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Destiny in Islam

Is it Destiny or freedom of choice ?

Dr. Arshad Sayeed Siddiqui

 

When a person is still a foetus in his mother's womb, an angel is sent down to write his Deeds, Means of livelihood, Time of death and whether he will be Happy or Unhappy in the hereafter. This means that a person may do good deeds throughout his life, but what was written for him by the angel may change his actions to bad ones  before his death, so that he will be among those  in Hell. Similarly, a person may do bad deeds throughout his life, but what was written by the angel may change his actions to good ones before his death, so that he will be amonge those in paradise. Does it means that our destiny is predetermined? shall we not then depend on this fact and giveup work? Yet we appeal to Allah all the time to grant us what is good for our lives in this world and the next. How can we reconcile this?

The Hadith to which the above paragraph is referred, may be given in translation as follows: 

Allah's messenger (saw) the true and truly inspired said, (as regards your creation, 22.5) “everyone of you is collected in the womb of his mother for the first 40 days in the form of a seed, and then he becomes a clot for another 40 days, and then a lump of flesh for another 40 days. Then Allah sends an angel to write four things. He writes his deeds, time of death, means of his livelihood, and whether he will be happy or unhappy in the (Hereafter). Then the soul is breathed into his body. So a man may do deeds characteristic of the people of hell until there is but an arms length between him and hell, and that which has been written by the angel overtakes him and so he begins to behave like the people of paradise and thus he enters it. Similarly, a person may do deeds characteristic of people of paradise until there is but an arm's length between him and paradise, and that which has been written overtakes him and so he behaves like the people of hell  and thus he enters it.” ( Sahih  Al-bukhari  and Sahih Muslim ). 

It is very important to understand this Hadith according to the well established Islamic principles about life and death, deeds and rewards, predestination and man's freedom. But what we have to understand first of all is the concept of Allah's will and his knowledge of everything that takes place in the universe. 

We know that Allah's will is absolute, unrestricted and cannot be frustrated by any power. When He wills something to take place, He only has to say to it, " Be " and it exists (Surah Baqara 117). The moment Allah's will is directed to the creation of something, it comes into existence. Nothing stops it. He has willed to grant man freedom of choice over much of what is related to his life and how man conducts his affairs. Thus this freedom of choice exists beyond any shred of doubt.  

Accountability goes hand in hand with this freedom. This life is made a test for human beings so that they can prove what they deserve of reward or punishment, which determines whether they will be happy in the hereafter or not.  
 
Allah says in the Quran addressing the believers:

"This is Paradise; you have inherited it by virtue of your past deeds" .(Surah Az-Zukhruf 72).

This is a clear statement showing that there is no pre-judgement as to the final destination of any human being. That destination is determined by every person's actions in this life, made on the basis of his or her free choice. Had Allah pre-determined fate wholly before birth, there would have been no necessity for Allah to depute a pair of angels Kiramun and Katibeen to record a person’s good and bad actions so that the net result may be taken into account by Allah on the day of judgement. Hence, Allah orders us to do what we can in order to secure a happy ending in the hereafter. 

At the same time, Allah knows everything before it takes place. We have said that, like His will, Allah's knowledge is absolute and unrestricted. Nothing comes into Allah's knowledge as a result of any event. He knows it before the event takes place. Some people confuse this knowledge with pre-destination. They argue: since Allah knows it before hand what every person will do before that person does it, then Allah must have willed it so. This is a false argument. Allah has willed that each person shall have the freedom of choice and that freedom takes place according to man's decision. It is true that Allah knows what every person chooses before the choice is made by us. It is this knowledge that the angel records when he, by Allah's command breathes the spirit into the foetus. Therefore, he writes down what Allah knows, not what Allah wills that person to do. However, there are areas in which man has no choice, such as his being affected by natural forces, being subject to burn in fire, drown in water, be killed in a plane crash or by a bullet etc.

Allah  knew that a desaster would take place and that he would perish in that desaster. These areas are not recorded by the angel, because man has no control over them. Only that which is recorded  is subject to his free choice. Man the one who makes the choice.  

One of these is his deeds :

Have we not made for him a pair of eyes and shown him the two ways, good and evil, ( Surah Al-Balad 8,10 ).  

Means of livelihood :  which is again subject to his free choice and his effort.

If one sits at home doing nothing for a livelihood he will get nothing. If he goes out to work and exerts his best efforts in improving his situation, he will get results sooner or later. Allah says in Quran:

Allah helps those who help themselves (Surah Ar-Rad 11). 

What about our life span : The fact that duration of one’s life is pre-determined by Allah is evident from the Ayah (Surah Fatir 11)

Nor is a man long-lived, granted length of days, nor is a part cut off from his life, but is in a decree (Ordained). All this is easy to Allah.  
 
However, if one exposes himself to great risks, he is likely to die quickly, such as a person committing suicide or not leading a healthy life. If he does the type of deed which the Prophet (saw) described as prolonging life, such as kindness to people and dutyfulness to parents, then Allah gives him extra years. Allah knew beforehand what his subjects were to do, and thus set the limit to the subjects’ life span as a product of his doings. 

Paradise or Hell :

The end of this Hadith is often misunderstood, because some people may take it as referring to what Allah had already written down as the fate of a person in the hereafter. Allah has not determined that fate for anyone. It is every one's total sum of the working of their free choice and free will that determines their fate whether he will be in heaven or hell. Thus it is the person himself who may change his or her course of action before death. He would have done good deeds throughout his life, but then one day he sinks into disbelief and takes actions that place him among those who will go to hell. This is again his free choice. It is true that it was recorded by the angel before his birth, but that recording is based on  Allah's prior knowledge of his actions. 

"We have no control over our doings", we were destined to do this, is a scapegoat for those who have weak wills. If that was true a culprit would have taken the plea that he is not to blame as he was destined by Allah to commit the crime. Let us not blame Allah for our wrong doings. 

We must never feel too secure as a result of having done well in the past life. We must continue to do so until we die.

Prophet (saw) said, “There is none among  you but has his place written for him, either in paradise or in the hell-fire, carry on  doing good deeds, for everybody will find easy to do such deeds as will lead him to his destined place”

At the same time we must never despair if we have done badly. Repentance and mending our ways, with sincerity and trust in Allah will ensure our safety.       

Destiny is a historical narration of a man's future which came into being because of Allah's absolute knowledge. 
 

The End