How Can We Have Free Will if Allah Guides Whom He Wills?

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question

I understand Quran 29:69, which says those who strive are guided, but I struggle with Quran 16:93, which says Allah guides whom He wills and misguides whom He wills. If Allah guides whom He wills, how does this work with human choice?

If someone seeks guidance, is it because they chose to seek it, or because Allah guided them to?

And if Allah guides someone because of goodness in their heart, where did that goodness come from? If Allah placed it there, does this mean He gives some people what leads them to guidance and not others? How is this fair?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

You have found the exact place where this question bites, and you have followed it honestly all the way down instead of stopping at the first comfortable answer.

This is the oldest live question in our theology, and the schools of Kalam were founded in part to answer it.

Let me take your three questions in the order you asked them.

The Two Verses Do Not Collide

Read the two verses again side by side.

The first: “And whoever strives their utmost for Our sake: Verily shall We unfailingly guide them the momentous paths to Us.” [Quran 29:69; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

And the second: “Had Allah willed, He had made you of one common faith; But instead lets stray whomever He wills, and guides whomever He wills; And you shall inevitably be asked of what you used to do.” [Quran 16:93; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

Notice that the second verse ends by holding you accountable. If the will named in its middle abolished your choice, the clause at its end would be empty. The verse itself refuses the reading you fear.

What the two verses actually state is a promise and a sovereignty, and those are not rivals. The first tells you what Allah has bound Himself to do when you strive. The second tells you whose act the guiding is.

Your Act Is Created by Allah, and It Is Still Yours

Here is the doctrine that resolves this issue, and it is the settled position of both our schools of theology

Imam Taftazani states the first half plainly: “Allah Most High is the creator of all the acts of the servants, of unbelief and faith, obedience and disobedience.” [Taftazani, Sharh al-Aqaid al-Nasafiyya]

And in the same breath he states the second half, refusing the fatalists: “They have voluntary acts for which they are rewarded if obedience, and punished if disobedience, not as the Jabriyya claimed, that the servant has no act at all, and that his movements are like the movements of inanimate objects over which he has no power, no intent, and no choice.

This is false … for if the servant had no act at all, his being held responsible would not be sound, nor would the deserving of reward and punishment follow upon his acts.” [Taftazani, Sharh al-Aqaid al-Nasafiyya]

The Maturidi imams put it in terms of ownership: the servant has the power to acquire, not to create. “Though they are owned servants, owned by a mastery of bringing into existence and creating, they are not compelled in their acts.

Rather, they have the power of acquisition, not the power of creation … and they have choice in what they do and leave, because choice and intellect have been placed within them.

So they are choosers in what they do, not the choice of lordship, but the choice of trial and burden.” [reported by Abu al-Muin al-Nasafi and Abu Hafs al-Ghaznawi, in Maturidi commentaries]

Two Powers: One, Creating–the Other, Acquiring

The technical formula is this. One and the same act falls under two powers from two different angles: under Allah’s power from the angle of creating, and under the servant’s power from the angle of acquiring [Bajuri, Tuhfat al-Murid].

That is what the tradition calls kasb (acquisition).

So take your question as you asked it: “Is it because they chose to strive or because Allah guided them to?” It has an answer: the alternative is false. You chose. He created the choice. Both, and not in competition.

What Guiding and Leading Astray Actually Mean

The next thing that unsettles people is the word “misguides,” because they hear it as “forces into unbelief.” It does not mean that.

“The meaning of our companions’ statement that He guides whom He wills, and their statement that He leads astray whom He wills, is that He creates the act of being guided in whom He wills, and likewise creates the act of straying in whom He wills.

This is the position of the people of truth regarding the guidance ascribed to Allah and the leading astray ascribed to Him.” [Turkistani, Sharh al-Aqida al-Tahawiyya]

And Imam Abu Hanifa states the point that should settle your fear directly: “He did not compel any of His creation to unbelief or to faith,” which can be clarified with a gloss Imam Bajuri in his commentary on the Jawhara: “the meaning is that Allah does not create obedience and disobedience in the servant’s heart by way of compulsion and overpowering; rather He creates them coupled with the servant’s choice and inclination.” [Abu Hanifa, al-Fiqh al-Akbar, with Bajuri, Tuhfat al-Murid]

Coupled with the servant’s choice. Not against it, not instead of it.

Where the Goodness in the Heart Came From

Now your hardest question. I want to answer it, not deflect it.

Yes. The goodness is from Allah. So is the striving. So is the capacity to strive, the moment in which you strove, and the person who said the word that turned you. Everything you have is a gift, all the way down.

There is no layer beneath the gift where you stand on your own.

But look at what follows from that, and what does not. What follows is that you owe thanks. What does not follow is injustice.

What is Injustice (dhulm)? And What is Justice (adl)?

Injustice means putting a thing where it does not belong, in a way that can be objected to by right.

Imam Bajuri defines justice exactly so: it is “placing a thing in its proper place without objection against the doer, the opposite of wrongdoing, which is placing a thing in other than its place with objection against its doer.” [Bajuri, Tuhfat al-Murid]

Objection by what right? A person can be called unjust because he has crossed a limit set over him by another. Allah has no limit set over Him by another, and everything is His to begin with.

The Quran states it as a bare fact: “Never is He asked of what He does, while rather it is they who shall be asked.” [Quran 21:23; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

That is not a door slammed on your question. It is the answer to it.

Fairness, in the sense you are reaching for, is a claim one party has on another. No one has a claim on Allah because no one gave Him anything first. What He gives is bounty, and bounty distributed unequally is not injustice.

A man who gives one beggar a hundred and another ten has wronged neither.

And on the other side, He has bound Himself: “Verily Allah wrongs not men in the slightest, but men only wrong themselves.” [Quran 10:44; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

And: “Allah does not tax any soul but what it can bear.” [Quran 2:286] No one is held to account for a capacity they were not given.

Your Duty: Your Part Is to Work

The Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked your question. Not a version of it: your question, and more sharply.

Sayyiduha Ali (Allah be pleased with him) reports that they were at a burial when the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) sat and said, “There is not one of you except that his seat in the Fire and his seat in Paradise have already been written.”

They said, “Messenger of Allah, should we not then simply rely upon what has been written for us?” He said: “Work, for each person is eased toward what he was created for.” [Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim]

That is the whole of the practical answer, and notice its shape. They put the metaphysics to him, and he gave them back a verb.

Not because the question is illegitimate, but because it is not the kind of question a person can stand on.

You cannot see the decree; you can only see the next thing to do.

So, What Should You Do?

So do this. Hold the doctrine: Allah Most High creates, you acquire responsibility, and you are answerable for what you acquire.

Then stop auditing it. The Quran puts your instruction in one clause: “And by lofty Soul, and That which perfected it in matchless nature, And instilled it its sense of evil and of godfearingness:

He has truly succeeded forever who makes it reach full purity in faith and deed! And he has truly failed forever who buries it in evil.” [Quran 91:7–10; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

You were given the sense of both. Purifying is yours to do.

And take the promise of 29:69 as addressed to you, because it is. Strive, and He guides. That verse is not a description of other people. It is a contract you are already inside.

If you want to hold this steadily rather than re-derive it every few months, learn the tenets of faith properly with a teacher, once, in order. Half of what makes this question torment people is meeting it in fragments.

And Allah knows best.

[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani

Related SeekersGuidance Answers

• How Should Predestination and Free Will Be Understood Together? – Explains how divine decree and human choice coexist, clarifying Allah’s complete knowledge and power alongside genuine human responsibility.
• Do We Have Choice? And Does Allah Prevent That Choice from Being Realized? – Examines the reality of human choice and how Allah’s decree relates to actions that a person intends but does not ultimately realize.
• How Do We Understand Allah’s Plan and Guidance of Hearts? – Explains divine guidance, inspiration, and enabling grace (tawfiq) in relation to Allah’s plan for His servants.
• Are Our Actions, Life, and Death Uncreated? Are We Responsible? – Clarifies the distinction between Allah’s creation of actions and human acquisition (kasb) and responsibility for those actions.
• Free Will and the Divine Decree: A Reader – Collects SeekersGuidance resources addressing free will, divine decree, human responsibility, and the relationship between Allah’s will and human choice.

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani is a recognized specialist scholar in the Islamic sciences, having studied under leading scholars from around the world. He is the Founder and Executive Director of SeekersGuidance.

Shaykh Faraz stands as a distinguished figure in Islamic scholarship. His journey in seeking knowledge is marked by dedication and depth. He spent ten years studying under some of the most revered scholars of our times. His initial studies took place in Damascus. He then continued in Amman, Jordan.

In Damascus, he was privileged to learn from the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas. Shaykh Adib al-Kallas was renowned as the foremost theologian of his time. Shaykh Faraz also studied under Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi in Damascus. Shaykh Hassan is recognized as one of the leading Hanafi jurists of our era.

Upon completing his studies, Shaykh Faraz returned to Canada in 2007. His return marked a new chapter in his service to the community. He founded SeekersGuidance. The organization reflects his commitment to spreading Islamic knowledge. It aims to be reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible. This mission addresses both online and on-the-ground needs.

Shaykh Faraz is also an accomplished author. His notable work includes “Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School.” This book, published by White Thread Press in 2004, is a significant contribution to Islamic literature.

His influence extends beyond his immediate community. Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been recognized as one of the 500 most influential Muslims. This recognition comes from the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center. It underscores his impact on the global Islamic discourse.

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani’s life and work embody a profound commitment to Islamic scholarship. His teachings continue to enlighten and guide seekers of knowledge worldwide.

النصوص

[التفتازاني، شرح العقائد النسفية]

«والله تعالى خالق لأفعال العباد كلها من الكفر والإيمان، والطاعة والعصيان».

«ولهم أفعال اختيارية يثابون عليها إن كانت طاعة، ويعاقبون عليها إن كانت معصية، لا كما زعمت الجبرية من أنه لا فعل للعبد أصلاً، وأن حركاته بمنزلة حركات الجمادات لا قدرة للعبد عليها ولا قصد ولا اختيار. وهذا باطل… ولأنه لو لم يكن للعبد فعل أصلاً لما صح تكليفه، ولا ترتب استحقاق الثواب والعقاب على أفعاله».

[منقول عن أبي المعين النسفي وأبي حفص الغزنوي، في شروح العقيدة الطحاوية]

«لكنهم مع كونهم عبيداً مملوكين ملك إيجاد وتخليق ليسوا في أفعالهم مجبورين، بل لهم قدرة اكتساب، لا قدرة تخليق… ولهم اختيار فيما يأتون ويذرون لما رُكِّب فيهم من الاختيار والعقل، فكانوا مختارين فيما يفعلون، لا اختيار ربوبية، بل اختيار محنة وكُلفة».

[الباجوري، تحفة المريد، في الكسب]

«الله خالقٌ للفعل، لكن للعبد في الاختياري منه كسبٌ، والمقدورُ الواحدُ يدخل تحت قدرتين بجهتين مختلفتين، فيدخل تحت قدرة الله تعالى بجهة الخلق، وتحت قدرة العبد بجهة الكسب».

[شجاع الدين التركستاني، شرح العقيدة الطحاوية]

«ثم معنى قول أصحابنا: يهدي من يشاء، ومعنى قولهم: يضل من يشاء، أي يخلق فعل الاهتداء ممن يشاء، وكذلك يخلق فعل الضلال ممن يشاء، وهذا هو قول أهل الحق في تأويل الهداية المضافة إلى الله تعالى والإضلال المضاف إليه».

[الباجوري، تحفة المريد، في معنى العدل]

«ومعنى العدلِ المحض: وضعُ الشيء في محلّه من غير اعتراض على الفاعل، ضدُّ الظلم الذي هو وضعُ الشيء في غير محلّه مع الاعتراض على فاعله».

[البخاري ومسلم]

«مَا مِنْكُمْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا وَقَدْ كُتِبَ مَقْعَدُهُ مِنَ النَّارِ وَمَقْعَدُهُ مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ». فقالوا: يا رسول الله، أفلا نتَّكل على كتابنا؟ فقال: «اعْمَلُوا؛ فَكُلٌّ مُيَسَّرٌ لِمَا خُلِقَ لَهُ».