Fatwa ID: 03281

Answered by: Alimah Sabrina Saidova​

Question

I am struggling to know clearly about Qadr and Human's free will. I will be very thankful to you if you answer this query of mine. Please, help me with this.

Jazakallahu khairan katheera wa baarik ilayk, Wassalams.

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful 

Answer:

Our belief is that Allah Ta’ala is the Knower of everything that will occur before it occurs, what is occurring and what has occured. Before the creation of the human, Allah Ta’ala already possessed the full knowledge of what actions each particular person was going to carry out in his life and where each person will enter in the Hereafter as a result of those actions.

Through this knowledge, Allah Ta’ala has recorded every detail of every person’s life in the al-Lowhul Mahfuz. Since Allah Ta’ala has recorded the actions of Mankind through His full knowledge before their creation, it does not mean that a human is compelled to perform actions that match the Qadr contrary to his own will similar to a puppet, as the Jabariyyah (a deviant sect) has interpreted.

Moreover, we are also free from the belief that Allah Ta’ala has no part in the actions we perform and He learns of them after one has performed them, as the Qadariyyah (another deviant sect) has interpreted.

The belief of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah regarding Qadr (Predestination) is such that we believe every HuZan Being to be a kaasib (collector/gainer) who possesses free will. Meaning, Allah Ta’ala already knew all actions we were going to undertake throughout our lives and so He recorded them and provided us with free will. Now, every time we intend to perform an action through our free will, be it good or bad, Allah Ta’ala provides us with the strength we need such as, letting our body parts function and providing us with performance ability. However, it is important that we don’t confuse this with Allah Ta’ala making decisions for us.

To conclude, our belief is that Allah Ta’ala already possessed knowledge of everything and recorded it. Thereafter, He gave us free will and based on the decisions we make, He provides us with the ability. An example to understand this belief is such as picking up a pencil. We as Humans, make the decision to pick the pencil up through our free will but it is Allah Ta’ala that lets our bones, muscles and brain to function hence we are the deciders of our actions (kaasib) and Allah Ta’ala is the creator of our actions (khaaliq). [1]

Only Allah knows best

Answered by Alimah Sabrina Saidova

Checked and approved Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham