WHEN ALLAH HAS MADE US THE WAY HE WANTS US TO BE & KNOW ALL & KNOWS WHAT WE HAVE DONE, ARE DOING & GOING TO DO THEN WHY ARE WE DESTINED TO HEAVEN OR HELL.
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's
Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:
DEAR BURHAN SAHEB,
AS SALAM ALI KUM.
MAY ALLAH FORGIVE ME FOR MY IGNORANCE &
AUDACITY, BUT I BELIEVE THAT BY ASKING QUESTIONS & GETTING CORRECT ANSWERS
ONES FAITH BECOMES STRONGER.
GIVEN THE BELOW FACTS, WHEN ALLAH HAS
MADE US THE WAY HE WANTS US TO BE & KNOW ALL & KNOWS WHAT WE HAVE
DONE, ARE DOING & GOING TO DO THEN WHY ARE WE DESTINED TO HEAVEN OR
HELL.
SOME SAY BUT ALLAH HAS GIVEN US A BRAIN
& SHOWN US RIGHT & WRONG BUT STILL HE KNOWS WHAT WE ARE DESTINED TO.
THEN WHY!
TILL TODAY NO ONE HAS GIVEN ME A LOGICAL
EXPLANATION EXCEPT THE MOST LOGICAL ONE THAT I HAVE GOT IS THAT WE DO NOT
KNOW!
SALAM. YOUR BROTHER IN ISLAM,
(There may be
some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not
change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our
readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
Destiny fate
In the name of Allah, We
praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah
guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide
them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai, nobody!) worthy of
worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His
slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Your Statement: MAY ALLAH FORGIVE ME FOR MY IGNORANCE
& AUDACITY, BUT I BELIEVE THAT BY ASKING QUESTIONS & GETTING CORRECT
ANSWERS ONES FAITH BECOMES STRONGER.
Beloved brother in
Islam, never ever hesitate or apologize for asking any questions in the deen;
for the deen or ‘way of life’ called Al-Islam is based on the Perfect Wisdom
and Knowledge of the All Knowing Lord, and every single command of the All Wise
Lord is abundant in common-sense and logic.
Asking any type of questions in Islam to gain more knowledge, or to
confirm the Truth so that one’s heart is more content, or to understand and
thus follow with more conviction the dictates of the deen is not only
permissible, but absolutely encouraged in Islam. It is the right of the brother or sister to
ask anything they wish to clarify in the deen; and it is the responsibility and
duty of the good scholars to address the question asked to the best of their
knowledge and ability, and in the most polite and humble manner.
What is discouraged in
Islam is if one asks questions for the sake of asking, or argues only to
ridicule the Truth with absolutely no intention of obeying or following when
the Truth is made clear to them, etc.
But if one asks questions to clarify and seek knowledge so that one may
better follow the deen; such seeking of the Knowledge of Truth is absolutely
encouraged in Islam
Your Question: GIVEN THE BELOW FACTS, WHEN ALLAH HAS
MADE US THE WAY HE WANTS US TO BE & KNOW ALL & KNOWS WHAT WE HAVE
DONE, ARE DOING & GOING TO DO THEN WHY ARE WE DESTINED TO HEAVEN OR
HELL.
SOME SAY BUT ALLAH HAS GIVEN US A BRAIN & SHOWN US
RIGHT & WRONG BUT STILL HE KNOWS WHAT WE ARE DESTINED TO. THEN WHY!
TILL TODAY NO ONE HAS GIVEN ME A LOGICAL EXPLANATION
EXCEPT THE MOST LOGICAL ONE THAT I HAVE GOT IS THAT WE DO NOT KNOW!
Dear and Beloved Brother
in Islam, the all-important question that you have asked have perplexed many
amongst mankind and it is of paramount importance to understand and comprehend
the reality of the matter of fate or destiny, and the test of the application
of the faculty of intelligence and the free will which Allah Subhanah has
bestowed on mankind as a test, the outcome or result of which will determine
the state of the person in the eternal life of the Hereafter.
Sahih Muslim
Hadith 6392 Narrated by Hudhayfah ibn Usayd
The Prophet
(saws) said: “When the drop of (semen) remains in the womb for forty (days) or
forty nights, the angel comes and says: “My Lord, will he be good or evil?” And
both these things would be written. Then the angel says: “My Lord, would he be
male or female?” And both these things are written. And his deeds and actions,
his death, his livelihood; these are also recorded. Then his document of
destiny is rolled and there is no addition to and subtraction from it.
In light of the above
authentic narration of the Messenger of Allah (saws) quoted, four things are predetermined:
Whether the new born
will be male or female.
What will be his ‘rizk’
or provision.
What day, date,
and place he will die.
Whether the person will
be an evil or good person.
We would just like to
clarify here what is the actual reality of Fate or Destiny. To get a fuller understanding of Fate, it
can be divided into two parts:
Part-1:
One part of Fate is things over which the person has absolutely no
control. For example, the three points in the above hadith: Whether one will be born male or female, what will his provision be, and what day, date and place he will
die. These are the Decisions and Decrees
of Allah Subhanah Alone, and no matter
what a person does, he cannot change his Decreed sex from male to female, or change his appointment with death, etc.
On all such Decrees of the Creator where man has absolutely no control,
he will neither be questioned regarding these Decrees of Allah, nor will he be
held accountable in the least for the fulfillment of any of these Decisions of
Allah Subhanah.
Part-2:
The second part of fate is not a Decision or Decree from Allah
Subhanah, but is the Absolute and
Perfect Knowledge of the All-Knowing,
All-Wise Lord. For example, it is written down before one is born whether
he will be a good or evil person: but it is not as if Allah Subhanah (I seek
refuge in Allah from saying this) is unjust,
and has already condemned someone to be evil, so he has to become evil!!! Because Allah Subhanah is the All
Knowing, He already knows from His
Absolute Knowledge and Wisdom, what the
person with the given free will and intelligence will do in the future; and thus what is written is not a Decision
from Allah Subhanah, but rather a
documentation of the Absolute and Perfect Knowledge of Allah Subhanah.
Sahih
Al-Bukhari Hadith 6.473 Narrated
by Ali ibn Abi Taalib
While we
were in a funeral procession in Baqi Al-Gharqad, the Messenger of Allah (saws)
came and sat down, and we sat around him. He had a small stick in his hand and
he bent his head and started scraping the ground with it. He (saws) then said, "There is none
among you, and no created soul, but has his place written for him either in
In whatever thing man
has absolutely no control or choice to choose, he will not be held accountable
for them in the Just and Supreme Court of Allah Subhanah; but in whatever
things man has a choice or a free will to choose amongst several options, he
will be held accountable for choosing that option.
To understand and
comprehend the true concept of Fate and Destiny, one must learn to appreciate
the difference between the Lord All-Mighty being All-Knowing and His being the
All-Just!
Fate or Destiny is
nothing more than the documentation of the Absolute and Perfect Knowledge of
our Lord All-Mighty of the conditions and the choice each in creation will
make, which He Commanded to be written and preserved even before the creation
of anything in the Heavens and the earth!
Allah Subhanah is not bound by the dimension of time, as His Perfect and
Absolute Knowledge comprehends and envelopes everything of the past, the
present, and the future!
Al-Tirmidhi
Hadith 94 Narrated by Ubadah ibn as-Samit
Allah's
Messenger (saws) said: ‘The (absolute) first thing which Allah created was the
Pen. He commanded it to write. It (the pen) asked: ‘What should I write?’ He
said: ‘Write the ‘Al-Qadr’ (Decree, Fate, Destiny).’ So it wrote what had happened and what was
going to happen up to eternity!’
Allow us to relate a
very simple example to clarify our point:
Just suppose a parent
has a small son, and one evening the parent decides to put his son to a test
and write down on a piece of paper the options he will give his son the next
morning, and from his experience with his son, he determines what options the
child will take when they are presented to him.
Example-1: Parent will give the option to
his son to choose to go to school the next morning or skip school; and the
parent, with his knowledge and experience, writes down the son would most
probably choose the option to skip school!
Example-2: Parent will give the option to
his son to choose to memorize the Quran or watch cartoons on TV; and the
parent, with his knowledge, determines and writes that the son would most
probably choose to watch TV!
Example-3: Parent would give the option to
his son to choose to eat a wholesome and healthy diet of whole wheat-grain and
vegetables or eat hamburgers and fries;
and the parent, with his knowledge, determines and writes that the son,
of his own free will, would most probably choose to eat hamburgers and fries!
Example-4: Parent would give the option to
his son to choose to go to the local mosque to offer the dhuhr prayers or spend
that time in the video-game arcade; and the parent, with his knowledge,
determines and writes that his son, of his own free will, would most probably
choose to spend the time in the arcade!
In all the above four
examples, the probability is that any normal child, given a free will to choose
between the two given options by his parent, would most probably choose the
option which the parent had written down before the event took place! Because the child has been given a free will
to choose, he is not bound to follow the option his parent had determined his
son will take; but in all probability the child will take the option which his
parent has pre-determined because the parent knows the temperament and
condition of his child and knows exactly what his child will do in the given
circumstances. The child has absolutely
no control over the conditions and options set for him by his parent, nor is he
bound to follow what his parent has documented the child would do, if given a
free will to choose in the given circumstances.
But if the same parent
gives the same options to his child, but promises a huge reward to his child
(say, to buy him a brand new bike or the latest computer of his choice!) if he
chooses the better of the two options; the smart and intelligent child would
sacrifice the short-term gain in choosing what he desires and would opt for the
option which would earn him the pleasure of his parents and the fulfillment of
their promised rewards!
Similarly, Allah
Subhanah has put mankind to a test by putting him in a set of conditions, and
bestowed upon man the faculty of intelligence and a ‘free-will’ for a limited
period of one life on this earth, to choose whatever one wishes to do. If man chooses to sacrifice his desire and of
his own free choice, sacrifices his will to the Will of His Lord, he will earn
His Pleasure and His Promised Rewards!
Since the Knowledge of
the All-Knowing, All-Wise Lord of the Worlds is absolutely Perfect and totally
Complete in all respects, He Knows and has documented beforehand what each
amongst His creation, if given a free will to choose, would do in a given
situation. Allah Subhanah, in His
Perfect and Absolutely Knows beforehand who amongst His slaves will sacrifice
their will to earn His Pleasure and His Rewards, and who amongst His slaves
will choose to fulfill whatever their hearts desire regardless of the Will and
Pleasure of their Creator; and the precise documentation of that Absolute and
Perfect Knowledge of the Lord All-Knowing is what is known as Fate or Decree.
Just as in the above
related example of the child who is not bound to do what his parent had
pre-determined he would choose, but rather the child chose of his own free will
to do what he desired to do; man too, has been given a ‘free will’ to choose
whatever he wishes to do as a test from His Creator for a test period of one
life on this earth!
The major difference
between the knowledge of the parent and the Knowledge of Allah Subhanah is that
the Knowledge of our All-Knowing Lord is Absolutely and Totally Perfect. It is possible that the child would choose
something which his parent thought he would not, simply because the knowledge
of man is limited; but since the Knowledge of our Lord All-Mighty is Absolutely
and Totally Perfect, His Knowledge of what one will do of his own free will,
can never ever be wrong or in error.
Neither the child in the
above related examples, nor man in his test of life are bound to do what was
pre-determined by the document; but rather, they were allowed to choose
whatever they desired to do of their own free will; and therein was their
test!
Dear and Beloved brother
in Islam, it is absolutely paramount in importance that we understand the true
concept of Fate and the bestowed ‘free-will’ to enable each of us to fulfill
this test of life. If our humble and
weak efforts have not satisfied your query, we request you in all humility to
give us another chance to explain this concept or alternatively you may consult
in person a good righteous God-fearing scholar who will be able to address this
all-important matter to your satisfaction.
There are many amongst
mankind who have completely misunderstood (or have chosen to misunderstand)
this concept of fate and ‘free will’; and live their lives in ignorance and
disobedience of the Divine law in their false hope that they will become
righteous if their Lord has Decreed in their Fate to become righteous! Allah is our witness, their this false hope
and belief will bring nothing but misery and perdition upon themselves on that
Eventful and Tumultuous Day of Judgment in the Majestic and Supreme Presence of
the All-Just Lord of the Worlds!
Your Question: then why did he make us and whats our
purpsoe in this world and life what was Allahs reason to make us if he knows
everything that is gonna happen
When one sees, studies,
and ponders over the perfect creation and the perfect balance created by the
Creator in nature; and when one recognizes the Perfect and Absolute Attributes
of his Perfect Creator through His Message and through His Messengers, one who
is intelligent and wise comes to the inevitable conclusion that it is beyond
comprehension for such a Perfect Creator to do anything in vain or without
reason or created the heavens and earth for idle sport or play!
Allah Says in
the Holy Quran Chapter 21 Surah Anbiya verses 16-17:
16 Not for (idle) sport did We create the
heavens and the earth and all that is between!
17 If it had been Our wish to take (just) a pastime We should surely
have taken it from the things nearest to Us if We would (ever) do (such a
thing)!
Allah Says in
the Holy Quran Chapter 44 Surah Dukhan verses 38-42:
38 We created not the heavens the earth and all between them merely
in (idle) sport:
39 We created them not except for Just Ends: but most of them do not
understand.
40 Verily the Day of Sorting Out is the time appointed for all of them
41 The Day when no protector can avail his client in aught and no help
can they receive.
42 Except such as receive Allah's Mercy: for He is exalted in Might
Most Merciful.
Your Question: why did He make us and whats our purpsoe in
this world and life
The Lord Who Created gave
men (and jinn) two things which He did not bestow in any amongst His supreme
creation, and thus involved each in a test:
Intelligence or the
Power of Reasoning
A free will to choose
whichever way of life one wishes to live.
If one uses his bestowed
intelligence and recognizes his Creator, and of his own free will submits his
will to the Will of his Creator; he will earn His Mercy, Grace and
Forgiveness. And if one denies his
Creator, and refuses and rejects to submit his will to the Will of his Supreme and
Majestic Creator, he will deserve His Wrath and His Anger!
Allah Says in
the Holy Quran Chapter 51 Surah Dhariyat verse 56: I have created jinns and men only that they may serve Me.
Allah Says in
the Holy Quran Chapter 67 Surah Mulk verses 1-4:
1 Blessed be He in Whose hands is Dominion: and He over all things
Hath Power
2 He Who created Death and Life that He may try which of you is best
in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might
Oft-Forgiving
3 He Who created the seven heavens one above another; no want of
proportion wilt thou see in the Creation of (Allah) Most Gracious so turn thy
vision again: Seest thou any flaw?
4 Again turn thy vision a second time; (thy) vision will come back to
thee dull and discomfited in a state worn out.
Thus the purpose of
Allah’s Supreme Creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in between
is only so that He may put mankind (and the Jinns) to a test to determine who
amongst them submit to Him and who amongst them reject Him. For those who
choose to accept, submit, follow, and obey Him there is an Eternal Reward for
them in the life of the Hereafter; and those who choose to deny, reject, and
disobey Him, they will be held severely accountable for their deeds on an
Inevitable Day in His Majestic and Supreme Presence!
Your Question: what was Allahs reason to make us if he
knows everything that is gonna happen
Just as a teacher does
not declare a student ‘failed’ before giving him an opportunity to give his
examination; the Lord Most Merciful does not ‘fail’ anyone before He gives them
an opportunity to give their test of life!
He is indeed the
All-Knowing, and because His Knowledge is Absolutely Perfect and Absolute, He
knows everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen in the
future; but He is also the All-Just, and He has given each human being an
opportunity of one life time as a test to either choose of their own free will
to accept His Guidance and submit to Him, or deny His Guidance and reject
Him!
Whatever one does in his
test of this short and transient period of one life time will determine his
outcome in the Eternal and Everlasting life of the Hereafter.
Whatever written of
Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever
of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows
Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,