Relation of Divine Guidance and Misleading with Human Freedom, A Comparative Views of Allama Tabatabae and Behbudi

As indicated by the title, the article is to examine the relation of Divine Providence in affair of guidance and misleading with human will. It is intended to find a new and proper solution to the old debate of predestination and free will with a descriptive and comparative method on the basis of Qurʾānic view. The focus of the article is to provide an appropriate definition for Divine Providence along with the human will is related to the will of God. It also attempts to explain the concept of God’s leave in His Providence and the role the latter plays in leading men to belief or disbelief as the prominent instances of guidance and misleading. Two limitations have conditioned our study: that of Providence and its impacts on guidance and misleading, and that of accounting for the problem in views of two contemporary Muslim thinkers the late Allama Tabatabae and Behbudi. Of research conclusions is a proper understanding of the domain of human free will based on God’s Providence to the effect that if the Providence is nothing but natural laws and regulations as Behbudi said, it will be manifested only when congruent and consistent with laws of nature. Whether be compatible with laws of nature and thus guided or not and hence misguided, human will is free to discover and use them in accordance with the will of Creator as he is also free to turn his face back and go astray. In Allama Tabatabae’s view however, if God’s Providence is taken in its two forms of ontological and revealed ones, the case will be different. Divine revealed will is based on His wisdom and human desire can conform or oppose the desire of God. However in case of Devine ontological will man is determined to follow the cause-effect system and related rules and there is no room for guidance and misguidance.