Divine Decree

Oct 17, 2024 | Articles

Muslims believe that God has knowledge of all that will happen, and everything happens according to His divine plan. While God’s knowledge is absolute, humans have free will to make choices; they are accountable for their actions, which are foreknown by God but not compelled by Him. Muslims believe that all of the human being’s actions (whether they are voluntary like standing, sitting, eating, and drinking or involuntary like falling over) exist by God’s will, predetermination of them in eternity, and His knowledge of them before their time.

We know that the human being is not compelled because he has partial will that he is able to apply on the side of good and on the side of evil, and an intellect that distinguishes between the two. Therefore, if he applies his will on the side of good, the good that he willed will appear and he is rewarded for it due to it appearing because of his action and the connection of his partial will to it. If he applies it on the side of evil, that evil appears, and he is punished due to it appearing because of his action and the connection of his partial will to it. However, the good is with God’s content and the evil is not with God’s content.

To give an example, imagine that you placed an electric light switch connected to a lamp in a hidden place in your room where your young child cannot see it, then you placed her where you are able to turn the light on and off without the girl noticing. Now you want to run an experiment to test the will of the child to see if she will obey or disobey you, without doing anything that has a real physical influence on her. So you say to the child, “Do not blow on this light in case you put it out, if you obey me, I will reward you, but if you disobey me, I will punish you.” Then you begin to observe your child without her knowing that you are observing but the child chose (with her own free will) the side of disobedience over the side of obedience and goes towards the lamp and blows on it, and in that exact moment you press the switch (secretly) and the light goes out. The child feels with certainty that she was the one who put the light out by blowing, however, you know that you are the one that put it out using the real cause. As for what occurred from the child, it was only a form of highlighting her disobedience to you, and now she would deserve (in your view) to be punished for going against you within the boundaries that you set in order to test her.

This is a close example that resembles the crime of murder. The murderer only carries apparent cause in his act of killing, however, the one killed does not die except in their stipulated lifespan according to God’s divine decree and predestination and in the way that God decreed for them. The murderer, in reality, has only established evidence against himself due to what earned of sin and disobedience with his own free will that was enabled for him.

This is summed up in the verse where Allah teaches the Prophet ﷺ how to respond to those who criticised the Muslims for going out to battle at Uhud (a battle they lost and many died):

They ask, “Do we have a say in the matter?” Say, “All matters are destined by Allah.” They conceal in their hearts what they do not reveal to you. They say, “If we had any say in the matter, none of us would have come to die here.” Say, “Even if you were to remain in your homes, those among you who were destined to be killed would have met the same fate.” Through this, Allah tests what is within you and purifies what is in your hearts. And Allah knows best what is in the hearts.[1]

[1] Quran: 3:154

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Allah

The fundamental belief in the oneness of Allah is the cornerstone of Islamic theology. Allah is considered the sole creator, sustainer, and ruler of the universe. This belief entails that Allah has no partners, equals, or offspring, and He is incomparable to any of His creation in any way, shape, or form.

Life After Death

Muslims believe that all humans will be resurrected from their graves and judged by Allah based on their deeds. Every individual will be held accountable for their actions in this life.

Prophets

Muslims believe in a long line of prophets and messengers sent by Allah to guide humanity, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (may God’s peace and blessings be upon all of them). Each prophet conveyed God’s message in a way that was appropriate for their time.

Scripture

A core belief of Islam is that God (exalted is He) has books that He revealed to His prophets wherein He clarified His command, prohibition, promise, and threat as well as informing of past, present, and future incidents.

Angels

Angels are ethereal bodies created from light, meaning that they are normally invisible to human beings. They can, however, be seen if they take on a corporeal form. They have no free will and carry out Allah’s commands in total obedience and without error.

Hajj

The last of the core pillars of Islam is the obligation to perform pilgrimage to Mecca, known as hajj, once in a lifetime if one is financially and physically able to do so. The Quran says, “To Allah is an obligation on people to perform pilgrimage to the House, whoever is able to find a way to do so.”

Fasting Ramadan

One of the core pillars of Islam is the obligation to fast during the month of Ramadan based on the Quranic injunction: “You who believe, fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become righteous.”

Zakah

The third of the five core pillars of Islam is to pay an amount of one’s wealth to charitable causes, known as zakah in Arabic. The Quran commands Muslims to pay the zakah in several places in the Quran and praises those who “give out from what they have been provided with”

Salah

One of the five core pillars of Islam is to establish five daily prayers, known as salah in Arabic. God instructs Muslims to establish salah 16 times directly and highlights its importance several other times throughout the Quran.

Shahadah

The shahadah means “testification” or “witnessing” in Arabic. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Islam is based on five things: Testification that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and messenger, establishing the prayer, giving zakah, fasting Ramadan, and pilgrimage to the House”

Zakah for Reconciling Hearts

Zakah is an obligatory financial act of worship and one of the five pillars or foundations of Islam. The eight categories who are eligible recipients of zakat are restricted and defined by canonical religious texts. In this article, we will discuss the limitations and restrictions around distributing zakat to converts under the purview of the category of “reconciling hearts”…

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