The booklet Irâda-i juz’iyya was written by Muhammad Akkarmânî ‘rahmatullâhi aleyh’:
From the âyat, “You wish only what Allâhu ta’âlâ wishes!” which is in Dahr Sûra, Imâm Abul-Hasan-i Ash’arî inferred the meaning, “Unless Allâhu ta’âlâ decrees that you wish you cannot wish anything!” That is, he meant that unless Allâhu ta’âlâ wills, the slave (man) cannot use his irâda-i juz’iyya. So, according to the Ash’arî Madhhab, slaves (men) are compelled in using their irâda-i juz’iyya (partial will). For, when Allâhu ta’âlâ wishes that a person will do some action, the person has to do the action. Accordingly, the irâda-i juz’iyya exists and is a creature. Then, if Satan says to man, “O you slave! Why are you taking pains? Unless Allâhu ta’âlâ decrees an action of yours, you cannot wish the action!” man will
not be able to answer Satan. Man will not be
free in his actions. There will not be rewards for his worships or torment for his evil. The slave will wish what Allâhu ta’âlâ wishes and is merely a means for the accomplishment of the action.
Abû Mansûr-i Mâ’turîdî explained what Imâm-ı a’zam Abû Hanîfa had inferred and said, “Irâda-i juz’iyya is not a being. Something which does not exist is not something created. Irâda-i juz’iyya is a state in the slaves. It is to use one’s power in doing and not doing something. Slaves are free in using their irâda-i juz’iyya. They are not compelled. According to this Madhhab Satan can be answered: “Irâda (will) is a state in me. If I use it in goodness, Allâhu ta’âlâ creates goodness. If I spend it in evil, Allâhu ta’âlâ creates evil. If I don’t use it either way, He creates neither of them.” It is possible for Allâhu ta’âlâ to create without man’s wish, too, yet He has made man’s will a means for creating optional deeds. It is from Allah’s will, again,
that our irâda-i juz’iyya is a means. When man wishes to do something, Allâhu ta’âlâ creates it if He, too, wishes it. If man does not wish it, He does not create the action, which is optional. Then, if man uses his irâda-i-juz’iyya in worshipping, Allâhu ta’âlâ creates the worship. If he uses it for sins, He creates the sins. Then man becomes evil and will be tormented in the next world. Satan can say nothing to a person who knows that this is so.
Abû Mansûr-i Mâ-turîdî explains the meaning of the abovementioned âyat as follows: “Your optional actions do not happen with your will only. After your will, Allâhu ta’âlâ wills those actions and then creates them. As it is seen, the slaves are not independent in doing their actions.
Those who are in the way of Mu’tazila say that man creates all his actions himself. They make slaves partners with Allâhu ta’âlâ in creating actions. [In Iran, those people who name themselves Shiites believe in qadâ and qadar as the group of Mu’tazila do. So they separate from the way of Ahl as-sunna scholars. Deriving from valuable books, I have given long answers to their abominable slanders and explained the knowledge of qadâ and qadar in my Turkish books Hak Yolun Vesîkaları[1] and Eshâb-ı Kirâm. The book Mawâhib-i ladunniyya gives detailed information about Irâda-i juz’iyya in its chapter which tells about the holy war of Badr. There is a pamphlet titled Irâda-i-juz’iyya by the great savant and Walîy-yi-kâmil Mawlânâ Khâlid-i
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[1] Its English version, Documents of The Right Word, is available from Hakîkat Kitâbevi, Fâtih, Ist., Turkey.
Baghdâdî ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh’ in the book Eshâb-ı Kirâm. The pamphlet Irâda-i juz’iyya was published in the ninth letter of the book Bugyat-ul-wâjid, by Muhammad Asad, the son of Mahmûd Sâhib, who was the brother of Mawlânâ ‘rahmatullâhi alaihim’. The book was printed in Damascus in 1334 [1915 A.D.]. The annotations to the pamphlet and the names of the annotators are also reported in the book. In his book Iqdul-jawharî, Mawlânâ Khâlid-i Baghdâdî ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh’ gives detailed information about man’s option and his irada-i juz’iyya. An annotation to this book was written by Abdulhamîd Harpûtî and printed
with the title Simtul’ aqbarî in Istanbul in 1305 [1888 A.D.].
There are four factors in the realization of man’s optional actions: 1) Imagining, remembering the action; 2) Opting the action; 3) Then using the irâda-i juz’iyya, that is, beginning the action; 4) The bringing about of the action. The first and the second are created by Allâhu ta’âlâ. For imagination and desire are creatures. Something which exists needs to be created. Irâda-i juz’iyya is from the slave. The action is created by Allâhu ta’âlâ. The happening of the slave’s will also owes only to the creation of the imagination and desire first. For example, if a person imagines giving alms and its reward, desire or hatred forms in him. So he wills it or not. Desire does not mean will. Nor does hatred mean not to use one’s will.
Allah’s qadâ, His decree and His recording in Lawh-il-mahfûz are suitable with His eternal knowledge. And His knowledge is dependent upon the things He knows. That is, whenever and however everything would happen or would not happen in the future, He knew it so. He decrees and records what He knows. So there is no compulsion. If the future happenings were dependent upon His knowledge, compulsion would be necessary. If Allah’s knowledge necessitated the creation of things and their attributes and states, there would be compulsion. But it is not the case. It is the other way round. Here we end our discourse with the help of Allâhu ta’âlâ.
The author of the annotation to the book Durr-i yektâ ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh’ says, “All the actions that men do with their hearts and bodies and every event occurring in the living and in inert matter come into being with Allâhu ta’âlâ’s knowing, decreeing, and creating them in the eternal past; this case is termed qadar or taqdîr. Man opts, wills to do or not to do something; that is, he uses his power. If Allâhu ta’âlâ, too, wills it
and uses His power, that thing comes into being. The former two are called kasb (acquiring), and the latter two are called khalq (creating). If Allâhu ta’âlâ likes that thing, it is termed tâ’at. Man will be given thawâb for tâ’at in the Hereafter. If man does an act of tâ’at with the intention of earning thawâb, this act becomes qurbat. If Allâhu ta’âlâ does not like that thing, it is termed ma’siyyat. Man will be subjected to îtâb (reproach) and îqab (punishment) for it in the Hereafter. A person who commits acts of makrûh or omits acts of sunnat-i-muakkada habitually without an ’udhr (a good, valid excuse) will be reproached (in the Hereafter). If a person omits an action of fard or commits a harâm and then dies without having made tawba and then does not attain shafâ’at (intercession) or forgiveness, he will be subjected to îqab; he will be exposed to fire. A person who denies the existence of option, will and power, that is kasb, in man, becomes a renegade.