In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

Jabriyyah

The Jabriyyah are the sect that went to the opposite extreme of the Qadariyyah in the matter of Qadar, the divine decree.

This page is drawn from Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan’s A Glimpse at the Deviated Sects, its chapter on the Qadariyyah, where the Jabriyyah stand as the opposite extreme, and from Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen’s Commentary on Al-‘Aqidah Al-Wasitiyyah, Vol. 2, its section on the levels of belief in al-Qadar.

The Opposite Extreme

The Qadariyyah denied the decree and claimed that the slave creates his own actions independently of Allah. The Jabriyyah went to the other extreme in affirming the decree, until they deprived the slave of any choice whatsoever. They say that the slave is forced into his actions and has no choice in them at all.

Because of this claim of compulsion (jabr), they became known as the Jabriyyah.

Compelled, Like a Feather in the Wind

Shaykh al-Fawzan gives their doctrine in the book’s own words:

“And their opposites are the Jabariyyah, who say that the slave is forced into doing his actions and has no choice whatsoever, rather he is like a feather blowing around in the wind without any choice. So they became known as the Jabariyyah and they went to extremes in affirming Qadar as they deprived the slave of any choice.”

So the name and the image stand together in the book: the slave forced into his actions, with no choice at all, and the group known by that compulsion.

The Slave Truly Acts, and Allah Created His Actions

Against that claim, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah states the belief of Ahlus Sunnah in one sentence:

“The slaves are the real actors, and Allah is the Creator of their actions.”

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen explains that two groups oppose this statement, the second of them the Jabriyyah:

“The first group: The Qadariyyah among the Mu’tazilah and others. They say: ‘The slaves are the real performers of their actions, and Allah never created their actions.’ The second group: The Jabriyyah among the Jahmiyyah and others. They say: ‘Allah is indeed the Creator of their actions, and they are not real performers of their actions. The actions are only attributed to them metaphorically, and the real doer of the action is Allah.’”

“This statement lead to saying the belief of Wahdat Al-Wujud, then it will lead to saying the falsest of falsehoods; because among the slaves there is the fornicator, the thief, the drunkard and the oppressor; and it would be an abomination to attribute these actions to Allah! And there are other falsehoods that it would lead to. With this, it becomes clear that the statement of the author: ‘The slaves are the real actors, and Allah is the Creator of their actions’ is a refutation of the Jabriyyah and the Qadariyyah.”

The actions are also the slave’s own in description: faith, disbelief, righteousness, wickedness, Salah and fasting are all descriptions of the slave and not other than him, for he is the believer, he is the disbeliever, he is the righteous, he is the wicked, he is the person who performs Salah, and he is the fasting person, and it is not possible that he be described with actions that are not his in reality. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen concludes the point:

“This sentence includes a refutation of the Jabriyyah.”

The author also affirms the slave’s ability and will (Iradah), and names Allah as the Creator of both:

“The slaves have the ability to perform their deeds; they also have Iradah. And Allah is their Creator, and the Creator of their ability and their Iradah.”

“‘The slaves have the ability to perform their deeds; they also have Iradah,’ as opposed to the Jabriyyah, who say that they (the slaves) do not have ability nor Iradah; they are rather coerced to perform their actions.”

“He also indicates by it, that the action of the slave is by choice not by coercion, because it is issued from ability and Iradah. If there was no ability or Iradah, action would not have resulted from him, and if there was no Iradah, the action would not have resulted from him, and if the action was coerced, then it was not conditioned by ability and Iradah.”

Then the author gave proof for that, in the words of Allah:

“To whomsoever among you who wills to walk straight. And you will not, unless (it be) that Allah wills, the Lord of the ’Alamin.”

(At-Takwir 81:28-29)

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen draws the two refutations from the verse:

“Therefore, His statement: ‘To whomsoever among you who wills to walk straight’ is a refutation against the Jabriyyah. And in His statement: ‘And you will not, unless (it be) that Allah wills, the Lord of the ’Alamin’ is a refutation against the Qadariyyah.”

What Their Way Removes

This way removes the meaning of the commands and prohibitions, of reward and punishment, and of praise and blame. If the slave truly had no choice, there would be no sense in Allah commanding him, forbidding him, rewarding his obedience, or punishing his disobedience. The truth that Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jama’ah hold is between these two extremes: Allah decreed all things and created all things, and the slave has a real choice and a real will, by which he acts, so he is rewarded for his obedience and punished for his sins. Neither is the slave an independent creator of his actions apart from Allah’s decree, as the Qadariyyah said, nor is he a feather with no choice at all, as the Jabriyyah said.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah names this exaggeration, and Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen names the group and the consequence:

“A group of people among Ahlil-Ithbat (the People of Affirmation) exaggerated in that, until they denied the slave’s ability and choice, removing the wisdom and benefits from Allah’s actions and His judgments.”

“And these people are the Jabriyyah; since it is they that denied the slave ability and choice, and they say that he is coerced to do his actions; because it has been written for him.”

“And what is known, is that the one who is coerced does not deserve praise for what he does that is praiseworthy, nor censure for what he does that is blameworthy, because he did it without having a choice.”

The Middle Way of Ahlus Sunnah

These two sects show how deviation in one matter comes in two directions: an extreme of denial and an extreme of excess, and the people of the Sunnah are in the middle upon the truth, clinging to what came from Allah and His Messenger ﷺ without adding or taking away.

Key Lessons

The Jabriyyah affirmed the decree so far that they took away the slave’s choice altogether, and with it the meaning of command and prohibition, reward and punishment, praise and blame. The slave truly acts: he has ability and a will of his own, he acts by choice and not by compulsion, and Allah is the Creator of him, of his ability and will, and of his actions. Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jama’ah hold both together, between the denial of the Qadariyyah and the excess of the Jabriyyah.

References

A Glimpse at the Deviated Sects, Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, Salafi Publications, translated by Abu Naasir Abid bin Basheer: chapter “The Qadariyyah” (printed folio 11).
Commentary on Al-‘Aqidah Al-Wasitiyyah, Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen, Dar-us-Salam, Vol. 2: the section “Concerning the Levels of Belief in Al-Qadar” (printed pp. 315-316, 318-319, 321).

The books cited print “Allaah” and “Allāh”; inside quotations on this page the name is spelled Allah, by the site’s rule.

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