Skip to main content

Belief in Divine Decree

By
Description: The often misconceived belief of predestination, and the relationship between God’s eternal Knowledge and Ability to human deed and destiny.
The sixth and last article of Islamic faith is belief in divine decree which
means that everything good or bad, all moments of happiness or sorrow, pleasure or pain, come from God.
First, God’s foreknowledge is infallible.  God is not indifferent to this world or its people.  He is Wise and Loving, but this should not make us fatalists, throwing up our hands and saying, ‘what’s the point of making any effort?’  God’s foreknowledge does not compromise human responsibility.  God holds us accountable for what we can do, what is within our capability, but  He does not hold us accountable for things we cannot do.  He is Just and, as He has given us only limited responsibility, judges us accordingly.  We should think, plan and make the right choices, but, if sometimes things do not turn out the way we want, we need not lose hope or get depressed.  We should pray to God and try again.  If in the end we still do not achieve what we wanted, we should know we have tried our best and are not responsible for the results.
God knows what the creatures will do, encompassing everything by His knowledge.  He knows all that exists, in entirety and totality, by virtue of His eternal foreknowledge.
"Truly, nothing is hidden from God, in the earth or in the heavens." (Quran 3:5)
Whoever refuses this denies God’s perfection, because the opposite of knowledge is either ignorance or forgetfulness.  It would mean God would have been mistaken in his foreknowledge of future events; He would no longer be omniscient.  Both are deficiencies which God is free of.
Second, God has recorded everything that will occur until the Day of Judgment in the Preserved Tablet (al-Lauh al-Mahfuz in Arabic).  The life spans of all human beings are written and the amount of their sustenance apportioned.  Everything that is created or occurs in the universe is according to what is recorded there.  God has said:
"Did you not know that God knows (all) that is in the heavens and the earth?  It is (all) in a record.  Surely that is easy for God." (Quran 22:70)
Third, whatever God wills to happen happens, and whatever God does not will does not happen.  Nothing occurs in the heavens or on earth without the Will of God.
Fourth, God is the Creator of everything.
"…He has created everything, and has ordained for it a measure." (Quran 25:2)
In Islamic doctrine every human act both in material and spiritual life is predestined, yet it is incorrect to believe the action of fate is blind, arbitrary, and relentless. Without denying divine interference in human affairs, human liberty is kept intact.  It does not discount the principle of man’s moral freedom and responsibility.  All is known, but freedom is also granted.
Man is not a helpless creature borne along by destiny. Rather, each person is responsible for his acts.  Lethargic nations and individuals indolent to ordinary affairs of life are to blame themselves, not God.  Man is bound to obey the moral law; and he will receive merited punishment or reward as he violates or observes that law.  However, if such is so, man must have within his power the ability to break or keep the law.  God would not hold us responsible for something unless we were capable of doing it:
"God does not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear." (Quran 2:286)
Belief in divine decree strengthens one’s belief in God.  A person realizes that God alone controls everything, so he trusts and relies on Him.  Even though a person tries his best, at the same time he relies on God for the final outcome.  His hard work or intelligence does not make him arrogant, for God is the source of all that comes his way.  Finally, a person attains peace of mind in the realization that God is the Wise and His Actions are dictated by wisdom.  Things don’t happen without a purpose.  If something reached him, he realizes it could never have escaped him.  If something misses him, he realizes it was never meant to be.  A man achieves an inner peace, inwardly at rest with this realization.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jama Mosque, Srinagar

By
Located in Nowhatta, Srinagar, Jama Masjid is the biggest mosque in Kashmir Valley. Built in 1402, Jamia Masjid as it is popularly called reflects the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. A magnificent courtyard with 370 wooden pillars, the architecture here exemplifies the charm of Jama Masjid. Thronged by Muslims every Friday, it is one of the prime Srinagar tourist place to visit. A glittering gem in the treasure chest of Jammu & Kashmir tourism, Jama Masjid is unparalleled in every aspect. Jamia Masjid (Urdu;جامع مسجد سرینگر) is a mosque in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India. The Jamia Masjid of Srinagar is situated at Nowhatta, in the middle of the old city. It was built by Sultan Sikandar in 1400 AD under the order by Mir Mohmmad Hamadani son of Shah hamdan[1][2] Later, the son of Sultan Sikandar, Zain-ul-Abidin got the mosque extended. The attractions of the Jamia Masjid of Srinagar, Kashmir include beautiful Indo-Saracenic architecture, a magnificent courtyard and 3...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jama Masjid of Herat Afghanistan

By
The Jama Masjid of Herat (مسجد جمعه هرات), also known as the Masjid-i Jami' of Herat, and the Great Mosque of Herat[1] is a mosque in the city of Herat, in the Herat Province of north-western Afghanistan. It was built by Ghurids, the famous Sultan Ghayas-ud-Din Ghori, who laid its foundation in 1200 AD, and later extended by several rulers as Herat changed rulers down the centuries from the Timurids, to the Safavids, to the Mughals and the Uzbeks, all of whom supported the mosque. Though many of the glazed tiles have been replaced during subsequent periods, the Great Mosque in Herat was given its present form during the closing years of the fifteenth century. Apart from numerous small neighborhood mosques for daily prayer, most communities in the Islamic world have a larger mosque, a congregational mosque for Friday services with a sermon. The Jama Masjid was not always the largest mosque in Herat; a much larger complex the Mosque and Madressa of Gawharshad, also built by the...
Post a Comment
Read more

King Saud Mosque, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

By
During the 1980's, the Egyptian architect Abdel Wahed El-Wakil designed over a dozen mosques in Saudi Arabia. While these mosques differ in size, formal composition, and sources of financing, they nonetheless are umted by a number of general characteristics. Firstly, they can all be referred to as revivalist structures. All draw heavily, and often very directly, on various historical prototypes belonging to the architectural heritage of the Islamic world. All these mosques share strong similarities in the use of materials and construction technologies Their construction is based on the utilisation of load bearing brick walls, vaults and domes. Therefore, these structures are built of hollow baked bricks held together with mortar Most of the brick surfaces are covered with white plaster, and in some cases, with granite. However, the interior of the vaults and domes are generally left exposed, and are only coated with a layer of browinsh paint. As for reinforced concrete, its use i...
Post a Comment
Read more