This post was originally written on December 25, 2017. I hope you enjoy this post and other posts that I am bringing back to life on this blog. Please share this with your friends, family members and the community at large.
I was sitting at the library a few days ago, working on my upcoming goals for 2018 when I looked up. The table where I was sitting at was right by a large shelf of books.
There were different genres of books with the names of various authors who had written and published their writings within the last 100 years, or so.
Each book, when opened, had a story. There were main characters, and supporting individuals. Every person in the story had its own personality, its own destiny written in the pages of the book. Descriptions were vivid. And while reading any book, one could get the picture in their mind of how the lives of these characters were being lived – whether the book was fiction, or non-fiction.
Now, I love books. I’m a bookaholic, although I do not have a big enough library of books in my house at the moment. One day, I’m sure it will get there.
But seeing all these books in the library that day made me think about an important concept in Islam. This concept is one of the six articles of faith that we, as Muslims must believe in.
Pre-destination – which we call in Arabic, taqdeer.
Taqdeer is an interesting concept, and it is one that many people argue about due to confusion regarding what has been willed by Allah SWT, and what is considered our free will. I’ve been studying, and researching about taqdeer, and listening to many scholars’ lectures on this topic, so I will do my best to explain taqdeer as best as possible.
Take a moment to imagine that Allah SWT has a huge library, bigger than any library we could ever envision here on Earth. This library contains books with our names, our characteristics, our personalities, or individual selves, our stories in every chapter of our lives and more. Our books are also intertwined with one another’s stories added in (our parents, families, relatives, friends, etc.). There must be 7 billion or more books out there just on each one of us in this world!
So, what is taqdeer?
Taqdeer is the concept that Allah SWT has written out what is going to happen in the universe, and to every soul in this world, and only He has knowledge of all that is to happen to us. Allah SWT knows what has happened, is occurring now, and what will be in the future because He has written it down in the Al-Lawh Al Mahfooz – the Mother of the Book.
The pens have dried, and all has been written. In one hadith, Rasoolullah (SAW) stated, “There is no person from amongst you, except that Allah SWT had written his abode in Jahannam or his abode in Jannah. ‘The Sahaaba (RA) asked, “Rasoolullah (SAW), should we not then put our trust in our books for what has been written for us and leave out doing our actions?’ Rasoolullah (SAW) stated, ‘No, keep performing good deeds for everyone is facilitated for that which he has been created and it will be made easy for him for what it has been created for…” (Sahih Muslim – authentic)
In another hadith, Hadrat Mu’awiyah (RA) narrated that Rasoolullah (SAW) stated, “Do not advance to acquire something thinking that you can acquire it by your efforts even though Allah SWT has not predestined it for you, nor, retreat from something thinking that you will be able to obviate (remove) it by your efforts even though Allah SWT has predestined it for you.” (Kabir and Awsat).
According to another hadith reported by Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas (RA) that Rasoolullah (SAW) stated, “Allah wrote down the decrees of creation 50,000 years before He created the heavens and the earth” (Saheeh Muslim, 2653 – authentic).
One of the best hadith is where Ubadah ibn As-Samit (RA) said he heard Rasoolullah (SAW) state “Verily, the first to be created by Allah was the pen. Allah told it to write, so it wrote what will exist until forever” (Sunan At-Tirmidhi 3319 – authentic).
In another hadith, narrated by Abu Dawood, 4700, it is said, “The first thing Allah created was the Pen, and He said to it, ‘Write!’ It said, ‘O Lord, what should I write?’ He said, ‘Write down the decrees of all things until the hour begins’” (Saheeh Abi Dawood – authentic/saheeh).
Even the Qur’an talks about the Al-Lawh Al Mahfooz with a few ayats:
“Do you know not that Allah knows what is in the heavens and the earth? Indeed, that is a Record (in the Al-Lawh Al Mahfooz); verily, it is undeniably easy for Allah” (Surah Al-Hajj, 22:70).
In part of another ayat from Surah Al-Nisa, the following states:
“…and if Allah had willed, He could have given them power over you, and they would have fought you…” (Surah Al-Nisa, 4:90). This ayat clearly shows that Allah SWT wills the actions that are to happen for each creation – nothing we do is without His will. Allah SWT has power over actions and events that occur in our lives. The reality is, even a leaf does not drop without permission from Allah SWT.
One last ayat that states the concept of predestination is as follows:
“Allah blots out what He wills and confirms what He wills, and with Him is the Mother of the Book (Al-Lawh Al Mahfooz)” (Surah Al Ra’d, 13:39). This ayat means that Allah SWT can Will for something to happen to us, good or bad, and only He can make this happen. No one else can. If a person makes dua for Allah SWT to change a condition or him, or provide him with something he needs, Allah SWT tells the angels to change it in their scribes, but it is really not changed because it was already written in the Mother of the Book that this person would make dua in this time, and the answer to that dua. The angels even do not know what is to happen to an individual as Allah SWT has limited His Knowledge even to his angels – only Allah SWT knows all.
Some people may ask, “What is Laylat-ul-Qadr then?”
Laylat-ul-Qadr is the night when decrees of the coming year will be written down for each person. What this means, according to Tafseer Ibn Katheer is that what was already written down in the Al-Lawh Al Mahfooz (Mother of the Book), is now being transferred to the scribes of the angels, who then write down all that will happen (life span, provision, marriage, sickness, health, etc.) for the year for each person in the world. Essentially, this means that the timing of those decrees already written in the Mother of the Book is going to come to pass in that year for every individual soul on this earth.
There are many more hadith and Quraani ayaats that relate to the concept of taqdeer – predestination – in Islam. It is inherent that we believe in predestination, and that truly, Allah SWT has the knowledge of the entire universe, and every creature created to be on this earth and beyond.
Think about it for a moment…did we decide to whom we were going to be born to, or the day of our birth? No. Did we decide how long we would live for, and when and where we will die?
No. We could never do that no matter what people from the New Thought Age say (this is another topic for another blog post).
Allah SWT wrote out our destinies from the moment we were given life in the womb of our mothers. In the fourth month of the mother’s pregnancy, an angel is sent down to give the fetus life, and writes in its scroll, what will become of this baby who will be born by writing out its life span, provisions to be received, time of birth, time of death, and whether he or she will be going to Jannah or Jahannam based off of the actions known only to Allah SWT, and not even to us.
The date, location and time we would be born, who our parents will be, our lifespan, our date, location and time of death, our provision (rizq), who we will marry, and whether we are doomed or we are the lucky ones – this has already been written for us.
This does not mean, however, that now we just sit back and do nothing, and then blame Allah SWT for our circumstances. Absolutely not. We have a certain amount of free will. You see, we don’t know what is going to happen next. We don’t know about our future. Only Allah SWT does, and He is the one guiding us toward it.
We have to do our part as we have no knowledge, so action will lead us to where we are meant to be. Allah SWT provides for us paths to take. We choose whether we want to go on the straight path, or the path that will lead us to hell. The decisions are ours. Just because what we do and don’t do is written for us does not mean we are compelled to follow it. Allah SWT does not compel us. This is where we have free will. We choose to decide – Allah SWT knows about it, but it is not His decision. It is ours, and ours alone, but that is something that is also a part of our taqdeer, so it all comes together. I hope what I say makes sense because this is a heavy topic, but one that I really wanted to discuss.
To continue on, we have free will in certain things. We did not have the free will to decide our birth, our death, our provision, our family, our status at birth (wealthy, poor, in the middle, etc.) or how long we will live our lives. This was already preordained for us. We have the free will to decide our path (even though it is already in Allah SWT’s knowledge) and we have the free will to decide our actions. What will happen ultimately is in the Will of Allah SWT and it is already inscribed in our book.
This means that if something is to befall on someone, good or bad, it is going to happen no matter what, and nothing or no one can stop that from happening.
For instance, if a meteor came through earth and struck a parked car, that was going to happen no matter what, and nothing could have stopped the meteor from hitting the parked car. However, the person owning the car would be really upset about his car being hit by the meteor (because for all intents and purposes in this example, the person is not in their car as it is parked) yet, this was in the Will of Allah SWT.
Dua can change taqdeer – however, what this means is that the dua was already written down before it was made, and the answer was written down with it as well, so it was already made a part of the individual’s destiny. So, if this person whose car was struck with a meteor was in the car, but before the meteor struck, they had made dua that they would be safe and sound, or someone made dua for them to be safe and sound, that dua would be answered. The individual already got out of the car, and went inside to his house or the building where she works, and would be safe from the meteor which crashed on the parked car. Why? Because of the dua that was made.
Allah SWT already answered the dua of the individual or the person who made dua for them before this event ever happened. The angels don’t know this – they are given 3 or 4 different conclusions for the individual and then Allah SWT instructs them to write out the conclusion that was already destined for the person to be protected by His Will.
Does this make sense?
Dua changes taqdeer because it was already known that it will happen and is a part of the plan that Allah SWT has for us.
Here’s another example.
I had to remove my tonsils when I was seven years old. I was constantly sick with painful strep throats that would occur just by eating ice cream. When the doctor saw that I needed to get my tonsils removed as soon as possible, I was scheduled for surgery and two nights hospital stay.
My mom stayed with me all day and all night in the hospital. They even got her a hospital bed so she could be able to sleep at night with me in the room because she couldn’t leave me alone for one minute. She made constant dua for my surgery to be successful and for me to heal completely. Allah SWT listens to the duas of the parents for their child.
Of course, it was in my taqdeer to have my tonsils removed. This was not something that could be avoided. And my surgery was successful, alhamdulillah, and my healing was also very quick – I couldn’t eat anything but cold ice, ice filled cokes, ice creams and cold food – a child’s dream come true. I couldn’t talk or swallow real food for a few weeks. But I healed beautifully because my mom made dua for me and her dua was already written in my taqdeer as having a successful surgery and healing.
Could things have been different? Perhaps. My surgery could have been unsuccessful, and I could have had more problems later on in my life because of it. Perhaps that was what could have been written to have happened, but because my mom made dua for me, then my surgery was successful. And her dua was already a part of my taqdeer, written down and ready to be answered in its allotted time.
I hope you see my point. For us as humans, anything can happen. When we surrender ourselves to knowing we are doing our best actions, and intentions and leave it to Allah SWT’s plans for us, then what will happen, will, and it is the best of plans for us, for Allah SWT is the best of planners.
Tadbeer is another concept that goes along with taqdeer. Tadbeer means to plan, to create initiative and intent. When we plan something, it either goes exactly as it was planned, or it doesn’t happen in the way we plan at all.
How many times have we planned our day out, only to see things happen completely out of the context of our plans? This is taqdeer. No matter what you intended, Allah SWT had different plans for you that day. However, to plan, and to create intent and action is what Allah SWT wants from us. He wants us to make efforts. He doesn’t want us to sit there and twiddle our fingers and thumbs waiting for things to come to us. This is the part of free will. Scholars of Islam discuss this all the time.
I do want to note this – we are absolutely responsible for the actions and decisions we make because Allah SWT gave us knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. We decide the path to take and go from there. Do not blame your taqdeer for any wrongdoing. Instead, you must continue to make dua for good and to do good, and always keep doing good deeds for this will bring you closer to Allah SWT, and to being in Jannah.
If something is meant to be, it will happen no matter what, and nothing can stop it from happening – taqdeer is bigger than tadbeer. But we must have tadbeer – we must plan, and strive to live our lives according to the teachings of Islam as best as possible. We do this so that we can receive Jannah.
Now, think about our duas. They have been written out for us before we have made them, and their answers were already written before we knew of the answer. The time of when the dua will be answered, in what way, how, this is all written down and is in the ilm (knowledge) of Allah SWT.
If you had the sudden feeling to make dua for something, such as dua for a child, or dua to go to Hajj, and it was something that did not come in your head before, it is because it is written in your taqdeer to make dua and to receive the answer for it as well.
I believe that we receive guidance toward the types of duas to make. If we make dua for something that cannot be changed, Allah SWT will divert us toward making dua for that which is better for us and is already predestined for us.
There are many instances in my life where I was reminded about how taqdeer played out and what it meant to me. I take notice first hand of what happens when something is meant to be in our lives and how the events all play out so beautifully.
When I was young, my mom desperately wanted to learn how to drive and get her driver’s license. She hired a very nice Muslim driving instructor (she was referred to him by another friend of hers who passed her driver’s test due to his teaching) and my mom started learning to drive.
My mom was scared at first, but she learned how to drive so wonderfully. I remember being in the car a few times while she was learning to drive and she went from pumping the gas pedal and the brake pedal at the same time to actually driving smoothly and easily. We thought she would be a cinch to pass her driver’s test!
Unfortunately, she failed her driver’s test 5 times before she gave up and I became of age to learn how to drive. At 15, we can start learning and by 16, we can get our driver’s permit, and then take the license exam.
My mom did her part – she had the intent to learn to drive, took lessons and did learn and drive, but she was not meant to pass.
It was not in my mom’s taqdeer to drive. She tried and no matter what she did, it did not happen for her. Allah SWT has stated that whatever is meant to be will happen and nothing can change what is to happen no matter how much one tries to change things (scroll back up to the beginning where I mention this in one of the hadith). It wasn’t meant to be for her.
At 17, after failing 3 times on my own driver’s exam (first time, I was too nervous and my stomach hurt so bad I couldn’t drive; second time, I failed at parallel parking and a couple of other things, and third time, I don’t even remember what happened), I passed on the fourth try.
I was so sure I wasn’t going to get the driver’s license because I was about to turn left on a yellow light while traffic was still incoming (thinking they would stop), and then the next thing I knew, my tester had to hit the brakes! I thought “Oh no! I’m going to fail!!”
Surprisingly, when we got back to the test site at the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles), my tester told me I had passed! She said because I had a very high percentage (an A basically), she was going to pass me with a lesson not to turn left on the yellow light, but wait until it was red. Usually, she would have failed a person who turned left the way I did, but not me.
This was taqdeer – I was meant to get the license no matter what had happened. I had wanted it so badly and Allah SWT delivered it to me because I was meant to get it for the reasons I see why today.
Subhanallah!
Our marriages are also written in our taqdeer. We take action to find our better half, and then we find him or her, get married and live our lives with them for however long we are meant to. Sometimes, it takes a few people to come into our lives before we find the one we are meant to be with.
A couple of years ago, I was talking to someone for purposes of marriage. It was a bit long distant – he was living in Texas, and I’m here, in California. We would talk on the phone every other day, and text each other daily. We were in the process of knowing one another and getting our families involved. My mom knew about him and he, in turn, told his family.
However, things took a turn in such an unexpected way that made this known he wasn’t meant to be for me although we had wanted things to work out at the time.
When he told his mom about getting married to me – coming out here to see me, to meet my mom, and finalize things between us, his mom said she wouldn’t let him get married to anyone. Why? I don’t know. We can speculate many theories, but this is something unknown to me because he didn’t tell me all the details, nor did I ask. Only Allah SWT knows why she did not want her son to get married to anyone at all.
He tried for the next ten months to work things out with his mom, and still continued speaking to me. However, he got depressed each time he would see his mom’s distance from him, and in general, his family’s behavior toward him. At the end, things did not work out and we parted ways.
It was for the best – for Allah SWT knows who is meant to be for him and who is meant to be for me. Clearly, we weren’t meant to be together and it took me a while to realize this.
Whoever it is I am meant to be with, he will be found, and Allah SWT will bring him to me in the appointed time that is destined. In the meantime, I keep on creating action steps toward finding who it is I will marry, and it will happen. I don’t give up on the action part – this is Sunnah. We must carry on with our actions, and our deeds and our intentions and never give up hope.
Taqdeer and tawakkul come together here magically. Whatever hardship comes over us, it comes from the will of Allah. But when we understand that what is happening is a part of our destiny – perhaps to help us learn a lesson, we can take heart that Allah SWT will also take us out of the situation, and not lose hope.
When we understand this concept of taqdeer with tawakkul, it becomes easier for us to stay patient and not be frustrated. This helps us with making dua to Allah SWT with full trust in Him that He will take away the hardship, or the ordeal, and thus, create a connection with Allah SWT. Dua is a means to connect and love our Lord even more. It also helps us see that we cannot overcome the Will of Allah SWT and when the time is right, things will be sorted out and taken care of, so long as we continue to make dua, supplicate from our hearts and take the action steps we are able to take. It’s not to get out of the situation per se as it has been willed, but to learn from it, and make use of it to make us better people in this life.
If someone is going through financial distress, for example, Allah SWT has willed that person to go through it for a period of time. But this is also to help that individual learn how to better manage their money, and take action on taking care of their finances rather than taking the action to waste money.
Everything that happens to us, I believe, happens for a greater purpose and helps us to mold into the person we are to become.
We should never say “Gosh, if I had done this, things would have worked out differently” or “I shouldn’t have taken this action, I should have done another action so that I would have gotten what I wanted.” We shouldn’t question or say things like this because what happened was destined by Allah SWT, and that was that.
Questioning ourselves and wondering “what if we had done something differently” will only bring us more frustration, and the Shaitaan gets involved, making us lose our hope, our tawakkul and our yaqeen – and we start to think otherwise about taqdeer. Instead, we should just say, “alhamdulillah ala kulli haal” and keep on going.
Don’t think about how different actions could have created a different outcome. It was supposed to happen how it did, and only Allah SWT knows why.
If what is willed will happen, then another question people ask is, “Why should we make dua when everything is already preordained for us?”
First, we make dua because dua is ibadah. It is a beautiful form of ibdadah that Allah SWT loves. Second, our making dua helps us build a connection with Allah SWT. And third, dua helps us avert a thing to protect us, which was already decided by Allah SWT but unknown to us until it happens.
Just because things are written out for us, and our actions are in the knowledge of Allah SWT, it doesn’t mean we give up hope and not make duas. Make duas. Make dua EVERY single moment of every single day. Inshallah, Allah SWT has already answered our duas, which shall be revealed in His time.
Taqdeer, dua, tawakkul – they all come together. What is meant to be will always happen, and what is not meant for us will not reach us no matter what we do. Have faith, trust in Allah SWT’s plans for you, continue making dua, and keep taking action. Make plans knowing that your plans are yours, and Allah SWT has His plans for you…..
And He is the Best of Planners. Alhamdulillah.
– Dr. Aasiyah N. Ghazi