Predestination in Islam

Qadar (Arabic: قدر‎, transliterated qadar, meaning "fate", "divine fore-ordainment", "predestination") is the concept of divine destiny in Islam. It is one of 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. This concept has also been mentioned in the Quran as Allah's "Decree".

Definition

In Islam, "predestination" is the usual English language rendering of a belief that Muslims call al-qaḍāʾ wa al-qadr. The phrase means "the divine decree and the predestination"; al-qadr derives from a root that means to measure out.

Concept

Qadar is one of the aspects of aqidah. Some Muslims believe that the divine destiny is when God wrote down in the Preserved Tablet ("al-Lauḥ al-Maḥfūẓ") all that has happened and will happen, which will come to pass as written. According to this belief, a person's action is not caused by what is written in the preserved tablet, but rather the action is written in the tablet because God already knows all occurrences without the restrictions of time. On the other hand, the causal relationships are also part of Qadar, since human acts effect what's stated in the Erasing And Stating Tablet ("Lauḥ al-Mahu w al-Ithbat"). The phrase reflects a Muslim doctrine that Allah has measured out the span of every person's life, their lot of good or ill fortune, and the fruits of their efforts. Again Allah does not need to force anyone to do good or evil by interfering with his will, and nobody will bear witness that Allah did so. When referring to the future, Muslims