Chapter 2

Al Qadha Wal Qadar

Major Points concerning Al-Qadha Wal Qadar

What it doesn’t concern

Three Greek influenced Muslim Philosophical groups (Ilmu Al Kalam) argued that the actions of
man are either:
1. Free due to free will (Mutazillah) as also known as Ahlul ‘ahd wal ‘adl. It is believed that
this group placed reasons above of all others; i.e. minds and the texts of the qur’an. Many
aqeedah’s discussions happened at that time. One of the well known leaders was Wasil ibn
‘Atha (Hasan al Basri’s student). Following are their beliefs:
a. Allah does not have attributes distinct from His essence. i.e. His attributes and
essence is the same. They used logic to explain why; essentially if His attributes
were distinct from His essence, then they would also be eternal, able to create, thus
there would be more than one creator – can’t be…)
b. The Qur’an wa created : The Qur’an is the speech of Allah; it is made up of letters
which are arranged and sequenced into existence, and every speech which is made
up of letters which are arranged and sequenced into existence is recent(i.e. has
beginning/limited) This was in response to the argument that the Quran says that
Jesus is the word of Allah, therefore Jesus is not created and is god.
c. That seeing Allah is not possible in this world and hereafter; because this requires
that He (swt) have a place and direction which is not possible for the Creator.
d. Man creates his actions: Since God is just, and justice can only be if it is man that is
in full control of his actions, which requires that man be the creator of them.
e. The perpetrator of the serious sin is neither a believer nor a disbeliever, but is
somewhere in between, and that one who commits a grave sin goes to hell forever if
he dies unrepentant. He is not a true believer since a true believer does not commit
major sins. The punishment meted out however will be moderate since he is right in
his belief. Verses used to support this were the likes of: “for any that disobey God
and His Messenger, for them is hell, they shall dwell therein forever.”

2. Compelled with no choice (Jabariyah)

3. Free and compelled (Ahlul Sunnah); in two views:
a. Ash’ari (Orthodox view) was led by Hasan al ‘Ash’ari in Basrah Baghdad. It follows
Imam Hanbal. The main beliefs in contrast to the mu’tazilah are:
i. Allah (swt) has eternal attributes but they are not He not other than He (la
huwa wala ghruhu) for example; kindness is an attribute of Fatimah,
however, it is not a part of her essence, but it is also not separate from her.
The Ash’ari creed states that these attributes are not to be understood in their
literal sense (unlike the anthropomorphist) but are to be believed in bila kaifa
wa bila tashbih, i.e. without asking “how” and without drawing any
comparison.
ii. The Quran is not created. Against the mu’tazilah, they stated that although
words and sounds are temporal, the Quran is its meaning is uncreated and
eternal.
iii. It is possible to see Allah (swt) in the hereafter: The manner of which we do
not understand. They went on to explain this in some detail, stating things
like “it is possible to see an object even if it is not present before the
 perceiver.” That is, it is possible for Allah to create the capacity in humans to
see Him without the necessary conditions of vision.
iv. God is the creator of mans actions, since He is the only one that can create
something out of nothing. God brings the action into existence when man has
decided and intended the action through his derived power. Hence the
concept of kasb (acquisition). God is the creator (khaliq) of human actions
and man is the aquisitor (muktasib).
v. The p0erpetrator of a grave sin is still a Muslim and will be saved from hell
eventually.
vi. The Ash’arites differs from the Mu’taziliates on the question of whether
reason or revelation should be the basis or source of truth and reality: Both
the schools admit the necessity of reason for the rational understanding of
faith, but they differ with regard to the question of whether reason or
revelation is to get preference. The Mu’tazilites held that reason is more
fundamental than revelation and is to be preferred to revelation. Revelation
merely confirms what is accepted by reason and, if there be a conflict
between the two, reasons is to be dictates of reason. The Ash’arites, on the
other hand, held that revelation is more fundamental as the source of ultimate
truth and reality, and reason should merely confirm what is given by
revelation. The Ash’arites prefers revelation to reason in case of a conflict
between the two.

b. Ahlul Sunnah (Maturidi); It was let by Aboo Al Maturidi during the 238 H in central
Asia Al Samakan in the Town named Maturi. It is observed to be the follower of
Imam Abu Hanifa. Their methods are mainly refer to senses, Al Khabar(report) and
mind. Following are their main beliefs:
i. The verses of the Quran which mention face, hand should not be taken in the
apparent sense, since the literal interpretation contradicts the explicit verses
in the Quran. These passages should be interpreted in light of the explicit
verses of tanzih (freedom of similitude) and in a manner consistent with
tauhid and the understanding of the Arabs (usage in Arabic language), or their
true meanings should be left to the knowledge of Allah.
ii. Issue of Al-qada’ wal qadar: As well as disagreeing with the Mu’tazillah and
the Jabriyyah, he also differed on some points with al Ash’ari. He asserts that
reality states that man is free to think, derire, inclines, chooses and acts as he
likes and always considers himself free and nothing compels him.
Furthermore, Allah decrees the act He knows that a man will choose and
acquire freely. All creation belongs to Allah, including human actions.
iii. Seeing Allah swt in the hereafter will happen. He states that based on the
language and spirit of the verses as well as the sunnah, it does not allow us to
take them metaphorically as the mu’tazillah did. He explains it by saying that
the seeing in paradise can not be compared to vision of a material object in
this world. The vision of Allah in the hereafter is of the highest reward and
we must accept it without going into details.

Basically they argued their opinions and used verses from Al Quran and Hadith to support:
1. Man creates his actions
2. Allah creates his actions
3. Allah knows what our actions will be (ilmullah)
4. Allah wills man to act (iraadatullah)
5. Allah has decreed man to act for it is written in Al lawh Al Mahfooz (Divine Decree or
Register)
The subject of Qadha wal Qadar should not be based upon these points for they are not related to
the matter of man and his actions i.e. is man compelled to perform an action, good or bad, or does
he have a choice.

The FACTS

Actions of man fall into two spheres:

1. The sphere in which man has no control over his actions;
a. Universal Laws i.e. rising of the sun, physical urges, weather patterns etc.
b. Actions outside the first area that he can not control; e.g. car hits you, wall falls upon
you, accidents beyond your control.

All actions that occur with in these two areas in the first sphere are termed al Qadaa i.e. Allah has
predetermined all actions within this area and Allah only knows whether they are good or bad.

2. The sphere in which he has control;

Involves him freely choosing a system that he can follow. Allah’s shariah or others will direct him
with his actions that he is free to perform like talking, walking, using objects like steel or wood to
kill, cook etc. If a muslim uses Allah’s shariah to guide his behaviors then his actions are considered
bad if they use other laws.

The issue of Qadar

Allah has created objects like wood, steel and instincts within humans and alongside these objects.
He has also created attributes within them. E.g. wood has the attribute to burn, steel has the attribute
to cut, the procreational instinct has the attribute of sexual inclination, motherhood and fatherhood.
Thus, Qadar is then known as the attributes within objects, also includes organic needs and
instincts.

Hence, the issue of Al qadha wal qadar is therefore concerning two areas:
1. Actions.
2. Attributes of objects, organic needs and instincts.
 ATTRIBUTES OF OBJECTS ALLAH SWT CREATED,
QADHA MAN’S ACTIONS INCLUDING; ORGANIC NEEDS AND INSTINCTS
QADAR

SPHERE THAT DOMINATES MAN SPHERE THAT MAN DOMINATES

*Within the law of universe

*man is forced
*complete submission to Allah SWT
MAN IS FREE TO CHOOSE
*not within the law of universe
*beyond man’s control-man initiates
*fall on him against his will
*unavoidable

NO HISAB HISAB

*be patient
*leave it to Allah SWT
*choose according to what Islam says
*When there is a choice, try to change it from bad
to good

ALWAYS TO CHOOSE THE BEST

ACCORDING TO WHAT ISLAM SAYS AND
TAWAKKAL (COMPLETE SUBMISSION TO
ALLAH)