{"id":362,"date":"2017-07-18T18:10:47","date_gmt":"2017-07-18T18:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/astudyofquran.org\/wp\/?page_id=362"},"modified":"2017-07-18T18:10:47","modified_gmt":"2017-07-18T18:10:47","slug":"does-taqdir-imply-predestination","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/astudyofquran.org\/wp\/does-taqdir-imply-predestination\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Taqdir imply predestination?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Does Taqdir <\/em>imply predestination?<\/strong><\/p>\n

M. A. Malek and Mrs. Sajeda Malek<\/p>\n

The word taqdir<\/em> in the Qur\u2019an have come to mean, for many Muslims and Orientalists, the \u201cabsolute decree of good and evil by God\u201d, meaning that God has preordained all\u00a0 our acts and choices, and therefore we are not responsible for our actions. To dispel this misunderstanding, it is necessary to understand the correct meaning of the Arabic words qadar<\/em> and taqdir<\/em>.<\/p>\n

For example, the Qur\u2019an speaks of a taqdir<\/em> for each and everything that has been created: \u201cGlorify the name of thy lord, the most high, who creates, then makes complete, and Who measures (\u2018qaddara\u2019<\/em> from taqdir<\/em>), then guides\u201d (87:1-3)<\/strong>. \u201cWho created and then ordained for it a measure (taqdir<\/em>)\u201d (25:2)<\/strong>. \u201cSurely We have created everything according to a measure (qadar<\/em>)\u201d (54:49)<\/strong>. \u201cAnd the sun moves\u00a0 to\u00a0 its\u00a0 destination. That\u00a0 is\u00a0 the\u00a0\u00a0 ordinance (taqdir<\/em>)\u00a0 of\u00a0\u00a0 the \u00a0\u00a0 Mighty,the Knowing. And \u00a0the\u00a0 moon,\u00a0 We\u00a0 have\u00a0 ordained\u00a0 (\u2018qaddarna\u2019<\/em> from taqdir<\/em>) for its stages\u201d (36:38, 39).1<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

All these verses go to show that taqdir<\/em>, in the language of the Qur\u2019an, is the universal law of God, operating as much in the case of man as in the rest of nature: the law extending to the sun, the moon, the stars, the earth and the heavens and all that exists in them. This universal law is fully explained in two short verses already quoted: \u201cWho creates, then makes complete, and Who measures, then guides\u201d (87:1-3). Four things are mentioned regarding every object of creation, including man: its creation (khalaq<\/em>), its completion (taswiya<\/em>), its measure (taqdir<\/em>), and its guidance to its goal (hidaya<\/em>). The law of life, as witnessed in nature, is exactly the law described here. Everything is created so as finally to attain its completion, the completion being brought about according to a law or measure within which everything works by Divine guidance. Thus the taqdir<\/em> of a thing is the law or the measure of its growth and development and the taqdir<\/em> of a man is not different in nature from the taqdir<\/em> of other things.2<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

The misinterpretation of taqdir<\/em> as \u2018predestination\u2019 is due to the misunderstanding of the nature of good and evil. However the following verses and the associated commentary can show more clear lights on this3<\/sup><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

(4:78)<\/strong> [….] Yet, when a good thing happens to them, some people say, \u201cThis is from God,\u201d whereas when evil befalls them, they say, \u201cThis is from thee (O fellow-man)!\u201d92<\/sup><\/strong>. Say: All is from God.\u201d What, then, is amiss with these people that they are in no wise near to grasping the truth of what they are told?93<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

(4:79)<\/strong> Whatever good happens to thee is from God; and whatever evil befalls thee is from thyself.94<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

(2:6-7)<\/strong> Behold, as for those who are bent on denying the truth — it is all one to them whether thou warnest them or does not warn them: they will not believe. God has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and over their eyes is a veil:7<\/sup> <\/strong>and awesome suffering awaits them.<\/p>\n

92<\/strong>. I.e., they do not realise that the evil happening may possibly be a consequence of their own actions or their own choice between several courses open to them, but are prone to attribute it to others.<\/p>\n

93<\/strong>. Lit., \u201csomething [which they are] told\u201d — i.e., a truth which their own reason as well as the teachings of all the prophets should have made obvious to them.<\/p>\n

94<\/strong>. There is no contradiction between this statement and the preceding one that \u201cAll is from God\u201d. In the world-view of the Qur\u2019an, God is the ultimate source of all happening: consequently, all good that comes to man and evil that befalls him flows, in the last resort, from God\u2019s will. However, not everything that man regards as \u201cevil fortune\u201d is really, in its final effect, evil — for, \u201cit may well be that you hate a thing the while it is good for you, and it may well be that you love a thing the while it is bad for you: God knows, whereas you do not know\u201d (2:216)<\/strong>. Thus, many an apparent \u201cevil\u201d may sometimes be more than a trial and a God-willed means of spiritual growth through suffering, and need not necessarily be the result of wrong choice or wrong deed on the part of the person thus afflicted. It is, therefore, obvious that the \u201cevil\u201d or \u201cevil fortune\u201d of which this verse speaks of has a restricted connotation, in as much it refers to evil in the moral sense of the word: that is to say, to suffering resulting from the actions or the behaviour of the person concerned, and this is in accordance with the natural law of cause and effect which God has decreed for all His creation, which the Qur\u2019an describes as \u201cthe way of God\u201d (sunna<\/em>t Allah). For all such suffering man has only himself to blame, since \u201cGod does not wrong anyone by as much as at atom\u2019s weight\u201d (4:40).<\/strong><\/p>\n

7<\/strong>. A reference to the natural law instituted by God, whereby a person who persistently adheres to false beliefs and refuses to listen to the voice of truth gradually loses the ability<\/em> to perceive the truth, \u201cso that finally, as it were, a seal is set upon his heart\u201d (Raghib). Since it is God who has instituted all laws of nature — which, in their aggregate, are called sunnat Allah<\/em> (the way of God) — this sealing is attributed to Him: but it is a consequence of man\u2019s free choice and not an act of \u201cpredestination\u201d. Similarly, the suffering which, in life to come, is in store for those who during their life in this world have wilfully remained deaf and blind to the truth, is a natural consequence of their free choice — just as happiness in the life to come is the natural consequence of man\u2019s endeavour to attain to righteousness and inner illumination. It is in this sense that the Qur\u2019anic references to God\u2019s \u201creward\u201d and \u201cpunishment\u201d must be understood.<\/p>\n

The Qur\u2019an, therefore, has not dealt with the question of the creation of good and evil at all. It speaks of the creation of heavens and earth and all that is in them; it speaks of the creation of man; it speaks of endowing him with certain faculties and granting him certain powers; it tells us that he can use these powers and faculties within certain limitations — and the limitations of each kind are its taqdir<\/em>. But in the Qur\u2019an, there is no mention of a taqdir<\/em> to mean either the creation of good and evil deeds, or an absolute decree of good and evil by God.4<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

It may, however, be added that God is recognised by the Qur\u2019an as the first and the ultimate cause of all things; but this does not mean that He is the Creator of the deeds of man. He has, of course, created man; He has also created the circumstances under which he lives and acts; but He has endowed man with a discretion to choose how to act, which he can exercise under certain limitations, just as all his other powers and faculties are exercised under certain limitations and only in accordance with certain laws.5<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is not to claim that God has subjected the universe to a certain scientific laws and abandoned it to let it run its course. No reader of the Qur\u2019an gets this impression. In the Qur\u2019an, God is al Rabb<\/em>: the Sustainer, Cherisher, Regulator, and Governor of all. He is the omnipresent source of harmony and balance of nature. His influence and sway over creation is continuous and all pervading. However, none of this conflicts with the fact\u00a0 that we are empowered to make moral decisions and to carry them out.6<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Qur\u2019an talks about reward and punishment based on human choices and human free will. If the individual is not free to choose between good and evil (of which the Qur\u2019an gives ample evidence and guidance) then the question of reward and punishment becomes absurd.<\/p>\n

References:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The Religion of Islam<\/em>, by Maulana Muhammad Ali M.A.,LL.B. Published by National Publication and Printing House U.A.R. Based chapter 7, p 236<\/li>\n
  2. Ibid,. p 236-237.<\/li>\n
  3. The Message of the Qur\u2019an<\/em>, by Muhammad Asad. Published by Dar Al-Andalus, Gibralter. p. 119.<\/li>\n
  4. The Religion of Islam<\/em>, by Maulana Muhammad Ali M.A.,LL.B. Published by National Publication and Printing House U.A.R. Based chapter 7, p 238<\/li>\n
  5. Ibid,. p 238-239<\/li>\n
  6. Even Angels Ask<\/em>, by Dr. Jeffrey Lang, Amana Publications, 10710 Tucker Street, Beltsville, Maryland 20705-2223 USA. p. 73.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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    Does Taqdir imply predestination? M. A. Malek and Mrs. Sajeda Malek The word taqdir in the Qur\u2019an have come to mean, for many Muslims and Orientalists, the \u201cabsolute decree of good and evil by God\u201d, meaning that God has preordained…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-362","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P8Vaux-5Q","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/astudyofquran.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/astudyofquran.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/astudyofquran.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astudyofquran.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astudyofquran.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/astudyofquran.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":364,"href":"https:\/\/astudyofquran.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/362\/revisions\/364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/astudyofquran.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}