When the subject of fate is mentioned, many questions come to mind: “Does God Almighty know whether we will go to Heaven or Hell? If our fate is written, am I acting out the script that God has written? If He knows everything I will do, why do we have to fight for anything?”
It is obligatory to believe that Allah is the creator of everything, that He is aware of an event before it happens, that what He wishes happens and what He does not wish does not happen, and that He is the author of our destiny. Abandoning a obligatory act is like abandoning a fard.
Believing in fate is the 6th principle of faith, and we can understand that understanding fate can only be grasped after the other principles of faith are fully understood. In the first stage, when a person believes in a creator, he must know all of his attributes. The attributes that only exist in Allah are called essential attributes, and the attributes that exist in both humans to a limited extent and in Allah to an unlimited extent are called definite attributes.
WHICH ATTRIBUTES OF GOD DOES DESTINY INCLUDE?
When we say destiny, three attributes should come to mind : Knowledge, Will, Power. These three attributes are among the definite attributes, that is, they are also present in humans to a limited extent. First of all, we should know that there is an infallible rule for humans: “Knowledge (obtained knowledge) is dependent on knowledge (what is known).” In other words, the fact that a leaf is green is knowledge. Allah created the leaf green. My learning that a leaf is green is knowledge. Or a bee producing honey is knowledge. My researching a bee and learning its characteristics is knowledge. Naturally, humans cannot produce knowledge out of nothing except Allah’s knowledge. For this reason, they have a limited attribute of knowledge. Based on the verses, we say, “Allah sees, hears and most importantly knows everything.” In this case, we should first understand correctly the eternal knowledge, which is one of the attributes of Allah (swt).
The concept we call eternity means that Allah encompasses the past, the future and the present simultaneously. The concept of knowledge is that He knows everything. Eternal knowledge means that Allah is beyond time and therefore knows every moment of a person’s life from birth to death. Allah Almighty has emphasized His eternal knowledge in many verses in the Holy Quran. For example, it is stated in the Hajj Surah as follows:
“Do you not know that Allah knows whatever is in the heavens and the earth? It is in a book (preserved tablet). This (knowledge of things and events) is very easy for Allah.”[1]or in the Surah Al-Mulk
“Does He not know His creation? He is Al-Latif (the possessor of grace and generosity, the One who penetrates into the smallest things with His knowledge), Al-Khabir (the One who is aware of everything).”[2]He commanded.
There is a statement in the authentic hadiths of our Prophet regarding this issue:
“Allah determined the destiny of His creation fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth, while His Throne was above water.”
DOES GOD KNOW I’M GOING TO HEAVEN/HELL?
The answer to this question, based on the above verses and the hadith, is that our creator definitely knows our situation in the afterlife. Because the term destiny means “Allah knows the time and place, attributes, characteristics and all kinds of features of things that have happened and will happen from eternity to eternity and He limits them accordingly in eternity.”
But this does not mean that it intervenes in our every moment.
Man also has the freedom to choose what he will do and to do it with his own will. In order to make the subject more understandable, it is useful to list the types of will. Will is divided into two: The total will and the partial will. The total will is the unchangeable destiny that Allah has granted us and the destiny that is written in the preserved tablet. Allah determines issues such as being born, dying, life span, gender, nationality, and ability. Since man does not intervene in these, he is not responsible. In other words, the servant is neither rewarded nor punished for these matters.
Partial free will is our own choices presented to humanity. The answer to the question, “Can fate change?” is through knowing the nature of partial free will and the consequences it can have. “From now on, whoever chooses to follow the right path will have chosen it to his own advantage, and whoever chooses error will have chosen it to his own detriment.”[3]In the verse, Allah clearly and explicitly states that the choice of belief or disbelief is up to the individual.
DESTINY IS A KIND OF SCIENCE
This means that if a man wants to build a house and has an architect draw the project of the house, this does not mean that the man is the owner of the house. Destiny is like the drawn project in this example. Realizing the project depends on partial will. In other words, the Just and Wise One (who creates His commands wisely and justly) who knows that you will go to heaven knows the project of your house, if you build your house according to that project, its outcome is shaped by your choices.
This issue will become clearer with a second example: A teacher has a very successful and hardworking student. It is in the teacher’s knowledge that this student will pass the class with honors at the end of the year. The student’s determination and study for the exams until the end of the year depends on his willpower. And as a result, it is written on his report card that the student passed the class with honors. Just as a servant who strives to complete his worships, charitable deeds and good deeds throughout his life learns that he will go to heaven, this person deserves this result.
In addition, a person will not be held responsible for natural disasters such as diseases or earthquakes that occur outside of the will of the person. However, the human being is responsible for his/her reaction to the test given. Because a person can be grateful or rebel. Indeed, Allah Almighty has said:
“Indeed, We have shown him the way; he may be grateful or ungrateful (it is up to him)”[4]Our Prophet emphasized that we should be patient in the face of the test we face: “Patience is the tolerance shown at the first moment against the shock caused by a painful event.”[5]
In the example above, we called the man’s having the architect draw the plan of his house knowledge, and his realization of the plan partial will. The making of this plan is subject to power. The power that exists in man consists of the things he produces or builds. Like a writer writing a book or an engineer producing a car. However, the power of God Almighty also means that He creates the voluntary actions of man outside of the general plan of the universe, as this beautiful order, arrangement and unfailing harmony seen in the universe. The student receiving his report card or the servant going to heaven only occurs with God’s attribute of power. The manifestation of power produces a result. This result can be positive or negative.
Finally, we should always be aware that we are in a world of testing and that we should fill our book of deeds for the sake of Allah for our afterlife. Every action we perform takes us either one step towards heaven or one step towards hell. The Quran states: “Everyone’s earnings are either for their own good or against them.”[6]
