For centuries, people have always wondered about the nature of will,
its responsibilities, and its limits, rather than simply granting the ability
to use it consciously. They have generated various ideas around these
questions. In this context, is will an ordinary cognitive process or a
means of attaining divine reward and punishment? Is humanity completely
free? If it possesses complete freedom, who owns the actions
resulting from its will? Do they determine their own destiny as a result
of their actions, or do they follow the path charted by God? They have
sought convincing answers to such questions. Therefore, the question
of who owns the actions committed through will has consistently persisted
in the history of thought, maintaining its importance as a complex
and comprehensive topic. This situation which causes confusion,
is not only about whether acts of worship and will belong to humans or
to God, but also about the extent to which human cognitive processes
influence the shaping of destiny, and whether the power and will of
servants are functional alongside God’s power and will. In this regard,
every philosopher, intellectual movement, and scholar of the school of
thought sought answers based on their own perspectives and paths.
One of these scholars was Ibn al-Mutahhar al-Hilli, one of the most prolific
scholars of the Shia school. He expounded on human freedom in
various works and endeavored to thoroughly examine the subject within
the framework of his own school. The political events and sectarian
events of al-Hilli’s time were of great importance in terms of their impact
on his intellectual understanding. Thanks to the rational analysis
methodology introduced by the Usul school to which he adhered, he
adopted a libertarian approach to human freedom and concluded that
humans are the owners of their own actions. Al-Hilli’s conception of
humans as endowed with free will and power provided the capacity to
demonstrate their discretion in carrying out their actions. In this context,
al-Hilli drew on the ideas of the Mu’tazilah in his views and criticized
the Sunni concept of human freedom through the Ash’arite explanations.
In particular, his statements regarding the Ash’arite understanding
of acquisition and action made his theory of human actions
more understandable. Furthermore, his ideas influenced the evolution
of Shi’ite theological thought into an eclectic structure.
Keywords: Imamıyya; Ibn al-mutahhar al- Hilli; destiny; Will; Human
Acts