Is Good and Evil From Allah or Yourself? Refuting An-Nisa 4:78–79
Is Good and Evil From Allah or From Yourself? Refuting the An-Nisa 4:78–79 Contradiction Claim
Some delusional people claim that there is a contradiction between the words of Allah Almighty:
“And if good befalls them, they say, ‘This is from Allah,’ and if evil befalls them, they say, ‘This is from you.’ Say, ‘All is from Allah.’”
And His words:
“Whatever good befalls you is from Allah, and whatever evil befalls you is from yourself. And We have sent you to mankind as a messenger, and sufficient is Allah as a witness.”
They ask: how can the Qur’an say in one verse that all good and evil are from Allah, then say in the next verse that evil is from the human being himself?
The critic claims that An-Nisa 4:78 says both good and evil are from Allah, while An-Nisa 4:79 says evil is from the human being. Therefore, according to the critic, the Qur’an contradicts itself.
This objection fails because the word ḥasanah and sayyiʾah are being discussed from different angles: one verse speaks about Allah’s decree over blessings and calamities, while the other speaks about human responsibility and the causes by which evil consequences befall people.
The Core Answer
There is no contradiction because the two verses are not speaking in the same respect. An-Nisa 4:78 teaches that all events occur by Allah’s decree. An-Nisa 4:79 teaches that evil consequences are attributed to the human being because of his sins, choices, and causes.
The first verse refutes those who blamed the Prophet ﷺ for calamities. It tells them that all events — blessings and hardships — occur by Allah’s will and decree.
The second verse teaches moral responsibility: whatever good reaches a person is from Allah’s grace, and whatever evil reaches him is because of himself, meaning because of his sins, disobedience, or actions that brought about that consequence.
The Meaning of Good and Evil in the First Verse
In An-Nisa 4:78, the meaning of good and evil is blessings and calamities.
Good means things such as fertility, prosperity, victory, ease, and blessing.
Evil means things such as hardship, disease, defeat, loss, and calamity.
The hypocrites and opponents would say that when prosperity came, it was from Allah, but when hardship came, it was because of Muhammad ﷺ. They wanted to turn the common people away from following him.
Allah answered them:
“Say, ‘All is from Allah.’”
Meaning: blessings and calamities all occur by Allah’s decree, will, and wisdom. They are not outside His control, and they are not caused by some supposed ill omen from the Prophet ﷺ.
In An-Nisa 4:78, “all is from Allah” means that blessings and calamities occur by Allah’s decree. The verse is refuting those who blamed the Messenger ﷺ for hardship.
The Meaning of Good and Evil in the Second Verse
In An-Nisa 4:79, the meaning shifts to responsibility and consequence.
“Whatever good befalls you is from Allah, and whatever evil befalls you is from yourself.”
Here, good is attributed to Allah because all blessing, success, obedience, victory, and guidance are from His grace.
Evil is attributed to the human being because the servant is the cause of the evil consequence through sin, disobedience, negligence, or wrong action.
The second verse does not deny Allah’s decree. It explains the moral cause of evil consequences. The evil that befalls a person is “from himself” because his own actions, sins, or disobedience brought it about.
This is like saying: “The punishment came from the judge,” and also saying: “The punishment came from the criminal himself.” Both are true in different respects. The judge issued the sentence, but the criminal caused it by his crime.
Likewise, calamity occurs by Allah’s decree, but the servant may be the cause of it through his own sin.
No Contradiction Between Decree and Responsibility
The critic’s mistake is that he cannot distinguish between two different levels:
- Allah’s decree: everything that occurs is by Allah’s will, knowledge, and creation.
- Human responsibility: the servant is blamed for the sins, choices, and causes he performs.
Allah’s decree means that nothing occurs outside His will and power. Human responsibility means that people are accountable for the actions and sins they choose.
So when Allah says, “All is from Allah,” this refers to decree.
And when Allah says, “whatever evil befalls you is from yourself,” this refers to the servant’s responsibility and the cause of the evil consequence.
These two meanings do not conflict.
Victory and Defeat as an Example
The source material also explains the verse through the example of victory and defeat.
The good that Allah granted the Prophet ﷺ and the believers on the day of Badr — victory, conquest, and booty — was from Allah.
As for what happened on the day of Uhud, including injury, hardship, and defeat, this occurred because of the actions and sins of people.
Victory is from Allah’s grace. Defeat and calamity may occur because of people’s own disobedience and mistakes. Both still occur within Allah’s decree.
This does not mean Uhud happened outside Allah’s will. It means the believers’ own actions became the cause for the calamity that befell them.
Qadi Abd al-Jabbar’s Explanation
The source material cites Qadi Abd al-Jabbar explaining that the first verse refers to calamities and diseases, while the second refers to sins and human actions.
Qadi Abd al-Jabbar explains that if the two verses were speaking about the same thing in the same respect, the statement would be contradictory. But the first verse concerns calamities and diseases, while the second concerns sins, so evil is attributed to the human being himself.
This distinction removes the alleged contradiction completely.
The Arabs did not object to the Prophet ﷺ by saying, “You claim the Qur’an has no discrepancy, but here is a discrepancy.” They understood that the verses were not speaking in the same respect.
The Judge and Criminal Analogy
The issue can be made simple.
If a criminal is punished, we may say:
- “This punishment is from the judge.”
- “This punishment is from the criminal himself.”
Both statements are true.
It is from the judge because he issued the sentence.
It is from the criminal because his crime caused it.
Likewise:
- Evil and calamity are from Allah in terms of decree, creation, and judgment.
- Evil and calamity are from the servant in terms of cause, sin, and responsibility.
From Allah by decree. From the servant by cause. There is no contradiction.
The critic only sees contradiction because he collapses two different meanings into one.
The Qur’an Itself Teaches This Principle
The Qur’an repeatedly teaches that calamities may occur because of what people themselves have earned.
“Whatever calamity befalls you is because of what your hands have earned, and He pardons much.”
This verse confirms the same principle: calamities occur by Allah’s decree, but they may be connected to human sins and actions.
The Qur’an does not deny Allah’s decree when it attributes calamity to human action. It explains that human action can be the cause by which Allah allows a consequence to occur.
So An-Nisa 4:78 and 4:79 are not contradictory. They are two sides of the same doctrine.
Why the Critic’s Argument Fails
The critic’s argument fails because he treats the word from as if it must mean the same thing in every context.
But language does not work like that.
Something can be “from Allah” in the sense of decree and creation, and “from yourself” in the sense of cause and blame.
The critic ignores the difference between ultimate decree and immediate moral cause. That is the entire source of the false contradiction.
The contradiction exists only in the critic’s mind because he refuses to distinguish between Allah’s control over events and man’s responsibility for his own actions.
Final Refutation
There is no contradiction between An-Nisa 4:78 and An-Nisa 4:79.
In the first verse, good and evil mean blessings and calamities, and all of them occur by Allah’s decree.
In the second verse, good is from Allah as grace, guidance, victory, and blessing, while evil is from the human being in terms of sin, disobedience, and the causes by which calamity or defeat befalls him.
An-Nisa 4:78 speaks about Allah’s decree over all events. An-Nisa 4:79 speaks about human responsibility for evil consequences. Good is from Allah’s grace, and evil is from the servant by cause and blame. There is no contradiction.
Source Notes
Qadi Abd al-Jabbar,Tanzīh al-Qurʾān ʿan al-Maṭāʿin, edited by Dr. Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Sāyiḥ and Counselor Tawfīq ʿAlī Wahbah, Al-Nāfidha Library, Cairo, 1st ed., 2006 CE, p. 123.