Two Types of God's Will

This post is a theological post about the will of Allah.  Needless to say, this is a very complicated topic and perhaps beyond our ability to comprehend it. However, we have been given some hints and ideas, which I found quite interesting to keep in mind and to think about, when necessary.

There are three traditions in this post. In the first two traditions, the original word for «will» is the word الْإِرَادَةِ, whereas in the last tradition the word  الْمَشِيئَةَis used. In my opinion, it is crucial to realize that these two words have two different connotations, even though both of these words denote the will of Allah.

As I looked into what the scholars have said regarding this difference in connotation, I noticed that there are multiple possibilities. However, the simplest possibility, which in my opinion is also coherent and fits well with these three traditions is the following: الْمَشِيئَةَ applies to the general will of Allah, whereas الْإِرَادَةِ refers to the specific will of Allah regarding specific things.  In this context, the specific will of Allah follows or comes after the general will of Allah. For the specific will of Allah, specific things need to exist, things to be willed up. Without things to be willed upon, specific will would not have a purpose to exist. On the other hand, the general will of Allah, which precedes the specific will of Allah, is not linked to any thing and was created before all else.

These are some preliminary notes that I thought I should mention before the traditions. Following these traditions, I will add a few more points.

Arabic Text:

 (1مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى الْعَطَّارُ عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عِيسَى الْأَشْعَرِيِّ عَنِ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ سَعِيدٍ الْأَهْوَازِيِّ عَنِ النَّضْرِ بْنِ سُوَيْدٍ عَنْ عَاصِمِ بْنِ حُمَيْدٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ قُلْتُ لَمْ يَزَلِ اللَّهُ مُرِيداً قَالَ 
إِنَّ الْمُرِيدَ لَا يَكُونُ إِلَّا لِمُرَادٍ مَعَهُ لَمْ يَزَلِ اللَّهُ عَالِماً قَادِراً ثُمَّ أَرَادَ

 (3أَحْمَدُ بْنُ إِدْرِيسَ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْجَبَّارِ عَنْ صَفْوَانَ بْنِ يَحْيَى قَالَ قُلْتُ لِأَبِي الْحَسَنِ ع أَخْبِرْنِي عَنِ الْإِرَادَةِ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَ مِنَ الْخَلْقِ قَالَ فَقَالَ 
الْإِرَادَةُ مِنَ الْخَلْقِ الضَّمِيرُ وَ مَا يَبْدُو لَهُمْ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ مِنَ الْفِعْلِ وَ أَمَّا مِنَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى فَإِرَادَتُهُ إِحْدَاثُهُ لَا غَيْرُ ذَلِكَ لِأَنَّهُ لَا يُرَوِّي وَ لَا يَهُمُّ وَ لَا يَتَفَكَّرُ وَ هَذِهِ الصِّفَاتُ مَنْفِيَّةٌ عَنْهُ وَ هِيَ صِفَاتُ الْخَلْقِ فَإِرَادَةُ اللَّهِ الْفِعْلُ لَا غَيْرُ ذَلِكَ يَقُولُ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ بِلَا لَفْظٍ وَ لَا نُطْقٍ بِلِسَانٍ وَ لَا هِمَّةٍ وَ لَا تَفَكُّرٍ وَ لَا كَيْفَ لِذَلِكَ كَمَا أَنَّهُ لَا كَيْفَ لَهُ

 (4عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي عُمَيْرٍ عَنْ عُمَرَ بْنِ أُذَيْنَةَ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع قَالَ 
خَلَقَ اللَّهُ الْمَشِيئَةَ بِنَفْسِهَا ثُمَّ خَلَقَ الْأَشْيَاءَ بِالْمَشِيئَةِ

Farsi Translation:

 (1عاصم گويد: بامام صادق (ع) عرضكردم: خدا هميشه مريد (با اراده) است؟ فرمود: 
مريد نميباشد مگر با بودن مراد (اراده شده) با او، خدا هميشه عالم و قادر است و سپس اراده كرده است.

 (3صفوان گويد: بحضرت ابو الحسن عليه السلام عرضكردم، اراده خدا و اراده مخلوق را برايم بيان كنيد، فرمود: 
اراده مخلوق ضمير و آهنگ درونى او است و آنچه پس از آن از او سر ميزند، و اما اراده خداى تعالى همان پديد آوردن اوست نه چيز ديگر، زيرا او نينديشد و آهنگ نكند و تفكر ننمايد، اين صفات در او نيست و صفات مخلوقست، پس اراده خدا همان فعل او است نه چيز ديگر، بهر چو خواهد موجود شود گويد «باش پس ميباشد» (موجود شو بلا فاصله موجود شود) بدون لفظ و سخن بزبان و آهنگ و تفكر، و اراده خدا چگونگى ندارد چنانچه او چگونگى ندارد.

 (4امام صادق (ع) فرمود: 
خدا خود مشيت را بى‏ واسطه آفريد و همه چيز را به مشيت آفريد.

English Translation:

1) Authentic/Saheeh

Muhammad ibn Yahya al-‘Attar has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isa al-Ash‘ari from al-Husayn ibn Sa‘id al-Ahwazi from an-Nadr ibn Suwayd from ‘Asim ibn Hamiyd who has said the following. "I asked abu ‘Abdallah (peace be upon him), ‘Has Allah always been willing [or with will]?’" He (peace be upon him) replied, "There is no Will without [anything] to be is willed upon. Allah is eternally All-knowing and All-powerful. Then He wills [Eradah]."

3) Authentic/Saheeh

Ahmad ibn Idrees has narrated from Mohammed ibn Abdul-Jabbar from Safwan ibn Yahya who has said: "I said to Abi Al–Hasan: Tell me about God's will and the will of creatures. He (peace be upon him) said: "Creatures’ will is in their inside [insticts] and the action that stems from it later. Hoever, the will of Allah, the Most High, is creation/invention/something-coming-to-be, and nothing else, because He does not tell nor deliberates nor cotemplates. These characteristics do not belong to Him and [instead] belong to creatures. God’s will is His action, and nothing else. He says to anything: Be and it becomes [or comes into existence]. This occurs without any articulation or utterance of the tongue, without any effort or thinking. His will has no conditions [or «how’s»] as His Self has no conditions [or «How’s»]."

4) Good/Hasan

Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from ibn abu ‘Umayr from ‘Umar ibn ’Udhaynah from abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) who has said the following: "Allah created His Will [Mashiyat] by itself [or Himself]. Then, He created all things by His Will [Mashiyat]."

The following are some points that I noticed in the aforementioned traditions:

• Both wills of Allah, general and specific, are created by Allah.

• The general will [Mashiyat] of Allah precedes the creation of everything else.  This general will was/is required to create all things, which includes the specific will.

• According to these traditions, there seems to be a clear structure in place. In order for the specific will to exist, things to be willed upon must exist.  Similarly, in order for anything to exist, His general will needs to come into existence. This is confirmed by the usage of the term ثُمَّ or «then», which denotes steps or stages.

• With regard to the creatures, what is quite fascinating is that our Imam (as) has not made any distinctions amongst creatures when he speaks about their inside and will.  Now, I cannot understand how for example a rock could be comparable with living creatures, but at least in terms of living creatures, we can see that there are certainly some shared features.    

• The term الضَّمِيرُ could have multiple meanings. Considering that this term is shared for all creatures, we cannot think of a meaning that is specific to humans or only relevant to humans.

• In terms of humans, our actions stem from our ضَّمِير [inside or instincts or intuitions or …].  Therefore, clearly, there is a link between our inside, whatever that may be, and our actions.

• From a scientific perspective, our inside could mean our intuition, our perception of the world, our instincts, all of which are very subjective and relative, depending on our environment and circumstances.

• If our actions stem from our inside, then to commit good deeds, we need to be concerned about our inside. The question we need to ask ourselves is «how I can configure my inside in order to produce good actions on the outside?»

• Since our will includes both the inside [instinct or …] and the outside action that follows, then one without the other cannot be considered as our will.  In other words, if we commit an action without the inside motive or desire for it, then that action is not what we willed to do.  Similarly, if we have the desire or the motive to commit an action but do not actually do so, then we did not will to do so.

• In terms of God’s will, both specific and general, I cannot say anything, since according to our Imam (as), it is nothing like our will, and since that is that case we cannot even begin to make comparisons and should not make conjectures. Therefore, at this point, until I find other acceptable traditions that may shed more light on this issue, I won’t make any further comments on God’s will. 

• The view that I mentioned in this post is supported by another tradition that I had posted last year. According to that tradition, our Imam (as) states that God’s general will [الْمَشِيئَة] is the «First Rememberance» or الذِّكْرُ الْأَوَّلُ   and God’s specific will [الْإِرَادَة] is the «determination to do what He wants» or الْعَزِيمَةُ عَلَى مَا يَشَاءُ. Thus, this can be used as another evidence that God’s general will precedes God’s specific will, and that there is a clear structure in place.

These are some points that I noticed as I read and looked into this topic. I am certain that those who are much more knowledgeable than me in this topic have much more to say, or see much more than I perceived. If you would like to add any comments or any questions, please do so.

Lastly, please double-check the translations. If you feel there is room for improvement, please do let me know.

Source:

Al-Kafi, Volume 1, Page 109-110, Tradition #1, #3, #4