The Human Choice - FATE & DESTINY

CHAPTER TWO

The Human Choice

Man was created free to choose. But was he given a boundless choice? Some of the people with superficial knowledge who claim that they are free to follow their mind and their own thoughts say with enthusiasm that they have the ultimate freedom. Some people even go further and say that a smart person is capable of creating his own destiny and that he can place himself in life wherever he likes.

We tell those people not to be hasty, for what they are saying is dismissed by the facts of life. Al-Haqq (SWT) did not give man ultimate choice, He gave him the choice that best suits his role in life for He (SWT) is the perfectly wise – AlHakim (The Perfectly Wise) - and everything He does is with great Wisdom. Allah (SWT) is the knower of all - Al-‘Alim - and everything going on in His universe happens within His knowledge and not just haphazardly. Actually, things going on are inter-related and linked in a way or another, and man has not been given the ultimate choice in life.

And if everyone of us looks back throughout his life or if one even looks to himself and his soul, he will find a lot of things that is not submitted to his own will or choice. He will find that the majority of man’s life is not submitted to his choice.

Let’s start the story from the very beginning, when man comes to this universe, when he starts the first moment of his life breathing air into his lungs, the moment of his birth. Did he choose his place of birth?  His date of birth? The hour he was born in? None of us ever chose his hour of birth, we all come to life by the decree of Allah (SWT). The introduction of anyone to life is not by his own choice nor is the place of his birth nor is his mankind, male or female. He does not choose his nationality whether Arabic, Britain or American.  And he does not even have any choice over his own body whether he is short or tall, the color of his eyes, his hair, how his features look like. He does not choose his parents and he does not know if he can hear and see, if he has perfect hands and legs, if he has any illness in his body. All this and many other things man does not choose and by this Al-Haqq (SWT) draws our attention to the boundaries of man’s choice from the moment he is born. And in that Allah (Galla Gallaloh) says

<<He it is who shapes you in the wombs as He wills. There is no god but He, the Exalted in Might, the Wise>>

Ayah 6 from surat Al-i-‘Imran

By this Al-Haqq (SWT) relates everything linked to the moment of birth and human configuration to His own ultimate power and He does not give man any choice in being born white or black, healthy or ill, and no choice in how his face or body looks.

Source: FATE & DESTINY

To be continued....

What is Predestination? Fate Qadr

Witness of Allah - FATE & DESTINY

Witness of Allah

Then there is the sixth privilege; Al-Haqq (SWT) made us witness Him since we were still in the world of dispersion, and by that He put the instinct – fitra  - of belief in our souls and so we became with that fitra believers of Allah the Creator - Al-Khaliq, the Magnificent - Al-‘Azim (The Magnificent). And that witness was necessary so that man would not come on the Resurrection Day arguing as he always do and deny knowing Allah. And although we cannot see Allah, whenever His name is mentioned to anyone he finds Allah familiar to him and close to his soul. It is the fitra of belief that Allah (SWT) plants in us before we come to this world and start our experience with the choice that Allah wanted for us and that we willingly accepted. He (SWT) says

<<And (remember) when Your Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their descendents (or from Adam’s loin his offspring) and made them testify as to themselves (saying): “Am I not Your Lord?”

They said: “Yes! We testify,” lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection: “Verily we have been unaware of this.” Or lest you should say: “It was only our fathers before us who took others as partners in worship along with Allah, and we were (merely their) descendants after them; will You then destroy us because of the deeds of men who practiced Al-Batil (men who are futile committing crimes and sins, invoking and worshiping others besides Allah)?”>>

Ayat 172, 173 from surat Al-A’raf

We have showed so far that we were created with the privilege of choice that Allah wanted for us and that we have accepted. And this Ayah Al-karima approves that same concept,

<<But ye will not, unless Allah wills; for Allah is full of Knowledge and Wisdom>>

Ayah 30 from surat Al-Insan

That is first Allah wants for us to be free to choose and our choice comes out of His divine will (SWT). And Al-Haqq (Galla Gallaloh) guarantees this choice in His creation of the universe and in His Ayat in the universe as well as in the journey of life, so that nothing distracts us from serving Allah, which is the main reason behind our creation, and so that nothing stops us from loving Allah who arranged this life for us.

When Al-Haqq (SWT) sent His messengers to show us the right path that we should follow, it was all out of His love to us. He loves us so much that he did not want to trouble us with looking for the truth, that the creator is Allah, nor with trying to find out what He (SWT) wants us to do. So there have been the messengers to inform us that the Creator - Al-Khaliq - is Allah and that He wants us to love and serve Him using a moderate defined law; a law that the messengers have applied before the creation of Allah. By this law Allah spared us the confusion of searching for Him, the Creator and finding out what He wants from those whom He created.

Yet, the human choice was not an infinite choice. It was limited in what to do and what is not permissible by the law of Allah.

Source: FATE & DESTINY

To be continued....

What is Predestination? Fate Qadr

 

Man and the Devil - FATE & DESTINY

Man and the Devil

Then there is the fifth privilege; before we start the period of test, Al-Haqq (SWT) wanted to teach us that we are going to be exposed to the seduction of Iblis  Al-Shytan. He (SWT) wanted us to know that Iblis seduction is a lie and that he is our enemy. He (Al-Shytan) deceives us with wishes that never come true and whispers to us with lies that has nothing to do with the reality and he tries to distract us from the path of love and obedience of Allah. So there was the experience of Adam and Hawa’a (Eve); Allah made them live in Heaven and allowed them to eat from all its fruits except for one tree, exactly in the same way Al-Haqq (SWT) allowed us so many things in this life and prevented us from the least.

Adam and Hawa’a were allowed all the fruits in Heaven except that one tree, when Iblis - Al-Shytan - came and tempted them to eat from it. Al-Shytan lied and told them that the tree would give them eternity and an everlasting kingdom. Al-Shytan witnessed what he promised them and it was a lie, but Adam and Hawa’a believed him and they did eat from the tree. Thereupon, instead of having the eternity, their nakedness was manifest to them. And instead of providing them with the everlasting money, the tree took away the sustenance of Allah that they used to get without any work or effort. So they descended to the earth to work hard and suffer for their living. That was an introduction to life on earth and to the lies that Iblis - Al-Shytan - promises man to let him fall into sins and disobedience.

And for man not to fear Iblis, get overwhelmed by this fear and forget about serving Allah, He (SWT) informed him that Al-Shytan is weak and that he cannot have power over man unless man listens to him and obeys him. And He (Galla Gallaloh) told us that Al-Shytan has no power to make us do what we don’t want to do, for Allah did not give him the power of oppression to force us to disobey nor did He (SWT) give him the power of persuasion to convince us to do sins. Allah (SWT) says

<<I (Al-Shytan) had no authority over you>>

Ayah 22 from Surat Ibrahim

That is Al-Shytan has no strength to oppress or convince us with wrongdoing. Then Allah (Galla Gallaloh) wanted to ease us from all this, so He told us that if we are sincere in serving Him and honest in our love to him then He (SWT) will save us from the evil of Al-Shytan. And this is proved in His words (SWT)

<<[Iblis (Satan)] said: “ O my Lord! Because you misled me, I shall indeed adorn the path of error for them (mankind) on the earth, and I shall mislead them all. Except Your servants among them, sincere and purified (by Your grace).”

Allah said: “This (Way of My sincere servants) is indeed a Way that leads straight to Me. Certainly, you shall have no authority over My servants, except those who put themselves in the wrong and follow you)>>

Ayat 39-42 from surat Al-Hijr

And by those words Al-Haqq (SWT) wanted to tell us that whoever stays close to Him, serve and love Him sincerely will be safe from Al-Shytan and that Iblis evil whispers will have no effect on him. But then if the human self weakens, AlHaqq (SWT) informed us to seek protection - nasta’eez [A’ouzo beAllah men Al-Shytan Al-Rajiim] - from the wicked devil by Allah so that the evil temptation of Al-Shytan would not approach us. In that Al-Haqq (Galla Gallaloh) says

<<And say: “My Lord! I seek refuge with You from the whisperings (suggestions) of the Shayatin (devils). And I seek refuge with You, My Lord! Lest they should come near me>>

Ayat 97,98 from surat Al-Mu’minun

And Allah (TWT) says

<<Verily, those who are Al-Mutaqun (the pious) when an evil thought comes to them from Al-Shytan (Satan), they remember (Allah), and indeed they then see (aright)>>

Ayah 201 from surat Al-Aaraf

So by that, Al-Haqq (SWT) showed us the way to overcome Al-Shytan, and all what we have to do is to nasta’eez by Allah and be sincere in serving Him so that our minds do not get paralyzed with fear from Iblis and his seduction.

Source: FATE & DESTINY

To be continued....

What is Predestination? Fate Qadr