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Does God guide and lead astray a person for specific reasons inherent in him, based on the Almighty's saying: "Allah leads astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Indeed, Allah Almighty does what He wills and chooses, guiding whom He wills and leading astray whom He wills. However, by His wisdom and mercy, He leads astray those who deserve to be led astray, and guides those whom He knows are worthy of His guidance. Allah does not wrong people in the least; rather, it is people who wrong themselves. Ibn al-Qayyim said that the cause of sin is injustice and ignorance, which stem from the servant himself, whereas the cause of good is praise, knowledge, wisdom, and richness, which are intrinsic attributes of Allah. He knows best who deserves His grace. So, for whomever Allah intends good, He grants them success and assists them, and for whomever He intends ill, He abandons them to the impulses of their own selves.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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