| Al 'Imran: (8) Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate...

And know that the Almighty, just as He recounted that the firmly rooted in knowledge say, "We believe in it," He also recounted that they say:

The phrase "they say" is omitted here because it is implied by the preceding statement, similar to His saying:

In this verse, there is a difference of opinion between the position of the Sunnis and that of the Mu'tazila.

The Sunni position is apparent. This is because the heart is capable of inclining towards faith (Iman) and capable of inclining towards disbelief (Kufr). It cannot incline to either side except when a caller (da'iyah) and a will (iradah) occur, which Allah the Exalted creates.

If that caller is a call to disbelief, it is termed Khidhlan (forsaking), Izagha (deviation/causing to stray), Sadd (turning away), Khatm (sealing), Tab' (stamping), Rayn (rust/veiling), Qaswah (hardness), Waqr (deafness), Kinan (covering), and other terms mentioned in the Qur'an.

If that caller is a call to faith, it is termed Tawfiq (success/divine enablement), Rushd (right guidance), Hidayah (guidance), Tasdid (straightening), Tathbit (making firm), Ismah (infallibility), and other terms mentioned in the Qur'an.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to say: "The heart of the believer is between two fingers of the Most Merciful." These two fingers refer to the two callers (to faith and to disbelief). Just as something placed between a person's two fingers can be turned as the person turns it by means of those two fingers, so too the heart, being between the two callers, is turned as the Truth turns it by means of those two callers. Whoever is just and not obstinate, and tests himself, will find this meaning as something tangible. If one were to allow for one of these callers to occur without a creator or an agent, it would necessitate denying the Creator. The Prophet (PBUH) also used to say: "O Turner of hearts and sights, keep my heart firm upon Your religion." The meaning is what we have mentioned.

Therefore, when those firmly rooted in knowledge believed in everything revealed by Allah—the unambiguous (muhkamat) and the ambiguous (mutashabihat)—they supplicated to Him, the Exalted, asking Him not to make their hearts incline towards falsehood after He had made them incline towards the truth. This is a demonstrative argument confirmed by Qur'anic verification.

What further confirms what we have mentioned is that Allah praised these believers by stating that they do not follow the ambiguous verses, but rather believe in them generally, leaving off delving into them. Thus, it is far from them at such a time to speak of the ambiguous; they must have uttered this supplication believing it to be among the unambiguous verses. Furthermore, Allah recounted this from them in a context of praising and commending them because they said it, which indicates that this verse is one of the strongest unambiguous statements. This is a solid argument.

As for the Mu'tazila, they said: Since the proofs indicate that deviation (ziygh) cannot occur by the action of Allah, this verse must be interpreted metaphorically (ta'wil). As for their proofs, we have mentioned them in the exegesis of His saying: {Whether you warn them or do not warn them, they will not believe} (Al-Baqarah: 6).

Among what they argued specifically in this context is His saying: {So when they deviated, Allah caused their hearts to deviate} (As-Saff: 5), which explicitly states that the beginning of deviation was from them.

As for their interpretations of this verse, they are of several types:

1. The first, which al-Jubba'i said and the Judge preferred: The meaning of {Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate} is: Do not withhold from us the gentle aids (altaf) by which their hearts remain on the state of faith. This is because when Allah withholds His gentle aids from them due to their deserving it, it is permissible to say that He caused them to deviate. This is supported by His saying: {So when they deviated, Allah caused their hearts to deviate}.
2. The second, which al-Asamm said: Do not test us with a trial by which our hearts would deviate. This is like His saying: {And if We had decreed for them, "Kill yourselves or depart your homes," they would not have done it except for a few of them} (An-Nisa': 66), and His saying: {And if it were not that people would become one community, We would have made for those who disbelieve in the Most Merciful for their houses roofs of silver} (Az-Zukhruf: 33). The meaning is: Do not burden us with acts of worship for which we do not feel safe from deviation. A speaker might say: "Do not make me harm you," meaning: Do not do what would cause me to become one who harms you.
3. The third, which al-Ka'bi said: {Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate} means: Do not brand us with the name of the deviator, just as one says, "So-and-so disbelieves him" if he names him a disbeliever.
4. The fourth, which al-Jubba'i said: Meaning, do not let our hearts deviate from Your Paradise and Your reward after You have guided us. This is close to the first view, unless it is interpreted in another way: that if Allah knows someone is a believer now, but knows that if he lives until the second year he will disbelieve, then His saying {Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate} refers to Him causing him to die before he becomes a disbeliever, because keeping him alive until the second year is like causing him to deviate from the path to Paradise.
5. The fifth, which al-Asamm said: {Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate} from complete sanity into madness after You have guided us with the light of reason.
6. The sixth, which Abu Muslim said: Protect us from Satan and from the evils of our own souls so that we do not deviate.

This is the sum of what they mentioned in interpreting this verse, and all of it is weak.

1. Regarding the first view: It is weak because, according to their doctrine, whatever is possible for Allah to do as a gentle aid for them, it is obligatory upon Him, and if He neglected it, His divinity would be nullified, and He would become ignorant and needy. For something that is obligatory in this manner, what need is there to supplicate for it? Moreover, this view aligns with the position of Bishr ibn al-Mu'tamir and his followers, who do not hold that Allah must perform all gentle aids.
2. Regarding the second view: It is weak because if the intensification of a religious obligation (taklif) is known by Allah to have an effect in leading the obligated person to an ugly act, then the ugliness lies with Allah. If Allah knows it has absolutely no effect in leading the obligated person to an ugly act, then its existence is like its non-existence regarding the servant's obedience or disobedience, so there is no benefit in directing the supplication towards it.
3. Regarding the third view: The naming with deviation or disbelief follows the existence or non-existence of disbelief. Disbelief and deviation are by the choice of the servant, so there is no benefit in saying, "Do not name us with the name of deviation or disbelief."
4. Regarding the fourth view: If His knowledge that someone will disbelieve in the second year necessitates causing him to die, then His knowledge that someone will never believe and will disbelieve his entire life would necessitate that He not create him at all.
5. Regarding the fifth view (concerning the preservation of sanity): It is weak because this relates to what was mentioned before this verse: {As for those in whose hearts is deviation} (Al 'Imran: 7).
6. Regarding the sixth view (protection from Satan and the soul's evils): If protection is possible, it is obligatory, so there is no benefit in supplication. If it is not possible, its action is impossible, so there is no benefit in supplication. Thus, the collapse of these views is evident, and the truth is what we have adopted.

If it is asked: According to this position, how do we interpret His saying: {So when they deviated, Allah caused their hearts to deviate} (As-Saff: 5)?

We reply: It is not far-fetched to say that Allah causes them to deviate initially, and upon that, they deviate. Then, another deviation from Allah follows this initial deviation, and none of this contradicts [the principle of free will].

As for His saying: {after You have guided us} (Al 'Imran: 8), meaning, after You have made us guided. This also explicitly confirms that the attainment of guidance in the heart is by the creation of Allah the Exalted.

Know that purifying the heart from what is unsuitable precedes illuminating it with what is suitable. These believers first asked their Lord not to make their hearts incline towards falsehood and corrupt beliefs. Then, they sought this by asking their Lord to illuminate their hearts with the lights of knowledge, and their limbs and organs with the adornment of obedience.

He said {mercy} (rahmah) so that it encompasses all types of mercy:

1. The first: That the light of faith, monotheism (Tawhid), and knowledge be established in the heart.
2. The second: That the light of obedience, servitude, and service be established in the limbs and organs.
3. The third: That the ease of means of livelihood in this world—such as security, health, and sufficiency—be granted.
4. The fourth: That the ease of the pangs of death be granted at the time of death.
5. The fifth: That the ease of the questioning and the ease from the darkness of the grave be granted in the grave.
6. The sixth: That the ease of accountability, discourse, forgiveness of sins, and the weighing heavily of good deeds be granted on the Day of Resurrection.

His saying {from Yourself mercy} encompasses all these categories. Since it has been established by clear and overwhelming proofs that there is no Merciful except Him, and no Generous except Him, it is inevitable that He emphasized this by saying {from Yourself} (min ladunka), signaling to the intellect, the heart, and the spirit that the desired goal is only attained from Him, the Exalted. Since this requested thing is of the utmost greatness relative to the servant, He mentioned it in an indefinite form, as if saying: I ask for mercy—and what a mercy! I ask for a mercy from Yourself, one befitting You, which necessitates the utmost greatness.

Then He said: {Indeed, You are the Bestower} (Al-Wahhab). It is as if the servant is saying: My God, what I have asked of You in this supplication is great relative to me, but it is insignificant relative to the perfection of Your generosity, the height of Your bounty, and Your mercy. You are the Bestower, by whose bestowing the realities, essences, natures, and existences of things are attained. Everything besides You is from Your bounty, Your grace, and Your generosity. O Eternal in Goodness, O Ancient in Benevolence, do not disappoint the hope of this poor one, and do not reject his supplication. By Your grace, make him worthy of Your mercy, O Most Merciful of the merciful, and O Most Generous of the generous.