What is the effect of partial free will? Since Allah gives everything, what is the importance of partial free will given to man?

What is the effect of partial free will? Since Allah gives everything, what is the importance of partial free will given to man?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The partial free will is a compulsory element for man who was sent for divine testing. Otherwise, it is impossible to talk of the justice of Allah. It is contrary to Islamic belief.

In the Quran, sometimes the universal will of Allah and sometimes man’s partial free will is emphasized depending on the context. This emphasis is a reflection of the style that shows the eloquence of that statement. The universal will is implicitly present where the partial free will is mentioned and the partial free will is implicitly present where the universal will is mentioned.

For instance, Allah stated the following in order to console Hazrat Prophet (pbuh), who was very disturbed by the attitudes of the deniers, and to emphasize that guidance and aberration, the good and the bad can only take place by the creation of Allah:

Allah hath set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing And on their eyes is a veil; great is the penalty they (incur). (al-Baqara, 2/7).

That position is a position of consoling; the absolute power, majesty and will of Allah are emphasized due to the weakness and sorrow of His messenger. The reason why Allah punished them like that is not explained. The reason is the fact that they insisted on denying using their own free will. The statement, “they will not believe” at the end of the previous verse gives some clues about the reason. That is, Allah knows that they will continue not believing using their partial free will and punishes them accordingly.

Allah’s universal will is implicitly present where man’s partial free will needs to be placed to the forefront. For instance, after reminding that the Quran is a book that teaches the truth, Allah states the following in order to emphasize that His messenger has no responsibility except conveying the message:

Say "The Truth is from your Lord": let him who will, believe, and let him who will, reject (it). (al-Kahf, 18/29).

In fact, nobody can do anything unless Allah wills. The creation points of both denial and belief belong to Allah. Man wants unbelief or belief and Allah creates it. Here, the universal will of Allah is not emphasized unlike the first example because that is what eloquence necessitates.

When the slave uses his partial free will to do something, the universal will steps in and that deed is created. For instance, a person can only want to speak; the one that makes him speak is Allah. A person wants to study but the one that creates the deeds of seeing, understanding and writing for his study is Allah. Therefore, the partial free will of man is limited to wanting only. The one that creates the deeds that we want is God Almighty. Thus, it is not appropriate for man to attribute the good deeds that he committed to himself, that is, to say, “I did them.”

To sum up, man wants and Allah creates.

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