The Twenty-sixth Word

Divine Destiny and Decree and human free will

There is not a thing but its treasuries are with Us, and We send it down but in a due and certain measure. (15:21)

Everything We have written down and kept in a Manifest Record. (36:12)

Destiny and Human free will are a pair of important related matters. We will try to explain them in some respects in four topics.

First topic

Destiny and human free will, which mark the final limits of belief and being a Muslim, are related to believers’ inner experiences and spiritual states; they are not of the kind of theoretical matters to be discussed scientifically. That is, believers attribute everything (and every act in the universe) to God, even their actions and selves. However, in order that they should not consider themselves to be free of responsibility and sins, human free will confronts them and says: “You are responsible and under obligation, therefore you are accountable for your actions.” Then, so that they should not feel proud of their good deeds, attainments and personal perfections, Divine Destiny stands before them and warns: “Know your limits, it is not you who does these.” Thus, marking the final limits of belief and being a Muslim, Divine Destiny and human free will have been included among the articles of belief to save the human carnal soul from conceit and unaccountability, respectively. They are not scientific matters which will provide grounds for obdurate evil-commanding carnal souls to attribute their evils to Destiny and clean themselves of their responsibility, and to become proud of the achievements bestowed on them.

Common people who have not progressed spiritually may have an excuse to make reference to Destiny; they may relate any past events and calamities to Destiny so as not to fall into despair and grief. However, no one can be absolved of their sins and exempted from their obligations by attributing everything to Destiny. Belief in Destiny has been included among the pillars of faith to preserve us from self-conceit, not to absolve us from responsibility and obligations; and human free will has been recognized among the articles of creed to be the source of evils and sins, not to be the source of virtues and attainments so that people exult in and become proud of them.

As declared in the Qur’an, we are completely responsible for our sins, for only we will and commit them. Evils and sins mean and cause much disorder and destruction, and so may merit a terrible punishment. They are like, for example, destroying a house by striking a match. On the other hand, we have no right to boast about our good acts since we have only a minute share in them—Divine Compassion demands them, and the Lord’s Power creates them. God guides us to good acts and makes us will and do them. We own our acts only by belief and praying to deserve them, consciously believing in the necessity to perform them and be pleased with what God has ordained. However, just as some substances liable to decomposition go bad and putrefy in the pure, bright light of the sun—and this is because of their nature or disposition—, so our carnal soul wishes sins and evils either through its nature and disposition or through choice, and we commit them. But it is God Almighty Who creates these evils due to a law He established for our life and for the universe, and for many good purposes. Thus, since it is we ourselves who wish, cause and commit evils, we are responsible for them. As for their creation, it is good on account of many of its results which are good. Based on this subtle reality, willing and committing evil deeds is evil, whereas creating them is not. Although we derive great benefit from rain, those who have been harmed by it due to their faults cannot deny that rain contains God’s grace for all people. Although there may be some evil in creating our evil deeds, creation is by its very nature absolutely good and contains many instances of good (for the universe’s general operation, life, and for the person who wills and commits that evil). To abandon greater good for a minor evil becomes a greater evil. Ugliness in our human acts lies in our will and potential, not in God’s creating it.

As Divine Destiny is absolutely free of evil and ugliness in relation to results, it also is exempt from injustice on account of causes. Divine Destiny always considers the primary cause, not the apparent secondary cause, and always does justice. On the other hand, we judge according to apparent causes and draw wrong conclusions. For example, a court may imprison an innocent person for theft. However, Divine Destiny actually passes this judgment because of that person’s real crime, such as murder, that has remained unknown. So while the court unjustly jailed this person for a crime that he or she did not commit, Divine Destiny justly punished that person for his or her secret crime.

From this example, we see that Divine Destiny and creation is just, while we are liable to do injustice. Divine Destiny and Creation is absolutely free of evil and ugliness at the beginning and end of all events, and on account of cause and results.

QUESTION: If our partial free will has no creative ability and gives us only a nominal share in our acts, why does the Qur’an of miraculous exposition show humans to be rebellious and hostile to the Creator of the heavens and the earth? Why does the Creator of the heavens and the earth take our rebellion so seriously and come to the aid of His believing servants together with His angels?

ANSWER: Unbelief, rebellion, and sinfulness mean destruction. Vast destruction can result from a tiny act of disobedience, just as a vessel may sink due to the helmsman’s negligence, despite the crew’s efforts to save it. Human free will, no matter how limited and when guided by unbelief and sinfulness, can cause terrible results. Unbelief is only one evil, but it is such a great sin that it renders the entire universe worthless and futile, contradicts creation’s witnessing to God’s Existence and/or Oneness, and denies and disparages the Divine Names’ manifestations.

Given this, it is entirely just for God to take unbelief seriously, to threat en unbelievers severely in the name of creation and the Divine Names, and to condemn them to Hell’s eternal torment. Since unbelievers and sinful people cause vast corruption, believers need God’s succor against them. A mischievous child can set a house on fire although it is guarded by ten strong people, and those guards may need to ask the child’s parents, even the government, to prevent the child from committing such a crime. So too do believers need the help of God Almighty against rebellious and sinful people.

In short, believers can speak of Divine Destiny and human free will when their belief is perfect and they are mature enough to perceive that all creation, including themselves, is at God’s disposal. Believers assume their responsibilities because they have free will, and glorify God by proclaiming Him free of any involvement with their sins. Always aware that they are God’s servants, they try to follow all Divine commandments. They remain thankful to God by ascribing all of their good deeds to Divine Destiny and never boasting about them. In addition, they find the strength to bear all misfortunes by discerning Destiny’s role in them.

It is not proper for those who neglect Divine commandments to argue about Divine Destiny and human free will, since their defective thinking will lead them to ascribe creation to causes and ignore God. They appropriate all their skills and good deeds, regarding them as having originated with themselves, and attribute their defects and failures to Destiny. They also impute to Destiny the responsibility for their evils. This makes the discussion of Divine Destiny and human free will meaningless and reduces their discussion to a trick employed by the own evil-commanding soul (nafs ammara) to save it from responsibility; this is entirely contrary to the wisdom in them.

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi