Today’s Lesson Summary:
- The Decree of Allah
- What about evil & Suffering?
- The two types of the Will of Allah
- Do we have free will?
- What about sins? are they decreed?
The Decree of Allah
Belief in the Decree of Allah is part of Imān (Faith). There are six pillars of Imān, they are:
- Belief in Allah
- Belief in the Angels
- Belief in His Books (e.g. Torah, Injeel (Bible) etc)
- Belief in the Prophets and Messengers
- Belief in the Day of Judgement
- Belief in the Decree of Allah
Allah Knows and Decrees everything that occurs, when, where and how it takes place long before it ever happens. The belief in the Decree of Allah can be explained using 4 parts:
- 1st Part: The Knowledge of Allah
- To believe that Allah’s Knowledge encompasses everything
- Allah says:
- “And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him. And He knows what is on the land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but that He knows it. And no grain is there within the darknesses of the earth and no moist or dry [thing] but that it is [written] in a clear record.” [Chapter 6 Surah An-Aam (The Cattle) verse 59]
- 2nd Part: That Allah has recorded everything in the Preserved Tablet
- To believe that Allah has written everything in the Preserved Tablet
Question: What is the Preserved Tablet? - 💡The Hadith about Pre-Decree. An Angle is sent whilst a child is still in the womb of his mother. The Angel is instructed to write down 4 matters from Allah’s Decree with respect to:
- His Sustenance
- His lifespan
- His actions
- His Fate
- Question: There are Hadith which mention that the Decree was written 50 thousand years before the creation of the heavens and the earth, how do we understand this with the Angel writing down the decree for each person whilst they are in the womb of their mother?
- 3rd Part: Whatever Allah wills to occur will definitely occur, and what He does not will never occur
- Everything that happens in creation only does so by the Will of Allah
- There is nothing in the Kingdom of Allah that can occur without his Will
- Question: What about all the evil & suffering?
- Answer: Things that occur which may seem evil are only evil from our perspective and our limited comprehension. For example a person may think a sin is an evil. Yet it would necessarily need to have been decreed before hand for it to occur. A person may thus ask why Allah would decree such a thing. However, by way of this sin, the same person may seek forgiveness and repentance which then bring him or her closer to Allah. Therefore there was a wisdom behind which we as humans cannot comprehend.
- There are Two types of the Will of Allah:
- One: The things Allah Wills about the Creation
- Whatever Allah wills to happen in the creation, then it will absolutely occur
- Whatever He does not Will to happen will never happen
- Two: The things Allah Loves
- For example, Allah loves that his servants are obedient and become believers. However he has not decreed or forced this upon everyone, instead he gives us trials to test our belief.
- Question: What about free will?
- Allah says: “And you do not will except that Allah wills – Lord of the worlds.” [Surah At-Takweer (Wound Round and Lost its Light) verse 29]
- 💡Example 1: The story of the drunken man who questioned Umar Ibn Al-Khattab
- 💡Example 2: If a house is robbed, would you blame the Decree of Allah or the free will of the thief?
- 💡Overall: Allah has given us free will so that we can make choices. He knows and has recorded our choices, but they are our own choices.
- One: The things Allah Wills about the Creation
- 4th Part: Allah is the one who brings everything into existence.
- Nothing exists in creation without his Permission.
Question: In Arabic, is there a difference between the words “Al-Qadhaa” and “Qadr” linguistically?
Misguided Groups and Sects amongst the Muslims:
- Al-Qadariyyah: They reject the Decree of Allah. The extreme amongst them claimed that Allah does not know what will occur until it happens
- Al-Jabariyyah: They believe that we are compelled by the Decree to such an extent that we do not have free will whatsoever. Therefore they reject choice & accountability. This undermines the entire existence of Heaven and Hell.
The Correct Position:
- Everything occurs by the Decree of Allah, including what we do
- All of this is brought into Existence by Allah
- Our Actions are a result of our free will, this is not separate from the will of Allah
Questions on Accountability:
- What if someone is compelled to sin by force?
- What if someone has a mental disorder? are they held accountable?
- Is someone who is asleep accountable for their actions?
- What about a child under the age of puberty?