Is Man Doomed to his Destiny?

Allah gave the human beings a “will” that is free to make their own choices; differentiating and choosing the good or the bad.  If the human beings were doomed to their destiny, “free-will” would not be given to them.

Our Conscious Is the Clearest Evidence of Our Not Being Doomed to the Destiny

The clearest evidence of our not being doomed to the destiny is our conscious. Because, if we ask our conscious this question: ”Is there anything forcing you to make your choices or do you choose what you will to do?” , we will see that there are reasons effecting our choices, but these reasons only direct us; they do not force us, nor oblige us to make a decision or choice.

For example, when we enter a room, we sit anywhere we wish, we go near the table and choose one chair with our will and sit there. During the meal, we choose what to eat with our will and reach out for anything we wish to eat. Likewise, telling a lie or the truth, performing good deeds or bad deeds are also up to our choice.

 

Destiny (Qadar) is divided into two groups

The first part is the destiny which is shaped by the will of man; the other is the destiny which the human will is never involved in and absolutely up to the Divine Decree. The gender, physiological properties, birth and death, what kind of and which parents he will have etc…are a few examples of the second part of destiny which the person may not determine with his will and choice and which is the destiny Allah wills with so many hikmahs (the hidden causes put by wisdom) behind.

If the Human Beings Were Doomed to the Destiny, They Would Be Directed Like Puppets

 Besides, considering man as doomed to the destiny is to charge Allah (s.w.t) with cruelty and injustice. Because if man was doomed to the destiny, some people would have to drink alcohol while some would have to always pray and worship. In the end the sinners would go to the hell, while the worshippers were entering the paradise.  Is it possible for Allah one of whom attributes is “Al-Âdil” (The Just) to permit such an injustice and abnormality?

 

Man Does Wrong by Putting the Blame of His ‘Intentionally Made Mistakes’ on Destiny

Assume that you took the road and after a while the road is divided into two. You went towards the left path, but suddenly noticed that there is a signboard written: “This path is full of snakes, scorpions and many other dangers.” and in the same board it also says: “The other path in the right is safe, free from danger and leads you to the palaces full of magnificent banquets and wonderful gardens in which anything is offered as relief.” What would you say then? In this case, if you say “Come on, who cares if it’s so or not?” and choose the dangerous path intentionally and move onto it, do you think it would be logical to say: “They forced me to go onto this way.”?

It is like an elevator; you wish to go to the 5th floor and you push the button for 5th floor with your will and the elevator takes you there. If you wish to go to the -2nd floor, you would push that button with your own will and elevator would take you there. You wish to do good deeds, you wish with your own will, you push the button and Allah creates the actions and makes it possible.

Likewise, Allah (swt) showed the human beings two ways of which the consequences are obvious and informed them through the prophets that one way leads to the Jannah as an award and the other leads to the hell as a punishment. If we still choose to commit what Allah (swt) prohibited for us intentionally,deliberately and in the knowledge that there is a punishment in return for this, do you think we would have the right to say:  “I choose this way, because it is already written in my destiny.”?

 

In Order to Be Tested, Man Must Have the Ability to “Make Free Choices”

Allah notified us in the verses that he created this world as a test for man, along with presenting this it to man’s benefits and orders with all its beauties. Tests already require  free will. He gives tests in order to see to what extent will man be able to make the correct choice between the right and wrong? How far will we manage to keep away from the evill? It is man’s will that determines the consequence, because man wills with his will and Allah creates.