Hi friends,
I know hundreds of scholars of all kinds, from all schools of philosophy have written much about it. Some argue that there is no Free Will, while others argue that our lives is pretty much pre-determined, leaving no scope for free will. So what’s the basic issue?
The basic issue is that man is stuck in a dilemma. Is his life completely pre-destined by God? Are all his actions here on earth been decided by God? God is all knowing, and he is omnipotent and omniscience. He knows every little thoughts in our hearts and minds. In fact, God knows already what you will say and do tomorrow. God had decided when you would be born and your death is according to his time. We are not to kill ourselves, because that would interfere in God’s design. So, if God knows everything, the choices we make in life and all, are we really possessing this thing called Free Will?
Free will is generally understood as an option given to man to make his own free choices in life. But then again, when man is able to use that freedom to make that choice, God already knows about it.
An example we could look at is Adam himself. He was created by God, as well as his wife Eve. Before he ate the apple from the tree, he was unaware of the idea of good and evil. God had told him to not eat the apple. But Adam made a free choice to eat so. He could have said no. So, in some ways, he made a choice out of his own will. But then, God knew already that Adam would do this. God was not surprised by Adam’s actions.
So, my confusion arises when I wonder if the life I am living is a life where I am making free will choices, or is everything that I do is what God has already decided for me to do? When I sin in some ways, is that my free will choice, or it was already written in my life that I would sin in a certain way. Because if it is the second part, then there is ideally no place for free will. And if God has decided what my life is like, then it would also determine if I am going to Hell or Heaven, right?
I know many of you will ask me to read a certain book, and I can do that, but still there are questions that remain unanswered!
I wonder if any of you could help me out; explain this to me in simpler terms! Thanks!
Mansur
12 comments:
Its mucn more simple than that
Time is a creation and Allah is all Knowledgable
you have a choice in what you will do, dont you choose or not choose to pray
dont you go out when you want to etc,,
and Allah knows what you will choose before you choose it as time itself is a mere creation like yourself
In other words, if I choose to pray or not to pray is something that God already knows. So, even though I am given the freedom to make a choice, it isn't really free choice because God knows that I would make that choice, right? It's like as if my life if pre-destined by God and so the outcome of my life, God already knows about it. He knows whether I am going to Heaven or Hell, so in effect, there is no free will, because the outcome is already obvious to God! Does that make sense?
If it really were that simple, why do we books upon books about this topic, with every philosophy and religion of all kinds try to grasp the concept?
M
I agree with you Hibba about God making us all differnt. What a boring life if everyone were the same. I am actually glad there are people from all sorts of nations, cultures, race, tribes and all! It's another sign that so many differences could exist because God has the awesome power to do so: to create people of all kinds, and to wonder that no two are alike!
Looking forward to your thoughts on free will vs predestination topic.
M
So, in effect, our lives are not pre-determined, because are able to make choices and the end result will not be there till we are standing before God on Day of Judgment. Right? We are people capable of making choices in our lives. But, God knows what choices we are making, so in effect, that predetermination. I think I am going to around in circles with this concept!
Let's take an example. God pre-determines that I will go to the mosque today evening. I make the free-will choice and I don't go. But God already knew I would not go in the evening. So, what I thought was a free-will choice, was something God already knew the outcome of. Do you see what I mean?
M
Well I can in effect make a very harsh comment on you interms of islamic juristprudence
:)
but i can say dont be a traditional mind limited dualist,
as philosophers would say:P
Allah is all powerful and he told us that he knows everything and what will happen and he also told us that he gave you free will
so you can either choose to beleive Allah
or you may choose to disbeleive him
and its really simple why do we have to reserect problems solved 1400 years ago
and i think you should be a bit more careful how you word this
Woah....! Judgmental attitudes towards me! =) I know you guys don't know me fully or well, so I will let your attitudes slide over me. I only seeked for help in understanding the issue, instead I get judgment calls. I guess I will have to look elsewhere to find my answers. But thanks for your input and thoughts. It's appreciated otherwise!
M
it is part of iman or beleif to beleive in qadaa wa qadr
it is obligatory on each muslim to have this beleif other wise something is wrong
maybe better more sofisticated answers are better for you, since you like to make things complicated:P
I do believe in this. I don't think there is anything wrong in trying to understand something. What kind of person would I be if I did not make the effort to try to understand my faith and what it encompasses? I am not the kind of person who accepts everything blindly. If there is something that is bugging me I look for answers. After all, Islam does say: Seek knowledge, even if you have to go China. So I am simply seeking knowledge, although I am not going to China for that! =)
I said in my oringinal post: I am looking for a simpler explanation, that's all. I am not trying to complicate the issue! =) But when I have 10 different people/ Muslims telling me 10 different things, I get confused, with each one claiming their understanding supercedes the other!
M
Nice blog you got here Mansur.
I liked this post the most because i was thinking a lot about this.
You see, just like you I believe in this (qatha o qadar), free will and predestiney, but because I think too much sometimes ideas and thoughts just don't make much sense to me.
What you are talking about here just like someone here said is qatha o qadar. You should look for the difference between qatha o qadar. There are things in our lives that are predestined and we have no free will over them; like if i was a boy or a girl, who my parents are, if i have special features in my body and so on. That's qatha. It's something that you can do nothing to change or choose. However, there are things that you can choose, you have the will to choose and change by yourself; like for example the way you are living now, what specealization you choose when in college -although some people have no will over this too =)-, the woman you choose to marry, you attitudes and actions in general. You can choose this. You have the free will to determine what path you want to follow.
Now, you question that if God already knows that I'm going to be this and that, I'm going to commit this sin or now, if I am going to heaven or hell. Yes HE knows this, He knows everything, BUT that does not mean that he chose this for you. He knows but he also gave you the free will to do this or not.
(DO NOT THINK OVER THIS POINT!) I'm saying this because some people might say, okay if he knows this then this must mean that he chose it too, then where is my free will?? No here you only going to drive youself crazy. But to make it reasonable, believe that Allah knows ALL but I also can make my choices. What's the point then of the human mind? what's the point of heaven and hill? Allah chose us and blessed us with our minds and the ability to think ALSO to choose!
I might be wrong in some points here, so i guess it's better for you to ask someone who can make more sense and provide you with adellah from the quran and a7adeeth. That's the best way.
Try not to take your fellow bloggers comments as judgmental. I sense that they are talking in general and trying to discuss this topic in a civilized way. I like the way you are discussing things here, esp this topic, this shows how open-minded people you guys are. I enjoyed reading your comments.
Faith...wow....thanks for your explanation. I appreciate that.....you made the most sense to me.
I try not to take people's attitudes towards me as judgmental, but if you read my post on "comeback" you will see that I have had people passing comments to me pesonally and directly. Also since these comments are in writing, at times I cannot make out the tone of the comments. But like q8iblogger, i can understand his tone because he leaves a :P so I know he is talking in a lighter mood!
Thanks for your input.
M
Great! I'm glad I made sense to you :)
I just read your post you just mentioned and I think I know what you mean. But it's better if you just didn't care much about the negative remaks you get. You have a great way of thinking and a great ability of writing down your ideas and thoughts so keep it up. Do this for yourself only if not for others. Never care for what people say about you, take the good remarks and leave out the bad ones, or even better if you consider them and turn them to good ones!! :)
This is life anyways, people judge us positively and negatively all day and everyday!
I don't have the ability to delete comments, because I value comments, even if I choose not to believe them, they are still comments from other people. I sincerely believe in Freedom of Speech, and so I try to leave all comments intact here.(I think I may have deleted only two comments from a certain someone because those comments made that certain someone look silly and so I did not want for that certain someone's reputation to suffer because of those silly comments.) I think the goal for me is to take those comments which I don't agree with, and come to understanding of where that person is coming from-- like you say, turn the bad ones into something of a teaching lesson! Thanks for your comments.
M
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