Will you explain the verse “…unless Allah wills, you cannot will.”?

“Unless Allah, the Lord of the worlds, wills, you cannot will.” (at-Takwir, 81/29.)
- Can you explain this verse?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The chapter of at-Takwir, verse 29:

“Unless Allah, the Lord of the worlds, wills, you cannot will.”

Interpretation of the Verse: In fact, it is a condition for man to will in order to be successful in reaching the truth. However, all the conditions and reasons are not enough; there is another condition for it. Therefore, the decree of benefitting from dhikr here depends upon man’s will to attain the truth but in order to prevent man from falling into delusions and wrong thoughts as if they are completely in control of their own affairs, and in order to show the important point in terms of willing, the following is stated beginning with the word “waw”, which indicates the beginning of a new sentence: “Unless Allah, the Lord of the worlds, wills, you cannot will.”

Although the addressing seems general here according to the generalization “it is a dhikr for the intelligent realms”, it is more appropriate to think that this address is especially for those who want to be on the right path due to the to the implication in the phrase “to whoever among you wills to go straight”. In that case, two meanings can be considered; one of them is understood from the phrase of the verse as nass according to the close context of the verses, and one is the meaning that is understood according to the distant context of the verses or the meaning that is visible without considering the context of the verses and is understood through signs. Besides, since the word at the beginning of the verse can be a preposition that expresses negativity in the present tense and future tense and since the willing can be dependent on a condition or not, and since the “exception” as “unless Allah wills” means “only if Allah wills...”, and possibly “only when Allah wills”, even in the text itself, there are several possible explanations, but the actual context of the verses is a reminder and advice on willing to be on the right path; and the others are secondary.

Although willing seems like willing in an absolute sense, it is a requirement in terms of context that this will is to will to be on the right path. In other words, the context shows that. From this point of view, although it is also used to make the future tense negative when there is an implication, the following meaning can come to mind since it is used to make the present tense negative: However, you do not will; you do not want to be on the right path, except in the future, if Allah wills you to be on the right path and compels you to wish it. Then, “you do not wish now” would mean “Allah’s will in the future”. However, in that case, the address is only for those who do not want to be on the right path; and the meaning of a forcing and compelling request is given to the will of Almighty Allah like “If (such) were Our Will, We could send down to them from the sky a Sign, to which they would bend their necks in humility.” (ash-Shuara, 26/4). Although Mutazila, who wanted to consider man as completely free and the creator of his deed, wanted to embrace this meaning, no advice is given to those who want to be on the right path, but those who do not are intimidated through addressing. It does not fit the context of the verse that includes the phrase “to whoever among you wills to go straight”. The appropriate address is to remind that the will of the servant is together with the will of Allah in terms of being right, either in general or directed to those who want to be on the right path. However, O people, or those who wish to be on the right path! You do not wish to be on that right path for any other reason or way, but by Allah’s will, that is, by His wish for you to wish and with His will for you to will.

Then, those who succeed in being on the right path should not attribute success to themselves, but to the grace and bounty of Allah.

Or, under no circumstances can you will by yourselves; you cannot will to be on that right path. However, if Allah wills, that is, if He wills for you to will, you will and do.

The result obtained from both of those meanings is as follows: Without the will of Allah, you will neither have willpower, desire, be on the right path, nor take advice. None of them occurs because Allah is the Lord of the realms. Nothing can happen on His property unless He wants it. Therefore, those who want to be on the right path should not attribute achievement to their own will, but to Allah’s grace and bounty. That is the benefit of this verse being dhikr according to the context.

It is seen that in these meanings, with the presumption of “for those who ask you to be on the right path”, the verse “you do not wish” means “you do not wish to be on the right path”; The verse “unless Allah wills” has been interpreted as “unless Allah wills you to wish”. Abus-Suud expressed a more subtle meaning by saying “wama tashauna ayil istiqamata mashiatan mustatbaatan laha”. That is, “You can never will with a will that requires being on the right path. Without Allah’s will, your will does not necessitate the realization of the result of being on the right path.” In fact, the servant cannot will unless Allah wills. Man might want something but he might not get it. Many people want to go straight, but they feel dizzy and fall. In that case, Allah willed him to will, but He did not want what he willed to happen because if Allah had not willed the servant to will, he would not have been able to will. If He had wanted that thing, it would have happened.

That is, the will of Allah delays the desired thing from happening, but the will of the servant does not delay the desired thing from happening unless Allah wills it. What is meant by willing to be on the right path here is its happening; therefore, the will that does not require it to happen will be out of the question and void; so, what is meant by “you cannot will” should be willing that required the desired thing to happen. In that case, the summary of such a condition is to explain that both the will of the servant and the thing he wills must be dependent on the will of Allah because it is meaningless to bestow upon those who want to be on the right path with a fruitless will that does not lead them to it. That bestowal will be beneficial only if they succeed in reaching the right path.

In that case, although the verse “unless Allah wills” seems absolute, there is a maf’ul (complement/object) that is not mentioned in the text. The implication showing that such a maf’ul exists but has not been mentioned is that the verb is transitive and the implication showing what this unmentioned maf’ul is the verse “unless Allah wills”. Therefore, there is no doubt that the meaning is “unless Allah wills you to will”. It is a requirement of the context that the aforementioned will necessitates the desired thing to happen to encompass both willing and its maf’ul; since the verb in “You cannot will” is likewise transitive, it must have a maf’ul too. This maf’ul is “to be on the right path” as it is understood from what has been mentioned before. However, since the address is to everyone, it is possible that the meaning “anything”, that is, “you cannot will anything”, is possible; besides it is also possible that it means “wama tafaluna mashiatan”, that is, “you cannot perform any will”, by replacing the transitive verb with an intransitive one.

In that case, a more implicit expansion like “your will to be on the right path is possible only by Allah’s will” should be considered, as it means to be on the right path and to approximate in order to express gratitude, and as it is in the position of a major premise. In the first type of explanation, it would be more concise and better to understand it directly as “you cannot will to be on the right path” since it will no longer be needed. That is why investigative scholars have always preferred this option.

However, in order to make the address general, there were also those who preferred in place of the intransitive verb “wama tashauna” or a major premise in the form of “you cannot will anything”. In this case, it is clearly stated that the servant cannot will anything unless Allah wills, which is the exact view of Ahl as-Sunnah. If it is made conditional as willing to be on the right path, this major premise will be understood through indication, not phrase. Although this seems to be more appropriate in terms of apparent meaning, it will mean moving away from the real thing to be said since it will need another introduction to the context of the true path as we have stated.

In addition, some people regard this absolute meaning in the form of “you cannot will” as an element of coercion and want to show that there is only Allah’s will by saying that there is absolutely no will of the servant. However, it is not true at all because in incomplete exceptions the decree is after the exception; therefore, the will of the servant is not completely ignored but it is stated that there will be no willing unless Allah wills it. It has been shown that with Allah’s will, the servant can also will and even have a will that necessitates what he wants to happen. As a matter of fact, it is clearly seen in the phrase “to whoever among you wills to go straight” that the servant wills. In this case, only forcing someone to will, called “jabr al- mutawassit” (moderate forcing), can be considered, rather than forcing someone to do something. It is true. However, since the will of the servant depends on the will of Allah, whatever the divine will is related to, the will of the servant must be in the same way. In that case, if the will of Allah manifests itself in the form of the servant’s being free in his will, the servant will be free in his will and hence the moderate forcing will also be lifted. As a matter of fact, the Maturidiyya Madhhab is based on this principle. That is what they mean when they say although the will of the servant, that is, the will power, is created, his will is a nominal order that does not need any other creation. However, to think that the servant is free in a way that his will is completely different from and contrary to the will of Allah means not to think that Allah is the Lord of the worlds. No event is thinkable except by the will of Allah. Therefore, there is neither mere forcing nor mere freedom in the deeds of the servants using their own preferences. On the contrary, there is no mere freedom for the servants though there are many obligatory deeds taking place merely by force.

“Thy Lord does create and choose as He pleases: no choice have they (in the matter).” (al-Qasas, 28/68),

“Is it not His to create and to govern? Blessed be Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds.” (al-A’raf, 7/54).

Therefore, people should seek the truth and reality by willing to be on the right path and thus benefit from this dhikr. However, those who are successful in being on the right path should attribute this success to Allah and should not forget that Almighty Allah can remove and destroy the will that He has given. One should not think as follows: Since it is left to our will with the verse “to whoever among you wills to go straight”, whatever we will is right and true”; it is always necessary to keep in mind that people are responsible for their wills.

The following is narrated from Sulayman b. Musa and Qasim b. Muhaymira in Alusi: When the verse “Liman shaa minkum an yastaqim” was revealed, Abu Jahl said, “So, the issue is left to us. If we will, we will be on the right path; if we don’t, we won’t.” Thereupon, the verse “wama tashauna” was revealed. Accordingly, this verse was sent down in the context of encouraging people to ask Allah to be on the right path by showing that there is no complete freedom, not to show that there is forcing. It indicates the necessity of scaring and willing. (See Kur’an-ı Kerim Tefsiri, Elmalılı M. Hamdi Yazır)

Questions on Islam