God's will and our fates

shanze · April 23, 2006, 1:15am

do you believe that fate has to do with good and bad happenings in our life,even if you try hard to get what you want and dont…is it rational to say kay its God’s Maslehat (will of God). sometimes it is hard to accept …Nobody knows God’s will,only God knows His will…what Happened to Hazrat Yousef…God wanted him at each place for a purpose… if we all have a purpose,is it hard work that can help us achieve it or we will only achieve whats in our fate.is our fate God’s will???

system · April 23, 2006, 1:34am

Re: God's will and our fates

If you are asking about the topic of Fate.

The way Fate works in islam, and may Allah forgive me if im wrong, is that everything a man is ever going to do is written down in a book called Loh-Almahfooz.

However that does not mean we have no choice. The choices exist, but Allah in his infinite wisdom knows what choices each man will make. He knows yet the choices are our own to make. So no one can blame whats happening to him on fate, no one can say oh its fate that i`ll go to hell. Every man or woman make the choices that lead them down a certain path in life.

Allah obviously does test his servants, some more than others. The tests are harder for more pious people, and easier for less pious people, however Allah does not test anyone more than what they are able to withstand.

Allah is fair and just. And Allah knows best.

James_Bhaand · April 23, 2006, 3:32am

Re: God's will and our fates

I have still not found an answer to this particular question.

It is something that is beyond comprehension (mine at least)... If we try to think too deep into it, at some point it gets into conflict with Allah's (swt) sifat of being QADIR E MUTLAQ (The Absolute master of Every thing). On one hand we say "uss ki marzi kay baghair patta bhi nahi hilta" and then we say that a Man is free to choose between good and bad.... Gets a bit tricky I must say.

If we start arguing that Allah (swt) KNOWS (no doubt), then it means that before even the creature (human) comes to life on earth, Allah (swt) has already drafted his whole life cycle , what he will eat on what day, where he will sleep for each and every night of his life, when he die, how he will die...
Will anyone argue, that, NO .. That is not true. There are a few things that a man will choose ON HIS OWN and Allah (swt) will **judge him* on those deeds* (means it carries an element of surprize - could go this way / could go that way)

If everything is so planned, then the whole concept of Azab and Sawab gets a bit confusing.

Please keep the fatwas of kufr and shirk out of this discussion. Be logical.....

How I answer that question ... to satisfy my own inner self...

Allah (swt) ki zaat har shak aur qanoon say bala tar hay. Insaan ki USS kay agay koi haisiyaat nahi. Yeh maslaa insaan ki sooch aur aqal say buhat buland hay, hum chahaiN bhi tu iss tak nahi poohanch saktay (aakhir Khaliq aur makhlooq main koi tu farq honay chahiyaay). Prophets were sent down to the earth to tell us what is RIGHT and what is WRONG. We are supposed to follow the RIGHTEOUS path that was taught to us by HIS messengers.... just do that and leave the rest to HIM.

SIMPLE AS THAT

AQ · April 23, 2006, 3:45am

Re: God’s will and our fates

^
Dr. Malik Ghulam Murtaza Shaheed explained in very beautifully.

Knowledge of Allah:swt: does not affect the free will of a person. He knows that what a person is going to choose but in his choosing, it’s not because Allah knew and wrote it but Allah knew and wrote it because that’s what the person was going to do. But of course, Allah:swt: allows something to happen or not happen as per His own discretion. that’s why sometimes we have a result of an action and sometimes we don’t.

Wallaho Khair ul Maakireen.

silerpetalz · April 23, 2006, 3:56am

Re: God's will and our fates

SALAAMALIKUM,
i think both kodiak and james are right !
yes we do make our own choices but as kodiak said it is by alahs will only.
he decides wut path we walk on and how he blesses us but allah test us on weather we pick the right or wrong path. then allah guides , alhumdilila

naved_ltf · April 23, 2006, 10:15am

Re: God's will and our fates

god(if there be one) showed his will by creating you. if you can lift your arm on ur own accord without divine intervention, it follows that u've got a free will.
so now use that free will for whatever it is that you care about and stop looking up for answers. look into ur own self, cos you have the power and go ahead and use it. god(if there be one) will take care of his business, you take care of yours.

cheers
naved

silerpetalz · April 23, 2006, 3:12pm

Re: God's will and our fates

NICE ASNWER NAVED

sadiqhassan · April 23, 2006, 6:34pm

Re: God's will and our fates

I am very grateful to have found this thread, because it clears up a common misconception about Sunni Islam. Many Sunni brothers that I talk to say that they believe that God has already decided what will he will make happen and we cannot do anything to change it.

I now understand that both Sunnis and Shias believe that God knows everything, and that He knows what will happen but that doesn't mean that he CAUSES what happens.

Mashallah.

Sadiyah · April 23, 2006, 7:05pm

Re: God’s will and our fates

The following is a hadith that came to my mind after reading the first post:

Abu al-‘Abbas ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas, radiyallahu anhuma, reported: One day I was behind the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, and he said to me:

"O young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice] : Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. If you (have need to) ask, ask of Allah; and if you seek help, seek help from Allah. Know that even if the Nation (or the whole community) were to gather together to benefit you with something, they would not benefit you with anything except that which Allah has already recorded for you, and that if they gather together to harm you with something, they would not be able to harm you with anything except that which Allah has already recorded against you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried."

[Al-Tirmidhi relates this and says: It is a good, genuine Hadith]

Here’s the partial commentary that would hopefully answer the query, insha’Allah:

Al-qadar can be broadly broken down into two categories:

There are actions that take place which we do not have any control over. We have to surrender to the will of Allah and be patient.

There are actions that take place which we had control over. These events happen as a result of our recklessness, laziness, of not being alert, etc. Even though the minute these things happen they already become qadar, those who are responsible for the actions will be held responsible. Thus, whatever we do, we should do it carefully, completely and to the best of our abilities. For example, construction workers building a site, doctors taking care of patients, driving, etc.

Generally speaking, we are responsible for what we do, whether it is in worldly matters or whether it is in our ibadah. We should always strive to improve ourselves and to constantly tell ourselves that we can do better.

Also, we should avoid things that can be avoided, e.g. avoiding disasters, avoiding trouble, etc. Even in health, we should avoid consuming things which are unhealthy for our bodies – e.g. food which can cause heart diseases (i.e. contains high cholesterol), etc. In other words, we should avoid things that are bad for us, and not just let it happen and then blame it on qadar.

It doesn’t contradict with qadar if someone is sick that he seeks treatment. If we are faced with a problem, we should try our best to solve it or minimise it and not do things which will worsen the situation.

Many Muslims tend to interpret this hadith (on qadar) negatively. We should understand qadar in a positive sense. We should differentiate between things which we don’t have control over and things which we do. Instead of just accepting things that happen as qadar, we should see how we can improve the situation and how we can avoid things which can be avoided. We should accept the fact that we are responsible for whatever we do and the choices we make.

Ref: http://fortyhadith.iiu.edu.my/hadith19.htm

Das_Reich · April 23, 2006, 7:16pm

Re: God's will and our fates

This is an important point otherwise every wrong act perpetuated will be attributed to Allah(swt).

Light_Bearer · April 24, 2006, 4:45am

Re: God’s will and our fates

Light_Bearer · April 24, 2006, 4:53am

Re: God’s will and our fates

What free will?

Did anybody asked me if I wanted to be in this world at all? The answer is No.
then the person who decided for me to be here in this world becomes responsible for all my deeds. Good or Bad equally.

if i have created a machine to perform a task, and the machine is unfit for the task is it my fault or the machine’s? i think its a very funny situation if i tell the machine you are not good enough.

Or is it even ethically right of me to ask the machine of its actions.

naved_ltf · April 24, 2006, 6:32am

Re: God’s will and our fates

[quote="“light bearer”]
What free will?

Did anybody asked me if I wanted to be in this world at all? The answer is No.
then the person who decided for me to be here in this world becomes responsible for all my deeds. Good or Bad equally.

if i have created a machine to perform a task, and the machine is unfit for the task is it my fault or the machine’s? i think its a very funny situation if i tell the machine you are not good enough.

Or is it even ethically right of me to ask the machine of its actions.

[/quote]

everytime you question free will, you make me laugh. cos somehow you dont seem to realise that every time you question free will, you are simply proving and reinforcing that free will exists. think about what i just said, honey.

Light_Bearer · April 24, 2006, 6:04pm

Re: God’s will and our fates

Point taken.:halo:

Please do not call me honey as I do not like the relationships like “Broke Back”.