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What is the ruling on saying: "O Lord, You are the opponent and the arbiter," with the intention of seeking mercy, not out of disbelief or objection?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Allah Almighty is the Lord of all things. He rules as He wills, in accordance with wisdom and welfare, and bestows His favors upon His servant. Whatever calamity befalls a servant is due to his sins, as stated in His Almighty saying: "And whatever calamity befalls you, it is because of what your hands have earned, and He pardons much." Man was created to be a servant, not an adversary to Allah. The clear adversary is one who disobeys Allah, as Ibn Kathir said. The Qudsi Hadith affirms man's helplessness before Allah. Therefore, uttering the phrase "adversity with Allah" is audacity and bad manners. Whoever says it must repent and supplicate in a manner befitting the etiquette of servitude, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "O Allah, I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your wrath, and in Your forgiveness from Your punishment, and I seek refuge in You from You. I cannot enumerate Your praise; You are as You have praised Yourself."

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

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