The Fallacy Of Predestination

Imam Ali (AS), exposing the fallacy of predestination, said, ‘If it were like this, the concepts of reward, punishment, command, and prohibition would be erroneous. The meaning of promise [of Paradise] and threat [of the Hellfire] would be futile, and there would be no blame for a wrongdoer, nor praise for the good-doer. Furthermore, the good-doer would be more blameworthy than the wrongdoer, and the latter would deserve more praise than the former. This [i.e. predestination] is the claim of the idolators and the foes of the Merciful.

Imam al-Kazim (AS) said, ‘Sins cannot be other than one of three cases: either they originate from Allah - which they do not - and in this case it would not be proper for the Lord to punish His servant for what he has not committed; or that they originate from Him and the servant together - which they do not - and in this case it would not be proper for the strong partner to wrong the weak partner; or that they originate from the servant - which they do - and in this case, if Allah forgives, it is due to His kindness and liberality, or if He punishes, it is as a result of the sin and crime of the servant.