Qadar (Divine Determining)

First Topic

But he has no right to be proud of his good deeds, for his share in them is extremely small. It is divine mercy that wills and requires good deeds, and divine power that creates them. Both the request and the answer, both the motive and the cause, come from Allah. Man acquires them only through supplication, faith, consciousness, and contentment.

By contrast, it is man’s nafs that wills and desires evil deeds, either through disposition—just as certain substances turn black or rot in the light of the bright, beautiful sun—or through choice. However, the creation of those evil deeds according to a divine law containing many benefits still belongs to Allah.

Thus, the reason and desire for committing evil come from man’s nafs, and therefore it bears responsibility. But the creation and bringing into existence of it, which belong solely to Allah, produce many good outcomes and fruits, and are therefore regarded as beautiful and good.

For this reason, the principle applies: “The acquisition of evil is evil, but the creation of evil is not evil.” Take, for example, a lazy man who suffers harm from rain—a rain that in itself contains much good and beauty. He cannot say, “Rain is not mercy.”

Likewise, the creation and bringing into existence of something bring many benefits, even if a small evil is contained within it. To abandon a great good because of a small evil would itself be a great evil. Therefore, that small evil within creation is regarded as good. In divine creation there is no evil or ugliness; what is evil or ugly is only the result of man’s choice and disposition.

Just as Qadar is free from evil and ugliness in its outcomes and fruits, it is also holy and free from injustice and corruption in its causes and reasons. For Qadar looks to the real causes and acts justly. People, however, base their judgments on the apparent causes they observe and may thereby act unjustly, while Qadar acts justly in that very same matter.

Suppose a judge sentences you to prison for theft, although in reality you are not a thief. Yet no one knows that you secretly committed a murder. In this case, Qadar has sentenced you to prison as a just recompense for your hidden murder. The judge, however, relying only on the visible cause—the theft of which you are innocent—has given an unjust judgment.

Thus, in one and the same event, we can recognize both the justice of Qadar and creation, and the injustice arising from human choices. Other matters may be compared to this. Therefore, in terms of origin and final outcomes, as well as cause and result, Qadar and divine creation are free from evil, corruption, and injustice.

If it is said: Since man’s free will is not capable of creating anything, and since man possesses nothing but kasb, which belongs only to an amr-i itibārī, why then is he described in the Qur’an as a rebel and an enemy against the Creator of the heavens and the earth? Why does the Creator reproach this rebellious man, and why does He declare that He, together with His angels, supports the believing servant against him? Why is this seemingly small act of rebellion given such weight?