Is the Man's Destiny Already Decided?
Question:
Please clarify me the true interpretation of following Hadith regarding matter of destiny, is that man's destiny already decided if yes then what is value of human deeds:
Narrated 'Abdullah bin Mus'ud:
Allah's Apostle, the true and truly inspired said, "(The matter of the Creation of) a human being is put together in the womb of the mother in forty days, and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period. 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). Then the soul is breathed into him. So, a man amongst you may do (good deeds till there is only a cubit between him and Paradise and then what has been written for him decides his behavior and he starts doing (evil) deeds characteristic of the people of the (Hell) Fire. And similarly a man amongst you may do (evil) deeds till there is only a cubit between him and the (Hell) Fire, and then what has been written for him decides his behavior, and he starts doing deeds characteristic of the people of Paradise."
Answer:
This is Hadith number 3208 in the book of Bukhari, we have Hadiths with similar implications in other sources as well.
We are fortunate enough to have the book of the Qur'an with us, which can be used to determine the truth and the false. Our understanding of matters like destiny and God's justice needs to be formed on the basis of the Qu'an. Once this understanding is formed we can then look at other sources like Hadith to see if we can see any elaboration or extra information. When doing that, we will also need to understand and interpret any Hadith (that is assumed authentic) based on our understanding of the matter from the Qu'an.
Let us first understand the subject in the light of the Qur'an. After that we will look at this Hadith to see how best it can be understood in the light of the Qur'an.
In the Qur'an, the Almighty makes it clear that His judgement in the day of judgement is going to be with absolute justice and that not even a tiny injustice will be taken place.
We read in the Qur'an many times that no soul will be wronged in the hereafter, for example:
وَ اتَّقُوا يَوْماً تُرْجَعُونَ فيهِ إِلَى اللَّهِ ثُمَّ تُوَفَّى كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ما كَسَبَتْ وَ هُمْ لا يُظْلَمُون
"And fear the day when you shall all return to God. Then every soul shall be paid back for what it did and none shall be wronged" (2:281)
The entire Qur'an is full of verses where God advises people to accept the truth and to be good. I cannot even begin to choose an example, simply open the Qur'an and you will find many.
Now imagine that in the day of judgement God sends a person to Hell. If it was in deed God Himself who made that person a bad person from when he was born then is that person not been wronged and oppressed? How can then many verses of the Qur'an about the justice of the Almighty, including the above, be true if this is the case?
On the other hand, if God Himself decides who will be good and who will be bad and human being has no choice in this then what is the point of so many verses of the Qur'an advising people to be good? If this was the case then was it not fair for bad people to say, well God, make us choose to be good if you want us to be good?
We also read in the Qur'an:
وَ نَفْسٍ وَ مَا سَوَّئهَا
فَأَلهْمَهَا فجُورَهَا وَ تَقْوَئهَا
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّئهَا
وَ قَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّئهَا
"And the soul bears witness and the perfection given to it. Then inspired it with its evil and its good. That verily he succeeded who purified it.And he failed who corrupted it." (91:7-10).
The above verses clearly hold the human being (not their written destiny) responsible for their deeds, based on the fact that recognition of the good and the bad have been inspired to the soul of every human being.
We can therefore safely conclude that it is in fact the choices and the deeds of the people themselves that make them deserve to go to Hell or to go to Heaven with God's blessing. Based on the Qur'an there is absolutely no doubt about this.
There are however three points to add to this understanding:
1. Although based on the Qur'an human beings make their own choices, this does not mean that God does not know these choices before they are made. God is All-Knowing and knows what our choices will be. The Qur'an described God as All-Knowing who knows the hidden knowledge (5:109).
2. Although the human beings are free in making their choices, not all situations that they may face during their life will be their choices. For example it is not our choice to be born in a certain country or a certain family. Likewise we may be challenged in situations that are not materialised by our choices. God says in the Qur'an that He brings challenges to our life so that we show our potentials to be good (67:2).
3. Even though it is us who decide what to do, ultimately the source of any action in this world is God. Without Him allowing something to happen nothing will happen (81:29).
*********
Now that we formed our understanding of predestination based on the Qur'an we can look at the Hadith that you quoted to see what it means.
With the assumption that the wording of the Hadith has been reported accurately and correctly, the Hadith is simply implying and illustrating points 1, 2 and 3 above.
What it implies is that God knows what every soul will do and what every soul will face in the life and that no matter what a person may do, he/she will end up with what has written for him/her based on this knowledge, which itself is due to the fact that the person will eventually chooses that path.
If one insists that the above Hadith does not mean what I explained here and that it actually means that human being has no choices and that God decides what every human being will do and which path he/she will choose then my answer will be very simple: In that case, I cannot consider the Hadith to be authentic because it goes against the premises of the Qu'an. Having said this, I still think the above explanation of the Hadith is plausible.
--------------------
March 2013
Please clarify me the true interpretation of following Hadith regarding matter of destiny, is that man's destiny already decided if yes then what is value of human deeds:
Narrated 'Abdullah bin Mus'ud:
Allah's Apostle, the true and truly inspired said, "(The matter of the Creation of) a human being is put together in the womb of the mother in forty days, and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period. 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). Then the soul is breathed into him. So, a man amongst you may do (good deeds till there is only a cubit between him and Paradise and then what has been written for him decides his behavior and he starts doing (evil) deeds characteristic of the people of the (Hell) Fire. And similarly a man amongst you may do (evil) deeds till there is only a cubit between him and the (Hell) Fire, and then what has been written for him decides his behavior, and he starts doing deeds characteristic of the people of Paradise."
Answer:
This is Hadith number 3208 in the book of Bukhari, we have Hadiths with similar implications in other sources as well.
We are fortunate enough to have the book of the Qur'an with us, which can be used to determine the truth and the false. Our understanding of matters like destiny and God's justice needs to be formed on the basis of the Qu'an. Once this understanding is formed we can then look at other sources like Hadith to see if we can see any elaboration or extra information. When doing that, we will also need to understand and interpret any Hadith (that is assumed authentic) based on our understanding of the matter from the Qu'an.
Let us first understand the subject in the light of the Qur'an. After that we will look at this Hadith to see how best it can be understood in the light of the Qur'an.
In the Qur'an, the Almighty makes it clear that His judgement in the day of judgement is going to be with absolute justice and that not even a tiny injustice will be taken place.
We read in the Qur'an many times that no soul will be wronged in the hereafter, for example:
وَ اتَّقُوا يَوْماً تُرْجَعُونَ فيهِ إِلَى اللَّهِ ثُمَّ تُوَفَّى كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ما كَسَبَتْ وَ هُمْ لا يُظْلَمُون
"And fear the day when you shall all return to God. Then every soul shall be paid back for what it did and none shall be wronged" (2:281)
The entire Qur'an is full of verses where God advises people to accept the truth and to be good. I cannot even begin to choose an example, simply open the Qur'an and you will find many.
Now imagine that in the day of judgement God sends a person to Hell. If it was in deed God Himself who made that person a bad person from when he was born then is that person not been wronged and oppressed? How can then many verses of the Qur'an about the justice of the Almighty, including the above, be true if this is the case?
On the other hand, if God Himself decides who will be good and who will be bad and human being has no choice in this then what is the point of so many verses of the Qur'an advising people to be good? If this was the case then was it not fair for bad people to say, well God, make us choose to be good if you want us to be good?
We also read in the Qur'an:
وَ نَفْسٍ وَ مَا سَوَّئهَا
فَأَلهْمَهَا فجُورَهَا وَ تَقْوَئهَا
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّئهَا
وَ قَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّئهَا
"And the soul bears witness and the perfection given to it. Then inspired it with its evil and its good. That verily he succeeded who purified it.And he failed who corrupted it." (91:7-10).
The above verses clearly hold the human being (not their written destiny) responsible for their deeds, based on the fact that recognition of the good and the bad have been inspired to the soul of every human being.
We can therefore safely conclude that it is in fact the choices and the deeds of the people themselves that make them deserve to go to Hell or to go to Heaven with God's blessing. Based on the Qur'an there is absolutely no doubt about this.
There are however three points to add to this understanding:
1. Although based on the Qur'an human beings make their own choices, this does not mean that God does not know these choices before they are made. God is All-Knowing and knows what our choices will be. The Qur'an described God as All-Knowing who knows the hidden knowledge (5:109).
2. Although the human beings are free in making their choices, not all situations that they may face during their life will be their choices. For example it is not our choice to be born in a certain country or a certain family. Likewise we may be challenged in situations that are not materialised by our choices. God says in the Qur'an that He brings challenges to our life so that we show our potentials to be good (67:2).
3. Even though it is us who decide what to do, ultimately the source of any action in this world is God. Without Him allowing something to happen nothing will happen (81:29).
*********
Now that we formed our understanding of predestination based on the Qur'an we can look at the Hadith that you quoted to see what it means.
With the assumption that the wording of the Hadith has been reported accurately and correctly, the Hadith is simply implying and illustrating points 1, 2 and 3 above.
What it implies is that God knows what every soul will do and what every soul will face in the life and that no matter what a person may do, he/she will end up with what has written for him/her based on this knowledge, which itself is due to the fact that the person will eventually chooses that path.
If one insists that the above Hadith does not mean what I explained here and that it actually means that human being has no choices and that God decides what every human being will do and which path he/she will choose then my answer will be very simple: In that case, I cannot consider the Hadith to be authentic because it goes against the premises of the Qu'an. Having said this, I still think the above explanation of the Hadith is plausible.
--------------------
March 2013
