Having stated these two truths, we would now say that when one is inspired to seek guidance from God or His help to obey Him, God helps him and guides him, and this leads to his happiness in this world and the next. But when God forsakes a man who does not worship Him or seek His help, or put trust in Him, he is left to himself, to his own will and power. When this happens Satan takes charge of him, turns him away from the right path and finally lands him in misery in this world and the next. All that exists is determined by Him and produced by Him. No one can avoid what He has destined, no one can cross the line which He has drawn for him in the Guarded Tablet, and no one can challenge His decisions, which are based upon best considerations. Certainly, if He had willed He could have put everyone on the right path; nevertheless, His blessings are a favor from Him, and His chastisements are an act of justice from Him.
One should believe in fore-ordainment and should not use it as an argument against God. To believe in it is to follow the right path, and to use it as an argument against God is to go astray. Faith in fore-ordainment makes man patient and thankful – patient in adversity and thankful in felicity. When one receives a blessing, one should realize that it is from God and be thankful to Him, whether it is a good deed one has done or a good thing one has achieved through one’s efforts. for it is God Who makes every good possible for man, and it is He Who rewards him for it; hence, He it is Who is to be praised for everything. On the other hand, when someone faces a trouble which is caused by another person, it is God Who has empowered that person and it is He Who has created his action, and it is He Who has written that trouble for the former. He has said, “No misfortune can happen on earth or in your souls but is recorded in a decree before We bring it into existence. That is truly easy for God. (This is) in order that you may not despair over matters that pass you by, nor exult over favors bestowed upon you” (57:22-3). Elsewhere He has said, “No kind of calamity can occur except by the leave of God. And if anyone believes in God, (God) guides his heart aright” (64:11). The person referred to in the last part of this verse is one who faces trouble, knows that it comes from God, and submits to His will quietly.
When one commits a sin, one should seek forgiveness and turn to God. Never should one make fore-ordainment an argument against God and say that he has not done it, since it was destined for him. He should admit that he is a sinner, that it is he who has done it, even though it happened as determined and destined by God and willed by Him. Nothing can happen which He does not will, produce or create; nonetheless, it is man who does the forbidden thing, performs the evil deed and wrongs himself, just as it is he who prays, fasts, performs pilgrimage, and carries on jihad. It is man who does all these deeds, makes all these movements and earns all these things. And for him is what good he does, and against him is what evil he commits.
God does not command evil and does not approve of faithlessness or misbehavior. He is the Creator of everything, and is its Lord and Ruler. What He wills happens and what He does not will does not happen. None can mislead whomever He guides and none can guide whomever He leaves astray. On the other hand, man wills good as well as evil; he has the power to choose one or the other, as well as the power to do what he chooses, and he is their doer. God is only his Creator, Lord and Controller, since there is no Creator, Lord or Controller other than He. What He wills comes into existence and what He does not will does not God has affirmed both wills: the will of the Lord and the will of man. He has also stated it clearly that the will of man is subject to the will of the Lord. “This is an admonition,” He has said; “Whosoever will, let him take a (straight) path to his Lord,” and then He added, “but you will not, except if God wills; for God is knowing and Wise” (76:29-30). Elsewhere He has said, “Verily this is no less than a message to (all) the worlds, for (the benefit of) those of you who will to go straight. But you shall not will except if God wills, the Lord of the Worlds” (81: 27-29). At a third place, He has said, “Wherever you are, death will find you, even if you are in towers built up strong and high! If some good befalls them they say: `This is from God.’ But if evil befalls them, they say, `This is from you (0 Prophet!).’ Say: All things are from God. But what has come to these people that they fail to understand a single thing! Whatever good (0 man!) happens to you is from God, but whatever evil happens to you, is from your own self’ (4:78-9)
Some people take the good and evil in this verse in the sense of right and wrong deeds, and then suggest different ideas. One says that everything is from God; another says that good is from God and evil is from man. Both are wrong; for good (hasanat) and evil (sa’iyat) here refer to good fortune and misfortune as is in the verse, “We tried them with both hasanat, prosperity, and sa’iyat, adversity, in order that they might turn (to Us)” (7:168)
Whoever says that man does not will good or evil is wrong. Similarly, whoever says that he does good or evil without God’s willing it is also wrong. The truth is that he does whatever he chooses to do, good or bad, but at the same time it comes into being by the will of God and His power. We should believe in the first as well as the second, so that we can have faith, on the one hand, in the commands and prohibitions of God and the reward and punishment thereupon, and, on the other, in the fact that everything good or evil is fore-ordained. What befalls us could not miss us, and what misses us could not befall us.
Author: Ibn Taymiyyah
Islamic Topic: Good and evil
Source: Book: [Fatawa 8: 23-2400] / Also mentioned in “Ibn Taymiyyah Expounds on Islam”