One of the most debated ideas in the history of philosophy was the apparent paradox between the divine decree and free will. The problem arises from the question that if everything happens according to a certain law then where will our own free choice and responsibility?This is a very important issue in spirituality and has been approached in various way.
Common wisdom says that everything is both deterministic and non deterministic. Paradoxically in philosophy and religions free will can only arise when there is a choice to make . Between evil and good for example. Otherwise if you are just an angel or a Satan then it does not arise. Because an Angel is only programmed to do good and a devil( Shaytan) is only programmed to do evil. Thus , man was given the knowledge for his own responsibility and that is why the whole life is just a test. The only clue is that God knows the choice you are going to make and prepares you for that.
The prophet Muhammad(pbuh) was once asked if the divine decree could be prevented by medicine, supplications and precautions and he replied that these are all parts of the divine decree. It means that our freedom of will is also predetermined by God. When nature is subject to a condition, the condition is created to accept that nature. It can be understood from the original sin. God created man, created the forbidden tree and gave man knowledge and understanding about all this. When the devil misled man the thought arises weather it would be good or injurious to eat of the fruit of the tree. The result of this conflicting thoughts is our freedom of will. God can make the will firm according to our inclination, the union of will and strength will lead to action. We choose to act but the will and strength are creations of God.
We can say that there are conditions to be fulfilled for a certain action to be possible. It is like a kind of “If A then B else C “computing program where the result of the action will depend on a set of conditions. And this is the secret to decode your own life. Some situations are repeatedly presented to you by what you refer to as your destiny. The law of God, the ten commandments and more ethics are the guideline to safely choose what to do. Because whatever you choose you have to account for it later, in this life or in the hereafter. Some times you might have many choices leading to the same goal and a choice might put you in more difficulties than another. But at the end you will learn more.
Let us say you are In London and you want to travel to Lagos. They are already a set of flights that you can book. Your journey and arrival will depend on the flights you will booked and you can not really
have an influence of the route of a plane. Depending on the airline you choose there will be a set of possible stops you will have to make. Whether you are destined for a flight or not will happen according to your destiny. But there are precautions you have to make if not you can miss the next fights. This depends on you own efforts because you can look for the information before. Even if you supplicate for a save journey you will still need to make the necessary efforts. Only if you met the necessary efforts and could not catch up the flights than you mus accept it as a decree of God.
It is the same that happens with when you are sick.
You take the necessary medication, you pray and supplicate. If God wants you to be cured he will make you take the necessary medicine. This is also what God makes for the blessed ones. If he has made you for paradise he will make it easy for you to do the deeds of the people of paradise. It is the same thing with diseases. God has set both the disease and the cure, and he has appointed a cure for every disease, but you still need to be treated (medically) in order to be cured. It is Allah who cures you because he will make you choose the right doctor who will prescribe the right medication for your sickness.
Hz Jabir narrated that the prophet said :” There is the cure for every disease. If the cure of a disease is met the person will be saved from that disease by the permission of God. Supplicate when in need and take your medication when you are sick. Your own efforts are always necessary to face the divine decree. But it is said that the evil eye can have an influence on your destiny. Probably is must also be part of the divine decree.
The evil eye is a misfortune that can be transmitted from one person to another out of jealousy and envy. It may manifest a sickness, loss of wealth or family and the person indicting the evil eye may not do so by intention. The 2 last chapters of the holy Quran were revealed for the purpose of exorcism and it was mentioned in one of them that one should seek refuge with his Lord from the mischief of the person who envies when he envies. These are some religious phenomena that we cannot explain scientifically but statistically we could argue that gazing at something, especially an animated being, can obviously have an influence on it. According o the messenger of God if anything would precede the divine decree it would be the influence of an evil eve…(Sahih Muslim Hadith 4058). Predestination refers to the prior knowledge of God and not to his will. And here it is the same to be done. Nature beers a lot of phenomena that neither doctors nor scientists can explain. And the remedies all sound superstitious but were proven to have an effect. Regularly offering your prayers on time and doing some other recommended acts of worship is a good protection against the evil eye
