Free will in islam

but isn’t everything written?

Welcome to one of the most loaded questions asked by both Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

It’s not even simply that you aren’t alone in asking it — many seasoned Muslims struggle with the logic behind it — meaning they believe with their hearts, but their minds

sometimes struggle to keep up.

Short Answer:

Yes, all of humanity was given free will — Allah (SWT) knows but does not make the choices for you.

| How has he not made the choices if they were written before I even existed?

Detailed Answer:

In Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 2155 (Sahih | Darussalam), the Prophet ﷺ said that the first of Allah’s (SWT) creation was the Pen. He (SWT) told it to write. It responded back “what shall I write?” and He said “write Al-Qadar (Divine Plan), what is, and what shall be, until the end.”

Everything has been written on Al-Lawh’ Al-Mah’foodth (The Preserved Tablet) — in which ALL things are written, and everything is absolute.

Therefore, yes, it is correct to state that Allah (SWT) has written everything before any of us were ever created, but what does that mean?

logical breakdown:

Imagine your son or daughter came home with a drawing they drew of you. A circle for a head and a stick body. A 2-D version of yourself (2-Dimensional — meaning it exists only as x and y values, without any depth the way a toy action figure has depth).

Now imagine you were to be a character in that world, do you think such characters could possibly conceive anything outside their realm of 2 dimensions? That such things exist that have a 3rd dimension where things are no longer flat? No, they would not be able to understand or comprehend that concept.

Now imagine a Superman action figure. A superior object to the child’s drawing as now it exists as x, y, and z values (length, width, AND depth). This toy exists outside of the bounds of the paper that the image is tied to. Yet it is still but a toy, incapable of movement, as it has exceeded the existence of a 2-Dimensional life, but is still limited to a 3-Dimensional life.

Lastly, consider yourself — humanity as a whole. We live outside the 2-Dimensional world — in fact we have the capability to keep drawing and creating limitless 2-Dimensional worlds ourselves.

So physically, we are superior to the limitations of the 2nd dimension, yet what is it that separates us from the toys, who are 3-Dimensional as we are?

The 4th Dimension: time.

‘Time’ allows for movement. Without time, there is no movement. Examples of this are portrayed often in movies and cartoons — stopping the flow of time stops all movement

— meaning we would no longer have any superiority over the toy. Both would be 3-Dimensional creatures incapable of movement as time has come to a stop for both.

Now — as we have seen with this heirarchy — Allah (SWT) is even above everything we have just listed. The same way the toy exists outside the bound of the 2-Dimensional paper, and the way we exist outside the bounds of a ‘timeless’ existence, Allah (SWT) exists outside the bounds of our dimension: time.

He (SWT) exists at all times. Sees all (الْبَصِير | Al-Basir). Knows all (الْعَلِيم | Al-’Alim). Hears all (الْبَصِير | As-Sami’).

Therefore, it cannot be said that His ‘knowing’ everything at the beginning and ordering it to be written before it happens — is proof that he ‘chose’ for it to happen. He knows.

| Then why is it called His Qadar (Divine Decree)? What is meant by ‘nothing happens except by the Will of Allah?

Creating you was His decree. Which tests will be presented to you was His decree. Your ultimate destination is His decree. But His decree is separate from your choices.

When you take that $20 bill hanging from the pocket of the man in front of you at the supermarket — he did not choose for you to do that. Rather, he has placed in your life all of the appropriate tests — and it is up to what decisions you make, which paths you take, and what your scales will look like on the Day of Judgement.

An INCOMPLETE EXAMPLE would be if you were to watch a movie, know every single thing that would happen — and watch it again. You would know exactly what would happen and what would be said and who would die and when, but you made none of those choices for any of those things to happen — you just knew.

This example isn’t appropriate as we can never have anything comparable to the power and knowledge and ability of Allah (SWT) - but it may help to put into perspective how Qadar works.

The ‘will’ of Allah (SWT) is the constraint with which everything in existence is bound. Nothing and nobody can exceed the bounds of His will.

When Allah (SWT) wants for something to happen or exist, he simply says “Be” and it is. He tells you: “Be”. And now you are. But Allah (SWT) does not say “Drink”, “Walk”, “Sin”, or “Kill”. These are the choices that he leaves for us to make, based on which we will either earn His Mercy and be granted entry to His paradise, or we will be forsaken from His Mercy (because of our choices) and go to Jahannam (Hellfire) for eternal punishment.

It would not serve any purpose for Allah (SWT) to have made every single decision for us. That would mean that he had pre-determined which souls — based not on action — would be punished and which souls would be saved. This is not an image befitting the Most Merciful.

| You said what is written on the Preserved Tablet is absolute and unchanging, but I heard that a person’s fate can change due to certain things like the duaa’ of a mother for her child.

Let’s take a look at the Qur’an — Surah Ar-Ra’d (13:39):

يَمْحُوا۟ ٱللَّهُ مَا يَشَآءُ وَيُثْبِتُ ۖ وَعِندَهُۥٓ أُمُّ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ

Allāh eliminates what He wills or confirms, and with Him is the Mother of the Book.

So let us adjust the previous question to one more ‘encompassing’:

| Why would Allah (SWT) eliminate anything if everything is according to His will in the first place?

First, in Sahih Bukhari 3208, the Prophet ﷺ was speaking about the matter of creation, and within the hadith he said:

…ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُ اللَّهُ مَلَكًا، فَيُؤْمَرُ بِأَرْبَعِ كَلِمَاتٍ، وَيُقَالُ لَهُ اكْتُبْ عَمَلَهُ وَرِزْقَهُ وَأَجَلَهُ وَشَقِيٌّ أَوْ سَعِيدٌ…

Then Allah sends an angel who is ordered to write four things. He is ordered to write down his (i.e. the new creature's) deeds, his livelihood, his (date of) death, and whether he will be blessed or wretched (in religion).

And again in Sahih Bukhari 5986, where the Prophet ﷺ said:

"‏ مَنْ أَحَبَّ أَنْ يُبْسَطَ لَهُ فِي رِزْقِهِ، وَيُنْسَأَ لَهُ فِي أَثَرِهِ، فَلْيَصِلْ رَحِمَهُ ‏"

"Whoever loves that he be granted more wealth and that his lease of life be prolonged then he should keep good relations with his Kith and kin."

The answer now starts with what we began with — that whatever is written on The Preserved Tablet is permanent and absolute: this is known as al-Qadar al-Mubram (القدر المُبرَم | The Absolute Decree).

The latter, which the angel writes for you, is of a form of Qadar called al-Qadar al-Mu’allaq (القدر المُعَلَّق | The Dependant Decree).

Our preferred analogy is that of a man who gets into a fatal car accident on January 1, 2030, and the angel had written in the womb that this man’s soul would return to his Lord January 2, 2023 — the day after the accident (by succumbing to his injuries). That is his “Qadar al-Mu’allaq”. But he had recently been spending a lot of time with family and relatives, and pleasing his mother and father. His mother and many others began to make an abundance of duaa’ for Allah (SWT) to let him live a long and healthy life. And so Allah (SWT) may decide to increase his lifespan and add another 20 years to his life more than what the angel had initially written for him. By this way, we see that the Dependant Decree can be changed.

In contrast, in The Preserved Tablet, it would have been written — ‘the angel wrote the man would die at 35 years old — at 34, he pleases his mother and upholds the ties of kinship — 2 months before the accident, his mother and others will make a multitude of duaa’ for his long life — shortly before the accident, Allah (SWT) will increase the man’s lifespan, giving him another 20 years to live — he will die in his prayer at 55 years old.’

And so The Preserved Tablet will include the original Qadar, the change, and the new Qadar, as it was told to include EVERYTHING until the end of time. And so if The Preserved Tablet says, as a final decision, that he will die at 55, no amount of duaa’ or anything else may change that, as it is now absolute.

Lastly, we see in Surah Al-Kahf (18:29):

وَقُلِ ٱلْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكُمْ ۖ فَمَن شَآءَ فَلْيُؤْمِن وَمَن شَآءَ فَلْيَكْفُرْ ۚ

And say, "The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills - let him believe; and whoever wills - let him disbelieve."

Explicitly, Allah (SWT) says we have our own will by which we make our choices and decisions.

Allah (SWT) may guide us (Surah Al-Insan 76:3):

إِنَّا هَدَيْنَـٰهُ ٱلسَّبِيلَ إِمَّا شَاكِرًۭا وَإِمَّا كَفُورًا

Indeed, We guided him to the way, be he grateful or be he ungrateful.

Allah (SWT) may burden us (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:286):

لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۚ

Allāh does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity.

But ultimately, Allah (SWT) has given us free will; free will to make our own choices when faced with different paths; free will to choose to give in to our desires, or the free will to strive in the path of Allah (SWT). It is up to each individual to decide which path we take, and to accept our fate on the Day of Judgement.

May we all be of the Mu’mineen (Believers) — and the Muhsineen (those of Excellence) — and earn the pleasure of Allah (SWT).