and produceth evil, we can only reply that He may
have wise ends in view which we cannot comprehend."

Another confession of faith has:--

"Whoever shall say, that God is not delighted with virtue and faith,
and is not wroth with vice and infidelity, or that God has decreed good
and evil with equal complacency is an infidel."

There are three well-defined schools of thought on the subject:--

First.--The Jabrians, so called from the word "_jabr_" compulsion, deny all
free agency in man and say that man is necessarily constrained by the force
of God's eternal and immutable decree to act as he does.[168] They hold
that as {174} God is the absolute Lord, He can, if He so wills, admit all
men into Paradise, or cast all into hell. This sect is one of the branches
of the Ash'arians with whom on most points they agree.

Secondly.--The Qadrians, who deny _Al-Qadr_, or God's absolute decree, say
that evil and injustice ought not to be attributed to God but to man, who
is altogether a free agent. God has given him the power to do or not to do
an act. This sect is generally considered to be a branch of the Mutazilite
body, though in reality it existed before Wasil quitted the school of his
master Hasan (Ante. p. 125). As Wasil, however, followed the opinions of
Mabad-al-Johni, the leading Kadrian divine, the Mutazilites and Qadrians
are practically one and the same.

Thirdly.--The Ash'arians, of whom I have already given some account,
maintain that God has one eternal will which is applied to whatsoever He
willeth, both of His own actions and those of men; that He willeth that
which He knoweth and what is written on the _preserved table_; that He
willeth both good and evil. So far they agree with the Jabrians; but then
they seem to allow some power to man, a tenet I have already explained when
describing their idea of "Kasb" (Ante. p. 130). The orthodox, or Sunni
belief is theoretically Ash'arian, but practically the Sunnis are confirmed
Jabrians. The Mutazilite doctrines are looked upon as quite heretical.

No subject has been more warmly discussed in Islam than that of
predestination. The following abstract of some lengthy discussions will
present the points of difference.

The Ash'arians, who in this matter represent in the main orthodox views,
formulate their objections to the Mutazilite system thus:--

(i). If man is the causer of an action by the force of his own will, then
he should also have the pow