Is Islam Fatalist

Is Islam Fatalist?
By
Sary Farah

Some might ask:

If we are truly free agents, what about God as possessing ultimate power over all things, and knowing everything (past, present and future)?
The question of accountability might also be:
How are we supposed to be accountable before God, if everything we do is predetermined by Him?
Two extreme views are provided by philosophers and theologians:
1- We are totally free agents, (God's knowledge implies predetermining our actions, and therefore they say that God only knows about an action after we do it).
As for materialists, they believe that matter is everything and nothing is written before the existence, and thus, we choose our own destiny. Main schools and philosophers representing this extreme: (Epicureans – followers of Epicurus the ancient Greek philosopher –, Ernest Renan…)
2- On the other hand, fatalists say: nothing happens in this universe against His will, whatever we do is something that is decreed and we are predestined to do. In other words; man is like a feather in the winds of destiny. Main schools and philosophers representing this extreme: (Stoics – followers of Zeno the ancient Greek philosopher–, Schopenhauer…)
Were does Islam stand?
Some might accuse Islam of being a fatalist faith (i.e. supporting the second extreme). In fact they are wrong. In order to know the Islamic stance on this issue, we need to refer to the Islamic sources; Qur'an and Sunnah.
Qadar = predestination?
The Arabic word "Qadar" does not mean predestination, it rather means that God created this universe in due measure, due proportions, and that includes physical existence, laws, speed of planets' rotation around the sun and their own access, precise systems of human physiology…
Man in his life is between two spheres:

1- The sphere of non-controllable deeds and actions, for which he will not be held accountable (date and place of birth, things one did by mistake, accidents, color of eyes…). All actions falling within this sphere are known and predetermined by Allah the Creator.

2- The sphere of controllable deeds and actions (also the sphere of accountability)
This includes all acts that a man can chose to do or not: believing, disbelieving, praying, sinning… and he is accountable for such actions. Such deeds and actions are known to Allah (further explanation below), however, they were not compelled by Him upon humans. Our freedom to choose our actions within this sphere of accountability does not contradict with Divine will, for Allah has willed that we act based on choice.
To explain the above even more: the first case (sphere of action) includes the shivering of one's hand out of cold or Parkinson's disease. It also includes the signing of a check (which is also a hand's movement) under the threat of a weapon, for man is not accountable for something he did under threat. On the other hand, the second case/sphere includes one's hand movement while willingly typing/writing his own ideas.
(An additional example; the professor determines the test's: date, content and questions, location, and duration. The student's role resides in answering the questions, and he will be evaluated in accordance with his answers.)
In addition, Allah knows all things and this includes the end-result of each one us. This is because Allah transcends time and space, He is beyond limitation, for He created time and space. In other words: the past, present and future are known to Allah. (In the above -additional- example, the professor might not know the end results simply because he too, as a creature, is bound to time and space). However, Allah's knowledge does not influence our results, for every human being has chosen, during his lifetime, the path leading to such a result. Muslim scholars deduced the following rule: "عِلمُ اللهِ سابِقٌ وليسَ بسائِقٍ" which means: Allah's knowledge (of our deeds and their consequences) preceded (their occurrence) yet it does not "drive" (or compel) humans to do them. In the field of logical sciences, knowledge is an attribute of exposition, and not that of influence "العِلمُ صِفَةُ انكشافٍ وليسَ صِفَةَ تأثيرٍ".
In simpler terms: If I know that the book is on the table, my knowledge did not influence or change the book.
To elaborate more, if one is standing on the top of a building, and he saw two speeding cars from different corners, and in his mind he knew (a couple of seconds before) that an accident will occur, and it happens. Both car drivers didn't know about the accident, because each one of them didn't see the other car speeding around the corner. The observer's knowledge preceded the accident, maybe in less than a second, because he was in a different position (See the attached image below "Observer's example"). How would it then be if the knowledge is referred to Allah who is beyond time and space?
Moreover, if man was compelled to do his actions, on what basis shall he be rewarded/punished in the hereafter? Allah is All-Just, and shall never take anyone into account for something he was compelled to do.
{Verily Allah will not deal unjustly with man in aught: it is man that wrongs his own soul –by sinning and disbelieving–} [Qur'an 10: 44]
This was, in brief, the Islamic stance on fate and predestination. Anyone claiming that Islam is fatalist has misunderstood Islam. If anyone has a scripture from the Qur'an and Sunnah which he thinks that it contradicts with what was mentioned above, please contact me at [e-mail] for the answer.
And Allah knows best.

Appendix

Feel free to contact me at [e-mail]

Return to Sary Farah section.

Return to Home page