(4). Will. "God is worker of that He willeth." (Súra lxxxv. 16). "But if God pleased, He would surely bring them, one and all, to the guidance." (Súra vi. 35). "God misleadeth whom He will, and whom He will He guideth—God doeth His pleasure." (Súra xiv. 4, 32).
As this attribute is closely connected with the article of the Creed which refers to Predestination, the different opinions regarding it will be stated under that head.
There has never been any difference of opinion as to the existence of these four attributes so clearly described in the Qurán: the difference is with regard to the mode of their existence and their operation. There is, first, the ancient Sifátian doctrine that the attributes are eternal and of the essence of God: secondly, the Mutazilite theory that they are not eternal; and, thirdly, the Ash'arían dogma that they are eternal, but distinct from His essence.
There is also great difference of opinion with regard to the next three attributes—hearing, sight, speech. For the existence of the two first of these the following verses are quoted, "He truly heareth and knoweth all things." (Súra xliv. 5). "No vision taketh in Him, but He taketh in all vision." (Súra vi. 103).
The use of the terms sitting, rising, &c., hands, face, eyes, and so on, gave rise as I have shown to several sub-divisions of the Sifátians. Al-Ghazzálí says: "He sits upon His throne after that manner which He has Himself described and in that sense which He Himself means, which is a sitting far remote from any notion of contact or resting upon, or local situation." This is the Ash'arían idea, but between the Ash'aríans and those who fell into the error of the
Mujassimians,[[120]] there was another school. The followers of Imám Ibn Hanbal say that such words represent the attributes existing in God. The words "God sits on His throne" mean that He has the power of sitting. Thus, they say, "We keep the literal meaning of the words, we allow no figurative interpretation. To do so is to introduce a dangerous principle of interpretation, for the negation of the apparent sense of a passage may tend to weaken the authority of revelation. At the same time we do not pretend to explain the act, for it is written: 'There is none like unto Him.' (Súra cxii.) 'Nought is there like Him.' (Súra xlii. 9.) 'Unworthy the estimate they form of God.'" (Súra xxii. 73.) To prove that God occupies a place they produce the following Tradition: "Ibn-al-Hákim wished to give liberty to a female slave Saouda and consulted the Prophet about it. Muhammad said to her, 'Where is God?' 'In heaven,' she replied. 'Set her at liberty, she is a true believer.'" Not, say the Commentators, because she believed that God occupied a place but because she took the words in their literal signification. The Shí'ahs consider it wrong to attribute to God movement, quiescence, &c, for these imply the possession of a body. They hold, too, in opposition to the orthodox that God will never be seen, for that which is seen is limited by space.
The seventh attribute—speech—has been fruitful of a very long and important controversy connected with the nature of the Qurán, for the word "Kalám" means not mere speech, but revelation and every other mode of communicating intelligence. Al-Ghazzálí says:—
"He doth speak, command, forbid, promise, and threaten by an eternal ancient word, subsisting in His essence. Neither is it like to the word of the creatures, nor doth it consist in a voice arising from the commotion of the air and the collision of bodies, nor letters which are separated by the joining together of the lips or the motion of the tongue. The Qurán, the Law, the Gospel and the Psalter are books sent down by Him to His Apostles, and the Qurán, indeed, is read with tongues written in books, and is kept in hearts; yet, as subsisting in the essence of God, it doth not become liable to separation and division whilst it is transferred into the hearts and on to paper. Thus Moses also heard the word of God without voice or letter, even as the saints behold the essence of God without substance or accident."
The orthodox believe that God is really a speaker: the Mutazilites deny this, and say that He is only called a speaker because He is the originator of words and sounds.
They also bring the following objections to bear against the doctrine of the eternity of the Qurán. (1) It is written in Arabic, it descended, is read, is heard, and is written. It was the subject of a miracle. It is divided into parts and some verses are abrogated by others. (2) Events are described in the past tense, but if the Qurán had been eternal the future tense would have been used. (3) The Qurán contains commands and prohibitions; if it is eternal who were commanded and who were admonished? (4) If it has existed from eternity it must exist to eternity, and so even in the last day, and in the next world, men will be under the obligation of performing the same religious duties as they do now, and of keeping all the outward precepts of the law. (5) If the Qurán is eternal, then there are two eternals.