This is not outside the circle of His power, as the Mu'tazila believe. From this it becomes clear that Al-Mahdi holds the same view as the Ash'aris, that divine power encompasses all possibilities.

Regarding Will: Al-Mahdi affirms for God Almighty an absolute will in what He does and abandons. He has no overseer in this, nor is He bound by any restriction. "He does in His kingdom what He wills and judges among His creation as He pleases."

This absoluteness in divine will necessitates that God's will be related to all created things before their occurrence and after. This aligns with what the Ash'aris have agreed upon, that God's will is "one will encompassing all His volitions according to His knowledge of them. What He knew would be, He willed to be, whether it was good or evil. What He knew would not be, He willed not to be. Nothing happens in the world that God does not will, nor does anything that God wills cease to be."

This meaning implies that what occurs in the world of evils, sins, and abominations happens by God's will and according to His decree. This is because, as Al-Ghazali explained: "Every created thing by power is in need of a will to direct power to the possible and to specify it. So, every possible thing is willed, and every occurrence is possible. Therefore, every occurrence is willed, and evil, disbelief, and disobedience are occurrences. Thus, they are inevitably willed. What God wills happens, and what He does not will does not happen."

Al-Nizam, Al-Aswari, and Al-Jahiz from the Mu'tazila held that God is not described with power over injustice and falsehood. Abu Al-Hudhayl, however, held that He is capable of that but does not do it (see: Al-Ash'ari, Maqalat Al-Islamiyyin, 2/230). The Ash'aris said: "Nothing is possible except that God Almighty is capable of it" (see: the same source, 2/228). Their proof for this is that the corrector of possibility is existence. Existence is a common factor among possibilities, so if His power were specific to some, it would require a specifier (see: Al-Razi, Al-Muhassal, 178). However, concerning evils and sins, they said: "The Creator is capable of the injustice and oppression of others, and their faith and their deeds. He is not described with the power to be unjust and oppressive, nor with the power to acquire deeds. They did not describe their Lord with the power to commit injustice that is not acquired by the servants" (see: Al-Ash'ari, Maqalat Al-Islamiyyin, 2/231).

(107) Ibn Tumart, Risala fi Tawhid Al-Bari (108) Al-Baghdadi, Usul Al-Din (109) Al-Ghazali, Al-Iqtisad fi Al-I'tiqad