84 Livnat Holtzman
ance without a preponderator (tarjīḥ bi-lā murajjiḥ) is impossible, and
two, that infinite regress (tasalsul) is impossible.^79 The Jabrī’s argument
goes as follows: to assume that the preponderator comes from a differ-
ent source other than God leads to an infinite regress, which is impos-
sible. Hence, every preponderator comes from God, and not from the
human being. This conclusion, according to the Jabrī, again proves the
existence of the Creator (ithbāt al-ṣāniʿ),^80 and more so, the veracity of
the doctrine of jabr: because the preponderator is created by God, the
human act is necessitated, “and that is precisely what jabr is all about”.^81
The Sunni’s responses to the Jabrī’s arguments also rely heavily on
al-Rāzī’s texts. These responses also reveal several points of agreement
between the two debaters. The agreement encourages the Sunni to
emphasize the difference between his views and that of the Jabrī’s. For
example, the Sunni seems to agree with the Jabrī’s statement that the
combined existence of the human power and the motive necessitates
human action. However, in order to avoid the Jabrī’s conclusion that
the necessitation of human action leads to a belief in jabr, he adds a
reservation, the source of which is absent from the Rāziyyan discourse:
That the human action is necessary, does not contradict that it is cho-
sen (mukhtār) by the [human being], wanted (murād) by him, and is the
object of his power (maqdūr). The action neither is compelled (mukrah)
nor forced (majbūr) upon him.^82The way in which the Sunni proves that human action is not forced
upon the human being, although it is necessitated with the combina-
tion of human power and the motive to act, is interesting. The Sunni
compares the action of God, performed through His power and will,
with the supposedly compelled action of the human being. He states,
that even God’s action is necessitated with the combination of power
and motive. So, is it possible to conclude that God’s acts are forced
upon Him?^83 The Sunni uses here an ilzām (argumentum ad homi-
79 Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Shifāʾ al-ʿalīl, pp. 325, 339; Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya,
Shifāʾ al-ʿalīl, 1903, pp. 143, 150. See al-Rāzī, Kitāb al-Arbaʿīn, pp. 121–122.
80 Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Shifāʾ al-ʿalīl, p. 325; Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Shifāʾ
al-ʿalīl, 1903, p. 143.
81 Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Shifāʾ al-ʿalīl, p. 339; Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Shifāʾ
al-ʿalīl, 1903, p. 150.
82 Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Shifāʾ al-ʿalīl, p. 320; Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Shifāʾ
al-ʿalīl, 1903, p. 141.
83 Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Shifāʾ al-ʿalīl, p. 320; Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Shifāʾ
al-ʿalīl, 1903, p. 141.
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