Assalāmu `alaikum Warahmatullāhi Wabarakatuh Mufti Sahab.
I’v come across one of my non-believer friends asking me in the past , “What’s my fault if I wasn’t blessed with Imaan?” Furthermore, its very unfortunate that some of our brothers and sisters (who don’t practise Islam religiously) say things like I was born to be Jahanami, the sin I committed was written by Allah (Nauzubillah), and, so on and so forth. My question is are misdeeds which are committed by someone, also written by Allah? If yes, why is the human punishable for the same? Also, how do we justify (by giving some examples) and simultaneously using Hikmah (to both the believers and non-believers) that yes, whatever happens, happens with the will of Allah – however Allah has shown and mentioned in Quran both right and wrong path, and now its upto person to choose the path that will lead him/her to Jannah and NOT Jahannam.
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
We make dua Allah grant your Non-Muslim friends Iman. The reference made by Muslim brothers/sisters of being jahanmamis is erroneous.
It is important to understand two issues,
- The will of an individual
- The absolute knowledge of Allah
Almighty Allah has given every individual the will power and the ability to make decisions and act by himself. The mind and will of a human being is not controlled by anyone else. Everyone is personally responsible for what he does. If he commits a crime, he is responsible for his wrongdoing. He cannot absolve himself by simply stating that his mind and will is controlling him to commit the crime, so he should be excused. Such a person is taken to task for his wrong doings. Likewise, when a person brings Iman, it is out of his own will. A person may be born in a Muslim home and with the environment of Iman. When he grows up, he is responsible to maintain his Iman. If he neglects his Iman, he will be responsible. He is an adult with an independent mind and he takes full responsibility for all his actions. Likewise, a disbeliever is responsible for his disbelief. Allah blesses him with an independent mind. He has intelligence. He is responsible to use his intelligence to make the correct decision of bringing Iman. If he fails to bring Iman that is due to his independent choice. He is an adult; he makes independent choices in life and succeeds. He attributes his success and losses to his will and choices. He should also take responsibility for his choice of belief.
The second issue is the absolute knowledge of Allah. Allah is perfect. His knowledge is perfect. He knows everything ahead of time. Allah knowing everything ahead of time does not mean that Allah imposed His will against his creation. Take for example, a person who has the full knowledge of a certain computer program. He knows exactly how it works and what it displays. This individual notes down whatever the program displays and how the program functions according to his knowledge. He then forwards these notes to another person, who after using the program finds that everything coincides with the notes forwarded to him. It will be understood that person A is well acquainted with the program and not that the computer was forced to act according to the notes. The computer operates independently with its own mechanism. The person having expertise of the function of the computer does not and cannot impose his will on the computer.
The above example is cited merely to understand that a computer works by itself without being imposed upon by Person A. Likewise, a human being acts independently without his will being imposed upon Allah. That is despite Allah knowing what the individual will do willingly due to the absolute and perfect knowledge of Allah. The absolute knowledge of Allah does not interupt the free will of a human being for which he is accountable. [i][ii][iii]
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
[i]شرح المشكاة للطيبي الكاشف عن حقائق السنن (2/ 529)
((كتب الله)) معناه أجرى القلم على اللوح المحفوظ بتحصيل ما بينهما من التعلق، وأثبت فيه مقادير الخلائق، على وفق ما تعلقت به إرادته أزلا، إثبات الكاتب ما في ذهنه بقلمه على لوحه، أو قدر وعين مقاديرهم تعيينا ثابتا لا يتأتى خلافه
شرح النووي على مسلم (16/ 203)
[2653]كَتَبَ اللَّهُ مَقَادِيرَ الْخَلَائِقِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَخْلُقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ بِخَمْسِينَ أَلِفَ سَنَةٍ وَعَرْشُهُ عَلَى الْمَاءِ) قَالَ الْعُلَمَاءُ الْمُرَادُ تَحْدِيدُ وَقْتِ الْكِتَابَةِ فِي اللَّوْحِ الْمَحْفُوظِ أَوْ غَيْرِهِ لَا أَصْلُ التَّقْدِيرِ فَإِنَّ ذَلِكَ أَزَلِيٌّ لَا أَوَّلَ لَهُ وَقَوْلُهُ وَعَرْشُهُ عَلَى الْمَاءِ أَيْ قَبْلَ خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَاَللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ
الشريعة للآجري (1/ 516)
إِنَّ أَوَّلَ شَيْءٍ خَلَقَ اللَّهُ الْقَلَمُ فَقَالَ: اكْتُبْ، قَالَ: وَمَا أَكْتُبُ؟ قَالَ: اكْتُبِ الْقَدَرَ، فَجَرَى تِلْكَ السَّاعَةَ بِمَا [ص:517] هُوَ كَائِنٌ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ
[ii]جامع العلوم والحكم ت الأرنؤوط (1/ 482)
قَوْلُهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: ” «جَفَّ الْقَلَمُ بِمَا هُوَ كَائِنٌ» “، وَفِي رِوَايَةٍ أُخْرَى: ” «رُفِعَتِ الْأَقْلَامُ، وَجَفَّتِ الصُّحُفُ» ” هُوَ كِنَايَةٌ عَنْ تَقَدُّمِ كِتَابَةِ الْمَقَادِيرِ كُلِّهَا، وَالْفَرَاغِ مِنْهَا مِنْ أَمَدٍ بَعِيدٍ، فَإِنَّ الْكِتَابَ إِذَا فُرِغَ مِنْ كِتَابَتِهِ، وَرُفِعَتِ الْأَقْلَامُ عَنْهُ، وَطَالَ عَهْدُهُ، فَقَدْ رُفِعَتْ عَنْهُ الْأَقْلَامُ، وَجَفَّتِ الْأَقْلَامُ الَّتِي كُتِبَ بِهَا مِنْ مِدَادِهَا، وَجَفَّتِ الصَّحِيفَةُ الَّتِي كُتِبَ فِيهَا بِالْمِدَادِ الْمَكْتُوبِ بِهِ فِيهَا، وَهَذَا مِنْ أَحْسَنِ الْكِنَايَاتِ وَأَبْلَغِهَا.
[iii]الجامع لاحكام القران (بروج. ٢٢)
أي: مكتوب في لوح. وهو محفوظ عند الله تعالي من وصول الشياطين اليه
قوت المغتذي على جامع الترمذي (2/ 605)
“رُفعَتِ الأَقْلامُ، وَجَفتِ الصُّحُفُ”. قال الفاكهاني: “معناه أنَّ ذلك أمر ثابت لا يبدل، ولا ينسخ، ولا يغير عمَّا هو عليه”.