Yesterday, someone who enjoys debate asked me a question. He said: "To be content with disbelief (kufr; associating partners with God or rejecting faith) is disbelief." The Prophet (the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him) said this, and what he said is true and appropriate. Then he also said, "A Muslim must be content with every kind of decree (qadāʾ) and destiny (qadar)." Is not unbelief and hypocrisy also by the decree and destiny of Allah?
But if we are content with this (according to the first hadith), would we not be doing wrong? If we are not content, that too is a fault. So, which solution should we resort to between the two? I said to him: "This disbelief (kufr) is not by Allah's command, judgment, or pleasure. This disbelief is only among the effects of decree (qadāʾ) and destiny (qadar).
My teacher, know Allah's decree and destiny as Allah's knowledge, so that no doubt or hesitation remains in you. We are content with disbelief (kufr) because it is in accordance with Allah's knowledge, but since it arises from our own evil, our own wrongdoing, we are not content with it. Disbelief, in terms of being Allah's knowledge, is not disbelief; do not call the Real (al-Ḥaqq) a disbeliever—stop here!
Disbelief (kufr) arises from ignorance, but the decree of disbelief is Allah's knowledge.
(Allah knows the disbelief of the disbeliever from pre-eternity, and it manifests as He knows it.) How can forbearance (ḥilm, meaning patience and gentleness) and ḥilm (meaning mucus) be the same? An ugly painting does not necessitate the ugliness of the painter.
The ugly is only evidence of what he has done, of what he is able to do. In fact, the fact that the painter can make both ugly and beautiful paintings is evidence that he is a powerful painter. If I open up and elaborate on this topic, the questions and answers would go on and on. Then I would lose the taste of the subtlety of love. Service to Allah would take on another form, and the aim would turn from guidance (hudā) to misguidance (ḍalāla).