Question: What does hidayah mean?
ANSWER
It has such senses: to enter the true path after recognizing right as right and falseood as falsehood; to guide one to the true path; to turn away from dalalah [deviation, going astray] and false paths; to have the faith and to become a Muslim; a guide; the Qur’an; tawhid.

Hidayah means guiding a person to the true path; being on the path Allahu ta’ala is pleased with; Allah’s purifying one’s heart from all gloom and distress, filling it instead with comfort and expansion, thereby making it easy for them to observe His commandments and to avoid His prohibitions. It also means that Allah causes His servant to be content with His qada and qadar. As for the meaning of ihtida, it is to receive hidayah too, that is, to become a Muslim embracing Islam as one’s religion.   

The texts in square brackets are explanatory additions based on tafsir books:

(Our Lord is He Who grants a distinctive feature to everything and then gives hidayah [Who guides towards the true path].) [Surah Taha, 50]

(We made them all [Ibrahim, Ishaq, Ya’qub] imams [guides] who would show hidayah [the true path, Islam] by Our command [revelation]. We revealed to them the doing of good deeds, the performance of salat correctly, the giving of zakat. They were the persons who worshiped Us [they were not idolaters].) [Surah al-Anbiya’, 73]

(Allah guides whom He wills to the right path.) [Surah al-Baqara, 213]

(Those who accepted hidayah [those who became Muslims by having iman], Allah increased their hidayah [their success in the true path, their obeying Islam] and inspired [explained] them the remedies for bewaring of evil.) [Surah Muhammad, 17]

(Whoever believes in Allah, Allah guides his heart to hidayah [truth, Islam].) [Surah at-Taghabun, 11]

(The dwellers of Jannah, beneath which rivers flow, say, “Praise be to Allah Who has made us attain to this with His hidayah [by making us Muslims]. Had Allahu ta’ala not given us hidayah [had He not made us Muslims], we could not have found this path on our own.) [Surah al-A’raf, 43]

(Those who believe and do pious deeds; because of their belief, their Lord guides them to Jannats [puts them in Jannats], beneath which rivers flow and which abound with blessings.) [Surah Yunus, 9]

(O My Messenger, say: Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel is an enemy to Allah because he, by Allah’s leave, has brought down the Qur’an to your heart as a confirmer of the books sent before it, as a hidayah [guide], and as a bearer of glad tidings.) [Surah al-Baqara, 97]

(When we listened to the hidayah [the Qur’an], we believed in it.) [Surah al-Jinn, 13]

(Allah does not give hidayah [does not guide to the true path] to those who commit zulm [to those who take disbelievers for their friends thereby doing injustice to themselves].) [Surah al-Maida, 51]

(He leaves in deviation whom He wills, and He guides to hidayah [the true path, Islam] whom He wills.) [Surah al-Fatir, 8]

(Allah guides to hidayah [guides to Islam] whom He wills; He leaves in dalalah whom He wills.) [Surah Ibrahim, 4]

(We have sent down this Book to you so that you explain the controversial matters to them, and as a hidayah [a guide showing the true path] and mercy for those who believe.) [Surah-an-Nahl, 64]

(Those who disbelieve the liqa-Allah [meeting Allah] and thus who stay away from hidayah [from Islam, which is the true path] will certainly suffer the greatest loss.) [Surah Yunus, 45]

(Hidayah is only Allah’s hidayah [the true path is only Allah’s path].) [Surah al-Baqara, 120]

(Those are the ones to whom Allah has given hidayah [whom Allah has made attain to Islam].) [Surah az-Zumar, 18]

(Allah increases the hidayah [their devotion to Islam] of those who have attained it [who have embraced the faith and become Muslims].) [Surah Maryam,76; Surah Muhammad, 17]

(He makes them attain to hidayah [He makes them attain to iman].) [Surah Muhammad, 5]

(They bought dalalah instead of hidayah [the true path].) [Surah-al-Baqara, 175]

(Allah has sent His Messenger with Islam, which is hidayah and the true religion. He has made Islam superior over other religions. Allah suffices as a witness that He is a Prophet [that Muhammad “alaihis-salam” is the true Prophet].) [Surah al-Fath, 28]

Who grants hidayah?

Question: An atheist points to verses in the Holy Qur’an that appear in several places, which convey the meaning, “Allah guides whom He wills and leaves whom He leaves in aberration,” and says, “Look, God makes whom He wills a Muslim and whom He wills a disbeliever. Then He punishes the disbeliever. Is it fair?” So what is the truth of the matter?
ANSWER
The verses of the Qur’an al-karim explain one another. Interpreting a single verse in isolation leads to error, just as quoting only half of a sentence distorts its meaning. The Jabriyyah sect falls into this same mistake. Consider a government that punishes wrongdoers and rewards those who do good. If someone observed it punishing a wrongdoer and concluded, “This government does nothing but punish people,” they would be mistaken. Likewise, if another person claimed, “This government rewards everyone,” they would also be wrong.

A servant may choose to do either good or evil. If Allah the Almighty wills it, the servant is able to carry out that choice through their limited free will. Allah does not compel anyone to do either good or evil. If He did, the one who committed evil could rightly say, “You made so-and-so do good. Why did You make me do evil?”

Allah the Almighty certainly knows whether His servants will do good or evil, and whether they are destined for Hell or Paradise, and He records what He knows. However, it is not because He has recorded it that a servant is compelled to do good or evil. 

Allah the Almighty, through His eternal knowledge, knows all the deeds His servants will perform. If He did not know what His creatures would do, He could not be a deity, for the deity knows everything and has power over all things. One who is ignorant, powerless, in need, or subject to death cannot be a god. The Jabriyyah sect, however, claims, “Allah compels every action. Human beings are bound by their destiny, and no one is accountable for the sins they commit.” This claim is entirely false. Every person is responsible for their own actions. Those who do good will be rewarded, and those who do evil will be punished. The Holy Qur’an declares that whoever does even an atom’s weight of good or evil will receive the corresponding reward or punishment. (At-Takwir 14; Az-Zilzal 7,8)

Hadrat Muhammad Masum states:
The group known as the Jabriyyah completely denied human free will and personal choices. They claimed: “Whether a human being wills it or not, Allah creates their every movement and action. Everything a person does is just like a leaf shaking in the wind. Allah forces everything upon us, and humans cannot do anything.” To make such a claim is an act of disbelief. After all, how can the involuntary trembling of a hand or foot be the same as moving them intentionally? They are completely different.

The Holy Quran says (what means):
(Allah, the Exalted, will question them all about whatever they have done.) [Surah al-Hijr 92, 93]

(Let whoever wishes believe, and let whoever wishes disbelieve. We have prepared the Fire of Hell for those who disbelieve.) [Surah al-Kahf 29]

(Allah, the Exalted, does not wrong them; rather, they wrong themselves.) [Surah an-Nahl 33]

To those who asked, “O Messenger of Allah, if all our deeds have already been predestined and recorded, then what is the point of striving?” the Prophet recited Surah Ash-Shams, which conveys the following meaning:

(The Almighty Allah granted human beings free choice [ikhtiyar; the limited human will] so that, after teaching them what is good and what is evil [obedience and sin] and their states, they would be able to do either of them. Whoever purifies his nafs [cleanses it of evil and adorns it with virtue] has indeed succeeded. But whoever leaves his nafs in sin, ignorance, and misguidance has suffered a great loss.) [Ash-Shams 8–10]

As is evident, Allah’s foreknowledge does not imply that He compels human beings to act in a particular way. Indeed, Allah knows with certainty when a person will commit a sin, and this knowledge is recorded in that person’s destiny. However, it is recorded because the person will freely commit that sin; the person does not commit the sin merely because it has been written in his or her destiny.

No calamity befalls a person unless our Lord has decreed it
He does not send it unless that person has transgressed.

The Mu'tazilah say, “Everyone determines their own destiny.” The first line responds to this by stating, “A person cannot do anything unless Allah Almighty wills it.”

The Jabriyyah, on the other hand, misinterpret the noble verse, which conveys the meaning “Allah guides whom He wills to the right path and leaves whom He wills in error,” and claim, “It is Allah who compels us to do everything.” The second line clarifies this by stating, “Allah’s decree is in accordance with people’s deeds.”

The 14th verse of Surah at-Takwir that says (what means) “Everyone will see what they have brought [good or bad]” states that everyone commits sins or good deeds of their own free will.

If a person did not choose faith or disbelief of their own free will, and if their good or bad deeds were not the result of their own choices, the sending of the prophets, the existence of Paradise and Hell, and the promise of reward and punishment would all lose their meaning. Never!

In that case, it would also make no sense for Allah the Almighty to hold His servants to account and ask them why they did what they did, since they would have had no real choice in the matter.

There are many verses that show Allah the Almighty created everything. The Jabriyyah claim that Allah forces people to do whatever they do. In reality, though, the hardships and calamities that come our way are often the result of our own sins. As one verse says (what means): “Whatever misfortune befalls you is because of what your own hands have earned, though He pardons much.” (Surah Ash-Shura 30)

Even when trials come to us because of our sins, it is still Allah who sends them, and the noble verse goes on to say, “though He pardons much.” Some people claim that our own nafs create evil Never!

There is no creator other than Allah, and Allah sends trials because of our sins and nafses. In reality, our sins and our nafses are merely the cause.

It is equally incorrect for an atheist, just like the Jabriyyah sect, to misinterpret the noble verses and say, “Allah compels us to commit sins and to disbelieve.” The 33 verse of Surah an-Nahl conveys the following meaning:

Far be it from Him to wrong anyone,
The punishment a person suffers is the consequence of their own deeds.

Some individuals consume alcohol, gamble, or steal, whereas others abstain from such acts. Does Allah compel them to act in this manner, or do they choose these actions of their own volition? It is incorrect for the Jabriyyah or atheists to assert that “Allah makes them do these things.” Although Allah is the One who bestows reward and punishment, it is human beings themselves who choose to commit sins or to perform righteous deeds.

The scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah explain the verse asked about by the atheist as follows:
(Allah guides whom He wills [because they use their free will in the right way] and leaves whom He wills in error [because they use their free will in the wrong way].) [Maktubat-ı Ma’sumiyye]

Here, the meaning of “whom He wills” is not that He wants or approves of their remaining in misguidance. When they choose to remain in misguidance of their own free will, Allah the Almighty also wills and brings this about. Similarly, regarding the noble verse that conveys the meaning, “You desire what Allah wills,” Imam al-Maturidi explains: “Allah the Almighty’s will is in harmony with your will. When you will something, you find Allah’s will already in place.”

In other words, He guides those who wish to take the right path to the right path, and those who wish to take the wrong path to the wrong path. Let’s give the following example to make this easier to understand:

He takes those who do deeds that lead to Hell and board the train to Hell to Hell. He takes those who do deeds that lead to Paradise and board the train to Paradise to Paradise. It is Allah the Almighty who builds, operates, and takes the train. This is the subtlety of the matter. That is, it is said, “Wherever someone wishes to go, We will take them there.” But He does not force anyone; He takes those who board the train. A person goes to wherever they have earned a ticket through their deeds.