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in their actions implies weakness and beyond the system of causes and effects,
inability attributed to God, which is thereby associating divine decree and
incompatible with His majesty. predestination with the negation of the
The above-mentioned narrations all world’s laws and human free will.
indicate human free will and the right to Attention to the divisions between
choose, but this choice is not such that God’s divine decree and predestination can be
hands are tied. Rather, the Almighty God can effective in explaining the relationship
intervene in the preliminaries of this choice between divine decree and
and even in the realization of its effects. This predestination with the lawfulness of the
is a reality that we experience in our daily world and human free will. One of the
lives. Someone asked Imam Ali how he well-known divisions of divine decree
recognized God and by what means. He and predestination is its division into
replied, “I came to know Allah, the Glorified, scientific and existential, which is based
through the breaking of determinations, on God’s knowledge and will.
change of intentions and losing of courage” Sheikh Moḥammad ʿAbduh, in his
(Sharīf al-Raḍī, Wisdom 250) commentary on one of the sayings of
Given the aforementioned points, it is Imam Ali , interprets divine decree and
appropriate to clarify the relationship predestination based on divine knowledge
between human free will and certain and defines them as follows: “Qadā
matters. In this regard, we will explain and (divine decree) is God’s prior knowledge
interpret the relationship between human of the occurrence of things according to
free will and divine decree and also its their conditions and circumstances. Qadar
relationship with God’s prior knowledge. (predestination) is the creation of things at
the time of the realization of their causes
Fate, Destiny, and Human Free Will
The discussion of divine decree and and reasons; ‘His creation of them at the
predestination holds a very important time of the realization of their causes”
place in understanding the system of (‘Abdoh, 1995, Vol. 3, p. 167).
divine actions. However, a According to this interpretation, the
misunderstanding of this concept can role of humans in the creation of things
lead to significant doctrinal deviations. can be sought in the very term ‘causes,’
Some scholars have considered it in since one of the causes of creation is the
analyzing the factors behind the decline servant’s own will and choice. Therefore,
and degeneration of Muslim nations. one who believes in human free will
One such doctrinal deviation is the belief provides a free-will-based definition of
that divine decree and predestination are divine decree and predestination, making
incompatible with human free will. They ‘free will’ itself one of the manifestations
perceive predestination as something of divine decree and predestination.
