The Examination of the Attribution of Good and Evil Deeds to God and Human in the Verses 78 and 79 of the Women Chapter from the Viewpoint of Ibn Taymiyya and ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabā’ī

The attribution of good and evil deeds to God and human has always been regarded by the qur’ānic culture, and figures including interpreters, theologians, philosophers, and mystics have focused their attention on it. In this regard, the verse 78 of the Woman chapter has been taken to allude that the good and evil deeds are from God, while the next verse has been regarded as evidence to the attribution of good deeds to God and the evil deeds to the human. As an important challenge, this difference in attribution has been constantly discussed by thinkers. Consequently, this study set out to organize, interpret, compare, and evaluate the viewpoints of Ibn Taymiyya Ḥarrānī (661-728 AH) and ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabā’ī (1281-1360 AH) about this issue. The results of the study reveal that Ibn Taymiyya has taken the first verse to indicate that the Prophet’s (s) orders originate from the divine orders in the domain of legislation and the second verse to designate that the good deeds existentially originate from God. However, in ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabā’ī’s viewpoint, both verses have an existential attitude, express the qur’ānic principle of “the similarity of creation and beauty” and the ontological view to evil deeds, and proclaim “the non-existential nature of evil deeds” through a comparative stance and attribute them to the human due to his sins.