Praise be to Allah Lord of the Worlds, Creator of the Creation, The Eternal, prayer and peace be upon His final Messenger and all other Prophets and Messengers.
May Allah Assist me closely to continue on this topic:
First let us see what Allah Accepts, Wills for His devotees
“If you disbelieve, then verily, Allah is not in need of you, He likes not disbelief for His slaves. And if you are grateful (by being believers), He is pleased therewith for you. No bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another. Then to your Lord is your return, so He will inform you what you used to do. Verily, He is the All-Knower of that which is in (men's) breasts.” (Quran 39:7)
“And when they commit a Faahisha (evil deed, going round the Ka'bah in naked state, every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse, etc.), they say: "We found our fathers doing it, and Allah has commanded us of it." Say: "Nay, Allah never commands of Faahisha. Do you say of Allah what you know not? (Quran 7: 28)
(Note: The Ayah refers to a certain evil deed that was the reason for its revelation, however, because Quran is applicable on a universal level, the same concept applies on any other evil deed that people might give an excuse of: well this is how we learnt from our parents).
Alright, now let us take an in depth look into the above two noble Ayahs and see how far a human being is responsible about his/her deeds.
The first Ayah clearly states that Allah Does not Accept/desires/wishes/expects (I d use all the previously mentioned words rather than likes). But rather Allah Wishes/ Desires / expects us to be grateful, how? By believing in Allah’s Existence and Oneness, by following the correct path, by obeying, by avoiding sins and all what Displeases Allah. Thus, can we now say, or attribute our bad deeds and actions to Allah’s Will?? Look at the second Ayah, when people make excuses that what they are doing is Allah’s Command. By the way, Ayahs of Quran might be revealed to establish a certain situation, however, we must note that they are applicable on similar situations. Like if you go and tell someone why are you drinking alcohol, not dressed up the way Allah Commands, not believing in Allah?? In many cases, you will hear, O this is what Allah Recorded for me… No, and yes. It is recorded yes, even before the person takes the action, because Allah Is the All Knowing. But not because Allah Wants this for you..Allah Sobhanhu wa Ta`la Wants us all to believe and go to Jannah.
Allah also granted mankind the advantage of reasoning. We all know what is right and what is wrong. How? Through using our mind, our reasoning capabilities granted by Allah. The reasoning capability that makes one chooses between the two paths made available.
Because Allah Is Free of all Wants, Allah Does not need to force us to obey, or maintain the correct path. Otherwise, what is the point of Creating this whole world, and receiving info about the Day After. What is the point of sending a Prophet after the other a Messenger after the other. What is point of teaching us what is wrong and what right? Simply because after been taught and equipped with reasoning, a manual, and a teacher (Prophets and messengers), we are to decide what to do and where to go and which path to pursue.
Each one of us when confronted with a test, trial, tribulation always has two options. For instance, one who looses wealth, he/she might resort to Allah, checks back his/her deeds, tries to make up, and work to get closer to Allah. Or plots a theft, a fraud, drowns oneself into alcohol, clubs, illegitimate sexual relations as a remedy to entertain or get out of mood. Does Allah Force one to do the latter, Hasha leleh, May Allah Be Glorified and Exalted.
Do we have free will? Yes we do
“Truly, We did offer the trust and moral responsibility (which Allah has ordained) to the heavens and the earth, and the mountains, but they declined to bear it and were afraid of it (i.e. afraid of Allah's Torment). <b>But man bore it. </b> Verily, he was unjust (to himself) and ignorant (of its results).” (Quran 33:72)
Not only we do have free will, but Allah Offered it and mankind accepted it.
“And no person can ever die except by Allah's Leave and at an appointed term. <b>And whoever desires a reward in (this) world</b>, We shall give him of it
; <b>and whoever desires a reward in the Hereafter</b>, We shall give him thereof.
And We shall reward the grateful.” (3:145)
It is very clear, we decide, want, initiate and execute the decision turning it into behaviour, approach and attitude. Thus Allah Helps and makes way to the direction one chose.
Why would Allah Send a Messenger after the other to teach mankind about monotheism? Why would Allah Create devil and put us to test? This would be certainly totally illogical. What is the point of Allah Teaching us about what is right and what is wrong? Because we have a free will to choose between them.
Allah Say in Quran:
“And say: "The truth is from your Lord." Then whosoever wills, let him believe, and whosoever wills, let him disbelieve" (Quran 18:29)
And Allah Say:
“And shown him the two ways (good and evil)?”
(Quran 90:10)
Why would Allah Say in Quran that Allah Showed us the two ways, showing means explaining, teaching, thru Messengers and Prophets as well as divine books.
Allah Granted mankind the advantage of reasoning which is a distinction from other creations. We are made superior because of reasoning, the ability to think and decide. Will be it given to us to be left idle? Is this logical?
But rather the ability to think and reason is given to us to ponder, decide, think of how to get closer to Allah, how to stay far from sins, how to handle situations in light of Quran and Sunnah, how to realize Allah’s Existence and admit Allah’s Oneness. If Allah Gave us the ability to reason and decide, then disabled it by not allowing us to choose, then this is contradictory Astaghfeurllah.
The whole idea is to allow us to choose, to see the good and evil and make decisions. What the purpose of sitting in a test, if the answers are determined (knowing is different).
What makes a person for example live a loose life, then thinks, reasons, sees the truth, repents to Allah, returns to Allah and start a new? First, it is the person’s free will that allowed him /her at the beginning to adopt the path as he/she desired, then also his /her ability to reason and think that provided an opportunity to see more in depth and repents. In both cases, Allah Did facilitate the desired path through Allah’s Attribute the Capable. But Allah Does not Will for mankind to go astray. It is the self desires and whispers of Shaytan.
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BTW we are explaining how mankind has free will.