Islam, Predestination, Fate and Assurance

[Guest]

Hopefully, the following short essay will give you a better idea of Islam.

Glossary
Qur’an = Islamic holy book supposedly revealed to Mohammed in the 7th Century. It is separated into 114 chapters (called Surahs), each of which is made up of individual verses (ahyas).

Hadith = Collections of sayings of Mohammed narrated by his companions after his death. These Hadith were sorted and compiled by scholars such Muhammad al-Bukhari and Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj in the ninth century.



The "Divine Decree" aka Predestination in Islam
Islam has a very explicit doctrine of Predestination, referred to as “al Qada wal Qadar” and “the Divine Decree.” It is a central facet of the religion as seen in Mohammed’s response to the following request: “Inform me about Iman (faith). He (the Holy Prophet) replied: That you affirm your faith in Allah, in His angels, in His Books, in His Apostles, in the Day of Judgment, and you affirm your faith in the Divine Decree about good and evil.” [Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Number 0001]

Simply put, the doctrine of Al-Qadar is that Allah pre-ordained all things before they happened. It also teaches that he wrote them all down in a book. All things happen because Allah willed them to happen ands wrote them this book.


Allah willed and decreed all sin
Al-Qadar teaches that Allah is the designer and author of all evil. Thus, every single murder, rape and child molestation takes place because Allah pre-ordained them to happen. In case you think I might be making this up, check out these quotes from the Qur’an and Hadith:

In an alleged argument between Moses and Adam concerning Adam's sin in the garden of Eden, Adam says said “Do you blame me for action which Allah had written in my fate forty years before my creation?'” [Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 77, Number 611]. So the first ever sin was pre-ordained by Allah!

The Qur’an speaks of souls which Allah shaped and “breathed into it its wickedness and its piety” (Surah 91:8). Mohammed referred to this verse in the following Hadith: “Two men of the tribe of Muzaina came to Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and said: Allah's Messenger, what is your opinion that the people do in the world and strive for, is something decreed for them; something preordained for them and will their fate in the Hereafter be determined by the fact that their Prophets brought them teachings which they did not act upon. and thus they became deserving of punishment? Thereupon, he said: Of course, it happens as it is decreed by Destiny and preordained for them, and this view is confirmed by this verse of the Book of Allah, the Exalted and Glorious:" “Consider the soul and Him Who made it perfect, then breathed into it its sin and its piety (Surah 91:7-8 )" [Sahih Muslim, Book 33, number 6406]

Elsewhere Mohammed says “everyone will do the deeds for which he has been created to do or he will do those deeds which will be made easy for him to do." (i.e. everybody will find easy to do such deeds as will lead him to his destined place for which he has been created).” [Sahih Bukhari, Vol.8, bk 77, number 595]

And: "Verily Allah has fixed the very portion of adultery which a man will indulge in, and which he of necessity must comrriit." [Sahih Muslim, Book 033, Number 6421]


Allah created some specifically to go to paradise, and some specifically to go to hell fire
Allah does not want all men to go to paradise. If he did, they would all go here. But that is not his will. Thus, he only leads some people to the truth. Only those who Allah has preordained for paradise will become Muslims. No one will want to turn to Allah unless Allah wills them to:

“Surely this is a Reminder; so he who will, takes unto his Lord a way. But you will not unless Allah wills; surely Allah is ever All-knowing, All-wise.” (Surah 76:29-30)

Allah deliberately states that he could have made all people righteous, but his will was always to send some people to burn in hell-fire:

“Had thy Lord [Allah] willed, He would have made mankind one nation; but they continue in their differences excepting those on whom thy Lord has mercy. To that end He created them, and perfectly is fulfilled the word of thy Lord: 'I shall assuredly fill Gehenna with jinn and men all together.' (Surah 11:118-119)

'If We [Allah] had so willed, We could have given every soul its guidance; but now My Word is realized: " Assuredly I shall fill Gehenna with jinn and men all together." (Surah 32:13, cf. 16:93)


Allah deceives and leads astray many
Not only does Allah withhold truth from those he has created for hell, he also actively leads men astray:

“How is it with you, that you are two parties touching the hypocrites, and Allah has overthrown them for what they earned? What, do you desire to guide him whom Allah has led astray? Whom God leads astray, thou wilt not find for him a way.”(Surah 4:88, cf. 30:29)

“Whomsoever Allah desires to guide, He expands his breast to Islam; whomsoever He desires to lead astray, He makes his breast narrow, tight, as if he were climbing to heaven. So Allah lays abomination upon those who believe not.” (Surah 6:125)

“And We have sent no Messenger save with the tongue of his people, that he might make all clear to them; then Allah leads astray whomsoever He will, and He guides whomsoever He will; and He is the All-mighty, the All-wise.” (Surah 14:4)


Assurance of salvation in Islam
Try this out next time you’re speaking with a Muslim. Ask them this simple question: “If you died right now, would you go to heaven or hell?” I have asked this question to dozens of Muslims over the past couple years and I always get the same answer. Their faces drop, they furrow their brows and despondantly say something like “I don’t know, Allah will decide.”

In this, they are merely following their prophet Mohammed who himself said “though I am the Apostle of Allah, yet I do not know what Allah will do to me," (Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 58, Number 266)

The Qur’an says that people must believe and do as many righteous deeds as possible to have a good chance of making it into heaven (e.g. Surah 22:23-24). But how many “righteous deeds” must one do in order to “get in”? Well, on the day of judgement each person’s works will be weighed out. “Then he whose scales are heavy -- they are the prosperers, and he whose scales are light -- they have lost their souls in Gehenna dwelling forever” (Surah 23:102-103)

So a Muslim can never have any assurance of reaching heaven until he or she dies. And even then it’s fingers crossed and hope that they’ve stacked up enough “credits”. In the meantime, they spend their time doing as many good works as possible to increase their chances.

But even a faithful Muslim who is doing all the good works he or she knows about and carefully and diligently observing Islam may still be someone that Allah created to go to hell. Allah’s will shall come to pass.

Mohammed underlined this point when he said “by Allah, a person among you (or a man) may do deeds of the people of the [hell] Fire till there is only a cubit or an arm-breadth distance between him and the Fire, but then that writing (which Allah has ordered the angel to write) precedes, and he does the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it; and a man may do the deeds of the people of Paradise till there is only a cubit or two between him and Paradise, and then that writing precedes and he does the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters it." [Sahih Bukhari, Vol 8, book 77, 593]

Whatever Allah has pre-decreed and written in his book will catch up sooner or later. So much for "blessed assurance"


Conclusion
While some groups within Islam such as the Mutazlites have tried to soften this doctrine, Islamic Orthodoxy has always followed Mohammed in making belief in Qada wal Qadar (Divine Decree) an essential part of the faith.

As a result, Muslims are in utter bondage to a god who has created all men as robots who can but do what he has programmed them to do. Islam locks people into a fatalistic and fear-driven nightmare in which they do as much work as they can and hope that Allah has not willed them to go to hell.

In Christ (thank God!),
Ely

Sources:

TOTAL PREDESTINATION - OR THE FREE WILL OF MAN? By Gehard Nehls (Christian): http://www.answering-islam.org/Nehls/As ... ation.html

THE SALAF’s GUIDE TO THE UNDERSANDING OF AL-QADAA-WAL-QADAR [Online Book] by Dr. Saleh as-Saleh (Muslim): http://www.ahya.org/amm/modules.php?nam ... e&artid=12

[Guest]

So obviously this "lack of assurance" may lie behind the willingness of some muslims to blow themselves up in the name of Allah, because if my understanding is correct of their understanding, doesn't this ensure them a free ride into heaven?

one thing i would like to add as a personal observation. due to the 5 year anniversary of 9/11 there were many specials on TV about osama, dramatizations of the events leading to 9/11, etc etc.

one thing that struck my wife and i was the extreme devoutness of these radical muslims. of course it is misguided, but there is something to be learned from their fervency and devotion.

it seems that if even a rather small percentage of the christians in america were as devoted to the cause of their Master (in the ways the Master taught) as are the radical muslims to theirs, the church in america might look very different and might even be able to effectuate change in society.

TK

[Guest]

Ely, thank you for this - it is excellent!