Investigating the Reality of Free Will from the Perspective of the School of Tafkīk (Separation): A Critique of the Book "The Issue of Divine Knowledge and Free Will"

The reality of free will is an intuitive and self-evident matter that all humans perceive through simple presential knowledge. However, analyzing and interpreting this reality and providing a detailed explanation is quite challenging and remains a matter of dispute among scholars. Recently, some scholars of the School of Tafkīk (Separation), by rejecting the philosophical and mystical teachings, have presented an analysis of the intuitive reality of free will, which in some ways is similar to Ash'arite viewpoint. This analysis, while presented with a seemingly rational appearance, has numerous rational flaws. Some of these flaws are attributed to the manner of interpretation of the followers of the School of Tafkīk. In this article, using analytical-descriptive approach, we have demonstrated that the idea of the School of Tafkīk regarding the reality of free will and real free will is incorrect. Consequently, all claims made by the followers of this school based on this idea are groundless and unfounded. It is worth mentioning that in this paper, we have firstly considered the perspective of the School of Tafkīk based on the ideas presented in the book "The Issue of Divine Knowledge and Free Will". Secondly, we have refrained from repeating the criticisms that philosophers and theologians have previously raised in criticizing this perspective