Nothing occurs except what He (Allaah) wills – Shaykh al-Fawzaan | Dawud Burbank [Audio|En]

Aqeedah Tahaawiyyah : Point # 8:  

[8] ولا يكون إلا ما يريد‏.

[8]  And nothing occurs except what He (Allaah) wills.

—

The Explanation – Point [8]

This contains an affirmation of al-Qadr (القدر – pre-decree) and an affirmation of al-Iraadah (الإرادة – Allaah’s Will).  So nothing exists within His kingdom and nothing occurs within His creation whether events or things except that Allaah willed it to occur, He the Perfect and Most High – willing it with His Iraadah al-Kawniyyah (Universal Will):

And His Affair, when He wills something, is just that He says to it, “Be!” and it is!
(Soorah YaaSeen (36), aayah 82)

So, every good and every evil occurs by Allaah’s Universal Will; so nothing escapes from His Will.  And this contains a refutation of the Qadariyyah – those who deny al-Qadr (pre-decree) and who claim that the person himself, he is the one who creates his own actions and produces his own actions; and Highly Exalted is Allaah above that which they say.  Because this (saying of theirs) is a declaration of Allaah’s being unable and (it is a statement) that there are things in His creation which He the Perfect and Most High does not Will.  So this is to describe Him with deficiency because everything which occurs within the creation – whether good or evil, then it occurs by His Will.  Rather, He creates good for a wise purpose and He creates that which is evil for a wise purpose.  So from the aspect of its creation, then it is not an evil because it is created for a tremendous wisdom and a tremendous goal which is to test and to try, and to distinguish that which is foul from that which is good, and in order to reward the people upon their righteous deeds and to recompense the people for their evil deeds.  And He was Wise in that, He, the Perfect and Most High; He did not create anything without purpose.

End of explanation of point [8][1]

Footnotes:

[1] Translator’s side point: Ibn Abil-`Izz rahimahullaah, in his famous explanation of At–Tahaawiyyah, says: “And nothing exists except what He (Allaah) wills.” This contains a refutation of the saying of the Qadariyyah and the Mu`tazilah because they say, “Allaah willed eemaan (true faith) from all of the people but the unbeliever is the one who willed unbelief for himself.” And this saying of theirs is corrupt and is rejected since it contrary to the Book and the Sunnah and to correct intellect and it is the well-known matter of al-Qadr (pre-decree) and something in explanation of that will follow inshaa Allaahu ta`aalaa.

And they (these people who deny pre-decree) are called the Qadariyyah because they denied pre-decree; and likewise the Jabariyyah (who say that the people have no free will and are forced to do whatever they do) are also called the people of pre-decree (Qadariyyah).  This name (al-Qadariyyah) is mostly used for the first group (those who deny the pre-decree).

As for the people of the Sunnah, then they say that even though Allaah willed that sins would occur, however, He does not love them and He is not pleased with them and He did not command them.  Rather, He hates them and is angry with them and He forbade them.  This is the saying of all of the Salaf – those who say, “Whatever Allaah willed occurs and whatever He did not will, does not occur.”

[…]

And the verifiers from the people of the Sunnah say, “‘Will’ in the Book of Allaah is of two types: Allaah’s Will referring to His pre-decree (His Universal Will – الإرادة الكونية) and His Legislational Will (الإرادة الشرعية) which comprises His Love and His Pleasure.

Posted with kind permission from Dawud Burbank rahimahullaah

Listen to the Full Audio Series of Aqeedah Tahaawiyyah:
Explanation of Aqeedah at-Tahaawiyyah – Dawud Burbank [Audio|En]