44- The ruling on attributing calamities to the attributes of Allah the Almighty
Attributing a calamity or trial to one of the attributes of Allah the Almighty means that this thing is required by that attribute of Allah the Almighty, and there is no harm in this. For example, punishing the wrongdoer is exactly in accordance with what the wisdom of Allah the Almighty requires; likewise, through qada’ and qadar (divine decree), a person is made fortunate or unfortunate. The evidence for this is the saying of the Prophet ﷺ:
« لَوْ سَبَقَ الْقَضَاءَ وَالْقَدَرَ شَيْءٌ لَسَبَقَتْهُ الْعَيْنُ »
“If anything could precede the decree, the ‘ayn (evil eye) would precede it.”
However, it is not correct to attribute these calamities and hardships to an attribute in a manner that suggests that all of this happened because of that attribute alone, and that the one described (the Divine Being) has no role in it whatsoever, because the real action belongs to Allah alone, and He is the Creator and the One who runs the system of the entire universe.
