The idea behind the divine decree, which is one of the basic tenants of faith no matter which religion we practice, is that our destiny has already been decreed by God and he is omniscient and omnipotent.
Religious belief is based on the acceptance and worshiping of the supernatural divine being who is in control of our destiny. And the divine decree is our fate from the creator, as far as our destiny is concerned.. Thus a believer is recommended to submit himself to God and his will.
God almighty is reported to have said:“No misfortune can happen on earth or in your souls but is recorded in a decree before we bring it into existence: that is truly easy for God: in order that you may not despair over matters that pass by you, nor exult over favors bestowed upon you..” (al Hadith 57:22-23). The will of God is expressed in his commandments but the commandments have have been delivered in different contexts throughout space and time. Since God almighty has full control over our destiny, the fact that he endowed men with freewill makes it difficult to decide if the divine decree is being (or must be ) followed blindly or if we can have an influence on it. This is especially challenging in cases where the decree upon us may seem to be in contradiction with the commandments of God. Can a believer then be instructed to do something while it has been decreed that he will do the opposite?
1- Freewill does not contradict the divine decree
Because freewill gives us full responsibility for our actions, the divine decree should not cause any of us to be disobedient to God. The naive approach of the divine decree is to think that it gives us excuses for our actions. This is not true as we must deal with the divine decree with the help of God for his sake. If the divine decree pushes us do do things that are against the commandments of God, then we must struggle as believers against the bad actions and God will make easy for us what is related to our destiny. In this sense the divine decree does not contradict freewill .
Since God is creator of all things it means that our free will must have some connections with our destiny and preordainment. The misunderstanding of the divine decree lies on the simple fact that the things of the spiritual world are somehow interconnected as there is no master except God. Both deeds and consequences of deeds are decreed by God. And a believer has as duty to learn to know the commandments of God. If sin has been decreed for a sincere believer he must recognize it , repent and seek forgiveness. A believer must bear the calamities that might follow his committing a sin with patience as there is no excuse that sins are decreed by God. Repentance is an obligation for every believer. If the divine decree was an excuse to disobey the creator then Satan should not be doomed with his followers because he was given respite to mislead those who follow him as result of a what was decreed by Allah.
Even in cases we have done something we were not supposed to do by choice and have remarked that the consequences went out of hand, for example a love story the start of which had been by choice but the consequences went out of control we should abstain in the first place and correct our mistake in patience and perseverance. If we expose ourselves to the cause of sickness and pain , because we have been smoking or taking drugs or drinking and it becomes difficult to stop the consequences, we must exercise patience and abstinence to handle the consequences until we develop new habits and break the bad habits. A well-known way of doing so is to forsake those who encouraged us to commit the wrong actions. This is how we put our free will in use even when things seems to go out of control as there is no real excuse in persisting in sins.
2-Our deeds and supplications affronts the divine decree
The believers asked the prophet why we should supplicate and take precautions when everything that will happen has already been decreed by God and the prophet answered that there are clashes between supplications and the decree of God between heaven and earth. Supplications and precautions and medications can have an influence on the divine decree. And we have said , for this to happen, patience and perseverance are required. A believer must know there is no faith without patience as patience is half of faith. Adversities are results of our deeds but they happen through the actions of other creatures and can create situations beyond our control. God is Agent of all actions but the adversity we face such as sickness, loss of wealth, the dead of a beloved etc… are mostly trials and beyond our control. We can supplicate in case of the matters and must bear patience and not commit any wrong actions and bear this as the decree of God.
In facing these situations there are many possibilities. Most of the time we will feel helpless and discontented . Many people will fall into panic or keep complaining but responding with patience is a sign of a strength of character and is an acceptance of the decree of God. Some believers with a higher decree of faith will even be contented with the decree of God as in any difficulty there is ease. Thus adversity can be considered as a blessing from God in order to train our faith and bring us closer to him.
Some problems and adversities reached us through the actions or others who have the intention to harm us. Depending on our degree of understanding of the laws of god or our closeness to him we might choose either to forgive and forget taking into consideration that the one who harmed us was just an agent of action as every action is decreed by god and not by the wrong-doer. The actions of people against us should not always be handle with complain and revenge because in this behavior is a lack of wisdom. There are different ways and means for things to happen but the things happen by the decree and will of God. As the Christians know that prophet Issa (pbuh) taught us, there is benefit in treating well the person who mistreat us and there are many advantages and benefits in doing which only Allah is entirely aware of.
The prophet Muhamad(pbuh) is reported to have said: “Cautions will not be of any benefits against QADR(the divine decree). No matter how cautious you are, if something has been willed for you it will happen. But Du’a (supplication) benefits matter that have occurred and will occurred. “
The evidence that du‘a benefits actions that will occurred is known by every righteous being. Sometimes when we went astray and Allah decreed something for us, a sincere act of worship can prevent it from happening or postponed it. There are cases with witnesses where the sages have had signs of a decree and some precautions have transformed what had been decreed into a less harmful event or postponed it to a future time where the people were better prepared to face the consequences.
3-The divine decree is no excuse for giving up striving.
There have been groups of believers who recognized the commands and prohibitions of God but believed that someone who has reached the level of recognition of the divine decree and preordainment will become free from their obligations towards Allah. The commands and obligations of Allah are not only for those who are blind to the cosmic reality . Most of our modern spiritual leaders attained enlightenment because they became aware of the cosmic reality thus they went astray as they disobeyed the commands and prohibitions of Allah. The commands and prohibitions of Allah apply to everyone as the only criteria to belong to those close to Allah is righteousness and obedience of the commandments of Allah.
It is reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim that the prophet(pbuh) said that Adam and Musa discussed about the divine decree : Musa said to Adam that he was created by the hands of Allah and given the breath directly from Allah’s spirit and considered by the angels and taught the names of things but how could he cause himself to be chased out of paradise and Adam told Musa that he was chosen to be spoken directly to and must realize that the fate of Adam was decreed to him before he was created. The divine decree can not be used as an excuse. Both our deeds and the consequences of our deeds are decreed by Allah and we should submit ourself to it in the way of Allah.
The prophet (pbuh) was asked by the group of believers if they should give up striving since everything has been decreed by God And he Said “ keep up striving, because whatever a person is created for will be made easy for him. If he is one of the people of happiness(Paradise), it will be easy for him to do the deeds of the people of happiness, and if he is the people of misery(Hell) it will be easy for him to do the deeds of the people of happiness.”(Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOURCES
1. The Holy Qu’ran
2. Being a true Slave of God (Ibn Taymiyyah)
3.Patience and Gratitude(Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah
4. Repentance(Imam al Ghazali)
