The Ruling on Attributing the Answer to Supplication to Divine Decree
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Question:
Her question is long, but its summary is: Does supplication change what Allah has written for a person?
Answer:
Supplication does not change; the decree is effective. Allah’s decree is effective, and nothing turns back His decree. Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) says in His great Book: [Al-Hadid: 22], and He says, Exalted is He: [Al-Qamar: 49], and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sahih Muslim 2653b, and among the foundations of faith is that you believe in the divine decree, its good and its evil.
So the divine decree is inevitable and nothing changes it, but it may be a fixed decree not contingent on a cause that the servant performs or leaves off, or it may be contingent on causes. What is contingent on causes is removed when the cause for which Allah made it contingent is absent. It may be contingent, for example, that he is healed if so-and-so prays for him, or if doctor so-and-so treats him, so he causes his brothers to treat him and pray for him. His healing may be through this supplication or this treatment, because Allah the Exalted has made his healing contingent on it in what preceded in His knowledge (Exalted and Majestic is He). Therefore, you are commanded to take the causes and commanded to make supplication, because Allahmay have made your healing contingent on your supplication, or the supplication of so-and-so for you, or treatment in such-and-such a hospital, or with such-and-such a doctor.
And so seeking provision through trade, buying, and selling; Allah has prescribed that for you because He the Exalted has made your provision and your needs contingent on these causes which He commanded you to take and prescribed for youSo you are commanded to take the causes, and Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) is the Determiner of affairs. If you perform the cause on which Allah has made your provision or your healing contingent, the desired result is achieved. By this action, you have not contradicted the divine decree, but rather you have met the divine decree and agreed with the divine decree. It may have preceded in Allah's knowledge that if you ride this car, it will overturn, or crash and you will die. So if you ride the car, you have agreed with Allah's decree, and if what happened to you occurs, it is likewise.
And so with airplanes, and so with camels, and so with other things. And so it may be that your Lord the Exalted has decreed that if you call upon Him with these supplications at the end of the night, or in your prayer, that you will be healed from your illness, that you will obtain a righteous wife, that you will obtain good offspring. So you make supplication with the supplications that Allah has prescribed, and you hope for His favor and His excellence, and you do not know. Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) is the One who knows the unseenSo it is upon you to take the causes, and Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) is the Determiner of affairs, and you in your causes do not go out from Allah's decree. Everything is decreed. Some people said:.
And when 'Umar returned from Sham when he heard about the plague, when the matter of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them)was settled and they were pleased with it after consultation that he would return, then 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf (may Allah be pleased with him)that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said regarding the plague:Riyad as-Salihin 1791 He resolved to return, and did not enter Damascus; he resolved to return to Madinah, so some people said to him:Sahih al-Bukhari 5729 Meaning: The plague is part of Allah's decree, and our return is part of Allah's decree. These are causes. When we undertake the return, it is from Allah's decree. If a person treats himself by taking medicine, it is from Allah's decree. If he applies cautery, it is from Allah's decree. If he performs cupping, it is from Allah's decree. If he travels to a certain country for treatment, it is from Allah's decree. If he rides in a car and Allah wills something in it, or in an airplane, it is from Allah's decree. And so on. All matters are by Allah's decree. You pursue the causes, you strive, you seek good, and Allah is the Creator of the causes.Yes.
The presenter : May Allah reward you with good.
Her question is long, but its summary is: Does supplication change what Allah has written for a person?
Answer:
Supplication does not change; the decree is effective. Allah’s decree is effective, and nothing turns back His decree. Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) says in His great Book:
No disaster strikes upon the earth or among yourselves except that it is in a register before We bring it into being - indeed that, for Allah, is easy -
مَا أَصَابَ مِنْ مُصِيبَةٍ فِي الأَرْضِ وَلا فِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ نَبْرَأَهَا إِنَّ ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌIndeed, all things We created with predestination.
إِنَّا كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقْنَاهُ بِقَدَرٍAllah ordained the measures (of quality) of the creation fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth, as His Throne was upon water.
إن الله قدر مقادير الخلائق قبل أن يخلق السموات والأرض بخمسين ألف سنة، وعرشه على الماءSo the divine decree is inevitable and nothing changes it, but it may be a fixed decree not contingent on a cause that the servant performs or leaves off, or it may be contingent on causes. What is contingent on causes is removed when the cause for which Allah made it contingent is absent. It may be contingent, for example, that he is healed if so-and-so prays for him, or if doctor so-and-so treats him, so he causes his brothers to treat him and pray for him. His healing may be through this supplication or this treatment, because Allah the Exalted has made his healing contingent on it in what preceded in His knowledge (Exalted and Majestic is He). Therefore, you are commanded to take the causes and commanded to make supplication, because Allahmay have made your healing contingent on your supplication, or the supplication of so-and-so for you, or treatment in such-and-such a hospital, or with such-and-such a doctor.
And so seeking provision through trade, buying, and selling; Allah has prescribed that for you because He the Exalted has made your provision and your needs contingent on these causes which He commanded you to take and prescribed for youSo you are commanded to take the causes, and Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) is the Determiner of affairs. If you perform the cause on which Allah has made your provision or your healing contingent, the desired result is achieved. By this action, you have not contradicted the divine decree, but rather you have met the divine decree and agreed with the divine decree. It may have preceded in Allah's knowledge that if you ride this car, it will overturn, or crash and you will die. So if you ride the car, you have agreed with Allah's decree, and if what happened to you occurs, it is likewise.
And so with airplanes, and so with camels, and so with other things. And so it may be that your Lord the Exalted has decreed that if you call upon Him with these supplications at the end of the night, or in your prayer, that you will be healed from your illness, that you will obtain a righteous wife, that you will obtain good offspring. So you make supplication with the supplications that Allah has prescribed, and you hope for His favor and His excellence, and you do not know. Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) is the One who knows the unseenSo it is upon you to take the causes, and Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) is the Determiner of affairs, and you in your causes do not go out from Allah's decree. Everything is decreed. Some people said:
O Messenger of Allah! We have incantations with which we seek healing, and medicine with which we treat ourselves. Is this from Allah’s decree? He said: It is from Allah’s decree.
يا رسول الله! إن لنا رقى نسترقي بها، ودواء نتداوى به، فهل هذا من قدر الله؟ قال: هي من قدر اللهAnd when 'Umar returned from Sham when he heard about the plague, when the matter of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them)was settled and they were pleased with it after consultation that he would return, then 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf (may Allah be pleased with him)that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said regarding the plague:
If you get wind of the outbreak of plague in a land, you should not enter it; but if it spreads in the land where you are, you should not depart from it.
إذا سمعتم به في بلد فلا تقدموا عليه، وإذا وقع وأنتم بها فلا تخرجوا فرارًا منهNarrated `Abdullah bin `Abbas: `Umar bin Al-Khattab departed for Sham and when he reached Sargh, the commanders of the (Muslim) army, Abu 'Ubaida bin Al-Jarrah and his companions met him and told him that an epidemic had broken out in Sham. `Umar said, "Call for me the early emigrants." So `Umar called them, consulted them and informed them that an epidemic had broken out in Sham. Those people differed in their opinions. Some of them said, "We have come out for a purpose and we do not think that it is proper to give it up," while others said (to `Umar), "You have along with you. other people and the companions of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) so do not advise that we take them to this epidemic." `Umar said to them, "Leave me now." Then he said, "Call the Ansar for me." I called them and he consulted them and they followed the way of the emigrants and differed as they did. He then said to them, Leave me now," and added, "Call for me the old people of Quraish who emigrated in the year of the Conquest of Mecca." I called them and they gave a unanimous opinion saying, "We advise that you should return with the people and do not take them to that (place) of epidemic." So `Umar made an announcement, "I will ride back to Medina in the morning, so you should do the same." Abu 'Ubaida bin Al-Jarrah said (to `Umar), "Are you running away from what Allah had ordained?" `Umar said, "Would that someone else had said such a thing, O Abu 'Ubaida! Yes, we are running from what Allah had ordained to what Allah has ordained. Don't you agree that if you had camels that went down a valley having two places, one green and the other dry, you would graze them on the green one only if Allah had ordained that, and you would graze them on the dry one only if Allah had ordained that?" At that time `Abdur-Rahman bin `Auf, who had been absent because of some job, came and said, "I have some knowledge about this. I have heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saying, 'If you hear about it (an outbreak of plague) in a land, do not go to it; but if plague breaks out in a country where you are staying, do not run away from it.' " `Umar thanked Allah and returned to Medina.
أفرارًا من قدر الله؟ قال: نفر من قدر الله إلى قدر اللهThe presenter : May Allah reward you with good.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.