Guidance is in the hand of Allaah

How can we reconcile between the aayahs (interpretation of the
meanings): "Verily, you (O Muhammad) guide not whom you like"
[al-Qasas 28:56] and "And verily, you (O Muhammad) are indeed guiding
(mankind) to the Straight Path"[al-Shooraa 42:52]?
Praise be to Allaah.
Allaah has created man and given him reason, and He has sent down
tohim Revelation and sent to him Messengers to callhim to the truth
and warn him against falsehood. Then He has left him to make his
ownchoice.
"And say: 'The truth is from your Lord.' Then whosoever wills, let him
believe; and whosoever wills, let him disbelieve
[al-Kahf 18:29 – interpretation of the meaning]
Allaah commanded His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) to convey the truth to all ofmankind. Then they have the
choice to do as they wish. If a person obeys, he benefits himself, and
if he disobeys, he harms himself, as Allaah says (interpretation of
the meaning):
"Say: 'O you mankind! Now truth (i.e. the Qur'aan and Prophet
Muhammad), has come to you from your Lord. So whosoever receives
guidance, he does so for the good of his own self;and whosoever goes
astray, he does so to his own loss; and I am not (set) over you as a
Wakeel (disposer of affairs to oblige you for guidance)'"[Yoonus
10:108]
Islam is the religion of the natural state of man (fitrah), the
religion of reason and thought. Allaah has distinguished the truth
from falsehood. He has enjoined all that is good and forbidden all
that is evil. He has permitted good things and forbidden evil things.
There is no compulsion in religion because the benefits or harms come
back upon the created being, not upon the Creator. Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
"There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become
distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in Taaghoot (false
gods) and believesin Allaah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy
handhold that will never break"
[al-Baqarah 2:256]
And Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Whosoever does righteous good deed, it is for (the benefit of) his
ownself; and whosoever does evil, it is against hisownself. And your
Lord is not at all unjust to (His) slaves"[Fussilat 41:46]
Guidance is in the hand of Allaah. If Allaah willed,He could guide all
of mankind, for there is nothing that He cannot do on this earth or in
theheavens. Nothing happens in His Dominionexcept that which He wills.
"Say: 'With Allaah is the perfect proof and argument, (i.e. the
Oneness of Allaah, the sending of His Messengers and His Holy Books,
to mankind); had He so willed, He would indeed have guided you
all'"[al-An'aam 6:149 – interpretation of the meaning]
But in His Wisdom, Allaahhas created us with the ability to choose,
and He has sent down to us guidance and the Criterion. So whoever
obeys Allaah and His Messenger will enter Paradise and whoever
disobeys Allaah and His Messenger will enter Hell, as Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
"Verily, proofs have come to you from your Lord, so whosoever
sees,will do so for (the good of) his ownself, and whosoever blinds
himself, will do so to his own harm, and I (Muhammad) am not a watcher
over you"[al-An'aam 6:104]
The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) has no part
in guidance; all thathe and the Muslims have to do is to explain and
convey the message, andshow them guidance butthey cannot force
peopleto follow it, as Allaah said to His Messenger (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) (interpretation of the meaning):
"And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed, all of
them together. So, will you (O Muhammad) then compel mankind, until
they become believers"[Yoonus 10:99]
And Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And the duty of the Messenger is only to convey (the Message)
plainly"[al-'Ankaboot 29:18]
Guidance to the truth is in the hand of Allaah alone and no human
being has any share in that, as Allaah said to His Messenger (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) (interpretation of the meaning):
"Verily, you (O Muhammad) guide not whom you like, but Allaah guides
whom He wills. And He knows best those who are the guided[al-Qasas
28:56]
Allaah guides whomsoever He wills and sends astray whomsoever He
wills. Hehas told us that He guides those who obey Him and turn to
Him, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):
"While as for those who accept guidance, He increases their guidance
and bestows on them their piety"[Muhammad 47:17]
But whoever disobeys Allaah and turns away from Him, Allaah will not
guide him, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Truly, Allaah guides not him who is a liar, and a disbeliever"
[al-Zumar 39:3]
Allaah is Omniscient and knows what has happened and is happening and
what is yet to come. Allaah knows the believers and the disbelievers,
and what they will do, and He knows what their fate will be in the
Hereafter. He has writtenall that in al-Lawh al-Mahfooz (the Preserved
Tablet), as He says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And all things We have recorded in a Book"[al-Naba' 78:29]
Allaah has created man with the ability to choose, and He has created
him able to do both, either believer or disbelieve, as He says
(interpretation of the meaning):
"Verily, We showed him the way, whether he be grateful or
ungrateful"[al-Insaan 76:3]
Man has the choice in terms of his reason only; if he loses his reason
by which he is able to distinguish between the alternatives of good
andevil, truth and falsehood,then he is not accountable. Hence
according to Islamic sharee'ah, the pen is lifted from the insane
person (i.e., he is not accountable) until he recovers his senses, and
from the child until he reaches the age of understanding, and from the
sleeper until hewakes up. None of these people are accountable until
they gain or recover the reason by which they may distinguish between
the alternatives of faith and disbelief, truth and falsehood, and so
on.
Whatever direction a person takes, there will be reward and
punishment, If he obeys, there will be Paradise:
"Indeed he succeeds who purifies his ownself(i.e. obeys and performs
all that Allaah ordered, by following the true Faith of Islamic
Monotheism and by doing righteous good deeds"
[al-Shams 91:9 – interpretation of the meaning]
and if he disobeys, therewill be Hell:
"And indeed he fails who corrupts his ownself (i.e. disobeys what
Allaah has ordered by rejecting the true Faith of Islamic Monotheism
or by following polytheism, or by doing every kind of evil wicked
deeds" [al-Shams 91:10 – interpretation of the meaning]
The choice of one of these two ways is something about which a person
will be questioned by the Lord of the Worlds. Hence it isclear that
faith or disbelief, obedience or disobedience, is the matter of
personal choice. Allaah has made reward and punishment dependent upon
this choice:
"Whosoever does righteous good deed, it is for (the benefit of) his
ownself; and whosoever does evil, it is against hisownself. And your
Lord is not at all unjust to (His) slaves"[Fussilat 41:46]
Whoever loves Allaah and His Messenger and desires good in this world
and in the Hereafter, let him enter Islam, and whoever turns away from
that and is content with this world and has no interest in the
Hereafter and does not submit, then his abode will be Hell. The
individual is theone who will benefit or harm himself. There is no
compulsion to chooseeither. Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
"Verily, this (Verses of the Qur'aan) is an admonition, so whosoever
wills, let him take a Path to his Lord (Allaah)"
[al-Insaan 76:29]
From Usool al-Deen al-Islami by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibraaheem al-Tuwayjri