Predestination and Islam

The belief in predestination is one of the pillars of islam. It is one of the fundamental beliefs which have to be believed for every muslim. What predestination means is that, Allah swt has knowledge of every thing, and everything happens with His will. So, basically, the belief in predestination requires us to believe in the following things;

the knowledge of everything rests with Allah and He knows everything about everything.

Allah swt has written everything about universe and all that is beyond and within it, in loh-e mahfooz.

Everything happens by the will of Allah swt.

He is the creator of everything.

These four points form the basis of the belief in predestination. Some people has misinterpreted predestination as the idea that we have no free will and that whatever we do is already pre set. These people then blame their fate for everything that happens to them. But this is very extreme and total opposite. It is a bit complex to understand fate but once its done, it becomes crystal clear. Lets take the example of a robot. The creator of the robot knows what its capabilities are. Robot does what its meant to do. Now induce the concept of artificial Intelligence into this robot. This robot now has improved free will, but still it has a pre set course. It will choose from a preset values or instructions but in the end, what it means to achieve, it will.

Humans are the best creation. We are given free will and we are given the leave to choose. But in the end, it is the will of Allah swt that sets the things right. This is why, we wait for the divine justice and a miracle to happen. Allah swt has mentioned about the concept of predestination in Quran on various places as well, like in the following verses, He swt say;

�Verily, We have created all things with Qadar (Divine preordainment of all things before their creation as written in the Book of Decrees AlLawh AlMahfooz)�
[al-Qamar 54:49]

�No calamity befalls on the earth or in yourselves but it is inscribed in the Book of Decrees (AlLawh AlMahfooz) before We bring it into existence. Verily, that is easy for Allaah�

[al-Hadeed 57:22]

There are ahadith as well which describe the belief in predestination. The following haadith says;

�Abd-Allaah ibn �Amr ibn al-�Aas said:

I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: �Allaah wrote down the decrees of creation fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth.� He said: �And His Throne was upon the water.�

Muslim (2653)

The concept of prayer (dua) further explains the predestination. There are many things that we do not understand even about our own life. If we were totally bound, then the purpose of our creation has no meaning. If we were given total free will, then the concept of God would have no meaning. Our very existence itself is the is biggest proof of the belief in predestination.