The belief in al-Qadar (general and particular decrees) is
one of the main pillars of the Islamic Faith. Most Muslims believe in this. However,
a few understand what it really is.
Let us first review or explain the meaning of al-Qadar.
Al-Qadar is sometimes mentioned with al-Qadaa’ in the same statement. If so
then each has a distinct meaning. However, when they are mentioned separately,
then either one comprises the other. So when they are stated together, then
al-Qadar means that which Allaah has eternally pre-ordained (in due measure)
pertaining to His creation. On the other hand, al-Qadaa' means that which Allah
has decreed for His creation from existence, annihilation, or change. In this
sense, al-Qadar preceeds al-Qadaa' when combined in the same sentence.
The belief in al-Qadar is obligatory as Allah stated in
several verses of the Glorious Qur'an:
“Verily, we have
created everything with Qadar.” (54:49)
An example of a Prophetic saying about al-Qadar:
”No slave of Allaah
will (truly) believe until he believes in Qadar, its good and bad, from Allaah…”
(Sahih at-Tirmidhi)
Al-Qadar encompasses four themes:
1)
Allaah’s Knowledge
(al-'ilm)
2)
Allaah’s Writing
(al-kitabah)
3)
Allaah’s Will (al-mashee’ah)
4)
Allaah’s Creation
(al-khalq).
Each of these themes is discussed to some extent below.
1) Allaah’s Knowledge (al-'ilm)
We believe that Allaah’s knowledge encompasses everything.
He knows what has occurred, what will occur, and all that which has or will not
occur. This includes everything such as: life-spans, sayings, moves, deeds,
secrets, all obedient and disobedient acts etc.
“Verily, Allaah is
the All-Knower of everything.” (The Qur’an; 8:75)
2) Allaah’s Writing (al-kitabah)
This means that Allaah wrote everything about the creation,
their livelihood, provisions, ages, and deeds, etc. He wrote what He says and
what He does, and all that comes to existence due to His actions and sayings.
He also wrote what is entailed by His names and attributes. All these are
written in al-Lawh ul Mahfoudh (The preserved Tablet).
“And there is nothing
hidden in the heaven and the earth but (is) in a clear book.” (The Qur’an;
27:75)
3) Allaah’s Will (al-mashee’ah)
It is the belief that Allaah willed everything that goes on
in this universe. His will and His preordaining power effectively cover
everything. Whatever He wills, will occur, and whatever He does not will, will
not take place.
“If Allaah willed, he
would have made you one nation, but (He did this) that (He) may test you in
what He has given you.” (The Qur’an; 5:48)
The will of Allaah (Al-mashee’ah) can be Kawniyyah
(universal) or Shar’iyyah (legal or judicial).
Al-mashee’ah al-kawniyyah means that whatever Allaah permitted to exist [such
as kufr (disbelief), belief, obedience, and disobedience, etc.] is pertinent to
his mashee’ah, whether He likes it or not. This is also called al-iradah
al-kawniyyah. Therefore, Allaah may decree, as necessitated by His wisdom, to
pass things which He does not like and is not pleased with.
“And he likes not disobedience from His slaves.” (The Qur’an;
39:7)
It is obvious from this verse that Allaah does not like kufr.
Yet it exists, by His will, in harmony with His wisdom.
On the other hand, the judicial will is pertinent to Allaah’s
legislation (Sharee’ah). Hence it is related to what Allah loves and likes,
whether it takes place or not. It is also known as al-iradah ash-shar’iyyah.
The acts of obedience from the angels, prophets, and the believers, when they
take place, are loved by Allaah and are passed by His universal will. However,
it is not necessarily that His commands are always executed.
4) Allaah’s Creation (al-khalq).
Allaah is the sole Creator of everything, including man’s
deeds. No single atom or higher, static or in motion, exists except that Allaah
created it. Nothing takes place in this world except for the fact that Allaah
has created it (including evil):
“Verily, Allaah is the Creator of everything and He is the
Disposer of affairs over all things.” (The Qur’an; 39:62)
Source: AbdurRahman.org
Coming to some of those parts which seem to confuse a lot of
people; first and foremost, if everything’s already recorded and decided, where
is the test for us and why aren’t we simply put in Heaven or Hell according to
what has been recorded?
Well, as far as the Heaven or Hell part is concerned, people
might have considered it unfair. The ones in Heaven would be satisfied with
what they get but the ones in Hell would complain and say that if we had been
given a chance, we might have passed the test and got into Heaven so the person
has to have that experience first so that he won’t have any basis for
complaint.
As for the issue regarding the test, there are two types of
incidents. One is which we have no control or choice of such as when we’re born
or when we die etc. The other type is the one in which we have a choice such as
choosing whether to practice Islam or not and so on.
The confusion being tackled is usually with this second
type. The fact of the matter is that since Allaah is the All Knower, He has the
knowledge of what we are going to do and so our Qadar was already written
before we were even born even though we were to decide it.
Another confusion is if Allaah created everything and knew
what was going to happen and He is not evil, why did He create evil in the
first place? Even if he didn’t create evil, then why did he create creatures
which result in evil?
Basically, we have to realize that nothing in this life is
totally evil. Rather, everything in this world has an evil part as well as a
good part. I’ll mention a few reasons of why such things were created and I
hope they’ll be enough to be able to clear this confusion away, inshallah.
Firstly, evil is present to help us know good. Just as we
cannot know sweet unless we know sour or we cannot know lightness unless we
know darkness, and so on, similarly we cannot know good unless we know evil.
Secondly, everything evil has a greater good in it. We take the
example of the incident in which Shaytaan finally made Prophet Adam (peace be
upon him) eat the fruit from the forbidden tree. Not going into the depth of
the incident, we might ask why did such an incident happen and why was Shaytaan
allowed to do that and so can do the same to us now.
Well, this incident lead to a greater good which was
repentance. Prophet Adam (peace be upon him) realized the blessing of
repentance and so now we also know it and this blessing is, no doubt, a much
greater achievement. Similarly, if Shaytaan wasn’t allowed to do what he was
able to do, there wouldn’t be a test for us. All of us would just pass and so
the good and hardworking ones wouldn’t be distinguished from the bad ones.
Just as we were able to realize this greater good,
everything has a greater good in itself. However, it is not always that we’re
able to realize it and that is from the wisdom of Allaah because if every such
thing was crystal clear, no one would want to disobey the commands of Allaah as
everyone would know that they always are the key to success. That would again
lead to a kind of no-test world.
One more really confusing issue is that if everything we do
is already written, why do we need to try? If it’s in our Qadar, we will surely
get it and if we don’t get it, it must be because that is what it was in our Qadar.
Therefore, some students don’t study for their exams, relying, as they say, ‘on
their Qadar’.
The answer to this is similar to that of the first confusion
so I won’t be repeating it. However, I’ll just mention a couple of examples to
show our own double standard in this issue.
Suppose you’ve got a low salary job and you know that if you
work hard and get a promotion along with an easier job, what will you do? Will
you sit at home thinking that if it is in my Qadar, I’ll get the higher salary
automatically at my home? Hardly anyone ever does that. The reason as mentioned
earlier is that everyone knows that it, eventually, is their own choice.
Similarly, if you are single and you want a child, what will
you do? Will you sit at home waiting for some child to miraculously land in
your home? Of course not! You’ll look for a spouse and take care of all the
necessary arrangements before coming near to thinking that it might not be in
my Qadar.
That is exactly what has been narrated from the Prophet
Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him):
From Umar ibn Al-Khattab from the Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) who said:
"If only you relied on Allah a true reliance, He would provide sustenance for you just as He does the birds: They fly out in the morning empty and return in the afternoon with full stomachs."
"If only you relied on Allah a true reliance, He would provide sustenance for you just as He does the birds: They fly out in the morning empty and return in the afternoon with full stomachs."
(Ahmad,
An-Nisaa’i, Ibn Majah, Al-Hakim and At-Tirmidhi who said: "Hasan Sahih")
The example that was narrated here is pretty marveling.
The birds go out in the morning and exert themselves all day long and so they
get their sustenance due to that. Similarly, we need to exert ourselves before
we start blaming anything on the Qadar.
One last issue which needs to be mentioned is should
Al-Qadar be discussed in the first place?
Many Muslims raise the issue that “It is better not to talk
about al-Qadar, the Prophet prohibited us from doing so!” Generally this
attitude is wrong for the following reasons:
1. The matter of belief in al-Qadar is an article of
Faith and we must know our faith well in order to worship Allah in the right
way. In fact al-Qadar was mentioned in the hadith of the Angel Jibra’il (peace
be upon him) in which the Prophet mentioned al-Qadar as an article of faith. At
the end of this hadith, the Prophet said, “Verily! Jibra’il came to teach you
your Deen” as narrated in Sahih Muslim, the book of faith.
2. The Noble Qur'an is full of verses about al-Qadar
and its details, and Allah says, “Do they not think deeply in the Qur'an,
or are their hearts locked up (from understanding it)?” (The Qur’an; 47:24]
3. The Sahabah (may Allaah be pleased with them all)
used to ask the Prophet about minute details in al-Qadar, as in the hadith of
Suraqah bin Maalik - who asked the Prophet: “O Messenger of Allaah! Explain our
Deen to us as if we have been created just now. Whatever we do today, is it
because of the fact that the pens have turned dry (having written the records)
and the destinies have begun to operate? Or is it something that just happens
(without pre-destination)?”
4. The scholars among the Salaf as-Saalih (pious
predecessors) wrote extensively on the subject, had it been prohibited to do
so, they would have committed a serious disobedience to Allaah. Had they also
not explained this matter, many people would remain ignorant, and it would have
opened the door to innovation in understanding al-Qadar.
This is what has happened today, when we see many Muslims
who blame al-Qadar for their sinful lives, and at the same time some religious
Muslims who, due to their ignorance on the issue, declare that there is no
Qadar and that everything is decided by ones actions.
5. What did the Prophet mean when he said, “… and if
al-Qadar is mentioned then hold”? (At-Tabarani and Abu Na’eem and al-Albaani
said it is authentic in Sahih al-Jami hadith 545 and As-Silsilah as-Sahihah
1/42 hadith 34)
Also when he saw some of the companions disputing about
al-Qadar, he became angry and said: “Were you commanded to do this? Or was I
sent to you in order to do this (dispute among yourselves)? Verily it was such
disputes in this matter (of al-Qadar) which caused the destruction of those who
were before you! I am determined (to call you) to not have dispute amongst you
in this matter (of al-Qadar).” (Sunan at-Tirmidhi and and authenticated by
Sheikh al-Albaani in Sahih Sunan at-Tirmidhi no.1732-2231)
The answer is that the Prophet prohibited disputing about
al-Qadar but not understanding the matter of al-Qadar. He did not want Muslims
to indulge in discussions about al-Qadar without knowledge and proofs. Also
discussions that will lead to disputes in this matter are forbidden.
Al-Qadar is from the world of the unseen. What is known
about it from the Qur'an and the Sunnah is to be followed and the Muslims must
submit to it. No one is allowed to give his opinion on this issue. Sufficient
is what is revealed to the Prophet. We are permitted to seek knowledge about
al-Qadar, and this is different from asking questions like - Why did Allah
guide so and so and not so and so? Or why rain falls on the southern part of
the land and not on the eastern part? Certainly, the Wisdom of Allah in al-Qadar
cannot be questioned.
May Allah, the Most Merciful, the All Knower, the All Able,
the All Wise and the All Just, guide us to the correct understanding of Islam
and make us among the adherents of the Sunnah of the Prophet and keep us safe
from misguidance.
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2 comments:
very enlightening..thanks for posting brother..JazakAllah
Wa iyyaak!
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