 In the initial statement of the 17th discussion al-Ghazâlî claims that “the connection [between cause and effect] is due to the prior decision (taqdîr) of God.” When he objects to Avicenna that these connections are not necessary, al-Ghazâlî wishes to point out that God could have chosen to create an alternative world where the causal connections are different from what they are. Avicenna denied this. This world is the necessary effect of God’s nature and a world different from this one is unconceivable. Al-Ghazâlî objects and says this world is the contingent effect of God’s free will and His deliberate choice between alternative worlds.