Belief in destiny (Qadr)
The sixth article of faith: that Allah has written all that happens, while people still choose and are answerable for their own actions.
The sixth thing every Muslim believes in is qadr, meaning fate or destiny: everything that has happened, is happening, and will ever happen was already written by Allah from the very beginning. Nothing can change it.
What we believe about qadr
- Allah creates both the good things and the bad things that happen in the world. He is pleased with good actions and dislikes bad ones.
- People cannot create anything by themselves, but Allah gave them understanding and the will to choose. So people can choose to do good or bad, and that is why they earn a reward or a punishment. When someone does something good, Allah is pleased and rewards them; when someone does something bad, Allah is displeased and punishes them.
- Allah has already decided when each person will die. When that time comes, nothing can stop it. And before that time comes, nothing, not even sickness or danger, can make them die.
The sixth article of faith is belief in qadr (destiny): everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen is already written by Allah from the very beginning, and nothing can change it.
How qadr and human choice fit together
- Allah creates both good and bad actions in the world; He is pleased with good actions and dislikes bad ones.
- People do not have the power to create things on their own, but Allah has given them understanding and willpower, so that they can choose to do good or bad. Because of this choice, they earn reward or punishment: when people do good, Allah is pleased and gives reward; when they do bad, He is displeased and punishes them.
- The time of death for every person is already decided by Allah. When that time comes, no one can stop it; and when it is not yet time, nothing, illness or danger included, can cause death.
The sixth article of belief is īmān bi'l-qadr: everything that has occurred, is occurring, and will occur was written by Allah from eternity (azal), and nothing alters it.
Qadr and human responsibility together
- Allah is the Creator of both good and evil acts occurring in the world; He is pleased (rāḍī) with good and displeased with evil.
- Creation possesses no independent power to originate (khalq) anything, yet Allah has endowed people with understanding and irādah (will), by which they choose between good and evil, and it is on this choice, not on the qadr itself, that thawāb (reward) and ʿiqāb (punishment) turn: Allah is pleased and rewards the doer of good, and is displeased and punishes the doer of evil.
- The ajal (appointed term of life) of every person is fixed by Allah in advance; when it arrives nothing forestalls it, and before it arrives no cause whatsoever, illness or danger included, can bring death about.
Terms on this page
Related
- What faith means, and the words that carry it What iman is, its two parts, who a believer is, and the declarations of faith said with the tongue.
- Belief in Allah The first article of faith: what a Muslim believes about who Allah is and the qualities that belong to Him alone.
- The categories of Islamic rulings, and Din The eight categories Islamic rulings fall into, from fard to mubah, and how belief (iman) and practice (Islam) together make up Din.
- Belief in the Last Day What happens from the questioning in the grave through the signs of Qiyamah, the Scale, the reckoning, the Bridge, and the Prophet's intercession.