THE QUESTION OF Q AḌĀ’ WA -L-QADAR

THE QUESTION OF QAḌĀ’ WA -L-QADAR

Nothing exists upon earth, be it good or bad, but that which, God wills; but all things are by God's Will (mashyaمشية). No one is able to do anything before God does it, neither is anyone independent of God, nor can he withdraw himself from God's Knowledge. There is no Creator but God. The works (amals اَعمال) of creatures are created and predestined by God, as He said, (Qur. 37, 94); "and God has created you and what ye do." Man is able to create nothing; but they are created, as He has said, (Qur. 35, 31); "Is there any Creator except God?" and (Qur. 16, 17)“ and is He who created like him who created not?" and (Qur. 52, 35); "were they created out of nothing, or are they the creators?" and such passages are many in the Qur’an. (Ashari, part I)

And God maintains the believers in obedience to Him, is gracious unto them, cares for them, reforms them, and guides them aright; but the unbelievers He leads astray, guides them not aright, vouchsafes them not Faith (iman ايمان ), by His Grace, as the People of error and pride maintain. For should He be gracious unto them and help them aright, then would they be pious, and should He guide them aright, then would they allow themselves to be guided aright, as He has said, (Qur. 7, 177); "whom God guideth aright, he allows himself to be guided aright, and whom He leads astray, they are he losers.” (مَنْ يَهْدِ اللَّهُ فَهُوَ الْمُهْتَدِي ۖ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ {178} [Shakir 7:178] Whomsoever Allah guides, he is the one who follows the right way; and whomsoever He causes to err, these are the losers.[Pickthal 7:178] He whom Allah leadeth, he indeed is led aright, while he whom Allah sendeth astray - they indeed are losers.[Yusufali 7:178] Whom Allah doth guide,- he is on the right path: whom He rejects from His guidance,- such are the persons who perish.

God is able to help the unbelieving aright and to be gracious unto them, so that they shall become believing, but He wills that they shall be unbelieving as is known. For He has made them impervious to all help and sealed their hearts. Good and Evil happen according to the Destiny (qadaقضى) and Decree (qadarقدَر) of God for good and. evil, for the sweet and the bitter. We know that the misfortune that befalls us is not in order that we may go astray, and that the good fortune which befalls us is not in order that we may go aright. We have no control over that which is good or hurtful to us, except so far as God wills. We flee from our anxieties to God and commit at all times our distress and poverty to Him. (Ashari)

And God Most High is the Creator of all actions of His creatures, whether of unbelief or belief, of obedience or of rebellion; all of them are by the will of God and His sentence and His conclusion and His decreeing. And to His creatures belong actions of choice (ikhtiyarاختيار),* for which they are rewarded or punished, and the good in these is by the good pleasure of God (ridaرضى ) and the vile in them is not by His good pleasure.* And the ability to do the action (istitā‘aاستطاعة ) goes along with the action and is the essence of the power (qudraقُدرة ) by which the action takes place, and this word "ability" means the soundness of the causes and instruments and limbs. And the validity of the imposition of the task (taklīfتكليف ) is based upon this ability,* and the creature has not a task imposed upon him that is not in his power. (Al-Nasafi)

We witness that He is a Willer of the things that are, a Director of the things that happen; there does not come about in the world, seen or unseen, little or much, small or great, good or evil, advantage or disadvantage, faith or unbelief, knowledge or ignorance, success or loss, increase or diminution, obedience or rebellion, except by His will. What He wills is, and what He wills not is not. Not a glance of one who looks, or a slip of one who thinks is outside of His will: He is the Creator, the Bringer back, the Doer of that which He wills. There is no opponent of His command and no repeater of His destiny and no refuge for a creature from disobeying Him, except by His help and His mercy, and no strength to a creature to obey Him except by His will. Even though mankind and the Jinn and the Angels and the Shaytans were to unite to remove a single grain in the world or to bring it to rest without His will, they would be too weak for that. (Al-Ghazali)

إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الْأَمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَنْ يَحْمِلْنَهَا وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَحَمَلَهَا الْإِنْسَانُ ۖ إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولًا {72} [Pickthal 33:72] Lo! We offered the trust unto the heavens and the earth and the hills, but they shrank from bearing it and were afraid of it. And man assumed it. Lo! he hath proved a tyrant and a fool. [Yusufali 33:72] We did indeed offer the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth and the Mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof: but man undertook it;- He was indeed unjust and foolish;-

There have been many different opinions as to the precise nature of this 'trust', but in general it represents those qualities which distinguish man from the rest of creation: reflexive consciousness, a will that is relatively free, the capacity to choose between good and evil, and an awareness to which no limits are set. The supreme trust was given to the open-eyed creature, capable of choice and, for that very reason, capable of betrayal. As such he receives the revelation, and as such he is shown the law of his being, not as animals receive it (through irresistible instinct) but as a guidance which he may freely accept or reject. (EATON)

Let us now examine the situation from a different angle. Man is so constituted that there are two distinct spheres of his activity. One is the sphere in which he finds himself totally regulated by the Divine Law. Like other creatures, he is completely caught in the grip of the physical laws of nature and is bound to follow them. But there is another sphere of his activity. He has been endowed with reason and intellect. He has the power to think and form judgements, to choose and reject, to approve and spurn. He is free to adopt whatever course of life he chooses. He can embrace any faith, and live by any ideology he likes. He may prepare his own code of conduct or accept one formulated by others. Unlike other creatures, he has been given freedom of thought, choice and action. In short, man has been bestowed with free will. (Maududi 7)

This is known in Arabic as qadawaqadar, meaning the "measure" of what is ordained by God and His "plan." Since the entire scheme and plan of creation is under the direction and control of the Almighty Creator and Sustainer, everything that is or that happens in the universe, from the smallest to the greatest events, is governed by God's will, an integral part of His eternal plan. Nothing can take place without His ordaining it, nor is there such a thing as a random, chance event. (Haneef)

And since all of it is His, determined by His permission and decree, nothing that happens can ever be understood as "intervention" or "supernatural," or as a random, chance event devoid of meaning and purpose, whether it happens in the world of nature or in the world of human beings. In human life, ease and suffering alike, and the events which produce them, equally have a purpose and meaning, and are equally a part of God's infinitely wise plan for His creation. (Haneef)

In any situation, Islam teaches the task of a human being is to make a sincere effort, to strive, to do his best not, as is so often incorrectly stated, simply to sit back and let things take their course in blind resignation to some supposed "fate" or "destiny"; for a human being does not know and cannot know wherein his destiny lies, and until he has exhausted all possible means and what is inevitable occurs, he cannot be said to have encountered that destiny. But then whatever God decides, whatever comes to one after all his efforts have been made, should be received with patient and trusting acceptance of what He in His infinite wisdom has seen fit to send, and with the expectation that it may prove to be a source of good and of ultimate blessing in the broader perspective of the life-to-come. • (Haneef)

Modern biographers of Muhammad say, in effect, that because such and such chance events came his way, therefore he was the man he was, acted as he did and said what he said. This approach makes no sense to the traditional Muslim, for whom this man was what he had to be, did what he had to do and said what he had to say in accordance with the divine intention. 'We have not created heaven and earth and all that is between them without meaning and purpose - as is the surmise of those who are bent on denying the truth'(Q.38.27 in M. Asad's translation). (Eaton)

Compulsion and Delegation The Shi’a, based on the traditions, believe that [on the question of human free will] ‘there is no compulsion (jabrجبر ) and no delegation (tafwidتفويض ) rather a matter between the two matters.’ This means that a person is not compelled in his/her actions, nor is he/she absolutely free to act. Bodily organs and limbs and powers are from Almighty Allāh, and the will to act well or ill is from the person. If he/she acts well then this is due to Allāh’s blessing, and if he/she acts ill then this is due to the person in question. (Imam Muhammad Shirazi)

The sect of the Mujabbirah maintained that Allah was entirely responsible for the actions of His creatures; that he forced them to do evil and then punished them for it, and forced them to do good and then rewarded them for it. They maintained that the actions of people were really His actions, but that they were figuratively attributed to people because humans are the locus of Allah's activity. The reason for this view was that the Mujabbirah denied natural causes (as-sababiyyah at- tabi'iyyahالسببية الطبيعية ) between things, and said that Allah was the real cause (as-sabab al-haqiqiالسبب الحقيقي ) there being no other cause besides Him. They denied natural causes between things because they supposed that this followed from the necessity of believing that Allah is the Creator without any partner. But one who has made such a claim has in truth attributed injustice to Allah. (Muhammad Rida Al-Muzaffar – Shi’ite)

THE QUESTION OF THE DIVINE JUSTICE

So He originated the creation thereafter, by way of manifestation of His power, and verification of that which had preceded of His Will, and of that which existed in eternity of His Word; not because He had any lack of it or need of it. And He is gracious in creating and in making for the first times and in imposing of duty--not of necessity--and He is generous in benefiting; and well-doing and gracious helping [those who] belong to Him, since He is able to bring upon His creatures different kinds of punishment and to test them with different varieties of pains and ailments.

And if He did that, it would be justice on His part, and would not be a vile action or tyranny in Him. He rewardeth His believing creatures for their acts of obedience by a decision which is of generosity and of promise and not of right and of obligation, since no particular action toward anyone is incumbent upon Him, and tyranny is inconceivable in Him, and no one possesses a right against Him. And His right to acts of obedience is binding upon the creatures because He has made it binding through the tongues of His prophets, not by reason alone. (Al-Ghazālī)

And if the doing of a possible thing were hindered from Him, the possible would be turned into an impossible. But the turning of the possible into a necessary or an impossible is false. By this, you may know that there is nothing incumbent upon God, against the doctrine of the Mu‘tazilites, who say that it is incumbent upon God to do that which is best (salah) for the creature. So, it would be incumbent upon Him that He should sustain the creature, but this is falsehood against Him and a lie from which He is far removed. He creates faith in Zayd, for example, and gives him knowledge out of His free grace, without there being any necessity upon Him. And one of the arguments which may be brought against the Mu‘tazilites is that afflictions come upon little children, such as ailments and diseases. And in this there is not that which is best for them.

So, if doing that which is best is incumbent upon Him, why do afflictions descend upon little children? For they say that God could not abandon that which is incumbent upon Him, for abandoning it would be defect, and God is far removed from defect, by Agreement. And God's rewarding the obedient is a grace from Him, and His punishing the rebellious is justice from Him. For obedience does not advantage Him, nor rebellion injure Him; He is the Advantager and the Injurer. And these acts of obedience or rebellion are only signs of God's rewarding or punishing those described by them. Then him whom He wills to draw near to Himself, He helps to obedience: and in him whose abandoning and rejection He wills, He creates rebellion. And all acts of good and bad are by the creation of God, for He creates the creature and that which the creature does, as He has said (Qur. 37, 94), "and God hath created you and that which ye do.“ (Fudali)

The Holy Quran clearly states that Allah’s decisions and dealings are always based on perfect justice. He is the Lord of the universe and He can do everything He likes as there can never be a slightest opposition or resistance against His will, but it is one of His attribute that He is Just (Adil). Thus He can throw a good man in the hell-fire by His power, but He will never do so because of His perfect personality. He will pardon many people befitting for the hell-fire because He is compassionate, merciful, and kind, i.e., His mercy outshines His justice. The Prophet has taught us du’a to ask Allah Subhanahutaala, not to deal us with justice but with mercy and leniency. (Shiʻite — reference on next slide)

The Holy Quran clearly states that : إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَظْلِمُ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍۢ ۖ وَإِن تَكُ حَسَنَةًۭ يُضَعِفْهَا وَيُؤْتِ مِن لَّدُنْهُ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًۭا “Allah is never unjust in the least degree” (4:40) وَنَضَعُ ٱلْمَوَزِينَ ٱلْقِسْطَ لِيَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَمَةِ فَلَا تُظْلَمُ نَفْسٌۭ شَيْـًۭٔا ۖ وَإِن كَانَ مِثْقَالَ حَبَّةٍۢ مِّنْ خَرْدَلٍ أَتَيْنَا بِهَا ۗ وَكَفَىٰ بِنَا حَسِبِينَ “we shall set up scales of justice on the day of judgment so that not a single soul will be dealt with unjustly in the least.” (21:47) إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِٱلْعَدْلِ وَٱلْإِحْسَنِ وَإِيتَآئِ ذِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ ٱلْفَحْشَآءِ وَٱلْمُنكَرِ وَٱلْبَغْىِ ۚ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ “Allah Commands justice, kindness and charity to one’s kindred, and forbids indecency and oppression.” (16:90) This made it very clear that why Shia consider Adl as the basic belief of Islam and why they differ with Sunnis on this issue. (SayyedQasimMujtabaMoosaviKamoonpuri – Shiite textbook for High Schools)

Compulsion or Freedom? The various schools of thought are divided. Mutazzilas believe that man is totally free and God exercises no power over his action. Those who subscribe to this view are also known as Qadariyyas. ii. Mujabbira school of thought believe that man has no freedom and is only a tool in the hands of God. iii. The Asharia school of thought, to which most Sunnis have traditionally subscribed, believe that though man has no free will, he will earn the reward of his good deeds. The Sunni scholar Al-Ghazzali sums up this doctrine as follows: "No act of any individual, even though it be done purely for his benefit, is independent of the will of Allah for its existence. There does not occur in either the physical or the extra-terrestrial world the twinkle of an eye, the hint of a thought, or the most sudden glance except by the Decree of Allah, of His Power, Desire, and Will. This includes evil and good, benefit and harm, success and failures, sin and righteousness, obedience and disobedience, polytheism and true belief.” iv. The Shias believe that there is neither total compulsion nor total freedom. The true position is the one in-between. They maintain that Allah has fore-knowledge of human action but does not compel man to any particular course of action.

2:284. God holds whatever is in Heaven and whatever is on Earth; whether you disclose what is on your minds, or hide it, God will bring you to account for it. He forgives anyone He wishes to and punishes anyone He wishes; God is Capable of everything! 4:79. Any good that happens to you comes from God, while anything bad that happens to you is through yourself. 6:17. And if Allāh should touch you with adversity, there is no remover of it except Him. And if He touches you with good – then He is over all things competent. 9:51. Say, "Never will we be struck except by what Allāh has decreed for us; He is our protector." And upon Allāh let the believers rely. 10:107. And if Allāh should touch you with adversity, there is no remover of it except Him; and if He intends for you good, then there is no repeller of His bounty. He causes it to reach whom He wills of His servants. And He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. 13:11. For him are angels ranged before him and behind him, who guard him by Allah's command. Lo! Allah changeth not the condition of a folk until they (first) change that which is in their hearts; and if Allah willeth misfortune for a folk there is none that can repel it, nor have they a defender beside Him.

A POINT OF CONTROVERSY

The Wonders (karamatكرامات ) of the Saints (walisأولياء) are a Verity. And a Wonder on the part of a Saint appears by way of a contradiction of the ordinary course of nature, such as passing over a great distance in a short time, and the appearing of meat and drink and clothing at a time of need, and walking upon the water and in the air, and the speech of stones and of beasts, and the warding off of an evil that is approaching, and the guarding of him who is anxious from enemies, and other things of the same kind. And such a thing is to be reckoned as an evidentiary miracle (mu‘jizaمعجزة ) on behalf of the Apostle followed by the Saint on whose part the wonder appears. For it is evident by it that he is a Saint and he could never be a Saint unless he were right in his religion and worship and in abiding by the message committed to his Apostle. (Nasafi)

14. Visiting grave sites and tombs is an authentic Sunnah if done in the manner prescribed by the Prophet (sws). But seeking the help of the dead, whomever they may be, appealing to them, asking them to fulfill certain requests, vowing to them, and swearing with their names instead of the name of Allah, building high tombs, covering them with curtains, illuminating them, are evil innovations that are equally prohibited. We do not need to interpret such actions giving them excuses. SayyidQutb

There are certain specific acts such as Sijda, Ruku, and Dua, which we solely do in front of Allah, to show our total submission to Him, and to seek all kinds of help from Him. Of course, all such acts have been strictly prohibited by the Holy Prophet (sws) and Holy Imams (as) to do for anyone other than Allah. But touching and kissing are the common ways of showing love and affection for a thing or a person. We kiss and touch the Holy Quran and Hajar al Aswad [the Black Stone in a corner of the Kaʻbah]. We kiss the hands of our parents. We kiss our children and others we love. No one says that it is a Shirk. Then, why is kissing and touching of the sacred objects being interpreted as Shirk? In fact, kissing and touching are the actions which are exclusively for the humans or material things and definitely not for Allah as He has no body, and He is not confined to any particular place. Thus, kissing and touching the sacred material objects with emotional feelings is not Shirk. (SayyedQasimMujtabaMoosaviKamoonpuri – Shiite textbook for High Schools)

THE QUESTION OF Q AḌĀ’ WA -L-QADAR