Ruling 7 ~ُ : ○ A proposition/predicatation, i.e. ascription of one matter to another. ○ Examples: ○ Zaid is standing/Zaid is not standing. ○ Muhammad is the Messenger of God ﷺ. ○ God is one/God is not three. ○ Fire is hot/the fire is cool. ○ The cosmos is not eternal. ○ Rulings (ahkam pl. of hukm) are either: 1. Legal (Shar`i) i.e. established by revelation (al-Wahy) 2. Empirical (`Adi) i.e. established by scientific observation (al-Mushahada wa al-takrar) 3. Logical (Aqli) i.e. established by reason (al-Aql)

1. Questions & Answers in Islamic Theology by Shaykh Ramzy Ajem
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DIVINE WILL & COMMAND?
Shaykh Ramzy Ajem answered:
Imam al-Laqqani in his Jawhara al-Tawhid says:
[...] It has been established that the attribute of will (irada) is distinct from: the
prescriptive command (amr), knowledge (ilm) and acceptance (rida).
It is important to understand the difference between the following terms:
‫رة‬ ‫ـ‬‫ـ‬‫ـ‬‫ـ‬‫ـ‬‫ـ‬‫ـ‬‫ـ‬
‫رادة‬ٕ‫ا‬
‫و‬
‫ت‬ ‫ـ‬‫ـ‬‫ـ‬‫ـ‬‫ـ‬‫ـ‬‫ـ‬‫ـ‬ ‫ـ‬‫ـ‬‫ـ‬‫ـ‬‫ـ‬
‫ا‬ ٔ‫ا‬
‫و‬
‫وا‬
Al-Irada is the divine attribute of will which entails specifying some possibilities over others in perfect
accordance with knowledge.
Whenever God wills evil for a people, there is no turning it
back (Quran 13:11)
ۚ ُ َ ‫د‬َ َ َ َ ‫ا‬ً‫ء‬ ُ ٍ‫م‬ْ َ ِ ُ َ‫اد‬َ‫ر‬‫ا‬ ‫َا‬‫ذ‬ِٕ‫ا‬ َ‫و‬
Al-Amr is the divine prescriptive command to humans to do something or to refrain from something,
such as in:
They were commanded only to serve God, making the religion
His sincerely, men of pure faith, and to perform the prayer, and
pay the alms (Quran 98:5)
‫ا‬ ُ ِ ُ َ‫و‬ َ‫ء‬ َ َ ُ َ ‫ا‬ ُ َ َ ِ ِ ْ ُ َ ‫وا‬ُ ُ ْ َ
ِ ِٕ‫ا‬ ‫وا‬ُ
ِ ‫ا‬ َ َ‫و‬
ِ َ َ ْ ‫ا‬ ُ
ِ‫د‬ َ ِ َٰ‫ذ‬َ‫و‬ ۚ َ‫ة‬ َ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ُ ْ ُ َ‫و‬ َ‫ة‬ َ ‫ا‬
Al-`Ilm is the divine attribute of knowledge by which all things are known as they really are without
influence over them, such as in:
And when God said, 'O Jesus son of Mary, didst you say
unto men, "Take me and my mother as gods, apart from
God"?' He said, 'Glory be to You! It is not mine to say
what I have no right to. If I indeed said it, You know it. You
are knowing of what is within my self, and I know not what
is within your self; You know all things unseen (Quran
5:116)
ِ ‫و‬ُ ِ ‫ا‬ ِ‫س‬ ِ َ ْ ُ َ ‫ا‬‫ا‬ َ َ ْ َ َ ْ ‫ا‬ َ
ِ َ ُ َ‫ل‬ َ ْ‫ِذ‬ٕ‫ا‬ َ‫و‬
َ َ‫ل‬ ُ ‫ا‬ ْ‫ن‬‫ا‬ ِ ُ‫ن‬ ُ َ َ َ َ َ ْ ُ َ‫ل‬ َ ۖ ِ ِ‫ون‬ُ‫د‬ ِ ِ ْ َ
َٰ ِٕ‫ا‬ َ ‫ا‬َ‫و‬
َ َ‫و‬ ِ ْ َ ِ
َ ُ َ ْ َ ۚ ُ َ ْ ِ َ ْ َ َ ُ ُ ْ ُ ُ ُ ‫ِن‬ٕ‫ا‬ ۚ َ ِ ِ
َ ْ َ
ُ َ ْ ‫ا‬
َ
ِ
َ ِ ْ َ
ۚ
َ ِٕ‫ا‬
َ ‫ا‬
ُ‫م‬ َ
ِ
‫ب‬ ُ ُ ْ ‫ا‬
﴿
١١٦
﴾
Al-Rida is acceptance of a thing and reward for it, such as in
If you are unthankful, God is independent of you, yet He
accepts not unthankfulness in His servants. (Quran 39:7)
‫ِن‬ٕ‫ا‬ َ‫و‬ ۖ َ ْ ُ ْ ‫ا‬ ِ‫ه‬ِ‫د‬ َ
ِ ِ
ٰ َ ْ َ َ َ‫و‬ ۖ ْ ُ َ ِ َ َ ‫ِن‬ٕ َ ‫وا‬ُ ُ ْ َ ‫ِن‬ٕ‫ا‬
ۗ ْ ُ َ ُ َ ْ َ ‫وا‬ُ ُ ْ َ
The Combination of Divine Will and Command
It is conceivable that:
a) God commands the mukallaf with something and does not will it. (Such as the belief of Abu Lahb);
b) God commands the mukallaf with something and wills it. (Such as the belief of those who believed);
c) God does not command the mukallaf with something and wills it. (Such as the disbelief of Abu Lahb) and;
d) God does not command the mukallaf with something and does not will it. (Such as the disbelief of those
who believed).
Notes from the Sanusiya Course 2022 by Shaykh Ramzy Ajem