Some verses ascribe creational guidance to Allah the Almighty. There is seventy-eight such verses. Allah says, "These are they whom Allah has guided; therefore, follow their guidance." (6:90)

Such verses show that the source of guidance is Allah, praise be to Him, but there are others showing that man has freedom of choice included in his guidance. Allah says, "… so let him who pleases believe, and let him who pleases disbelieve." (18:29)

"Whoever disbelieves, he shall be responsible for his disbelief, and whoever does good, they prepare (good) for their own souls." (30:44)

Allah's being the source of guidance means that He has given man the ability of perception, made the way of guidance and knowledge easy for him, and protected him against the delusions of the devils among jinn and humankind. Were it not for this, man would be a disbeliever and disobedient. Thus, Allah is worthier of man's good deeds than man himself.

Man's deviation has originated from the negative application of his free will. Even with the delusions of the Devil and many things else, he still has a free will. Allah has given him the ability of belief and disbelief and the ability of perception, and has made the signs and evidence of guidance and Divine Unity at his disposal and plain for him to see. Allah therefore, does not cause man's deviation, although He, the Almighty, has irresistable power over His servant. Allah says, "If He pleased, He would guide all of Mankind." Allah can force Mankind to accept guidance willingly or unwillingly, but since He has made the way and the means to guidance easy, and has made Man free to choose between guidance and deviation, He has given man a great favor. If he choses deviation and rejects guidance, then he would stand accused.

An example of the aforementioned idea is that of an individual who gave a poor man some money to buy bread, but the latter bought some poison instead, drank it and killed himself. The giver is not to be blamed, for he bestowed a favor upon him in order that he spend the money in his benefit and not for his destruction.

Some Qur'anic verses show that none except Allah possesses power and capability, praise be to Him. He says, "There is no power save in Allah." (18:39) There is no contradiction at all between this meaning and man's freedom of choice and power to do whatever he likes, because in the face of the Divine power and Lordship he is completely impotent, having no authority over good or bad for himself. Taking into consideration that Allah has given man power and ability, man's very power is a manifestation of Allah's power, thus eliminating the inconsistency between the establishment of power in man and the meaning of His words when The Most High says, "There is no power save in Allah." A very large number of verses attest to this meaning. Allah says, " ... so let him who pleases believe, and let him who pleases disbelieve." (18:29)

"Whoever disbelieves, he shall be responsible for his disbelief, and whoever does good, prepare (good) for their own souls. (30:44)

"... and whoever is grateful, he is grateful only for his own soul, and whoever is ungrateful, then surely my Lord is Self-Sufficient, Honored." (27:40)

Some verses show that benefit and harm are in the hands of Allah exclusively. Allah says, "Say: I do not control any benefit or harm for my own soul except as Allah pleases." (7:188)

"... so let him who pleases believe, and let him who pleases disbelieve." (18:29)

"... and had your Lord pleased they would not have done it." (6:112)

"... and if Allah had pleased, they would not have done it." (6:137)

From these verses, we notice that Allah has given man the ability to believe if he wants, or to disbelieve if he wants. If Allah wants to prevent man from that freedom of choice, He will deprive him of ability and make him unable to do what he wants. Later on, we will prove that this is one aspect of the Shias' concept of intermediacy.