Most Read in the Category of Belief in Qadar (Destiny)

“Is marriage qadar?” is a very strange question. This question can only be asked by those who do not know that Allah is pre-eternal and that His knowledge is endless. To ask, “Is marriage qadar?”means, “Did Allah know in the pre-eternity  that those two people would marry?”

For, qadar is a title of the knowledge of Allah. In order to regard that marriage is not qadar, it becomes necessary for Allah to be  unaware of those two people, which is impossible for Allah, whose knowledge encompasses everything, every place and every time. Then, the answer to that question is, “Marriage is definitely qadar.”However, there may be two different situations here:

1-With His pre-eternal knowledge, Allah knew that the woman and the man wanted to marry using their own partial free will and when the time was due, He would fulfill their wish by creating it through His universal will; therefore, he wrote, in the pre-eternity, in their books of qadar that they would marry. “Knowledge is dependent on the thing known.” This rule denotes that this writing is based on their wish and will. That is, in the book of qadar, it is not written, “They should marry” but, “They will marry.”Doubtlessly, such writing does not enforce man.

2-Sometimes, in order to test people in terms of thanking or patience, without intervening in their partial free will, Allah makes two people meet and makes them marry. If that marriage is a nice marriage, it is a bounty because the man and the woman are asked to thank. If that marriage is a bad marriage, it is a testing of patience. The man is tested through the woman, and the woman is tested through the man. That is, not in all marriages are the partial free wills of people taken into account. In other words, marriage, which is a voluntary deed, sometimes takes places like a compulsory deed; without the intervention and the preference of the people. Then, we should regard the following decrees as rules.

1-If a person wants something to happen but if Allah does not want it to happen, that deed does not take place and it does not come into existence. If this wish that does not take place is a good thing, the person will be rewarded for his good intention.

2-If a person wants something to happen, and if Allah wills it, too, that deed is created and it takes place. Since the partial free will of the person causes the creation of that deed, the person will be responsible for that deed. If it is a good deed, he will be rewarded; if it is a bad deed, he will be punished.

3-The deeds that are created by the will of Allah, without any intervention of people: Regarding those kinds of deeds, the partial free will of the person is not involved. As we have mentioned before, Allah creates it so that they will be tested in terms of thanking or patience.

Marriage is sometimes a deed that belongs to the second group. When people use their partial free will, Allah creates what they want. Sometimes, a deed that belongs to the third group occurs. Without the wills of people intervening, Allah makes people marry. However, marriage is qadar in both cases. And it is the pre-eternal pre-ordination of Allah.

Qadar (Destiny), Qada (Decree) and Partial Free Will

Since our issue is qadar, we must know the meanings of some words before we start explaining the issue. One of them is the word "qadar". 

QADAR“ is the knowledge and recording by Allah Almighty of everything from pre-eternity to post eternity by knowing the state, time, place, attributes and features of everything in the tablet of qadar called lawh al-mahfuz (the preserved tablet).”

QADA“ is Allah’s invention and creation of this pre-eternal recording and destiny.”

Qadar is the result of Allah’s knowledge and qada is the manifestation of Allah’s power. That is, Allah wrote with His knowledge and created with His power. Writing is qadar and creating is qada. 

For example, the time of birth and death of a person is determined beforehand. This determination is qadar. The birth of a person when its time is due and his death when its time is due, namely, the creation of birth and death is qada.

PARTIAL FREE WILL is the ability to act freely and the freedom of choice given by Allah to man.

To put it in a more detailed way, Allah gave man many abilities such as reading, writing, running, eating, drinking and sitting. Each of these abilities is named as "universal will”. It is necessary not to confuse the phrase "universal will” with Allah’s universal will.  

Allah’s universal will means He can do anything He wishes and nothing can prevent His order.

Man’s “universal will” is the abilities given to him. When man takes action to do something with one of those abilities, the “universal will” becomes partial. Here, "partial" does not mean "smallness"; it means "specificity".

For example, man has the ability to eat and drink. This is "universal will." When man starts to drink water thanks to this ability, this ability becomes "partial". Now, man has used his universal in a specific way and started to drink water. This is named "partial free will". Here, man is free. Man can drink water or he can prefer to drink a forbidden beverage.  What makes him responsible is the authority of choice given to him.

It is a question that many people have difficulty in answering.

When a person says, “qadar changes”, since qadar is a title of the knowledge of Allah, the change of qadar will mean an increase or decrease in the knowledge of Allah, which is not possible.

For instance, Allah knows that a person will die; He ordained it to be so; if that person does not die, that is, if his qadar changes, it will be regarded as if there was a change in the knowledge of Allah; something that Allah knows will not take place, something He does not know will take place, which means an increase and decrease in Allah’s attribute of ilm (knowledge), which is impossible to think about Allah.

That is, the change of qadar means something that Allah knows does not take place, that is, is not created and something that he does not know takes place, which is impossible. 

Then, we have to believe that qadar does not change and that something that is against the knowledge of Allah cannot take place. As a matter of fact, we dealt with this issue under the heading “pre-eternity”.

When we accept that qadar does not change, the following issue arises: Our Prophet (pbuh) states in his hadiths that the life of a person who gives sadaqah will be lengthened, that sadaqah keeps troubles away that visiting relatives will increase one’s sustenance and will bring about abundance.

When we consider those hadiths in isolation, something like this is understood: For instance, Allah preordained a lifespan of 60 years for a person, and He knows that he will live 60 years through His pre-eternal knowledge. However, that person gave sadaqah and he lived more than what Allah preordained, say, 70 years.

Or, Allah knew through His pre-eternal knowledge that he would suffer a misfortune; however, that person gave sadaqah and that sadaqah prevented the misfortune from happening. In the end, something that seemed to be contrary to the knowledge of Allah took place. Although Allah knew that he would die or he would suffer a misfortune, death and misfortune did not take place; that is, his qadar changed.

In that case, we need to consider those two issues together; that is, the fact that qadar does not change because it is a title of Allah’s endless knowledge and there will be no increase or decrease in the knowledge of Allah and the fact that sadaqah lengthens life and keeps troubles away, as it is stated in hadiths, which imply that qadar can change. After this short explanation, now, we will deal with the answer to the question, “Does qadar change?”

Allah has two different qadar books. One of them is Lawh al-Mahw wal-Ithbat (the Tablet of Erasure and Confirmation). And the other is Lawh al-Mahfuz wal-Azam (the Preserved Tablet).

The qadar book called the Tablet of Erasure and Confirmation is a changeable tablet of Allah Almighty. Everything written in that book depends upon some conditions; if those conditions are not fulfilled, the writing is not realized and it changes.

For instance, it is written in the Tablet of Erasure and Confirmation that a person will live 60 years. However, it is made dependent upon sadaqah given by that person. If he gives sadaqah, he will live 60 years. If not, he will live less. Another example: the following is written in the Tablet of Erasure and Confirmation: A person will live 70 years if he has a heart surgery, if not, he will live 60 years. When that person fulfills a condition, the outcome of that condition is realized and the other writing is deleted. The changes like sadaqah lengthening the life and preventing a misfortune take place in that book of qadar. Allah wrote a misfortune for a person in that book; and He made this misfortune dependent on not giving sadaqah. When that person gives sadaqah, the writing is deleted since the condition for the misfortune was not fulfilled, Thus, that misfortune about that person is not realized.

As a matter of fact, Allah stated the following in the Quran: “Allah doth blot out, or confirm what He pleaseth with Him is the Mother of the Book.” (ar-Ra'd: 39)

This sentence in the verse: “Allah doth blot out what he pleaseth”, that is, the change carried out by cancelling it is carried out in this tablet. That is, the verse informs us about the qadar tablet that is called the Tablet of Erasure and Confirmation.

While some changes take place in this tablet of qadar and the writings in this book depend upon some conditions, no changes take place in the Preserved Tablet, which is the other book of qadar.

LAWH AL-MAHW WAL-ITHBAT: The occurrence of what is written in this book is dependent on some conditions.

LAWH AL-MAHFUZ WAL-AZAM: Allah wrote the last result that would not change in this book.

Since the issues regarding the person in the example, like whether he will give sadaqah, whether he will have a heart surgery, whether he will visit relatives, are known by Allah’s pre-eternal knowledge.  Allah wrote the last result, which will not change, in this tablet. This tablet is the place of manifestation for the endless knowledge of Allah.

However, the rule,  ‘Knowledge is dependent on the thing known’ and the attribute of pre-eternity of Allah, which states that Allah is free from time and space, should not be forgotten. That is, Allah’s knowledge does not force us to do something; on the contrary, Allah knows what we will do using our own will.

Why are there two tablets of qadar?

Now, a question like this can come to the mind: Why are there two tablets of qadar? Why is the book that changes and that depends upon conditions necessary? This question can be answered in 2 ways:

1- Allah arranged this tablet in order to encourage His slaves to do good deeds. Since the slave does not know Allah’s preordination about him and the writing in the unchanging qadar book called the Preserved Tablet, by taking the changeable tablet of qadar into consideration, he will give sadaqah, visit his relatives and do other good deeds in order to have a long, blessed life or to keep away from misfortunes. Thus, he gains rewards.

2- Allah wanted, through this tablet, to make people give up laziness and to encourage them to act in accordance with the rules of cause and effect since they live in a world of wisdom. Thanks to this, a person who does not know what the pre-eternal preordainment of Allah is undergoes a surgery in order to live long, exercises in order to be healthy and works in order to earn his living. That is, he thinks like this: Allah may have attributed the sustenance He will give me to the condition of working, or long life to the condition of undergoing an operation. Therefore, I have to do my duty by acting in accordance with the rules of cause and effect, work to earn my living, do what is necessary for my health and then leave it to Allah to create the outcome and accept what He grants me. Thus, a person gets rid of laziness by acting in accordance with the rules of cause and effect.

Pre-eternity

What is pre-eternity?

What is time and pre-eternity?

The most important cause for misunderstanding the issue of qadar (destiny) is confusion about the concepts of "time" and "pre-eternity" and misinterpreting them.

People live in time and place and so they evaluate every event according to time and they make a mistake by assuming "pre-eternity" as the beginning of "time".  Misunderstanding qadar is the result of this wrong comparison.

Time is an abstract concept. It starts with the creation of the universe and many events happen in it. Time is divided into three parts: Past, present and future. This division is for creatures. Namely, the concepts such as century, year, month, day, yesterday, today, tomorrow are in question for creatures.

Pre-eternity does not mean before the beginning of the time. In pre-eternity, there is no past, present and future. Pre-eternity is a station where all times are seen and known at the same moment. Now, we will try to understand Allah’s attribute of pre-eternity through some examples:

Example-1:

(Think of a straight line; let us call it the timeline.)

Suppose that this line is the timeline. The middle of the line is the present, that is, the time we are living in. The left point of the line is the past. At this point, the universe was created and then the first man, Adam, was created. And everything that was created from that time to the present existed between these two points which symbolize the past and the present.

The point at the right side of the line is the future. This point is the eternal life that include life in Paradise and Hell beyond the Day of Judgment. Between the present point and the future point, there are our grandchildren, their grandchildren and everything that will be created until the Day of Judgment; and even are revival after death, reckoning, the weighing of the deeds and passing the Sirat bridge.

Eternity is not the left side of the point of past in the timeline. The main cause of not being able to understand qadar is thinking that pre-eternity is at this point and placing pre-eternity in a place on the timeline. For, when we assume pre-eternity to be at this point, Allah will know tomorrow only when tomorrow comes according to this assumption. This assumption and misunderstanding the concept of pre-eternity will cause us to ask this question: “If Allah wrote that I was going to be a sinner in my qadar, what is my fault?”

When we show the concept of pre-eternity on our timeline, it will be understood how nonsensical this question is. Here is pre-eternity. 

It is not the left side of the past. It is timelessness. It is a station that holds and sees the present, the past and the future at the same moment.

Therefore, Allah sees and knows today. Likewise, Allah sees tomorrow, the other day and everything until eternal life that includes Paradise and Hell along with today.

For Allah, there are no concepts such as present, past and future. These concepts are for people as they are dependent on time. Now, we will examine this issue through another example:

Example-2:

Suppose that this picture is our timeline. The middle is the present, that is, now; the left side is the past and the right side is the future. Now, we are holding a mirror on the time scheme. The mirror is close to the floor; so, only the present time is reflected on the mirror. The past and the future are not included. Now, we will lift the mirror a bit and in this position, the present time and a part of the past and the future are reflected on the mirror. When we lift the mirror a little more, the remaining part of the past and the future that are not seen in the previous position are also reflected on the mirror. That is, as we lift the mirror, the time period which appears on the mirror expands. Now, we will lift the mirror to the highest point.

At this point, the mirror encompasses the present, past and future as a whole. This point is called the point of pre-eternity, which sees all of the three times as a whole at the same moment. When we say, "Allah is pre-eternal", we mean that Allah sees and knows all times and places at the same moment and that He is timeless.

Example-3:

Now, we will see the concept of pre-eternity in another example: We assume that three vehicles set out from Erzurum toward Istanbul. The first one is in Izmit. The second one is behind the first one in Eskisehir and the third one is behind them in Ankara.

Now, when we pay attention to these three vehicles, we see these: The vehicle which is in Izmit is at the front when it is compared to other vehicles. Namely, it is in the future because it passed the roads that other ones did not reach yet.

The vehicle in Eskisehir is in the past when it is compared to the vehicle in Izmit because the vehicle in Izmit already passed Eskisehir. However, it is in the future when it is compared to the vehicle in Ankara because this vehicle did not reach the other vehicle's place yet.

The vehicle in Ankara is in the past when it is compared to the other two vehicles because these two vehicles already passed Ankara.

The words such as the past and the future are used about the vehicles, but these words that express time are not used for the sun which is on the top of them and enlightens three vehicles at the same moment. That is, we cannot say that the sun is in the past compared to this vehicle, or the sun is in the future compared to that vehicle because the sun enlightens these three vehicles and encompasses all of them with its light at the same moment. This state of the sun, that is, being independent of time, which is valid for the vehicles on the earth, and encompassing the three time periods at the same moment is an example of pre-eternity.

Likewise, we are in a point of the timeline that started with the creation of the universe. Everything that passed before us is in the past compared to the present time. The times after today and this moment and the creatures that will be created at those times are in the future compared to the present time. Now, our grandfathers became a thing of the past. However, before that, their grandfathers were also waiting for their grandchildren who would come in the future. Our grandfathers, who were in the future compared to their grandfathers' time, came to this world, lived here and became a thing of the past. Similarly, we are in the future compared to our grandfathers' time and we will also become a thing of the past. And our grandchildren, who are in the future compared to our time, will be in their present day.

As it can be seen, the concepts such as the past, the future and the present are used for us. However, there are no such concepts for Allah, who creates everything and time. Allah encompasses all these times at the same moment like the sun in the example with the light of His knowledge. Then, we cannot say, "Allah wrote it; so we are doing it" because Allah encompasses all times at the same moment with His pre-eternity; so, Allah knows all our deeds that we will do with our free will and so Allah wrote whatever we will do during our life time in our qadar book. We do not do deeds because Allah wrote them. On the contrary, Allah wrote them because Allah knows that we are going to do them.

To be able to understand this issue better, we will give a final example because understanding pre-eternity is a key to understanding the issue of qadar. The first cause of misunderstanding the issue of qadar is being unable to understand Allah's attribute of pre-eternity of and supposing that Allah is dependent on time.

Example-4:

If you know a poem as a whole, the relation of your knowledge to all lines of the poem is same. That is, as we have mentioned before, the sun encompasses the three vehicles at the same moment. Likewise, your knowledge about the poem encompasses all lines at the same moment. However, sequence is important for the lines of the poem. For example, the sixth line is after the fourth line and before the tenth line. When you finish writing the fifth line and start to write the sixth line, the fifth line becomes a thing of the past. The sixth line is at the present time. The tenth line is in the future. Namely, it has not come into being yet and it has not been written yet. However, this tenth line, which has not come to being yet, is available in your knowledge. Then, sequence is not in question for your knowledge.

Likewise, the nineteenth century and the people living in this century are in the future compared to the eighteenth century and the people living in this century and they are in the past compared to the twentieth century. However, for the pre-eternal knowledge of Allah, who is independent of time, all these centuries, the past, the present, the future are within the scope of His observation at the same moment.

That is, qadar, which we name as "pre-eternal knowledge of Allah", is not a plan made in the past; it is a time out of plan. It is knowledge encompassing all past and future times at the same moment.

Then, saying, "Allah wrote my qadar; I cannot change it by any means" is an extremely wrong statementbecause Allah did not write in the book of qadar without knowing what we were going to do; and He did not force us to act according to this writing. On the contrary, Allah knows with His pre-eternal knowledge what we will choose with our partial free will and what deed we will do; so, Allah wrote them in the book of qadar.

The saying, "Allah wrote my qadar; I cannot change it by any means", which is uttered as an excuse is basically wrong because the book of qadar is a manifestation of the knowledge of Allah. His knowledge is not an attribute of forcing. The writing is only a declaration. For example, if I write a sentence like this, "You are going to turn off your television in fifteen minutes." And if you turn off your television in fifteen minutes, can you say, "If there had not been that sentence, I would have not turned off my television"? You definitely cannot say that because it is only a sentence. It is a message. It is not enforcement.

Likewise, "Allah wrote my qadar; I cannot change it by any means " is extremely wrong. Our acts are not created by the knowledge of Allah; so, we cannot blame the book of qadar, which is the title of the knowledge of Allah.

Our acts are created by the power of Allah. The knowledge has no effect on this creation. Then, how can we hold the book of qadar, which has no effect on the creation of our acts, responsible? The person who asks such a wrong question only cheats himself.

 For, if you say to this person, "Why are you going to school? You cannot change your qadar. If being a doctor is in your qadar, you will be a doctor in any case. You cannot prevent it. Even if you do not study, you will be a doctor. If it is not in your qadar, you can never be a doctor even if you study." Or, if you say, "Why are you opening your shop? If earning much money today is in your destiny, you will earn in any case so there is no a necessity to open the shop. Earning much money today is not in your destiny; you will not earn even if you open your shop. You can never change your destiny." If we say these sayings, if we say that he can never change his destiny so there is no a necessity for him to go to school, to open his shop, this person defends himself and says: "You will work so that Allah will give you something." However, when the issue becomes related to doing religious duties and avoiding sins, this person uses destiny as an excuse, becomes submissive and blames qadar. This is nothing but cheating oneself.

However, as we have covered in the pre-eternity issue, Allah does not force us to commit any sin. Allah knows what we are going to do with His knowledge that encompasses all times and places and Allah wrote them in the book of qadar. Is the reason why we blame qadar due to our sins and the reason why we say, "Allah wrote my qadar; I cannot change it by any means" the pre-eternal knowledge of Allah what we are going to do?

That is, if Allah had not known what we were going to do, we would have become responsible. Then, will we not become responsible because of He knows them? The person who blames qadar due to his or her sins must check what he wants and he or she must feel ashamed.

With the examples given above, we tried to understand the pre-eternity of Allah. However, it must not be forgotten that all these examples are only small binoculars to zoom in on the fact that minds are too weak to understand. The minds are too weak to understand the greatness of the power and the majesty of Allah fully. Likewise, the minds cannot fully understand the pre-eternity of Allah and the knowledge of Allah, which encompasses all times and places at the same time. However, even these weak binoculars declare that the statement "Allah wrote my qadar; I cannot change it by any means" is an extremely wrong saying and they clarify the issue is completely.

Along with the pre-eternity of Allah, when the rule, "knowledge is dependent on the known" is understood, you will see that all questions about qadar that are assumed to be unanswered will be answered suddenly.

Why do we come to this world since it is definite in qadar (destiny) that we will either go to Paradise or Hell?

People who think about qadar and who do not comprehend the secrets of qadar ask themselves the most and wonders the most about the answer to this question:

“Allah knows whether I will go to Paradise or to Hell. And He wrote it in my book of qadar. Then, why does He send me to this world?”

It is understood from this question that the person who asks this question thinks that since his end is known by Allah, his coming to this world has no purpose. According to him, if Allah did not know whether he would go to Paradise or Hell, his creation would be meaningful. Since He knows it, his creation is meaningless.

This question is a very illogical question. The purpose of our creation and the wisdom behind our creation has nothing to do with the fact that Allah knows our end. In other words, the wisdom behind coming to this world does not disappear when Allah knows whether we will go to Paradise or Hell.

The person who asks that question does not know the reason behind the creation of the universe and him. That he is unaware of the purpose of creation makes him ask this question. According to him, he came to this world so that the answer to the following question will be clear: “Will he go to Paradise or Hell?” Since Allah knows where he will go and his end through His pre-eternal knowledge, his being sent to this world is nonsense according to him. It means the person who asks this question is unaware of the wisdom behind his creation. Then, we should look for the answer to this question in the wisdom behind the creation of this world and man. When this wisdom is understood, the answer to that question will be found.

In the Quran, Allah Almighty informs us about the purpose of the creation of man through the following verse:

“I have only created jinn and men, that they may serve Me.” (adh-Dhariyat:56)

That is, the purpose of the creation of man is to worship Allah and to be a slave of Him. The essence of worshipping is the following orders:

1- Allah wants to make Himself known through His works of art in this world. The duty of man is to believe in his Creator, who wants  to make Himself known through the miracles of His art and to know Him through His holy names that become manifest on the mirrors of the beings.

2- Allah wants to make Himself loved through the beautiful fruits of His mercy in this world. The duty of man is to obey his Merciful Lord, who wants Himself to be loved through the beautiful fruits of His love, and to make Lord love him through worshipping.

3- Allah gives man the tastes of the material and spiritual bounties in this world. The duty of man for these material and spiritual bounties is to thank Allah, who grants him those bounties and who feeds him, through his deeds, attitudes and tongue, and if possible through all of his feelings and organs and to praise Him.

4- Allah shows, through the beings He created, His majesty and perfection. Every being is a mirror of that majesty and perfection, based on its size. Thus, the duty of man toward his Lord, who shows His majesty and perfection on the mirrors of the beings, is to prostrate before Him with complete humbleness, wonder and love.

5- In this world, Allah exhibits His endless wealth and treasures. The duty of man, who watches this wealth, toward his Lord, who shows His endless generosity    through His infinite wealth and treasures is to feel his poverty and ask only from Him.

6- Allah created this world in the form of an exhibition and He displayed His art in this exhibition. The duty of man for it toward the artist who created the earth in the form of an exhibition and who showed all of His works of art in this exhibition is to appreciate it by saying  ‘mashaallah’ (whatever Allah wills),‘barakallah’ (May Allah bless you)  ‘subhanallah’ (Glory be to Allah) , ‘Allah-u Akbar’ (Allah is the greatest) and to show his admiration.

7- Allah put endless seals of His oneness on this world. In this palace of the universe, the duty of man is to know Allah, who put the seal of His oneness through inimitable seals and special signatures on everything, as one and to witness that He is one.

8- By making everything in this universe obey Him, Allah shows the majesty of His sultanate. The duty of man is to obey and confirm this sultanate of Allah, which is visible in the universe. That is, to obey and surrender to the being that everything, from atoms to the sun, obeys and surrenders and to confirm His sultanate.

9- Allah decorated every part of this universe with works of arts that are embroideries of His names. The duty of man is to show other people those works of art, which are the embroideries of Allah’s holy names, and to carry out the duty of proclaiming and publicity.

10- Allah created every creature in this world like a book and wrote His beautiful names in it. Thus, the duty of man is to meditate on the pages of the beings which are like the letters of the pen of power and the sky and to meditate on the pages of the earth and to discover the beautiful names written on them.

Thus, Allah Almighty created this world for such elevated and lofty purposes and sent man to this world for those purposes. That is, the purpose of our creation and being in this world is to fulfill those duties. None of those purposes disappears because Allah knows whether we will go to Paradise or to Hell.

Therefore, Allah's knowing our end through His pre-eternal knowledge does not mean that we came to this world in vain. Then, we cannot say, “Since it is definite in my qadar whether I will go to Paradise or to Hell, why were we sent to this world?” The greatest purpose for the creation of this world is not going to Paradise or going to Hell but believing in Allah and obeying Him and fulfilling the duties we have listed above.

If man knew why he came to this world, why this universe was created in such a magnificent form and if he knew the divine purposes in them, he would not ask such a question, and he would understand that divine qadar’s knowing everything would not eliminate the wisdoms and purposes we have listed.

In fact, man was created as a small realm. All of the names that are manifest in the big realm are also manifest in man, who is a small realm. Another reason why man was created is the fact that he serves as a mirror for the names of Allah. We can even say that the names that are not manifest in this huge world and in angels become manifest in this tiny man.

For instance, man commits a sin and asks for forgiveness. Then, Allah forgives him.

Thus, when Allah forgives man, His names like Ghafur (Forgiver), Afuww (Pardoner), Tawwab (Acceptor of Repentance) and Ghufran (Forgiveness) become manifest; those names can be manifest only in man. Those names cannot become manifest in mountains, seas, the sun and angels because they do not commit sins.

Those names of Allah that denote beauty can be manifest only in man,

And many names of Allah that denote majesty can be manifest only in man.

For instance, a slave disobeys and Allah punishes Him. In this punishment, His name “Muntaqim” (Avenger) becomes manifest in man’s failure to escape and his being caught, His name “Wajid” (Finder) in man’s defeat against Allah, His name “Aziz” (Mighty) in His reckoning man, His name “Hasib” (Accounter) in His lowering man, His names “Muzil” (Humiliator) and “Khafid” (Abases) and many other names become manifest in man; the huge world cannot become a mirror for those names because it cannot disobey Allah. Those names can be manifest only in a slave that disobeys.

If men who disobey and go to Hell were not sent to this world, the names we have just mentioned and many other names would never be manifest. However, those names want themselves to be known and to be recognized. Hell, which is a result of disobedience, would not be created because there were no sinners and the names of majesty would not seem in the hereafter.

That is, to wish a person who will go to Hell not to come to this world means to wish this world to be deprived of the manifestation of His majestic names; this wish is a result of being unaware of the purpose of the creation of the universe.

The person who asks that question should not forget this truth: If an experienced teacher graded his students in his class without giving them a test and if he punished some of the students and rewarded others, the students who were punished would definitely object to the teacher and say, “If you had given us a test, we would not have got bad grades.” Thus, they would blame the teacher. Similarly, if Allah Almighty sent us to Paradise or Hell without testing us in the world, those who were sent to Hell would object to this decision and would say,

 “If you had given us a test, we would not have gone to Hell.”

Although Allah Almighty knew our end through His pre-eternal knowledge, He created this world as a place of testing and sent us to this world as officials in order to inform us about this result and to prevent us from objecting on the Day of Judgment.

The state of a person who is born in a non-Muslim country and who does not know about Islam?

One of the most frequently asked questions whose answer people want to know the most about qadar is this: What will the state of a person who was born in a remote place and who did not hear anything about Islam be like? Is the fact that they have not heard about Islam a valid excuse for them? Or, are they obliged to believe in Allah, to perform worshipping like performing daily prayers, and performing fasting that are ordered by Islam? Before giving the answer to this question, we want to investigate the reason why this question keeps minds busy. We think this investigation is more important than the answer to that question. Why does a person worry about someone whom he does not know, who is not a relative, who is not an acquaintance, whom he has never seen so much? If you say, “it may be the compassion he feels toward them”, we do not think it is true. His next door neighbor, who does not try to find, a solution to the problems of his neighbor, who does not even think about him, who does not help the victims of an accident that he sees while driving, who does not take an injured person to hospital in his car lest his car should get dirty, who is even so merciless as to send his own parents to old people’s home when they are old, will not be worried about a person whom he does not know, whom he has not seen, whose name and personality he does not know, just because of the compassion he feels toward them.

What is more interesting for him than worrying about the end of a person who lives unaware of Islam is this: He will not make an effort to find the answer to that question, which is available in almost any creed book. The only thing he does is to ask people who have no knowledge about the issue and, so to speak, to drive them into corner and to feel relieved after it. The state of such a person is similar to a person who does not perform prayers in the world but asks about how to determine the qiblah in the moon and how to perform prayers there. The reason why he asks about the determination of the qiblah is not the thought,  “If I go to the moon one day, I do not want to miss my prayer.”For he does not pray in the world. Besides, he will not go to the moon. He has not been assigned the duty of teaching the people who will go to the moon how to determine the qiblah. He does not ask that question on behalf of the humanity. Then, what makes him ask that question? In fact, the answer to that question, to which he thinks there is no answer, is very easy: the qiblah on the moon is the world. A person who will perform a prayer on the moon needs to turn toward the world and to perform his prayer like that. However, we want to ask this question again:

What makes this person, who does not pray in this world, wonder about the prayer on the moon? The answer to that question is the same as the answer to the question, “What makes him wonder about the end of the people whom he does not know?”In our opinion, that is the question whose answer needs to be found first. The answer to that question is as follows: Due to not knowing Allah properly, doubting about His justice and mercy, and the worst of all, remembering Hell due to not fulfilling the orders of Allah, and in order to get rid of the pain caused by this remembering, he wants to cherish the idea, “Maybe, there is a doubt about the religion.” Through questions to which he thinks there are no answers, he wishes deeply the non-existence of Hell. This person, who does not search any books in order to find the answer to the question which he has been wondering about for years, will confirm us if he checks this diagnosis justly, in his inner world. Now we will quote a story from the Quran which will confirm our view to you:

 "Allah said to Moses and Aaron, 'So go ye both to him, and say: ‘Verily we are messengers sent by thy Lord; send forth, therefore, the Children of Israel with us and afflict them not! With a sign, indeed, have we come from thy Lord! And peace to all who follow Guidance!'" (Taha: 47)

"Verily it has been revealed to us that the Penalty (awaits) those who reject and turn away." (Taha: 48)

"The Pharaoh said: ‘Who then, O Moses, is the Lord of you two?’He said: ‘Our Lord is He who gave to each (created) thing its form and nature and further gave (it) guidance.'" (Taha: 49, 50)

"The Pharaoh said, ‘What then is the condition of previous generations?’ Moses replied: ‘The knowledge of that is with my Lord duly recorded: my Lord never errs nor forgets.'"(Taha: 51, 52)

As it is seen in the verse, the Pharaoh asks Moses, who invites him to the Truth, about the condition of the previous generations and those who did not hear about the call of Moses. Is what makes the Pharaoh ask that question the compassion he feels toward those people? Definitely not; because he did not show compassion even toward his own people. He killed thousands of people with the hope of finding Moses. What makes the Pharaoh ask that question is the desire of overcoming Moses with a question that cannot be answered. On the other hand, Moses does not answer that question. He says, “The knowledge of that is with my Lord duly recorded; my Lord never errs, nor forgets.”He refers it to Allah. The reason why Moses refers the answer to Allah is not because of not knowing the condition of the people of interregnum who did not hear about the call of the prophet but because of wishing to surrender to Allah’s justice and mercy.

Moses was in such a degree of belief that he had no doubt that no matter what Allah did He would do it with compassion and mercy. By saying, “My Lord never errs, nor forgets”, he showed his surrendering to the judgment of Allah like that.

The fact that the Pharaoh asked Moses about the condition of the previous generations when Moses invited him to accept the Truth and that Moses referred the condition of the previous generations to Allah prove that the issue is not wishing to find the answer to the question but is a question of belief.

People who have perfect belief do not even think about such questions. They have surrendered to Allah. They believe that no matter what Allah does it is just and fair. According to the people who reached this degree of belief, even if Allah puts all people to Hell,  He is still merciful and just. Then, the first thing to do, before we find the answer to the question, is to read the books that will make our belief perfect and to raise our belief from the degree of imitative belief to the degree of investigative belief thanks to them. When we do it, we will reach the rank of surrendering and you will see that many questions whose answers you wonder about will not even come to your mind. After that, we will learn the answers to those questions in order to tell them to the people who wonder about their answers.

Now, let us answer the question, “What is the state of a person who is born in a non-Muslim country and who does not know about Islam?”

Time and place have a negative or positive effect on man in terms of belief and Islam; however, the elements of time and place do not determine the result on their own. They are two factors that make people start the test with an advantage or disadvantage. A person who is born in an Islamic country starts the test with an advantage and a person who is born in a non-Islamic country starts the test with a disadvantage.

However, there are so many incidents when the one with the advantage failed the test and when the one with the disadvantage passed the test that you cannot imagine.

For instance, the fact that Noah’s son died as an unbeliever though his father was a prophet and that Lot’s wife died as an unbeliever though her husband was a prophet prove it. Yes, Noah’s son and Lot’s wife started the test with a great advantage. One of them had a father who was a prophet; the other had a husband who was a prophet. However, they failed to complete the test successfully.

Another example is as follows: Moses was brought up in the palace of the Pharaoh and he was the adopted child of the Pharaoh. However, the Pharaoh could not benefit from Moses and died as an unbeliever.

However, the Pharaoh’s wife, Asiya, who lived in the same palace, was a believer and the following prayer of hers exists in the Quran: “O my Lord! Build for me, in nearness to Thee a mansion in the Garden and save me from the Pharaoh and his doings and save me from those that do wrong.” (Tahrim: 11)

That is, one of the two people living in the same palace dies as an unbeliever and is cited as an enemy of Allah in the Quran but his wife dies as a believer. The uncles of the Prophet Abu Talib and Abu Lahab lived very near the Prophet and heard the Truth from him and they witnessed several miracles of the Prophet but they died as unbelievers. On the other hand, Uways al-Qarani, who did not see the Prophet, loved the Prophet and Allah so much that his love was recorded in the pages of the history.

That is, what matters is not being born in an Islamic country. There is no need to give examples from distant countries; it will be enough to have a look at the situation in Turkey. Our country is a Muslim country; 99% of the people are Muslims; however, there are more pubs than mosques in our country; The fact that mosques, which are fewer than pubs, are empty and that pubs, which are more than mosques, are full prove that onlybeing born in an Islamic country is not a factor that affects the result.

Yes, the people that fill the pubs were born in an Islamic country and have the blessing of hearing the adhan five times a day; moreover, they have heard many issues about Islam since they were children. However, none of them made those people close to Allah. They lead a life without prayers, without remembering Allah and meditating; and they disobey Allah.

That is, what matters is not starting the test with an advantage. Our community is full of people who cannot benefit from the advantage they have. With the explanations we have made so far, we want to say this: A person who is born in a non-Muslim country may just as well be informed about Islam and can become a very good Muslim. History is full of examples like that.

After the explanations, now it is time to deal with the fatwa aspect of the issue.

The period between the periods of two prophets: The period starting from the point when the religion brought by the previous prophet was forgotten to the point when the next prophet came is called the “period of interregnum”; and the people who lived in that period and who did not live in the same time as either prophet are called people interregnum. They are given this name because the religious of the previous prophet was forgotten and the next prophet did not emerge yet. The people of interregnum are not responsible for worshipping like, prayers, fasting and zakah and the other orders of the religion. There is unanimous agreement about it. In the hereafter, they will not be accounted or punished for not performing worshipping. For a prophet is necessary to know them. However, those people did not meet a prophet. Therefore, they are not obliged to worship and obey the orders. Nevertheless, it is disputable whether they are obliged to believe in Allah or not.

According to Imam Maturidi, the people of interregnum are not obliged to worship and to obey orders but they are obliged to believe in Allah. For, God Almighty gave them the mind and He filled this world with innumerable creatures that will function as proofs for His existence and oneness. Man who knows that every needle must have its manufacturer and craftsman, that every letter must be written by someone that a country must have an owner, must find Allah, who is the artisan of the works of art in this world. And he must believe in Him. The mind has the ability to do it even if it does not hear the call of a prophet. Therefore, if people who lived in the period of interregnum died without believing in Allah, they are regarded to have died as unbelievers.

Imam Ashari holds the view that the people of interregnum are not obliged to believe in Allah because, according to Imam Ashari, Allah, who invites people to believe through His prophets, did not invite the people of interregnum since he did not send them a prophet. Therefore, they are not held responsible. For, mind and thought are not enough to know Allah. Therefore, according to Imam Ashari, the people of interregnum will not go to Hell due to unbelief.

As for the state of the people who lived after the emergence of our Prophet, Imam Ghazali makes a classification about them; it provides an answer for those who wonder about the state and the end of the Christians and Jews living today. Imam Ghazali says, after our Prophet was sent, people who do not believe are divided into three categories:

1st category: Those who did not hear the call of the Prophet and who were not informed about the Prophet. This group will definitely go to Paradise.

2nd category: The people who saw the state of the miracles shown by the Prophet and heard about his high ethics but who did not believe. This group will definitely go to Hell.

3rd category: It is the group between those two groups. They heard about the name of the Prophet but they did not hear about his characteristics. More precisely, they had known our Prophet since they were young, as - God forbid - an impostor whose name was Muhammad and who claimed to be a prophet. They heard nothing but negative propaganda about the Prophet; just like our children who heard about “Musaylama al-Kadhdhab” as an impostor who claimed to be a prophet.

Imam Ghazali does not make a definite judgment about them but he adds the following.  In my opinion, their state is like that of the first category; That is, like those who did not hear about our Prophet because they heard the name of our Prophet with the attributes that are opposite to his characteristics. This does not lead a person to think about it and to investigate it.

Today, in the world of the Christians, Jews and in other countries, it is possible to find people who belong to the three categories described by Imam Ghazali. No matter how much technology develops, it is known that there are primitive tribes living in the virgin forests of Africa. They have neither seen a television nor used a telephone. Therefore, they are included in the category that did not hear the name of our Prophet in the classification of Imam Ghazali; so, according to Imam Ghazali, they are people of Paradise.

There are many people who belong to the 2nd category both in our country and in many places in the world. They have heard about the attributes of our Prophet, regarding prophethood but they have not believed. In fact, with the development of the technology and the ease of having access to knowledge, they form the biggest category. They are people of Hell as it is expressed by many verses of the Quran. For, Islam abrogated all of the religions before it and made them invalid.

However, there are some people who belong to the 3rd category according to the classification of Imam Ghazali. There may be some people in the Christian or Jewish world living in a distant part of the country away from the social life and who had been informed about the Prophet in a negative way since they were children. Imam Ghazali does not make a definite judgment about those people but he says they resemble the people of Paradise in the first category. Allah knows the best.

We end this issue by the words of Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, who is a great scholar of our age, and we refer the voice of the truth to the knowledge of our Lord, who never errs or forgets.

"All scholars agree unanimously that people of interregnum will not be punished due to their mistakes regarding the details of the religion. In fact, according to Imam Shafii and Imam Ashari, they will not be held responsible even if they do not believe.

People become responsible only when a prophet is sent. Besides, it is necessary to know that a prophet was sent and to know the nature of the duty of the prophet for the responsibility to be valid. If what the prophet brought is not known due to some causes like the passing of time or heedlessness, those who do not know them are regarded as the people of interregnum and they are not punished for it."

Did the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) forbid talking about qadar?

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) stated the following in a hadith:

“Do not talk about qadar because qadar is the secret of Allah. Do not attempt to explain the secret of Allah!”Alauddin Aliyyu'l Ibn Husamaddin al-Hindi, Kanzu'l Ummal, Vol. 1 p: 132

However, this hadith does not forbid us to try to understand qadar and it does not forbid us to try to understand the issue of qadar what is meant in the hadith is something different here.

Qadar is divided into two:

1-The first one is related to human free will.

2-The second one is related to the events that happen beyond a person's free will and control.

Being male or female, the time period that a person is born, the place he or she is born and lives, a person's lifetime, a person's mother and father, being disabled or healthy, being beautiful or ugly, being rich or poor can be mentioned as examples for the second part.

Trying to understand the secret of divine destiny in such cases, asking questions like, “Why did Allah do so? are a meaningless loss and can cause a person to go to Hell because, as a result of these questions, a person can rebel qadar, that is, divine destiny. These secrets will be understood in the hereafter with all details.

This is the part of qadar, the part which human will cannot intervene, that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) prohibits us from dealing with it by saying, “Do not talk about qadar, because it is the secret of Allah. Do not dare to explain the secret of Allah."   

Otherwise, thinking about the first part of qadar is good and it is regarded as meditative worshipping. Muslim scholars of creed have tried to understand this part of qadar and written books about it.

We can divide the deeds of human beings into two parts.

Some of them are the deeds that occur completely out of human free will. The beating of the heart, the circulation of blood, breathing in and out, opening and closing our eyelids are examples of such deeds. These types of deeds are named as "involuntary acts" Human free will cannot interfere with these types of deeds; therefore, there is no responsibility or reward for these deeds.

The other deeds are the deeds that we do through our free will. The deeds such as eating, drinking, looking, talking, walking are included in this part. In this part, we have the right to choose. We can look at permissible things but we can also look at sinful things. We can eat permissible foods or we can eat forbidden foods. We can talk about good things but we can also lie and gossip. These types of deeds are named as "voluntary acts"

Partial free will is our ability to choose among those deeds. In terms of creation, both involuntary and voluntary deeds are created by Allah. However, our demand is in question regarding voluntary acts and deeds. This demand is called partial free will.

That is, in voluntary acts, man is the one that demands and Allah is the one that creates the deed. Because of this demand, man becomes obedient or rebellious. In other words, human free will relates to the attribute of the deed and the power of Allah relates to the essence of the deed.

For example, Allah creates the essence of the deed of writing. The writings can include good deeds or sins. In the first situation, writing is beneficial but in the second situation, it is harmful. Here, whether the deed of writing is beneficial or harmful is decided by man. Man decides and Allah creates the writing according to man's decision. Man becomes responsible because of this choice and decision. Now, we will try to understand the nature of the partial free will through three different examples:

What is partial free will?

Example 1:

Suppose that we are in the guesthouse of a king. On each floor of the guesthouse, different bounties and benefactions are exhibited. As we come up, we see that these bounties and benefactions increase. Suppose that there is punishment instead of bounties and pains instead of benefactions on the ground floor of the guest house. There is only one way to go up and down: to enter the elevator and push the button of the floor that we want to reach.

Now we are in the elevator and we push a button that hoists us up and the elevator hoisted us up. Or, we pushed a button to go down and the elevator took us down. Moreover, we should not forget that a person can push the button to go up but then can change the decision and can push the button that will take him or her down and he or she starts to go down. Or, a person can push the button to go down but if he or she wants to go up and if his elevator journey has not finished yet, the person can push the button that hoists him or her up and he or she can reach the upper floor.

Now let us analyze our situation: We did not make the elevator and we cannot carry it by our force. However, the elevator does not act on its own. We push a button by using our free will and the elevator takes us to that floor.

Therefore, we cannot say, "I move the elevator and it works by my force"; similarly, we cannot say, "This elevator acts on its own; if it wants, it carries me up, or carries me down; I can do nothing about it; I have no free will."  We cannot claim that we move the elevator by our force because we do not have even a little bit of force to move the elevator and to invent it. Let alone claiming to move the elevator by our own force, we probably do not even get in the elevator by our own force. The merciful king of this guesthouse makes us get into the elevator without our force and intervention.

So, we cannot say that we carry the elevator on our own and the elevator works based on my force. Likewise, we cannot claim that we have no intervention in the movement of the elevator and that it carries us based on its desire and free will. For, the elevator carries us to the floor that we want to go by pushing the button. It does not carry us to the floor that we do not want to go.

Then, the best statement is this:  “We do not make the elevator move and the elevator does not work with our force.  However, we determine the floor that the elevator goes up or down because of our free will by pushing buttons." Therefore, we determine the floor that we will go to. The elevator acts based on our determination and demand.

Now, we will explain the facts in the example:   In this example, the guesthouse is this world and this beautiful realm.

The owner of the guesthouse is Allah, the sultan of pre-eternity and post-eternity.

The top floors of the guesthouse are the deeds that help us reach Paradise; the ground floor of the guesthouse is the sins that cause us to go to Hell. 

The elevator is Allah's will and power. Pushing the button of the elevator is our demand from Allah to create that deed. This is partial free will. 

When we decide to read the Holy Quran with our partial free will and when we demand to read the Holy Quran, Allah creates with His power the deed of "reading the Holy Quran". That is, when we are in this situation, we push the upper button of the elevator and the elevator carries us to that floor. Everything, from our mouth's movement to the Holy Quran that we read, belongs to Allah. Everything happens with His creation. We only   prefer and demand this condition to be created by Allah. This preference and demand is called partial free will.

If we wanted to read a book that included sins instead of reading the Quran, we would demand this deed to be created by Allah with our partial free will just like pushing a button that took us downstairs and Allah would creates this deed because this life is a test.

Allah's creation is dependent on our desire, namely, our free will; so we are held responsible for our deeds.  However, Allah does not create that sin due to His mercy in many cases and Allah intervenes between us and that sin.

What is partial free will?

Example 2:

Suppose that the sultan's ships are arranged on a dock in an order and there are two islands in front of the dock. The sultan commands the captains to go to the island on the right and prohibits them from going to the island on the left. The sultan tests the captains about their obedience to him and he does not interfere in the captains who go to the island on the left due to the test.

Suppose that the ships are equipped with the same devices and the routes to both islands are kept open. On the other hand, all needs and fuels of the ships are provided by the sultan. What the captain needs to do here is to turn the rudder only and to choose the island that he decides to go. The ship and the movement of the ship belong to the sultan.

If this captain goes to the island on the right by obeying the command of the sultan, he will meet various bounties. If he goes to the island on the left, he will be a target for the attacks of wild animals and he will be punished by the sultan's officers in various ways. Each captain can direct the ship and go to the island that he decides to go as a cox of the sultan. When a captain decides to go to an island, the ship will follow the route that the captain will give and the sea will carry the ship until it reaches this island.

We also must add that the captain has the right, at any moment of the travel, to change the route. For example, when he is travelling toward the island on the left, he can turn the direction toward the right side or when he is travelling toward the island on the right, he can turn the direction toward the left side.

Now let us analyze it:  The captain does not cause the ship to move on the water with his own power because he does not have the necessary power for it.  Likewise, he cannot fulfill the needs of the ship on his own.  Neither did he make this ship, nor is he the owner of the sea and the other devices in the ship; all of them belong to the sultan.

However, the ship does not move on its own, without the will of the captain. The preference of the captain steers the ship. The captain cannot say this: "I am directing and moving this ship with my own power"; because he does not have such a power.  He cannot say this, either:   "The ship is floating out of my will.  It is carrying me to the island that it wants by force. I am not responsible for the movement of the ship."  He cannot say so because the ship travels based on his preference. Then, the best statement is this:  "I am not the owner of the ship and its devices.  They belong to my sultan. I am only a cox of the ship and I determine a route for the ship but I am such a cox that I will be accounted for every movement of the ship because my will and desire cause the movements of the ship."

Now, let us explain the facts in the example: 

The dock in example is this world.

The sultan is Allah, who is owner of the universe.

Each ship is a man. The devices in the ship are the senses and organs given to man by Allah.

As for those two islands, the island on the right is Paradise and the deeds that cause man to go to Paradise; the island on the left is Hell and the deeds that cause man to go Hell.

The captain’s deciding the route of the ship and turning the rudder is partial free will. Every organ and cell in the human body, each system in the universe and sphere serve and move thanks to the will and the power of Allah. However, in voluntary deeds, man is not plunged into the sea of events like a captain whose hand and arms are tied. Man prefers and determines his ship's (body) island (movement) thanks to his partial free will. So he decides the destination which he will go on his own. The ability of this decision-making is named as partial free will.

What is partial free will?

Example 3:

Suppose that a child is sitting on the back of a wrestler. There are two mountains in front of them. On the mountain on the right, delicious foods and many bounties are available.  On the mountain on the left, only thorny plants and wild animals are available.

The child will climb up one of these mountains but his own force is not enough to climb the mountains; so, a wrestler takes him or her on his back and he will carry the child by obeying the child's desire and decision. Suppose that this child wants to climb the mountain on the left instead of the mountain on the right, which includes many beautiful bounties and the child wants the wrestler to climb the mountain on the left. The wrestler carries him to that mountain. As a result of his desire, after climbing that mountain, he encounters hundreds of pains and fears.

Now, let us analyze the situation: The child did not climb that mountain with his own force. Besides, his force is not enough to climb that mountain on his own. However, the wrestler did not carry him to the mountain on the left by force. If the child had wanted to climb the mountain on the right, the wrestler would have carried him to the mountain on the right. As a matter of fact, he carried many people to the mountain on the right. Then, the child cannot claim that he climbed the mountain with his own force. He cannot claim that the wrestler carried him to the mountain on the left by force, either. 

The best statement that the child can make is this:  "I did not climb the mountain with my own force. The wrestler carried me to this mountain. However, the wrestler did not do it by disregarding my desire and decision. On the contrary, he obeyed my demand.  I wanted him to carry me to the mountain on the left and he did it. The responsibility in climbing that mountain lies with me."                                       

Now we will explain the facts in the example:

The mountain on the right in the example is Paradise and the deeds that cause us to go to Paradise.            

The mountain on the left is Hell and the bad deeds that cause us to go to Hell.

That child is us, that is, human beings.

The wrestler is the power of Allah.

Yes, we do deeds thanks to the power of Allah. In the example, the child sits on the back of the wrestler. Likewise, we act with the power of Allah. We want Allah to carry us to the mountain that we want to climb and to create the act that we want to make. Our demand is the partial free will.  Allah creates our demands even if He does not approve them because life is a test. Here; we want the act to be created by Allah.  Allah is creator of the act. We become responsible for this demand because our demand and desire caused the creation of the act.

Then, our task is using our partial free will for the demand of good deeds and asking Allah to create the deeds that cause us to go to Paradise. When this desire combines with a good intention, it will make us deserve Paradise.

Happy is the man who uses the partial free will given to him in the creation of good deeds and who does the deeds that cause him to go to Paradise. Shame on the man who uses his partial free will, which was given to him to demand good acts, in the way of sins and misappropriation.

WHAT IS QADAR?

WHAT IS PARTIAL FREE WILL?

IS MAN A PRISONER OF QADAR?

DOES QADAR CHANGE?

IS MARRIAGE QADAR?

ALTHOUGH ALLAH CREATES THE MURDER, WHY IS THE CAUSE CALLED THE MURDERER?

WOULD THE MURDERED PERSON HAVE DIED IF THE MURDERER HAD NOT KILLED HIM?

WHY DO WE COME TO THIS WORLD SINCE EVERYTHING IS RECORDED IN QADAR?

WHAT WILL THE STATUS OF A PERSON WHO IS BORN IN A COUNTRY OF UNBELIEF AND DOES NOT HEAR OF ISLAM?

WHAT DOES PRE-ETERNITY MEAN?

KNOWLEDGE IS BASED ON WHAT IS KNOWN

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN: THE GOOD COMES FROM ALLAH AND THE BAD COMES FROM THE SERVANTS OF ALLAH?

BELIEF IN QADAR - YOU WILL FIND ALL OF THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS REGARDING QADAR HERE

The worst disaster of the 21th century is unbelief and not giving belief due importance. However, belief comes before the deed because it may be possible for the people to whom Allah shows His benefaction to enter Paradise without doing good deeds. However, nobody can enter Paradise without belief. Belief is the indispensible key to heaven. A sin can be forgiven by Allah but a small error in belief is not forgiven; and this situation causes the destruction of a lot of good deeds. Therefore, we must understand belief very well and we must know the essentials of the faith with their evidence. Belief in qadar is an issue that many people cannot understand. The following questions can come to the mind of almost all people:

"Does qadar change? Why am I considered to be guilty since Allah recorded in my qadar that I would commit sins?  Is marriage also qadar? Why is the murderer considered to be guilty since it is written in the qadar of the person that he would die?  Would the murdered have lived if the murderer had not killed him? Since it is recorded in our qadar that we will go to Paradise or hell, why are we tested in our life?  Can I change my qadar?"

These questions and many other similar ones can come to the mind.

The most important cause why people do not understand qadar is the lack of the knowledge about Allah because qadar is related to the knowledge of Allah and the pre-eternity of Allah. If we ask a person who does not know this issue well, “Is Allah pre-eternal?" This person answers as "yes" and when we ask "what is the meaning of being pre-eternal?" the person will answer this question by saying, "Being pre-eternal means Allah has no beginning." The incompleteness of this answer, that is, inability to know the meaning of the pre-eternity of Allah leads to misunderstanding. Here, the fault belongs to the person who does not know Allah well and who even does not try to know Allah. This person suffers the consequences of this fault by the pains caused by the questions which he or she cannot answer. Moreover, sometimes, as a result of disinterest in Allah, this person can lose belief and the bounty of Islam.

Our aim is to attain the consent of Allah by explaining the issue of qadar to the hearts and minds wounded by the issue of qadar. In this work, you will find answers to all questions that you wonder about the issue of qadar. We will explain qadar and answer all questions about it with the certainty of "two times two equals four” without confusion and without doubt. Help and grace is from Allah.

Is belief in qadar (destiny) compulsory to be Muslim?

That is, if a man does not believe in qadar and denies it, does he exit the religion of Islam? The only answer to such a question is ‘yes’. Belief in qadar is an essential of belief (Islam) and a person who denies qadar exits  the religion because the Holy Quran teaches us to believe in destiny with many verses and the Holy Quran teaches us to believe in qadar and informs us that Allah knows everything pre-eternally. Some of these verses are as follows:

“With Him are the keys of the Unseen, the treasures that none knoweth but He. He knoweth whatever there is on the earth, and in the sea. Not a leaf doth fall but with His knowledge: there is not a grain in the darkness (or depths) of the earth nor anything fresh or dry (green or withered) but is (inscribed) in a Record Clear (to those who can read)...”(al-An’am: 59)

“Say: ‘Nothing will happen to us except what Allah has decreed for us: He is our protector’.”(at-Tawba: 51)

“No misfortune can happen on earth or in your souls but is recorded in a decree before We bring it into existence: that is truly easy for Allah.”(al-Hadid: 22)

“And of all things have We taken account in a clear Book (of evidence).”(Yasin: 12)

“Allah doth know what every female (womb) doth bear, by how much the wombs fall short (of their time or number) or do exceed. Every single thing is before His sight, in (due) proportion.” (ar-Ra’d: 8)

“Knowest thou not that Allah knows all that is in heaven and on earth? Indeed it is all in a record and that is easy for Allah.”(al-Hajj: 70)

These verses and many similar verses declare that things existed in the knowledge of Allah before they were created. Its opposite cannot be considered because Allah’s knowledge surrounds everything, every time and every place. Not accepting it means attributing ignorance to Allah. However, Allah is far from all faults and defects.

If qadar did not exist for man and if Allah knew man's actions after he did them, an end and a limit would be in question about Allah’s knowledge. And an increase, a decrease and a change would be in question about His attribute of knowledge. However, none of them can be thought about Allah.

As we will also mention in the issue of pre-eternity, Allah’s knowledge surrounds everything. Namely, all creatures; past, present and future everything that is early, late, external, internal, secret, evident,  in short, everything is  in Allah's scope of observation at any moment. Nothing can be hidden from Him and His knowledge.  Consequently, if we say, “there is no qadar for man”, it means Allah does not know tomorrow because if Allah knows tomorrow, there is and will be qadar for everybody because qadar is an attribute of divine knowledge.

If we want to understand the issue of qadar, we must know the following two points well: The first: Allah is timeless, that is, pre-eternal. The second: knowledge is dependent on the known. When these two issues are explained and understood well, all questions about qadar will be answered. Now, we will explain these two issues.

Man was sent to this world for a test. Man will receive either award or punishment in return for his deeds. Such award or punishment definitely necessitates man to be free to do deeds. Our fair Lord shows man the way of goodness and evil but He lets man choose one of these ways. We will affirm our statement with two verses from the Holy Quran:

 "Say: "O ye men! Now Truth hath reached you from your Lord! Those who receive Guidance, do so for the good of their own souls; those who stray, do so to their own loss." (Yunus: 108)

"And say: The Truth is from your Lord so let him who please believe, and let him who please disbelieve." (al-Kahf:29)

As it can be seen, man is not forced by Allah Almighty to go to one of the good or bad ways. Allah showed the two ways to man; and man became free to go to either of the ways. Besides, everybody knows by conscience that they are free in their actions. Man himself is a witness that he can do anything he wants without being under pressure and influence. For example, when man wants to lift up his hand, he can lift up his hand. When he wants to walk, he can walk. A person who wants to go to mosque can go to mosque; a person who wants to go to a casino can go to the casino. Neither the feet of the man going to mosque, nor the feet of the man going to the casino says, “I do not want to go there". Therefore, a person who is asked earnestly to use his body legitimately but uses the bounty of the body entrusted to him in order to commit sins has no excuse. He will be held responsible because he uses his free will in a bad way.

Does a person claiming that he sins because of being a prisoner of fate call it destiny when another man sins?

For example, a man says he steals due to being a prisoner of fate. Another thief enters this man's house and that thief starts to collect the valuable things; the owner of the house asks the thief what he is doing, the thief says: "I am a prisoner of fate. In my fate, theft is written. I will do it willy-nilly". Does the owner of the house allow the thief to steal his valuable things?

Suppose that a man claims that he is a murderer because of being a prisoner of fate. If his child is killed by another man and if the killer says: "I did it because this is written in my fate." How will the man whose child was killed react to the murderer?

 Moreover, thinking that man is a prisoner of fate leads us to many dilemmas. In other words, if man was a prisoner of fate, the thief would steal because of destiny and the murderer would kill for the same reason. However, it would remove responsibility; so, Allah would act unjustly toward His servants. However, man is not a being whose feet are tied with a stone and who is thrown into the sea and then who is addressed, "get rid of this bad situation." By saying: "I am prisoner of fate", man blames destiny because of his sin. In fact, by saying so, man commits a major crime because he blames Allah and attributes oppression to Allah, who has endless justice. However, Allah is absolutely fair and is free from being unfair.

In addition, if man was a prisoner of fate, to command goodness, to ban evil, to reward people who obey Allah and to punish people who disobey Allah would be meaningless. Everyone would live in the way that had been written in destiny. For example, a person praying Allah would pray because praying had been written in the destiny. Similarly, a person who sins would sin because, according to this understanding, to sin had been written in the destiny of him. Therefore, sending prophets holy books to guide people would become meaningless because the advice to the people who were prisoners of their fate would not affect them.

Furthermore, in many verses in the Holy Quran, Allah calls the servants to repent. If man sinned because of being a prisoner of fate, would the call to repent be meaningful?

Another explanation showing why man is not a prisoner of fate is the fact that he is not asked to perform some kind of worship that he cannot fulfill and he is not held responsible for the things that he cannot do. If man were a prisoner of fate, such a distinction would not be made and everyone would become responsible under every condition. Regarding the rights belonging to Allah, the conditions abrogating the responsibility of people are as follows: Madness, dementia, forgetfulness, coercion and mistakes.

As a result, the deeds that are done in those cases are not voluntary deeds. Therefore, in this case, man does not become responsible. If man were a prisoner of fate, these cases would not be excluded from responsibility. Everyone, without excluding clever, forgetful, sleeping, mistaken people, would become responsible.

Allah Almighty forgives the servant who sins because of others' threats and coercions. However, when man is forgiven by such a merciful being, is it not something that deprives him of mercy to indict the mercy of Allah by saying: "You determined my fate; then, why do you punish me?"

A question that people generally wonder about qadar (destiny) regarding a murder is the issue whether the killed would have continued living if the killer had not killed him.  If the killer had not killed him, would the killed have died due to another reason? Or, would he have continued living?

Before we answer the question, we need to learn the meanings of the concepts “cause” and “effect” that we will use while answering the question. In a murder, the killer is the cause. The incident took place because of his intervention. The killed person is the effect. He was affected by the deed of the killer. That is, when we say the cause, we mean the killer; and when we say the effect, we mean the killed.

Now let us answer the question: Allah Almighty attributed everything in this realm to a cause.

For instance, a child is an effect. The cause is the mother and the father. Allah Almighty preordained that child to be created through that mother and father.

It is called "qadar’s involvement with the cause and effect at the same time". Some people who do not know his mystery think that the cause and the effect are separate qadars; that is, they consider the parents and the child separately; therefore, they deduce a wrong judgment: “Since it is written in his qadar that he will come to this world, he will come to this world even if his mother and father are not existent.”

Some other people attribute real effects to causes and say, “If his parents had not existed, that child would not have been born.”

In fact, the best sentence to utter about the issue is this: “Since qadar sees the cause and the effect at the same time, when the cause is assumed to be non-existent, there is nothing to say about the effect. That is, if the mother and the father were non-existent, would the child be born? The scholars of Ahl as-Sunnah answer that question as follows:  “It is unknown to us what will happen; we cannot put forward an idea about it.”

There is a truth that we can see: The child was born out of his mother and father. When the non-existence of the mother and the father is assumed, how can we make a judgment that the child will be born? Therefore, we cannot make a guess whether God Almighty will make that child be born out of another mother and father or not.

Suppose that one person coming from Erzurum and another person coming from Istanbul meet in Ankara.

One of them says, “We would not have met, if we had not come here.” The other says, “It was written in the qadar that we would meet. Even if we had not come here, we would have met.”

Both of those statements are wrong because Allah Almighty’s knowledge and writing in qadar are dependent on their meeting that is known. When what is known, that is, their coming to Ankara is assumed to be non-existent, nothing can be said about whether they will be able to meet somewhere else or not.

Let us deal with our question now: If the killer had not killed him, would the killed have died? Or, would he have continued to live? In order to be able to ask such a question, one needs to suppose that Allah does not know the cause and the effect,

through His pre-eternal knowledge at the same time. That is, Allah did not know that the killer would kill that person through His pre-eternal knowledge and preordained a lifespan for the killed person. Then, the killer caught that person and killed him before he lived until the time preordained by Allah came as if he would have lived longer if the killer had not killed him. It is impossible because Allah encompasses the cause and the effect at the same time through His pre-eternal knowledge. Allah preordained a lifespan for that person in the pre-eternity because He knew that the killer would kill that person. If the killer had not killed that person,

Allah might have killed him at that time due to another reason or He might have given him a longer life.

That is, under our question, there lies a wrong thought which assumes that the pre-eternal knowledge of Allah cannot be involved with the killer and the killed at the same time and that Allah was unaware of the killer when He preordained a life span for the killed person. That is, the ignorance that lies under the question does not know the rule, “knowledge is dependent on the thing known” and Allah’s attribute of pre-eternity. If it had been known that the divine preordainment had been written by considering the cause and the effect at the same time, that question would not have been asked.

Now, let us repeat the answer to be given to that question and settle the issue. Allah’s pre-eternal knowledge encompasses the killer, that is, the cause, and the killed person, that is, the effect at the same time. Since Allah knew that the killer would kill that person using his own will, He ordained the killed person a lifespan like that. If the killer had not killed, what would have happened to the killed person? It is something that only Allah can know. Allah might have preordained a longer lifespan for him or might have killed him due to another reason.