The ruling on saying: This matter happened by chance
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
And what indicates this is the statement of the one who says, "This matter happened by chance."
The Shaykh:
No, this is not permissible. It is not a matter of chance, except that it is decreed and destined. However, if his intention by "chance" is with respect to himself, meaning he did not expect it or anticipate it, then it is chance with respect to him, and there is no harm in that. But if he means that it is chance in the sense that it was not decreed and did not precede in the knowledge of Allah, that is disbelief (kufr), disbelief in the divine decree and destiny (qada' wa qadar). But I do not think a believer intends that meaning. He intends the first meaning, that it is chance with respect to him, that at one time he thought or felt he would meet this person or see this thing. It is chance with respect to him.
And what indicates this is the statement of the one who says, "This matter happened by chance."
The Shaykh:
No, this is not permissible. It is not a matter of chance, except that it is decreed and destined. However, if his intention by "chance" is with respect to himself, meaning he did not expect it or anticipate it, then it is chance with respect to him, and there is no harm in that. But if he means that it is chance in the sense that it was not decreed and did not precede in the knowledge of Allah, that is disbelief (kufr), disbelief in the divine decree and destiny (qada' wa qadar). But I do not think a believer intends that meaning. He intends the first meaning, that it is chance with respect to him, that at one time he thought or felt he would meet this person or see this thing. It is chance with respect to him.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 14/5 شرح العقيدة الطحاوية/ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com (1:05:03)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.