How Does Allah Guide or Misguide Whomever He Wills?

How Does Allah Guide or Misguide Whomever He Wills?

When we wish to examine the concept of guidance and misguidance in the Holy Qur’an, we must carefully study the verses and their contexts, for every repetition in the Qur’an carries a specific purpose and meaning. This is one of the beauties and subtleties of this divine Book.

For this reason, Sheikh al-Islam said: “There is no mere repetition of verses anywhere in the Qur’an. If a verse is repeated, there is certainly a hidden wisdom behind its repetition.”

As Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned, there are four types of guidance mentioned in the Qur’an:

1. General Guidance

This type of guidance is granted by Allah the Almighty to all creatures, enabling them to reach their respective purposes and to act in ways that secure benefits and avoid harm.

الَّذِي خَلَقَ فَسَوَّى | وَالَّذِي قَدَّرَ فَهَدَى Translation: “He Who creates, then perfects (His creation); and He Who determines, then guides.”

قَالَ رَبُّنَا الَّذِي أَعْطَى كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلْقَهُ ثُمَّ هَدَى Translation: “(Moses) said, ‘Our Lord is the One Who gave everything its form and then guided it.’”

Examples of this type of guidance include a person’s inclination toward marriage, procreation, nurturing and protecting children, and even an infant’s instinct to suckle and seek nourishment.

2. Guidance of Instruction and Direction

The responsibility of this form of guidance lies upon the prophets and the revealed scriptures. It refers to showing people the path of salvation and destruction.

وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ Translation: “And did We not show him the two ways (of good and evil)?”

This is the same type of guidance intended in the verse (Fussilat 17): وَأَمَّا ثَمُودُ فَهَدَيْنَاهُمْ فَاسْتَحَبُّوا الْعَمَى عَلَى الْهُدَى فَأَخَذَتْهُمْ صَاعِقَةُ الْعَذَابِ الْهُونِ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ

Translation: “As for the people of Thamūd, we guided them, but they preferred blindness over guidance; so a thunderbolt of humiliating punishment seized them for what they used to earn.”

The guidance referred to here is not the guidance of success (tawfīq), but rather that of direction and instruction, for if it were the guidance of success, they would not have chosen misguidance over guidance, nor would they have had the option to choose!

Allah the Almighty never deprives anyone of this type of guidance, as He says: وَمَا كُنَّا مُعَذِّبِينَ حَتَّى نَبْعَثَ رَسُولاً Translation: “We never punish (any people) until We have sent a Messenger (to them).”

3. Guidance of Success and Assistance

This is the type of guidance that often confuses atheists due to their misunderstanding of its meaning. It refers to Allah’s increasing the guidance and insight of those who already follow the truth.

وَيَزِيدُ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ اهْتَدَوْا هُدًى Translation: “Allah increases the guidance of those who have already been guided.”

إِنَّهُمْ فِتْيَةٌ آمَنُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ وَزِدْنَاهُمْ هُدًى Translation: “They were young men who believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance.”

يَهْدِي بِهِ اللّهُ مَنِ اتَّبَعَ رِضْوَانَهُ سُبُلَ السَّلاَمِ Translation: “Through this (Book), Allah guides those who seek His pleasure to the paths of peace.”

Moreover, Allah the Almighty never misguides one who chooses guidance or strives for it. He only misguides those who, after the truth has been made clear, prefer sin, disbelief, and disobedience.

وَمَا يُضِلُّ بِهِ إِلاَّ الْفَاسِقِين Translation: “He misleads none with it except the defiantly disobedient.”

كَذَلِكَ يُضِلُّ اللَّهُ مَنْ هُوَ مُسْرِفٌ مُّرْتَابٌ Translation: “Thus does Allah misguide those who are extravagant and doubtful.”

سَأَصْرِفُ عَنْ آيَاتِيَ الَّذِينَ يَتَكَبَّرُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ… Translation: “I shall turn away from My signs those who behave arrogantly on earth without right. Even if they see every sign, they will not believe in it; and if they see the path of righteousness, they will not adopt it, but if they see the path of error, they will take it as their way. That is because they have denied Our signs and were heedless of them.”

Is it fair to compare an atheist who refuses to abandon his indulgence and heedlessness, having no patience for prayer, fasting, and worship, with a sincere researcher who genuinely seeks the truth and strives to find it through proper means? Indeed, that would be injustice!

Therefore, divine guidance and misguidance are not acts of oppression against anyone; rather, guidance is a reward for those who choose and pursue it, while misguidance is the punishment for those who make deviation and rebellion their way of life, abandoning the truth for the sake of their desires.

Regarding the Verse: وَمَا تَشَاؤُونَ إِلَّا أَن يَشَاءَ اللَّهُ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ Translation: “And you cannot except that Allah, Lord of the Worlds, wills.”

This verse carries a profound meaning: the free will and ability to choose between guidance and misguidance are themselves gifts from Allah. The human being must not assume that this will is self-created; it is indeed granted by Allah. Although the servant possesses free will, this will itself exists only through Allah’s decree. When a person makes an intention with his free will, that act occurs only by Allah’s Will.

Thus, all human actions—whether choosing guidance or misguidance—are subject to the overarching Will of Allah.

4. Guidance to Paradise or Hell

The believer who chooses guidance in this world and whose guidance is increased by Allah will ultimately be led to Paradise in the Hereafter: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّالِحَاتِ يَهْدِيهِمْ رَبُّهُمْ بِإِيمَانِهِمْ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهِمُ الأَنْهَارُ فِي جَنَّاتِ النَّعِيمِ Translation: “Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds, their Lord will guide them by their faith. Rivers will flow beneath them in the Gardens of Bliss.”

However, the oppressors and wrongdoers will be guided toward Hell: احْشُرُوا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا وَأَزْوَاجَهُمْ وَمَا كَانُوا يَعْبُدُونَ | مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ فَاهْدُوهُمْ إِلَى صِرَاطِ الْجَحِيمِ Translation: “(It will be said to the angels:) Gather those who did wrong, together with their associates and whatever they used to worship besides Allah and lead them to the path of Hellfire.”

Therefore, although guidance and misguidance ultimately come from Allah, the causes of each lie within the servants themselves; they are the ones who create the conditions for their own guidance or misguidance.

Such is the meaning of guidance and misguidance in the Holy Qur’an.

Atheists, however, often take Qur’anic verses out of their proper context and present them in ways disconnected from their true meaning. And when a Muslim tries to explain these matters, they—unable to comprehend the truth—accuse him of avoiding the question! Yet is that not in itself a form of evasion from reality?