Written by; Atabek Shukurov

Edited by; Dr. Abraham Anderson

The concepts of “Free Will” and “Pre-Destination” are well-known, frequently studied, and preached by Muslim academics, scholars, and Da’wa Carriers. Many people believe that it is a simple matter that is acknowledged by the majority of the “Guided,” who are certified to enter Paradise, and that only those who enter Hell unconditionally reject it.

Few true scholars with deep knowledge, however, are aware that the majority of Muslim theologians hold the widely held belief, which is challenged by a number of scholars with greater knowledge, larger brains, and a deeper comprehension of the Quran and the Prophet PBUH’s teachings.

The technical words used in relation to the subject topic are listed below:

• Linguistically, Al-Jabr means to force someone to do something or not. It signifies “pre-determination” in theological terminology.

• Al-Mujbar: someone who is compelled to perform an action. In theory, someone who lacks free will.

• Al-Musayyar—preprogrammed (a robot, for instance); similarly, in technical terms In technical terms, al-Jabriyyah, al-Jabariyyah, and al-Mujbirah refer to the group that holds that people are incapable of exercising free choice.

• Al-Ikhtiar, which means “choice” in terms of language (doing or not doing something). “Free will” is what it signifies in theology.

• A person with a choice, or al-Mukhtar, as the technical phrase is called. • Al-Mukhayyar: an individual who is free to make his own decisions.

• Al-Qadariyyah, Al-Qadriyyah—the school of thought that holds that everyone has the capacity for free will. Naturally, this term has another meaning that states that “humans are under the Qudrah of God (forced to do or not do something),” which is equivalent to al-Jabr.

Since many of my blog’s readers are not academics, I will make every effort to make this problem as straightforward as possible. For more information, I advise readers to get in touch with theologians.
After presenting each viewpoint in a distinct chapter, I will wrap up the piece with a summary.

Because of my prior experience, I will only cite the origins of these beliefs rather than naming the scholars or the schools that adopted the al-Jabri stance. This is because I have seen in the past that when you clarify the official viewpoints of a particular school of thought, its adherents become outraged, which may indicate that they are ashamed of it or don’t think it is strong. What I don’t get, though, is whether it makes sense to accept the viewpoint of the opposing school if they don’t share their beliefs.

Unfortunately, people are emotional and illogical beings. As spoken by God Almighty; ‘Only the intelligent people will accept the reminder’ 3; 7

Al-Jabr

This school of thinking holds that;

• Free will does not exist in humans. Taftazzani; 4, 263

• Every human being’s destiny has already been predetermined by God. Laqqani; V1, p632, Arba’een; 22,

• A righteous person acts morally because God has ordained (compelled) him to do so, not because he chooses to. Taftazzani; 4, 229, 275

• Unrighteous person commits evil acts because God has already determined it for him, not because he chooses to. ibid

• A righteous person enters Paradise because God has predetermined it, not because he has done good things.

• A sinner is sent to Hell by God’s decree, not because of his own transgressions.

• No one will enter Paradise because they are good; rather, it is because God desires it.

• Because God desires it, no one will be sent to Hell for oppression.

• The most repressive person in the universe (for example Pharaoh) might be sent to the greatest level of Paradise by God. Laqqani; v1. P592

• If God so desires, He may send the most pious person  to Hell, the worst punishment. ibid

• Only God’s will can cause anything to occur in the world; no one else’s decision or will can. Kubra; 529,

• A person who has been predestined to go to Hell would still end up there even if he accomplishes good deeds from birth until death since God’s decision is unaffected by a person’s good deeds. Iqtisad; 126, 127

• Similarly, even if a person commits countless serious sins from birth to death, his oppression and evil deeds would not condemn him to Hell if God has determined that he should go to Paradise. Iqtisad; 127

• In all honesty, the actions are worthless and have no bearing on fate.

• The closest illustration of the issue is a bit of cotton on a level surface that lacks a choice and is therefore immobile. The wind, however, scatters it everywhere. Therefore, the wind represents God Almighty’s Will, and the cotton represents everything in the universe, including humans.

Considering everything mentioned above, the true explanation for God’s entire creation is that

• A person is free to do whatsoever he pleases; his actions are unimportant. In either case, he will enter paradise.

• A person will go to hell, so he can do anything he wants. He won’t go because he did anything wrong. He actually has no choice but to act morally or immorally. God destined him to do horrible things, so he will go to hell because of that, not because he decided to do bad things, but because God made him do bad things. In summary, God did not offer a person the option to be a nice person, hence he will go to hell. The same holds true for the individual who enters paradise.

All of the aforementioned issues stem from the core idea that “God gives a human a power (al-Quwwah) by which he can act.” This power can only be used for the exact act for which it is pre-programmed. Therefore, if God gives someone a positive power, it will only be for a good deed, and the recipient will carry out that good deed.

Similarly, if God gives someone a negatively programmed power, that person will only sin. It is impossible to use the positive power for a sin and the negative power for a good conduct. Furthermore, only God Almighty determines what kind of power he wishes to grant a human, and humans have no control over the “power” that God grants them;

• A person’s holiness won’t guarantee that God will give him a positive “power,” but He may choose to give him the most negative one.

• Similarly, God will not give someone a “negative power” because they are opressors; but, He may give the most tyrannical person the most positive “power.”

• According to theologians, everything is predestined “fifty thousand years before He created the creation,” meaning that God does not actually make decisions (either now or in the future). Sahih Muslim, 2635, Abdullah b. Amr’s narration from the Prophet PBUH.

The explicit (superficial) meaning of the verses and narrations has been used by the scholars of this school, which comprises the majority of Muslims, to bolster their claims. Here are a few examples:

• “Everything was created by God,” according to al-Zumar 62

• “Aside from Allah, is there another god?” Al-Fatir 3

• Al-Saffaat 96 states that “and God has created you and anything you do.”

• “You can never be of any assistance to someone who Allah permits to be deluded against Allah.” Purifying their hearts is not what Allah desires. They are a disgrace in this world and will be punished severely in the hereafter. ‘Al-Maidah; 41

Additionally, they cite other narratives to bolster their claims, such as;

• Abdullah b. Masud; “When the pregnancy reaches four months, the angels transcend to write four points: Rizq (a person’s financial life), the length of his life, death (how he will be acting/behaving), and whether he is Sa’eed (a man of paradise) or Shaqiy (a person of hell),” stated the Prophet PBUH. An individual will continue to live like a man of paradise, but when there is little left, his destiny will intervene, causing him to act like a man of hell and ultimately end up in Hell. And someone may act like a man of hell, but when fate intervenes, he will act like a man of paradise and enter paradise. (Muslim, 2643; Bukhari, 3208)

• Abu Hurairah recounted an argument between Adam and Musa from the Prophet PBUH. “You are our father, and you have failed us,” Musa remarked. We have been expelled from Paradise as a result of you. Adam retorted, “God has written (a book) for you and has chosen you with his speech.” I was destined for this forty years before I was ever born, so why do you hold me responsible for it? “.” Adam thus prevailed in the dispute. (Muslim; 2652, Bukhari; 6240)

• According to the Prophet PBUH, as relayed by Abdullah b. Abbas, “The ink pen that wrote the destiny has dried up after writing everything that is supposed to happen.” 2516 Tirmidhi

This meaning can be found in many more narratives. The great majority of Islamic schools, including Maliki, Shafei, Hanbali (both Muifawwid and Salafi/Mujassim), Ahl Hadith, many later Hanafi, and the great majority of modern Hanafi (particularly the Subcontinental Hanafi scholars, both Deobandi and Brelvi), have thus adopted it. The Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid, and numerous other Muslim kingdoms have this as their official creed.

This is actually categorized as a difference between belief and disbelief. It is also a part of most, if not all, of them. Theological writings include Jawharah, Sanusiyyah, Fiqh Akbar, and the Texts of Tahawiyyah, among others
Iqtisad, Imam Ghazali, Sharh Maqasid, Taftazzani, Sanusiyyah, Sharh Jawhara, Laqqani, and others are cited for the aforementioned points.

Abu Hanifah clarifies

Abu Hanifah, some of his disciples from the latter generation, and his senior students
Abu Hanifah clearly maintains the qualities of God Almighty at the level of “Subhan” (imperfect). This level is unquestionably contradicted by the aforementioned belief in two ways:

1. Oppression

2. Absence of Wisdom  

In the short chapter that follows, each of the aforementioned points will be explained.

By saying, “The power that is granted by God Almighty is neutral, which can be equally used for both good and bad, and the human is granted an ability to choose in which way he wants to use it!” (Samarqandi; 16) Abu Hanifah has so struck at the core of the given religion. Therefore, contrary to what the first group said, this power—which forms the primary basis for the lack of free will—is not pre-programmed. The problem is briefly explained here.
Without the capacity to act, humans cannot do anything. “Qudrah,” which means “power,” is the name given to this capability. Therefore, God gives people strength. Regarding the nature of this authority, the scholars have been at odds.

• According to the overwhelming majority of Muslim scholars, the power is preprogrammed and can only be used for its intended purposes. Therefore, the human is powerless to do anything other than what the power was designed to do. In fact, if this power is programmed to rape a person cannot use it to steal. Furthermore, the power which is programmed to rape a specific person in a specific time and place in certain way, a person cannot use it to rape the same person in different time, place or different way. So, utter marionette.

• Abu Hanifa stated, “This power is neutral, which can be used for anything, including good and bad.” Furthermore, a person’s neutral “free will” is granted by God that allows him to utilize his power anyway he pleases. But it is the human’s responsibility to direct his free will, (Ali; 77) and he will be asked about it on the Day of Judgment. Because of his free will, he will be rewarded for using his power for good, and he will be punished for using it for evil.

God will be treated unfairly and oppressively, and his wisdom will be denied, if the neutrality of this power and the existence of free choice are denied. Subhanah!

I hope, this short article brings the long-lasting debates to a rest…

References

Kubra; Sharh al-‘Aqeedah al-Kubra by Imam al-Sanusi d. 890 AH, published by; Dar Taqwa, Damascus, Syria, first edition year 2019.

Arba’een; Al-Arba’un fi Usul al-Deen, Imam Ghazali, D 505 AH, Published by; Dar al-Qalam, Damascus, Syria, first edition year 2003.

Iqtisad; al-Iqtisad fi al-I’tiqad, by Imam Ghazali, published by; Qutaibah publishers, Damascus, Syria, first edition year 2003.

Taftazzani; Sharh al-Maqasid, by Imam Masud b. Umar d. 793 AH, published; Alam al-Kutub, Beirut, Lebanon, second edition year 1998.

Samarqandi; Sharh al-Fiqh al-Akbar by Abu Laith Samarqandi, Published by; Dairah Maarif al-Nu’maniyyah, Hyderabad, India, year 1321 AH.