Belief in the Divine Decree and Fate

Ibn Mas‘ūd reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) related to us, and he is the truthful one in his speech, and the trusted one, as Allah Almighty endorsed him. He said: The creation of each one of you is brought together. When a man copulates with his wife, his scattered semen is brought together in the woman's womb as a sperm-drop for forty days. Then, he becomes a clinging clot for another forty days. Then, he becomes a lump, which is a piece of chewable flesh, for a third period of forty days. Then, Allah sends to him the angel, who breathes life into him after the end of the third period. The angel is commanded to write four things: his sustenance, which is the amount of bliss he will gain during his lifetime; his lifespan, which is the duration of his stay in this world; and his deeds, as to what they will be; and whether he will be miserable or happy. Then, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) swore that a person might perform the righteous deeds of the people of Paradise, as they outwardly seem, and he continues in this state until there is only an arm's length (a cubit) between him and Paradise; that is, only a cubit separates him from reaching Paradise. But then destiny overtakes him, and thereupon he performs the deeds of the people of Hellfire, and they become his last deeds, and so he enters Hellfire. This is because it is required for a person's virtuous deeds to be accepted and that he continues to do them and not change course. There is another type of people, who perform the deeds of the people of Hellfire until they are close to entering it, as if only a cubit is separating between them. But then destiny overtakes them, and they begin to perform the deeds of Paradise, and they enter it.

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) informs that one day, as a boy, he was riding behind the Prophet (ﷺ), and he said to him: I will teach you things by which Allah will benefit you: Be mindful of Allah by observing His commands and prohibitions, finding you engaged in acts of worship and piety, and not finding you committing sins and misdeeds. If you do so, your recompense will be that Allah will protect you from unpleasant things in this world and the Hereafter and support you in your matters wherever you go. If you want to ask for something, do not ask anyone but Allah, for He alone responds to those who ask. And if you need help, do not seek help except from Allah. You should be certain that no benefit will come to you, even if all the earth's inhabitants were to gather together to bring it to you, except if Allah had predestined it for you; and no harm will happen to you, even if all the inhabitants of the earth were to gather together to cause it to you, except if Allah had predestined it for you. Allah Almighty had written and predestined this matter according to His wisdom and knowledge, and whatever Allah had written cannot be changed. Whoever is mindful of Allah by preserving His commands and avoiding His prohibitions, Allah Almighty will be before him, knowing his state, supporting and aiding him. If a person obeys Allah in times of ease, Allah will grant him relief and a way out in times of hardship. Every servant should be content with what Allah has decreed for him, whether good or bad. In the face of trials and hardships, the servant must adhere to patience, for patience is the key to relief. When distress intensifies, relief comes from Allah, and whenever hardship occurs, Allah follows it with ease.

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) says that the believer might be afflicted with personal, family, financial, or other crises. If he is patient, Allah will reward him. The more terrible the crisis, the greater the reward one gets from Allah. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) further indicates that tribulations are a sign that Allah loves a believer, and that Allah's predetermination is inevitable. However, the person who is patient and content, Allah will reward him by being pleased with him. That indeed is a satisfactory reward. On the other hand, the person who is discontent and bitter with Allah's decree, Allah will be dissatisfied and angry with him. That is an appropriate punishment.

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) informs that if Allah wills good for any of His believing servants, He afflicts him in himself and his property and family, as affliction makes a believer resort to Allah Almighty and turn to Him in supplication, which causes his sins to be eliminated and his rank elevated.

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) informs that one day, as a boy, he was riding behind the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), and he said to him: I will teach you things by which Allah will benefit you: Be mindful of Allah by observing His commands and prohibitions so He will find you engaged in the acts of worship and piety and not find you committing sins and misdeeds. If you do so, your recompense will be that Allah will protect you from unpleasant things in this world and the Hereafter and support you in your endeavors wherever you go. If you want to ask for something, do not ask anyone but Allah, for He alone responds to those who ask. And if you need help, do not seek help except from Allah. And you should be certain that no benefit will come to you, even if all the earth's inhabitants were to gather together to bring it to you, except if Allah had predestined it for you. No harm will happen to you, even if all the inhabitants of the earth were to gather together to cause it to you, except if Allah had predestined it for you. And that Allah Almighty had written and predestined this matter according to His wisdom and knowledge, and whatever Allah had written cannot be changed.

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) says that Allah decreed the future destinies of the creatures in detail, including life, death, sustenance, and so on in the Preserved Tablet fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth - and these will take place according to Allah's decree. Everything that comes into being, is so according to Allah's decree and predestination. So, whatever befalls a person would not have missed him, and whatever misses him would not have befallen him.

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) informs that trials and tests do not depart from the believing men and women - in their selves, including their health and body; in their children, such as illness, death, disobedience, or other things; and in their wealth, such as poverty, loss of trade, theft, poor living conditions, and little sustenance - until Allah expiates all their sins and misdeeds through that trial. Thus, when they meet Allah, they will have been purified from all the sins and misdeeds they perpetrated.

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) clarifies that the believer is good from all aspects; however, the believer who is strong in his faith, resolve, property, and other aspects of strength is better and dearer to Allah Almighty than the weak believer. Then, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) advised the believer to utilize the available means in what brings him benefit in his worldly affairs and the affairs of the Hereafter, along with depending upon Allah Almighty, seeking His help, and relying upon Him. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), then, forbids inability, indolence, and slackness in doing what brings benefit in both abodes. If the believer works hard and utilizes the available means while seeking Allah's help and asking Him for goodness, then he should do nothing but entrust all of his affairs to Allah while knowing that Allah's choice is the best. If some calamity befalls him after that, he should not say: "Had I done such-and-such, it would have been such-and-such." "Indeed, 'if' opens the way before the devil to act" in objecting to the divine decree and lamenting what has been missed. Instead, one should submissively and contentedly say: "Allah has decreed, and whatever He wills, He does." Everything happens in compliance with Allah's will, as He does what He wants and nothing can repel His predestination or reverse His decree.

‘Abdullāh ibn Fayrūz Ad-Daylami (may Allah have mercy upon him) said that he had some doubts about predestination and feared that he would end up denying it. Therefore, he asked some scholars from among the Companions of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) about it in order to solve this problem. This shows that a believer ought to ask scholars about things that are confusing him, as Allah, the Almighty, says: {So ask the people of the message [i.e., former scriptures] if you do not know} [Sūrat An-Nahl: 43]. All the scholars told him that he must believe in the Divine Decree and predestination. They also told him that spending a great amount of wealth would not be accepted from anyone who does not believe in predestination, and that anyone who dies without believing in it will be one of the denizens of the Hellfire.

‘Ubādah ibn As-Sāmit (may Allah be pleased with him) gave his son, al-Walīd, the valuable advice to believe in fate, the good and bad thereof, and explained to him the good consequences of believing in it and the evil consequences of denying it in this world and the next. He supported his advice to his son with the Hadīth of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) that states that Allah has decreed the fates of all creatures and ordered the Pen to write them before these creatures came to existence. Hence, nothing in the universe, until the advent of the Hour, occurs except that it was preordained by Allah.

The Companions (may Allah be pleased with him) were attending the funeral of one of them in the cemetery of the people of Madīnah. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) sat among them with a stick in his hand. He lowered his head towards the ground, as if he was thinking deeply and greatly concerned about something. He started to scratch the ground with the stick, then said that Allah, the Almighty, has decreed the fates of people and determined their seats in Paradise and Hell. When the Companions heard that, they said: If the fate of those who will be wretched and those who will be prosperous, those who will be in Paradise and those who will be in Hell, has already been predetermined and decreed, why should we not give up doing good deeds; for exerting effort is useless, given the fact that everything is decreed and predestined? The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) answered that they should work hard and not rely upon the good and evil which Allah has predestined. Instead, they have to do what they are commanded to do, and refrain from what they are forbidden from doing. Indeed, Paradise and Hell are attained by people's deeds; those who do the deeds of the people of Paradise shall enter Paradise, and those who do the deeds of the people of Hell shall enter Hell. Everyone will find it easy to do such deeds that lead him to what he was created for, be it good or evil. Therefore, whoever is decreed to be among the prosperous, Allah will lead him to do the deeds of the prosperous, and whoever is decreed to be among the wretched, Allah will lead him to do the deeds of the wretched.

When Allah, the Exalted, wills good for one of his slaves, He guides him to do righteous deeds before he dies so that he dies whilst doing those righteous deeds. Thus, he is blessed with a good end and hence enters Paradise.

Ibn Mas‘ūd reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) related to us, and he is the truthful one in his speech, and the trusted one, as Allah Almighty endorsed him. He said: The creation of each one of you is brought together. When a man copulates with his wife, his scattered semen is brought together in the woman's womb as a sperm-drop for forty days. Then, he becomes a clinging clot for another forty days. Then, he becomes a lump, which is a piece of chewable flesh, for a third period of forty days. Then, Allah sends to him the angel, who breathes life into him after the end of the third period. The angel is commanded to write four things: his sustenance, which is the amount of bliss he will gain during his lifetime; his lifespan, which is the duration of his stay in this world; and his deeds, as to what they will be; and whether he will be miserable or happy. Then, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) swore that a person might perform the righteous deeds of the people of Paradise, as they outwardly seem, and he continues in this state until there is only an arm's length (a cubit) between him and Paradise; that is, only a cubit separates him from reaching Paradise. But then destiny overtakes him, and thereupon he performs the deeds of the people of Hellfire, and they become his last deeds, and so he enters Hellfire. This is because it is required for a person's virtuous deeds to be accepted and that he continues to do them and not change course. There is another type of people, who perform the deeds of the people of Hellfire until they are close to entering it, as if only a cubit is separating between them. But then destiny overtakes them, and they begin to perform the deeds of Paradise, and they enter it.

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) pointed out that everything is decreed, even incapacity, which is failure to do what should be done - in matters of this world and the Hereafter - and procrastinating and delaying it beyond its due time; and even capacity, which is vigor and proficiency in matters of worldly life and the Hereafter; and that Allah Almighty had predestined capacity and incapacity, and everything that happens in the universe had already been known and willed by Allah.

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) relates that if Allah decrees and predestines that someone should die in a certain land where he does not exist, He makes a reason for him to go there, and so he goes and dies there.

The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) asked his uncle Abu Tālib, while in the throes of death, to utter the testimony of faith, so that he could intercede for him with it on the Day of Judgment and testify that he was a Muslim. But he refused to utter it, fearing that the Quraysh would revile him and say that he embraced Islam out of fear of death and weakness! He said to the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him): Were it not for that, I would have made you joyful by saying the testimony, fulfilling your wish and making you pleased. So, Allah Almighty revealed a verse indicating that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) cannot guide people in the sense of inspiring them to accept Islam, but it is Allah Almighty alone Who grants such guidance to whomever He wills; and that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) guided them by clarifying, showing, and calling them to the straight path.

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said to ‘Atā’ ibn Abi Rabāh: Shall I show you a woman of the people of Paradise? ‘Atā’ said: Yes. He said: This black Abyssinian woman came to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and said: I suffer from an illness that causes me to have seizures, and I become uncovered, revealing parts of my body without my awareness. So supplicate Allah to heal me. He (the Prophet) said: If you wish, be patient and you will enter Paradise, or, if you wish, I will supplicate Allah to cure you. She said: I will remain patient, then she said: Supplicate Allah that I do not become uncovered if I have a seizure, and he supplicated Allah for her.

If a plague or epidemic breaks out in a part of the world that the person is not in, then it is not permissible for him to enter that plagued land so as to protect his health and the health of others. If the plague breaks out in a land that he is already in, then it is not permissible for him to leave that land, and he should be patient and accept whatever Allah decrees for him to receive the due reward for that.

Adam and Mūsa (peace be upon both of them) debated with each other and presented the evidence that support their arguments. This may have happened after Mūsa’s death. Perhaps the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) saw it in a dream, since prophets' dreams are part of the divine revelation. A Muslim has to accept such accounts with submission, as we are not able to know how they really happened. Mūsa said to Adam: "O Adam, you are our father. You did us harm and caused us to get out of Paradise." i.e. you are the reason for our misfortune and misguidance by committing the sin that resulted in getting you out of Paradise. Accordingly, we have become a target for the devils' misguidance. Adam answered him, saying: "O Mūsa, Allah favored you with His talk." Allah, the Almighty, selected Mūsa from among the messengers and honored him by speaking to him without intermediaries and letting him listen to His speech directly. Also, Allah, the Almighty, wrote the Torah for Mūsa with His Hand. A Muslim must believe in this writing without asking how, denying, distorting the wording or the meaning, or resembling Allah to any of His creation. "Do you blame me for an action which Allah had decreed on me forty years before He created me?" i.e. how can you blame me for something that Allah had written for me in the Preserved Tablet and in the pages and tablets of the Torah forty years before I was created? "So Adam confuted Mūsa." i.e. he defeated him with a logical argument. Adam refuted the argument of Mūsa, (peace be upon both of them) by stating that if Allah, the Almighty, knows that Adam will get out of Paradise and descend to earth, then how can he go against Allah’s prior knowledge? Thus, Adam’s proof prevailed, because what was decreed upon him was a matter that could not be changed or avoided. Rather, it was a matter decreed by Allah, the All-Knowing, the Omnipotent, and thus it could not be challenged or undone after its occurrence. He had no choice but to submit to it. Nevertheless, Divine Decree should not be used as a justification for something that has not taken place. This is because man is commanded to obey Allah and avoid sins. Also, he does not know what is preordained for him until it actually takes place. When it takes place, and he cannot stop it, then he can submit to his fate and say: "This is what Allah has preordained, and He does what He wills." He should also ask his Lord to forgive his sin and repent to him. So, Adam clearly refuted the argument of Mūsa when the latter wanted to blame him for being the cause of his offspring's misfortune. Adam argued that this misfortune was preordained and inevitable. A Muslim, in all misfortunes resulting from people's own actions or otherwise, has to show patience and submission. However, this does not absolve the wrongdoer from blame and punishment.

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to take a vow from the female companions when giving him the pledge of allegiance, that they should not disobey him. He forbade them, for instance, from scratching their faces or slapping their cheeks; from wailing which is prohibited; from tearing their clothes; and from disheveling and tearing up their hair. All these acts are forbidden to be done when calamities occur.

When Allah created Adam, He wiped his back and all his human offspring that Allah would create until the Day of Judgment came out of his back. This wiping and coming out should be understood literally, and it is not permissible to interpret it beyond the apparent meaning, as this is the methodology of Ahl As-Sunnah. When Allah took them out of his back, He placed a glimmering light between each person's eyes, then he showed them to Adam. Adam said: "O my Lord, who are these?" Allah, the Almighty, said: "They are your offspring." He saw a man among them whose light between his eyes amazed him, so he said: "O my Lord, who is this?" Allah, the Almighty, said: "He is Dawūd." Adam said: "My Lord, how long would he live?" He said: "Sixty years." Adam said: "My Lord, add forty years from my lifespan to his." When Adam had lived all his lifespan minus forty years, the angel of death came to him to take his soul. Adam said: "There are forty years remaining in my life." He said to him: "You gave them to your son Dawūd." Adam denied it because that was in the unknown world of progenies, and he did not remember it upon arrival of the angel of death. As a result, his offspring also denied. Likewise, Adam forgot, so his offspring forget; Adam disobeyed, so his offspring disobey, because the child resembles his father. Dawūd's lifespan was forty years and Allah made it sixty. Allah, may He be glorified, is All-Knowing of what happened, what will happen, and what did not happen if it happened how it would be. He knows what He wrote for him and what increase He would grant him later. The angels have no knowledge except what Allah informs them. Allah knows things before they happen and after they happen. For this reason, scholars said that erasing and affirming occur in the sheets of the angels; but knowledge of Allah, Glorified and Exalted, never changes, nor does He become aware of anything He does not know before. Therefore, there is no erasing or affirmation in His knowledge.

Meaning of the Hadīth: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) gave the family of Ja‘far ibn Abu Tālib three days as respite after his martyrdom in the battle of Mu'tah. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) wanted his family to feel better during these three days and get over some of the sadness and grief they were experiencing. He then said to them: “Do not weep for my brother after this day”. He forbade them from crying after three days had passed, so that the first shock and the sad times would not remain for long. The prohibition here is not a strict one, because it is permissible to weep for the dead even beyond the three days as long as weeping does not involve any forbidden act. He then said: “Call my brother’s sons for me.” They were Muhammad, ‘Abdullāh, and ‘Awf - children of Ja‘far. ‘Abdullāh said: "We were then brought to the Messenger of Allah as if we were little chicks" referring to the miserable state they were in due to their father’s death. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) asked for a barber and ordered him to shave their heads. The reason why the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) ordered for their heads to be shaved was that he saw their mother, Asmā' bint ‘Umays (may Allah be pleased with her) so overwhelmed by the calamity of having her husband killed in the cause of Allah, and thus she could not brush her children's hair. He feared that their heads would become dirty or infested with lice, so he ordered for their heads to be shaved. Removing the hair was good for the children and was a source of comfort for the mother who was afflicted with something that made her too busy to take care of her sons' hair. It should be noted that it is not permissible for the Muslim to shave one’s head due to the affliction of a calamity. It was reported in a Hadīth: "The Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the woman who wails, shaves her head, or tears up her clothes (when stricken by a calamity)." Heads of Ja‘far's sons were not shaved due to their father's death; rather, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) did so because their mother was too busy to take care of their hair. Fearing that their heads would be louse-infested, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) ordered their heads to be shaved. So, it had nothing to do with the calamity.

An-Nu‘mān ibn Bashīr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that ‘Abdullāh ibn Rawāhah (may Allah be pleased with him) fell down unconscious because he was too sick. When his sister, (may Allah be pleased with her) saw him in that state, she thought that he had died. Therefore, she started crying and said: "O my mountain!" By this she meant that for her he was like a mountain in which she sought refuge from adversities. She counted his good qualities the way people used to do in the pre-Islamic era. When he came to his senses, he told her what had happened to him. It was said to him, "Are you a mountain that people seek refuge in? Are you the same as they describe you?" Everything that his sister mentioned during his fit, he was questioned about it out of sarcasm and severe threat. In another narration, it was mentioned that when Ibn Rawāhah died, his sister had learnt the lesson and, therefore, did not mourn him that way.

This Hadīth clarifies that Allah, the Almighty, created the creation in darkness and cast some of His light upon them. Those whom the light fell upon are the ones guided to the way to Paradise, and those whom the light missed are the ones who strayed from the way of truth. Guidance and misguidance are in total agreement with Allah's prior knowledge. That which has been decided eternally cannot change or be altered, and the expression about the drying of the ink of the pen indicates this fact.

When Allah, the Exalted, intends for one of His slaves to die in a particular land other than the one he is in, He gives him a reason to go there. So when he goes to fulfill his need in that land, Allah, the Exalted, takes his soul. Anything Allah, Glorified and Exalted, decreed and wrote must happen exactly as He decreed it. This is a part of believing in the Divine Decree and Preordainment.

Abu Burdah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that his father, Abu Mūsa al-Ash‘ari (may Allah be pleased with him), got severely sick and lost consciousness. His head was in the lap of a woman from his family, so she screamed and wailed, but he could not respond to her because of being unconscious. When he regained his consciousness, he said that: He dissociates himself from whoever the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) dissociated himself from, and he (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) dissociated himself from the: Sāliqah: a woman who raises her voice in wailing upon calamity. Hāliqah: a woman who shaves her hair upon calamity. Shāqqah: a woman who tears her garment upon calamity. This is because they are from the practices of the pre-Islamic era of ignorance. Instead, one is commanded to be patient in times of calamity and to seek reward from Allah for it.