Predestination, Fate and the Middle Road in Between

Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from Muhammad from Yunus from ‘Idda who said the following: “Once a man said to abu ‘Abd Allah عليه السلام, ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, has Allah compelled people to sin?’ The Imam said, ‘Allah is just and by far beyond compelling people to sin and then punishing them for it.’ The man then said, ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, has He then left all matters to the servants?’ The Imam said, ‘Had He left all matters to the people He would not have restricted them with commandments and prohibitions.’ The man then said, ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, is there a stage between the two?’ The Imam said, ‘Yes, there is something bigger than what is between the heavens and the earth.’”