The word of “al-qadar”, its derivations and synonyms appear in many sacred texts, including the answer of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to Gabriel’s question: “What is Ieeman (basics of Faith)? The Prophet answered: “To believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Day of Judgment; and to believe in al-qadar: the good of it and the bad.” In general, there are two meanings for this word: 1) a meaning which is equivalent to al-qadaa (the laws of nature). 2) A description of reality that occurs in the future or a prediction of something unknown, but recorded in a book from the absolute knowledge of God.
Abu Haneefah explaining said: “It was recorded as a description, not as a decree”. In other words, Allah did not decree that a creature does so and so, but He had commanded the pen to record what his creature will do in his life time, from the Knowledge of Allah that is not limited by time, place or limitations of the senses. It is a fact that human knowledge is limited by time i.e. to perceive things gradually. For example, if a person wanted to know the form of a piece of paper, he has to look at each face separately, and needs some time. In general, we can distinguish between four
Types of human knowledge:
1. The knowledge that he acquired in the past, which is subject to loss or distortion.
2. The knowledge that he is acquiring now (in the present time), which is supposed to be the most vivid. It is, also, a relative matter, for instance, an existing result of an exam to the teacher who corrected the exam is at present time, but to the student is an unknown future.
3. The knowledge, which will be acquired in the future, when it becomes a present.
4. Imaginations of things that could happen when the required circumstances exist. To the knowledge of God, everything is present, no past or future or possibility. It is also true that human knowledge is limited by place. For example, the one looking from a higher place sees more things than the one looking from a lower place. Also the one standing at an intersection sees more than the one standing on only one street, away from the intersection. It means, some of the things can be seen by the first and have become part of his knowledge, but to the other they do not exist or they are speculations.
Knowledge of Allah
On the other hand, the knowledge of Allah is not limited by place or location. There is nothing, which is hidden behind another, rather everything is present and his knowledge encompasses all. A human’s knowledge is restricted by his limited means of acquiring knowledge. In fact some insects and animals have superior senses than man. The sharp eyesight of a cat in the dark is well known, and the sharp sense of smell of a dog is also common knowledge.
On the other hand, the knowledge of Allah is not restricted by limited senses. He is perfect in everything. Allah says: {And you (O Muhammad) are not occupied with any business and you recite not a portion of this (Scripture) and you (people) perform no act, but We are Witness of you when you are engaged therein. And not an atom’s weight in the earth or in the sky escapes your Lord, nor what is less than that or greater than that, but it is (written) in a clear book.}
Al-qadar is but a perfect and accurate record of everything that occurs in the universe, recorded from the knowledge of Allah which is not limited by the factors of time, place or the limitation of senses.
It is not a decree, which cannot be violated, but a perfect record, which is not subject to mistake. From this fact came the belief that: “caution does not prevent al-qadar, or “no one can escape fate\
predestination” (al-qadar i.e. what has been pre-recorded).
An example of this at the human level is that you collect complete
information about the trip of your friend and his activities during the
trip, and record them before he embarks on his trip. If everything occurs as it was recorded, can we claim that you forced him to do
what he did?
The true believer is sure that Allah is just towards his creatures,
for He says: {Whoever does right it is for his soul, and whoever does
wrong it is against his soul. And your Lord is not at all Unjust
to His slaves.}(1)
These words of Allah are very clear, capable of
removing any vagueness of other related texts in the Holy Quraan
or the Prophetic traditions.
The above answer is written by Saeed Saeed Ismaeel Sieny. May Allah reward him for his efforts to spread Islam.
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