LessonsCreation of Human Acts: Divine Causation, Acquisition and ChoiceQuiz

وَاللَّهُ خَلَقَكُمْ وَمَا تَعْمَلُونَ
“God created you and [the act of] your doing.” (Qurʾān 37:96, on the verbal-noun reading of mā)

The grammatical force of mā is disputed. If it is maṣdariyyah (introducing a verbal noun), the verse refers to human doing and is used directly as evidence for the creation of acts. If it is mawṣūlah (relative), it may refer to what people fashion, such as idols in the immediate context.

The alternatives should be stated openly: the syntactic analysis affects the form of this particular proof, while other scriptural formulations and rational arguments also feature in the broader debate.

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The verse “God created you and what you do”

Creation of Human Acts: Divine Causation, Acquisition and Choice

وَاللَّهُ خَلَقَكُمْ وَمَا تَعْمَلُونَ
“God created you and [the act of] your doing.” (Qurʾān 37:96, on the verbal-noun reading of mā)

The grammatical force of mā is disputed. If it is maṣdariyyah (introducing a verbal noun), the verse refers to human doing and is used directly as evidence for the creation of acts. If it is mawṣūlah (relative), it may refer to what people fashion, such as idols in the immediate context.

The alternatives should be stated openly: the syntactic analysis affects the form of this particular proof, while other scriptural formulations and rational arguments also feature in the broader debate.