Understanding Destiny and Free Will: A Comprehensive Exploration

If I am destined to get hit by a car here, will I still get hit by that car, no matter what I do?

What if I take a step back... Everything that will happen in our lives is written in our destiny with all its details.

So, what is our role in this world, then? Are we just puppets playing what has been already written?

For instance, were you destined to watch this video right now? Or let's make the question even more difficult.

If someone is already destined to go to Hell, then what is the fault of that person? The belief in destiny is a concept

that has been debated for many, many centuries. And is perhaps one of the most difficult topics to understand.

There have been many misunderstandings and disagreements on this issue. And as a result, serious disputes have come up.

There have been people who completely denied destiny, and on the contrary,

there were others who accepted it but completely denied free will. In other words, both sides went to extremes

and couldn’t find the middle ground. But then, how should the middle ground be? What is the correct way of believing in destiny?

Do you have the correct belief? Or are there some flaws that you haven’t realized? If you want to find out the answers

to all these questions, make sure to watch this video carefully until the end.

Let’s begin. Belief in destiny is to believe that from the very beginning, Allah knows

everything that will happen in the universe, and that He has written all of them in full detail even before creating them.

But how can something be completely known and written before it even happens? It’s normal for us to find this

difficult to understand because it has to do with timelessness. While we are living inside time,

it’s really hard to grasp the state of being timeless, existing outside of time. Now, let’s first define the concept of “time”

in the most basic sense. The concept we call time is the creation of things from Allah's infinite knowledge,

their emergence into the realm of existence, and then their withdrawal from the stage through death and annihilation.

In other words, time is the sequence in which things are created. Allah created a different day yesterday,

a different one today, and will create a different day tomorrow. It’s as if time is like a rope

and all events that happen are lined up one after the other on that rope. But this sequence only applies to us.

For example, let's say you have a 10-line poem in your memory. All these 10 lines exist

in your memory at the same time. But when you start writing it on paper, you write it in a certain order.

You start with the first line, then the second line, then the third and so on. While on paper, you write these lines

one after the other and in a certain order, in your memory all these lines are present at the same time.

Just like this, everything that has happened or will happen in the realm of existence, is already present

in Allah's knowledge simultaneously. But when He brings them into existence, He creates them in a certain sequence.

And we call that sequence, time. Let's make it even simpler. Allah is the creator of the concept of time, right?

And as a rule, everything that He created in the universe is bound by time. So, can this rule also be applied to Allah

when He is the one who created that? Of course not. Since Allah is the creator of time,

then naturally He should not be bound by it. And so, if Allah is not limited by time, wouldn't it be normal for Him to know the future?

Now we’re going to demonstrate this point with a very powerful example. I want you to pay close attention to it.

Let's imagine a camera in our hands. Then, we draw a line on the table. The left side represents the past,

the middle represents the present and the right side is the future. If I hold the camera in the center

and close to the table, the camera only captures and sees the present. The higher we raise the camera,

the more it captures the past and the future. And when we raise the camera to the very top, it encompasses and captures all these times at once.

All of them can be seen simultaneously in that camera. Just like this,

we are living on a certain timeline in the universe. We have a life that we live as the past, present and future.

Similar to the camera capturing the entire table from above, Allah, being outside of time,

encompasses all of time, past, present and future, with His infinite knowledge.

So, being eternal means to encompass all of time at once. It doesn’t mean to just be

at the very beginning of the timeline or to be before everything. So as you see, it is very reasonable to think that

Allah can know all times and all events and that He has written all of them into our destiny.

Right at this point, we come across a very popular question. If God is beyond time,

and He knows and writes everything even before it happens, then where is our free will in this picture?

In other words, are we just puppets? Having destiny and free will seem contradictory at first.

But even if a person cannot figure out the connection between these two concepts, we know the existence of our free will very well.

For example, in a study made by the Pew Research Center in 2012, Muslims around the world were asked

whether they believe in destiny and whether they think they have free will. While 70-90% of Muslims believe that

destiny is predetermined by the Creator, they also believe in individual responsibility and free will.

So how is it that, having something written in our destiny doesn't force us to do that thing?

Knowing something does not mean forcing someone to do that thing. The most common mistake we make

is to confuse these two concepts. Knowledge is one thing and Power is another thing. Knowing is one thing,

and forcing someone is another. Think of the different colors of the sun. Yellow is one of these colors and red is another.

Similarly, Allah also has different names and attributes. One of his names is al-Alim, the All-Knowing

and the other is al-Qâdir, the All-Powerful. So His knowing is different, and His forceful intervention

are two different attributes. So the fact that Allah knows everything does not mean that we don’t have free will

or that we do everything by force. There is a famous principle in the science of logic. Knowledge is subject to what is known.

That is, knowledge about something is based on, dependent on the reality of that thing in the real world.

In other words, knowledge does not create or change the reality of something. But instead, it is dependent on

and corresponds to how that thing actually is. There is a very good example that brings this close to mind.

Let's say you are on top of a mountain and you see two trains coming towards each other. Feeling sorry for the people on the trains,

you write on a piece of paper that these trains will crash in 8 seconds. And they actually do crash

into each other in 8 seconds. Now, in this situation, can we say something like, “The trains crashed because you wrote that

on the paper beforehand. Therefore, you're to blame.” Of course not.

The trains didn't crash because you wrote that on the paper. You knew that the trains were going to crash,

that’s why you wrote it. Just as even we can know when the trains are going to crash

with our limited knowledge, Allah can surely know what we will do in our lives with His infinite knowledge.

But as we said before, Allah’s knowledge of events does not impose on or destroy our free will,

but rather reflects the reality of those events as they are. The time of the sunrise

is written on the calendar, right? But can that writing itself be a factor that forces the sun to rise at that specific time?

Of course not. It was written like that based on the movements of the sun in the real life.

Similarly, the fact that Allah knows what we will do does not make us do these things. The things that are written in our destiny are there

because we are actually going to do them. Knowledge doesn’t change reality, it just conforms to it.

At this point, we have to clarify that the concept of destiny is basically divided into two.

One is Involuntary Destiny, Qadr Izdirari, and the other is Voluntary Destiny, Qadr Ikhtiyari. Involuntary Destiny is the type of destiny

that is determined only by Allah, beyond our choice or control. We have no say in them.

Voluntary Destiny, on the other hand, refers to the actions that we decide to do freely. And this is where we are fully responsible.

So the fact that Allah imposes His will on us in certain aspects does not mean that He won’t ever hold us accountable for anything.

He will hold us responsible for the actions we are able to choose with our own will. For example, let's think of an elevator.

Someone using an elevator does not know anything about its mechanical system, or the setup details of the entire unit.

Nor does he have any effect over them. The interior design and the general mechanical system of this elevator

are completely independent of that person's will. But the choice of which floor the elevator will go to belongs to that person.

It is up to him to go up to the 7th floor or down to the -7th floor. His will applies there.

In this life, our situation is like this example. There are things we can intervene in and there are others we cannot.

We are responsible for some choices, but not for others. For example, we don’t get to choose

whether we are born male or female, our physical characteristics, who our parents are going to be,

or the country we are born in. That’s why we are not responsible for these things. Just like the setup of the elevator system.

So, this is Involuntary Destiny. But for our deliberate actions that we choose to do, we are responsible.

We can either do good deeds or bad deeds. So, just like we can choose which floor to go to in the elevator,

we can also make free choices in this world. And this is Voluntary Destiny. By the way, did you know that

you can literally see the existence of destiny around you? I mean, destiny’s existence is so obvious that

it is actually spread throughout the universe and is even visible to our eyes. But how?

There is evidence of destiny in everything we see around us. Destiny basically means knowledge and planning.

And when we look at every corner of the universe, we also witness that everything is functioning through knowledge and planning.

Think of an apple tree that you come across while walking in the street. Weren't all the formation stages of that apple tree

already written in its seed from the very beginning? Yes. It was programmed in it. There was a plan, a draft in the seed.

Or think of a cute white rabbit. Or a little kitten. Or a newborn baby looking around

with their deep blue eyes. For all of them, DNA is like a book of destiny, giving us the information of

those creatures in advance. It tells us the physical characteristics of a baby to be born,

even some of the diseases it is likely to suffer from in the future. So, DNA is like a small version

of the Book of Destiny. The fact that our eyelashes have a certain length, that our hair has a different growing pattern,

that the lengths of our fingers are based on a certain measure and logic. All of them show that there’s actually a plan,

a program and destiny for everything. Think about it. if something works in a very organized

and calculated way, doesn’t it show that there’s planning behind it? There cannot be a planned functioning in something

that happens randomly, or spontaneously. In other words, when we look around us, the fact that everything from atoms to the stars

is governed by a certain law, that the movements of the sun and the moon all follow a precise pattern,

that the plans and programs of all living beings are already written in their seeds, in their DNA shows us the obvious reality of destiny

and proves its existence in the universe. Even the fact that there’s something called "Deja vu" can be given as proof of destiny.

You know how sometimes we say, "Wait! I have lived this moment before." I’m sure this happened to you too.

We actually feel this way, because in the Realm of the Souls, Allah allowed us to see that specific event

on al-Lawh al-Mahfuz, meaning the Preserved Tablet of destiny. The tablet contains the information of

all the events, actions, and outcomes from the beginning of creation until the end of time.

And so when that event actually happens, we feel as if we have experienced that thing before. How could we possibly know otherwise

about something we have just experienced? This means our soul was shown that moment from our Book of Destiny.

And, very accurately, the name "Deja Vu" was given to this type of experience which in French means "already seen."

So, it shouldn’t be irrational to think that all our physical and spiritual states and all the things we will experience

are already written somewhere. Or, if we look at the Qur’an, we can also find many proofs of destiny’s existence.

For example, the fact that Surah Al-Masad foretold that Abu Lahab and his wife were going to die

as disbelievers is an incredible prophetic miracle. Allah also foretold in Surah Ar-Rum that the Romans were going to defeat

the Persians in the future, which seemed impossible at the time. This is also news from the unseen,

a prophetic miracle. And this prophecy came true as well, of course. So, the fact that the Qur’an has these types of Ayat

that give accurate news about what’s going to happen are great proofs that Allah also knows the future. There are different types of decrees

within the concept of destiny. One is Conditional Decree, al-Qada' al-Mu'allaq,

also known as Suspended Decree, and the other is Absolute Decree, al-Qada' al-Mubram, meaning Fixed Destiny.

So, the first one is changeable, and the second one is unchangeable. For example, let's say Allah has decreed

a calamity for a person. But He has tied this calamity to whether he prays or not.

In other words, Allah determined that if the person prays, the calamity will be lifted, removed from him.

But if he does not pray, it will happen. So, since there’s a condition for this event to take place,

it is called Conditional Decree. The hadith about sadaqah being a barrier between the person and the calamity

is a perfect example of this. In Conditional Decree, this type of situation is decided like this.

If he gives charity, the calamity will go away. but if he does not, it’s gonna happen.

But whether a person will eventually give sadaqah or not is already written in al-Lawh al-Mahfudh.

Whereas the conditional decree is written in Lawh al-Mahw wa'l-Ithbat, The Tablet of Erasure and Affirmation.

In other words, al-Lawh al-Mahfudh is set in stone, it is fixed. But Lawh al-Mahw wa'l-Ithbat is like a board

that can be erased and written on again. In short, Allah knows the final state of everything. But we don’t.

So, our part is always to try our best and make dua. One of the most beautiful aspects of belief in destiny

is that it creates a deep sense of peace and trust in the heart. The person lives his life with confidence and joy.

When a calamity or hardship hits him, he does not panic, having the comfort that comes from believing in destiny.

Because he knows for sure that everything is perfectly planned, down to its finest detail,

under the infinite knowledge and power of Allah. Think about it. Whatever happens to you, if you know that it’s under control,

wouldn't that create a perfect sense of confidence and peace of mind in you? Believing in destiny, you would say,

"Nothing in this world happens randomly or without purpose. Everything has meaning and wisdom behind it."

And this faith makes you deeply feel that every moment, every second, Allah is taking care of you.

Someone who believes in destiny thinks that he is constantly under Allah's protection. He puts aside all his concerns about the future

and regrets about the past. In every situation, he says, "My Master is enough for me!

After all, everything is under His command," and continues his life with this comforting mindset. Believing in destiny also protects the person

from arrogance and pride. Because he knows that all his good deeds and successes

are not a result of his own efforts, but a blessing that Allah granted him. So he turns to his Lord, not to his ego.

At the same time, he also realizes his responsibility for the bad things he does. He doesn’t put the blame on his fate and say,

"I was meant to do this evil deed, it was already written," but rather recognizes that he has free will

and accepts that he is responsible. Another important point is that Islam is the only religion that explains

this concept of destiny in a way that appeals to both the mind and the heart. This deep and comprehensive understanding of destiny

is another proof that Islam is the right religion. Now, let's go back to the question we asked in the beginning.

Was watching this video written in your destiny? Yes. But it was you who chose to click on it.

One day, when you reach the finish line of this journey of life, whether you will end up in Heaven or Hell

is already written in your destiny. But what will take you there will be the choices you make

with your own free will.