Back to search

Do only the first and last two verses of Abu al-Qasim al-Shabi's poem "The Will to Live" contain violations of creed, and what is the ruling on writing these verses in an Arabic language exam while disbelieving in them in one's heart?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The poet's saying, "If one day a people desires life, then fate must respond," contradicts creed because it compels Allah to respond to human will. Allah is not obligated to do anything except what He has obligated upon Himself, and the will of humans is subservient to His will.

There is no harm in writing this line in exam papers while inwardly rejecting its content, as the exam asks about the literary method, not about belief. Furthermore, the answer sheets do not entail spreading evil or affirming falsehood, and their ultimate fate is destruction.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy