Al-
Certainly, God hastens what He will and delays what He will. He effaces whatever He will and establishes whatever He will. With Him is the Essence of the Book. [And he added]: Any thing He desires, that thing is in His knowledge before He designit. There is not a thing that appears for Him [i.e., in which bada occurs] except that it was in His knowledge. Nothing appears for Him [i.e., in whichbadaoccurs] about which He was ignorant. ١٣

The same source reports from
He [al-Sadiq] was asked about Gods saying, "God effaces what He will" [Q.l٣:٣٩]. He said: "That Book [i.e., the Essence of the Book mentioned in the verse] is the one God effaces and establishes as He will. It is from this that He turns down the supplica‌ tion regarding the decree. The supplication whtch can stay the de..:ree is predetermined, but when it reaches the Essence of the Book, the supplication has no effect upon any‌ thing in it."١٤

In his book al-Ghayba, al-Shaykh al-Tusi relates a tradition from al-Bizanti on the authority of the Imam al-Ric;la, who traces it back to
How can we discuss [future events] in spite of what the verse "God effaces what He will" says? As for the one who says that God does not know a thing until after it comes into existence, then such a person has certainly adopted disbelief and has departed from the belief in divine oneness (taw Td).١٥

The traditions narrated on the authority of the Imams regarding the subject that God possessed knowledge before He created the creation are far more numerous to be recounted here. All the lmamite Shtites are in agreement .. this, in accordance with the Book of God and the Sunna of His Prophet, and in accordance with what is required in a judgment based on sound innate reasoning.

The Benefit of Belief in oi-Boda

Al-Badli could obtain only in the conditional decree, designated as the Tablet of
Effacement and Confirmation (lawal-maw
bada is possible in it does not necessitate ascribing ignorance to God, nor is there anything in this view that is incompatible with Gods greatness and His glory.
The reason is that belief in badli is a clear acknowledgment that the creation an٩ survival of the universe are under the sovereignty of God and His omnipotence, and that the will of God is effective over things from eternity to infinity. In fact, belief in badli emphasizes the distinction between divine knowledge and the knowledge of the creatures. The latter, even ifit is the knowledge possessed by the prophets and apostles, does not encompass what is covered by divine knowledge. Although some of them have knowledge-by means of Gods endowing them with it--about all aspects of possible things, their knowledge does not encompass the knowledge that God kept exclusively to Himself. Thus, they do not know whether God wills a thing to exist, or does not will it, except when He informs them about it in a definite way.