Man’s Free Will from the Perspective of Fakhr al-Razi and Muhammad Husayn Tabataba’i

Compulsion and free will are one of the bones of contention between the theologians and philosophers whereby each one of them has come up with a solution for it. Following the Ash’arite doctrine, Fakhr al-Razi has opted for the view of disguised predetermination. Nonetheless, he interprets in it in such a way that it is very close to the view of free will and he even explicitly elaborates the view of free will in the form of the expression (neither total compulsion nor total free will, rather, an affair between these two extremes). On the other hand, he considers man to be compelled in his free will which apparently negates free will. Due to his lack of distinction between the relationship between God and the creatures, the relationship of the soul and the attribute of free will, the relationship of man and his actions, Fakhr al-Razi has a different opinion in explaining and analyzing the issue of free will. His statement is apparently contradictory but finally, he accepts the view of free will. Tabataba’i adopts the view of free will, and by accepting the principle of causality, the level of being, and the degree of agency, he considers man as the agent of his actions and does not believe that the agency of God is incompatible with that of man. He has analysed the issue of free will by making distinctions between the relationship of the Almighty God with the creatures, the relationship of the soul and the attribute of the free will, and the relationship of man and his actions. He believes that the occurrence of any optional act depends on three essential principles namely: 1) The longitudinal relationship between divine agency and human agency; 2) The cause of defective human will; 3) The compulsory occurrence of an action in comparison with the will.