Confusion on the Issue of Qadr

One of the issues bothering the minds of young people and causing them confusion is the issue of qadr (divine predestination, or destiny), because belief in qadr is one of the pillars of faith. One's faith cannot be complete without it. Having faith in qadr means believing that Allah knows and preordains all that happens in the heavens and on the earth. He says:

 “You not know that Allah knows what is in the heaven and earth? Indeed, that is in a record. Indeed that, for Allah, is easy).” (Qur'an, Surah Al-Hajj, 22: 70)

The noble Prophet (Peace be upon him) prohibited arguments and controversy   over the issue of qadr. Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: “The Prophet (Peace be upon him) emerged while we were arguing about qadr. He got angry, his face became red and he said: “Is this what you are commanded to do? Or, with this am I sent to you? Indeed those who were before you perished when they argued over this issue. I command you not to argue over it.”” (A reliable hadith recorded at-Tirmidhi)

Getting into discussions on the issue of qadr and engaging in controversy over it puts one into labyrinths from which he or she will not be able to escape.  The  safe way  therefore  lies in cautiously   doing   good   with   all   your   efforts   as   you   are commanded, for Allah has endowed you with intellect and understanding   and  has  sent  Messengers  to  you  and  revealed Books  to them.

“[We sent] Messengers as bringers of good tidings and warners so that mankind will have no argument against Allah after the Messengers.  And ever is Allah Exalted in Might and Wise).” (Qur'an, Surah An-Nisa’, 4: 165)

When the  Prophet  (Peace be upon him) told  his  Companions  that  every person has been destined both a seat in paradise and a seat in hell, they said: O  Allah's  Messenger! Do we not then depend on what has been destined for us and give up working? The Prophet (Peace be upon him) replied: “Carry on doing good deeds, for everybody will find what will lead him to his destined place easy to do.” Then he recited:

“As for he who gives and fears Allah and believes in the best [reward], We will ease him toward ease. But as for he who withholds and considers himself free of need and denies the best [reward], We will ease him toward difficulty).” (Qur'an, Surah Al-Lail, 92: 5-10)

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) therefore enjoined his Companions to work and did not allow them to depend on what has been predestined. Those who have been destined to enter paradise will not enter it until they do deeds of the people of paradise and the ones destined for hellfire  will  not  enter  it until  they  do deeds  of  the  people  of hellfire.

Also, actions are within human capacity because people know that Allah has given them abilities to choose the types of actions they like and the capabilities to carry them out. It is with these two capacities that they do what they want and give up what they dislike.

For instance, when a person wants to travel, he or she travels; when the person wants to stay, he or she stays. One who sees an inferno runs away from it, and one who sees a lovable thing advances towards it. As such, acts of obedience and disobedience are also carried out by humans willfully and are given up willfully.

Moreover, there are two problems baffling some people on the issue of qadr.

1. How can the fact that humans do things willingly and give them up willingly without any feeling of being forced to do so correspond with the belief that everything happens according to Allah’s predestination and ordainment?

Answer: When we reflect on someone's actions and movements we find that they result from two things: free will and the ability to carry out the actions, for no action can take place without these two factors. Free will and ability are both created by Allah. Free will is an intellectual strength while ability is physical strength.  If Allah so wishes, He can deprive humans of their intellect and make them become creatures with no will or deprive them of their abilities and make work impossible for them.

It follows, then, that when someone decides to carry out an action and actually carries it out, it is known to us convincingly that Allah wants the action to be carried out and has ordained it. If not so, Allah would have diverted the person’s attention from it and created obstacles between him or her and the ability to execute the plan. A Bedouin Arab was asked: "How did you know the power of Allah?" He answered: "By His breaking men’s decisions and diverting their attentions."

2.  It is said that humans are punished for their disobedience, but why is that so since disobedience has been predestined for them and it is not possible to escape from what has been predestined?

Answer: If you are to say that, you are also obliged to say: It is said that humans are rewarded for performing acts of obedience, but why is that so since obedience has been predestined for them and it is not possible to escape from what has been predestined? In fact, it is unjust to make qadr a pretext for disobedience and not to make it an excuse for obedience.

Another answer is that Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) falsifies this excuse in the noble Qur'an and regards it as baseless saying:

 “Those who associated with Allah will say: If Allah had willed, we would not have associated [anything] and neither would our fathers, nor would we have prohibited anything. Likewise did those before deny until they tasted Our punishment. Say: Do you have any knowledge that you can produce for us? You follow not except assumption, and you are not but falsifying.”                                    (Qur'an, Surah Al-An'am, 6: 148)

Allah explains in the above verse that those who make qadr an excuse for their associating partners with Allah have predecessors who belied as they do and perpetuated their misguidance until they tasted His Wrath. Then, Allah commanded His Prophet (Peace be upon him) to challenge them to produce proof on the truthfulness of their excuse and explained that there was no excuse for them.

Thirdly, qadr is a concealed secret which is known to no one except Allah until it occurs. Where, then has the sinner acquired the knowledge that Allah has preordained the sin for him or her before he or she advanced to it? Is it then not possible that an act of obedience has also been preordained for him or her? If that should be the case, why not undertake an act of obedience instead of venturing upon an act of disobedience and saying that Allah has preordained it? Fourthly, Allah has favoured humans by giving them intellect and understanding.  He revealed Books and sent Prophets to them, He distinguished for them the useful from the harmful, and provided them with free will and abilities with which they can tread whichever path they like. Why, then, would the sinner prefer treading the harmful way to the useful one?

If this sinner wanted to travel to a country and there were two roads leading to it - one of which was easy and safe, while the other was difficult and unsafe -    would he or she not take the easy and safe road for sure? He or she would certainly  not  take  the  tough  and  insecure  road  with  the pretext that Allah has preordained  it. If one did so, people would regard that as foolish and insane.

Therefore, the path towards good and the path towards evil should be treated equally as far as qadr is concerned.  One should tread the way of goodness and not deceive himself/herself while treading the way of evil with the excuse that Allah has preordained it for him or her. Furthermore, real­ life experience shows us that every person who is capable of earning a livelihood exploits every possible means to attain it and does not sit in his or her house and give up working, making qadr an excuse for that. What, then, is the difference between making efforts in the cause of the benefits of this world and making efforts in the cause of acts of obedience to Allah? How can you take qadr as an excuse for your acts of disobedience to Allah and not take it as an excuse for giving up work for worldly benefits?

The issue is crystal clear, but fanciful or rather impious desire makes one blind and deaf to the truth.