Culled from Darulfatwa

All praise is due to Allah. We thank Allah for His graciousness and ask Him to help, guide and forgive us.

Brothers in Islam, I urge you all as I urge myself to obey Allah the Lord of the worlds, by performing the obligations and avoiding the unlawful, and to follow the path of His honourable Prophet.

Brothers in Islam, the first obligation on the accountable person (mukallaf) is to know about Allah ta^ala. Allah is the Creator of all the things and is the One Who manages all the creation. If we carefully think with our sound mind, about all the creations and ponder about their existence, we must know that they have a Creator Who created them.

Allah ta^ala said in Surat-ul-Furqan Ayah 2:

﴾ وَخَلَقَ كُلَّ شَىءٍ فَقَدَّرَهُ تَقْدِيْرًا ﴿

Which means: [Allah is the One Who created and predestined everything]. So Allah brought all the creation from the state of non-existence into the state of existence. No one creates with this meaning of creating except Allah.

When asked about Tawhid, Imam Al-Junayd, the Imam of the true Sufiyys, said, “Certainly, there is no one that creates anything among the things, whether entities or deeds, except Allah.”

Allah the Exalted Said:

﴾وَاللَّـهُ خَلَقَكُمْ وَمَا تَعْمَلُونَ)

[which means] “Allah Created you and your deeds,” and the Messenger of Allah said:

(إنَّ اللهَ صَانِعُ كُلِ صَانعٍ وصَنْعَتِه)

[which means] “Certainly Allah is the Creator of every maker and his making,” as narrated by Al-Hakim, Al-Bayhaqiyy, and Ibn Hibban from the hadith of Hudhayfah. Since the slaves do not create anything of their deeds, and instead they acquire them, Allah said:

﴾اللَّـهُ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ)

[which means] “Allah is the Creator of everything.”

Allah the Exalted Said:

(لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ)

[which means]: Every individual self will be rewarded by Allah for the good deeds it acquired and will be accountable for the sins it committed. Therefore the human being is not compelled, nor is he forced to act, because compulsion negates accountability.

So the creed of the people of truth, Ahlus-Sunnah Waljama^ah, is that the slave is a creation of Allah, and the doings of the slave are also creations of Allah. The slave does not create anything. Allah is the One who creates the doings of the slave, and the slave only acquires his acts.

Brothers in Islam, saying that Allah is the Creator of everything, including the intentions of the slave, does not mean that the slave does not have a choice. The slave has a choice; however, his choice is under the Will of Allah. His choice does not reach an extent that he creates his own actions. Rather his own choice is a creation of Allah and is under the Will of Allah.

In the end, we ask Allah to make us among those who follow the guidance of the Prophet and make our end in the state of piety. Ameen.