Predestination in Islam

Qadar (Arabic: قدر, transliterated qadar, meaning literally "power",[1] but translated variously as: "divine fore-ordainment", "predestination," "divine decree",[2] "decree of Allah",[3] "preordainment"[4]) is the concept of divine destiny in Islam.[5] As God is all-knowing and all-powerful, everything that has happened and will happen in the universe is already known. At the same time, human beings are responsible for their actions, and will be rewarded or punished accordingly on Judgement Day.[6][7]

Predestination/Divine Destiny is one of Sunni Islam's six articles of faith, (along with belief in the Oneness of Allah, the Revealed Books, the Prophets of Islam, the Day of Resurrection and Angels). In Sunni discourse, those who assert free-will are called Qadariyya, while those who reject free-will are called Jabriyya.[8]

Some early Islamic schools (Qadariyah and Muʿtazila) did not accept the doctrine of predestination;[9] Predestination is not included in the Five Articles of Faith of Shi'i Islam. At least a few sources describe Shi'i Muslims as denying predestination.[10][11][12][13]

  1. ^ J. M. Cowan (ed.) (1976). The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic. Wiesbaden, Germany: Spoken Language Services. ISBN 0-87950-001-8
  2. ^ "Six Major Beliefs In Islam". University of Delaware. The Basics to Islam. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  3. ^ Muhsin Khan, Muhammad. The Noble Qur'an. Verily! We have sent it (this Quran) down in the night of Al-Qadr (Decree)
  4. ^ "The Six Articles of Faith". Dar al-Ifta Al-Missriyya. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Qadar". missionislam.com. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Parrott-RtDDaFWiI-2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "If things are decreed, then how can a person be called to account for them? 96978". Islam Question and Answer. 29 April 2007. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  8. ^ Seyyed Hossein Nasr Islamic Spirituality: Foundations Routledge, 05.11.2013 1987 ISBN 978-1-134-53895-9 p. 156
  9. ^ Guillaume, Islam, 1978: p.131-2
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference need-rizvi-14 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference IBP&C-137 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference RoM-Greer-239 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rizvi-Roy-Dutta-20 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).