I've heard a lot of answers regarding this. And I will be frank. No, no answer has ever genuinely satisfied me. My mind keeps asking if Allah decides and controls everything we do then why are we even here.
You can't really say you have free will and at the same time say everything is decided and controlled. Doesn't that in some way allude that Allah has already decided we're gonna commit x amounts of sin and then burn for ever in hell?
@Mckenzie
It doesn't make sense. If Allah has preordained that I will never ever become a millionaire then it doesn't matter how hard I work, I will never become one because Allah wrote that down before I was born. Likewise, if I'm destined to go to hell then I can practice Islam as much as I like but in the end Allah has already decided I'm going to hell.
This is also why I think duas doesn't make sense and are a waste of time.
Sxb we don't know what is ordained for us true but isn't life a chance anyway? You do everything you can to achieve your short term and long term dreams yet a lorry can hit you tomorrow morning and it would all be over quicker than England's Euro16 campaign.
I can say since it's already decreed what grade i will get for my chemisty exam, why should i revise?
You know what i find funny?:siilaanyolaugh: that an atheist who doesn't believe in Allah is trying to make sense of allah's decree. :siilaanyolaugh:
What relevance does the answers you seek have to your life young one?:siilaanyolaugh:
Allah has knowledge of all things. He knows what is going to happen and also all the possible alternative paths that could have been taken. Allah is not bound by time the way we are so He has knowledge of all eventualities. Everything that has happened and will happen from the beginning of time until the end of time has been recorded in Lawhul Maxfuud.
Allah has given us free will. We may choose whichever path we want. This idea that you are 'doomed' to go to hell if Allah wills it and therefore there is no point in doing good deeds is silly because your belief of this was also recorded in Lawhul Maxfuud. So if someone says I am not going to do anything because whatever Allah has decreed will happen, then the fact that they thought this and acted accordingly (e.g. didn't bother performing good deeds) will also be recorded in Lawhul Maxfud.
Even though all of our end points are known to Allah, we ourselves in the here and now are creating our own destiny. If you work hard now inshaAllah you will reap the rewards in the akhira and perhaps it will be written in Lawhil Maxfud that on 3/7/2016 xalimo/faarax had a revelation and realised they should start working on their deen and from that point on they were headed to Paradise.
The belief in Qadr is one of the six pillars of Iman which are the beliefs that require someone to be a Muslim. May Allah forgive me if I have said anything incorrect, Ameen.
By God's logic, yes you could say that.
If you found out that God would fail you in your exam would you still study for it?
It's pointless by god to create us, predetermine our actions then judge us on those preordained actions that god chose for us. It's illogical whichever way we look at it.
Similar to duas. They are utterly pointless. As George Carlin said, why would god change his divine plan for every schmuck with a $2 prayer book that comes along!
^This is also the way i understood it. Free will is determined by your own ignorance as to what will happen. At any given situation if you are a sane and rational human being you will choose the path YOU want. Not the one that was preordained as there was never any one that was preordained that you had any knowledge of to begin with. So it's incredibly stupid to believe that because you are destined to go to either heaven or hell you can basically do what you want as your path has already been decided for you, when in reality you're bombarded with information that tells you to be good and act according to the values prescribed for you in islam. This in of itself, if you are again a sane and rational human being, should be enough to convey to you that there's more going on than what you have in mind. All men choose their destinies, and allah knows what we will do, but he does not take away free will from us as we pave our own destinies. If you decide to drink, sleep your way around town, and just straight up ngaf about your religion then YOU choose to do those things and YOU will be held accountable. Just as if you watch your tongue, stay away from intoxicants, and basically use your life to help old ladies cross the street and do other nice things, YOU will reap the rewards from this because YOU CHOSE to act on actions that were/are rational to you. The problem here is people don't understand that there is no third party out to get you, or to hurt you. All paths are known and Allah knows which ones you are to take. Allah guides those he sees are willing to learn, and there is a great deal of unwillingness to learn, just like some people have already made up their minds on here. My hope is at least one person reads this and is helped out if they are confused.Allah has knowledge of all things. He knows what is going to happen and also all the possible alternative paths that could have been taken. Allah is not bound by time the way we are so He has knowledge of all eventualities. Everything that has happened and will happen from the beginning of time until the end of time has been recorded in Lawhul Maxfuud.
Allah has given us free will. We may choose whichever path we want. This idea that you are 'doomed' to go to hell if Allah wills it and therefore there is no point in doing good deeds is silly because your belief of this was also recorded in Lawhul Maxfuud. So if someone says I am not going to do anything because whatever Allah has decreed will happen, then the fact that they thought this and acted accordingly (e.g. didn't bother performing good deeds) will also be recorded in Lawhul Maxfud.
Even though all of our end points are known to Allah, we ourselves in the here and now are creating our own destiny. If you work hard now inshaAllah you will reap the rewards in the akhira and perhaps it will be written in Lawhil Maxfud that on 3/7/2016 xalimo/faarax had a revelation and realised they should start working on their deen and from that point on they were headed to Paradise.
The belief in Qadr is one of the six pillars of Iman which are the beliefs that require someone to be a Muslim. May Allah forgive me if I have said anything incorrect, Ameen.
Correct me if I'm wrong but are you saying that every path you could ever take and all the outcome of these different paths is already written down and people just get to choose these outcomes? That actually makes sense to me.
Allah has knowledge of all things. He knows what is going to happen and also all the possible alternative paths that could have been taken. Allah is not bound by time the way we are so He has knowledge of all eventualities. Everything that has happened and will happen from the beginning of time until the end of time has been recorded in Lawhul Maxfuud.
Allah has given us free will. We may choose whichever path we want. This idea that you are 'doomed' to go to hell if Allah wills it and therefore there is no point in doing good deeds is silly because your belief of this was also recorded in Lawhul Maxfuud. So if someone says I am not going to do anything because whatever Allah has decreed will happen, then the fact that they thought this and acted accordingly (e.g. didn't bother performing good deeds) will also be recorded in Lawhul Maxfud.
Even though all of our end points are known to Allah, we ourselves in the here and now are creating our own destiny. If you work hard now inshaAllah you will reap the rewards in the akhira and perhaps it will be written in Lawhil Maxfud that on 3/7/2016 xalimo/faarax had a revelation and realised they should start working on their deen and from that point on they were headed to Paradise.
The belief in Qadr is one of the six pillars of Iman which are the beliefs that require someone to be a Muslim. May Allah forgive me if I have said anything incorrect, Ameen.
Allah cannot give us free will at all. Allah attributes - omniscience and free will - are internally contradictory. Something has to give as logic 101 dictates anything with contradictory attributes cannot exist.
According to Islam Allah is not only our "creator" but he is also omniscient (all-knowing) AND has free will himself.
Because he is omniscient, he knows what will happen in the future.
Because Allah free will, he can choose to create only people will go to heaven (be good Muslims).
This means Allah has already chosen a destiny for each one of his creation. Otherwise, Allah cannot be both possess free will and omniscience.
It's like a teacher who assigns grades for tests before students take the test. A student can take the test all he likes but it won't change his final result as the teacher has already assigned score to him.
However, this does not mean Allah is forcing/controlling people to do it.
The idea is that if I disobey Allah, it isn't like I have done something Allah did not will to happen because this would suggest a deficiency in Allah's ability namely that his creation can do that which He has no control over. But this does not mean He forced us - it simply means He allowed us the ability to do this evil. Allah did not physically make us do it - but He did not stop us. Allah allows us to freely choose what we do and we will be held accountable for it on the Day of Judgement.
The problem is you are likening Allah to the Creation. Allah lives outside of time - he already knows the results of the test. However, we in our limited frame of reference have no knowledge of our end outcome - we must try our best in the here and now.This is not about Allah compelling anyone to do anything. It's about Allah stacking the deck against you from the moment of your creation. If Islam is true, then every step we take has already been chosen for us by Allah WHEN he created us. The test on earth is, the choices you make in life, etc, are therefore meaningless.
He most certainly did. He created you knowing full well that you'll go to heaven, so nothing you do on earth will make any difference vis-a-vis your ultimate salvation.
Pay careful attention to what I'm saying. All I'm saying if Allah is BOTH omniscient and has free will, there can be no credible salvation test on earth. One of Allah's attributes has to give way.
I ask you, if a teacher assigns grades BEFORE he giving a test to students, does it matter what grade the students get on the test?