|
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear brother in Islam, we would like to thank you for the great confidence you place in us, and we implore Allah Almighty to help us serve His cause and render our work for His Sake.
Some Muslims take the hadiths about the Unseen matters as a pretext to abandon work for the victory of the Muslim nation, and they are inclined to be weak and disappointed. This makes them content with reality without doing their best to improve matters. A Muslim should realize the surrounding circumstances and act to improve them and not to be weak and surrender to the pressing conditions. Rather, he is to act according to the commands of the Shari`ah, which includes all kinds of goods deeds.
In his response to your question, Sheikh Faysal Mawlawi, Deputy Chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, states:
“It is not true that the destiny of the Muslim nation is known to Muslims. It is Allah Almighty alone Who knows this, and He Almighty has not disclosed it to anybody. Hence, people are required to work and do their best and not be negligent under the pretext of belief in Divine destiny.
He who says that he has not done good because Allah Almighty has destined that for him is a liar; for he does not know for sure what Allah Almighty has destined for him. Why didn’t he do good, instead, and say Allah Almighty has destined that for him!
Whether one has done good or committed mistakes, one has done so out of one's own choice and is rendered responsible for it. Of course, Allah knew this before it happened, but this does not mean that Allah has impelled one to do so, so that it be in conformity with His previous knowledge in that regard. One's deeds are known by Almighty Allah before they are done, for Divine knowledge is unlike the human one. Divine knowledge implies that Allah knows everything before it happens, while humans do not know anything but after it has taken place.
Muslims are required to believe in the Unseen and to believe that they do not know anything of the Unseen but that which Allah Almighty has taught them through the Qur'an or through His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). They are also not to confuse between what they believe to be the Unseen and what they are required to do.
Muslims are to abide by Allah's instructions and His Prophet's teachings, and this has nothing to do with the Unseen. Allah Almighty requires Muslims to have faith and do good. Faith is the sign of the belief reposed in one's heart and doing good is the practical expression of one's faith. One is to achieve that through adhering to Allah's Shari`ah, which includes all kinds of good deeds.”
You can also read:
Divine Predestination & Man's Free Will
Between Destiny, Working and Free Will
Fate or Free Will, Nature or Nurture
|
 |
