Verse 7
خَتَمَ اللهُ عَلٰى قُلُوبِهِمْ وَعَلٰى سَمْعِهِمْ وَعَلٰى اَبْصَارِهِمْ غِشَاوَةٌ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ
Allah has set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing. And on their eyes is a veil; and great is the penalty they incur.
(Khatama Allah ‘alā qulūbihim wa ‘alā sam‘ihim, wa ‘alā abṣārihim ghishāwatun wa la-hum ‘adhābun ‘aẓīm.)
Consider this: at this point we have to stop to listen to what the scholars of kalām have to say, for a fierce war has been waged around this verse, between the Mu‘tazilites, the Jabriyya, and the Sunnis. Wars like this have caught the attention of observers. It is appropriate therefore to mention the main arguments so they may be benefited from. [It will be seen then that] the Sunni School is the Straight Path, and the others either go to excess or are deficient.
The First: It has been established that “there is no effective agent in the universe other than Allah.” Hence, there is no delegation of power, [as the Mu‘tazilites asserted, that man creates his own actions].1
The Second: “Allah is All-Wise,” so reward and punishment are not futile or without wisdom. Hence there is no compulsion. Just as divine unity (tawḥīd) strikes the Mu‘tazilites on the chest, so Allah being free of anthropomorphic elements (tanzīh) deals the Jabriyya a slap in the mouth.
The Third: Everything has two aspects: the outer (mulkiyya) aspect, which is sometimes good and sometimes bad. Different forms intrude on it in succession, like the back of a mirror. The inner aspect (malakūtiyya) looks to the Creator. It is transparent in every respect, like the front of a mirror. Thus, the creation of bad is not bad, because its creation in respect of the inner face (malakūtiyya) is good. The creation of bad is to complete the good, so is indirectly good. So pay no attention to the specious arguments of the Mu‘tazilites!
Nursi, İşârâtü’l-İ’jaz [Abdülmecid], 83.