Combining Two Verses Regarding Human Earnings and What Allah Has Decreed
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This questioner is Muhammad Imam Hasan, an Egyptian working in al-Jawf. He says: Allah the Exalted says: [Surat al-Shura: 30] and He says: [Surat al-Tawbah: 51]. What is the meaning of the two verses? And how do we combine them? Knowing that their apparent meaning is contradictory.
Answer:
There is no contradiction, my brother. Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) has made it clear to us that what befalls us is due to the causes of our earnings, and He has made it clear that what happens is by His divine decree and destiny. [Surat al-Tawbah: 51] His knowledge and decree preceded everything, but He, the Exalted, has linked what befalls us that harms us to the causes of our sins. Even though it is written and decreed, we have earnings, we have deeds, and we have choice. So everything that happens is by a measure of obedience and disobedience. What happens from us of disobedience is considered part of our earnings and our deeds, and we are held accountable for it if we do it while we have our minds. We are held accountable for it; for this reason, He, the Exalted, said: [Surat al-Shura: 30]. And in the other verse: [Surat al-Nisa: 79]. So there is no conflict between the divine decree and deeds. The divine decree is prior, and to Allah belongs the sufficient argument , and the deeds are our deeds. So zina, drinking intoxicants, leaving prayer, undutifulness to parents, and severing family ties are among our deeds, and we deserve punishment for them because of our negligence and shortcoming. Because we have choice, and we have deeds attributed to us, even though it preceded in Allah’s knowledge as written and decreed. So the divine decree is not an excuse for committing defects and wrongs.
So Allah has the sufficient wisdom in what He has decreed, known, and written, and we are responsible for our deeds, our mistakes, and our shortcoming, and we are held accountable for that, except that our Lord forgives us.
And by this you know that there is no conflict between the two verses. One of them indicates that our deeds are from our earnings, and we deserve punishment for them; because they are our deeds by our choice. And the other verse indicates that it has passed in Allah’s knowledge as written and decreed. And it is authentic from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: So He, the Exalted, is the Wise, the All-Knowing, the Knower of everything, whose knowledge preceded everything and who wrote everything.
And in the other verse He says : [Surat al-Hadid: 22]. So Allah’s writing is prior, and His knowledge is prior , and His decree is prior, and our deeds are counted upon us, attributed to us, and written upon us, and they are from our earnings, our deeds, and our choice.
So we are rewarded with good reward for the good of obedience, types of good, and remembrance, and we deserve punishment for the bad of undutifulness, zina, theft, and the rest of sins and violations. And Allah is the One to be sought for help. Yes.
This questioner is Muhammad Imam Hasan, an Egyptian working in al-Jawf. He says: Allah the Exalted says:
And whatever strikes you of disaster - it is for what your hands have earned
وَمَا أَصَابَكُمْ مِنْ مُصِيبَةٍ فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْSay, "Never will we be struck except by what Allah has decreed for us
قُلْ لَنْ يُصِيبَنَا إِلَّا مَا كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَنَاAnswer:
There is no contradiction, my brother. Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) has made it clear to us that what befalls us is due to the causes of our earnings, and He has made it clear that what happens is by His divine decree and destiny.
Say, "Never will we be struck except by what Allah has decreed for us
قُلْ لَنْ يُصِيبَنَا إِلَّا مَا كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَنَاAnd whatever strikes you of disaster - it is for what your hands have earned; but He pardons much.
وَمَا أَصَابَكُمْ مِنْ مُصِيبَةٍ فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَيَعْفُوا عَنْ كَثِيرٍWhat comes to you of good is from Allah, but what comes to you of evil, [O man], is from yourself
مَا أَصَابَكَ مِنْ حَسَنَةٍ فَمِنَ اللَّهِ وَمَا أَصَابَكَ مِنْ سَيِّئَةٍ فَمِنْ نَفْسِكَSo Allah has the sufficient wisdom in what He has decreed, known, and written, and we are responsible for our deeds, our mistakes, and our shortcoming, and we are held accountable for that, except that our Lord forgives us.
And by this you know that there is no conflict between the two verses. One of them indicates that our deeds are from our earnings, and we deserve punishment for them; because they are our deeds by our choice. And the other verse indicates that it has passed in Allah’s knowledge as written and decreed. And it is authentic from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:
Indeed, Allah decreed the destinies of the creatures fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth, and His Throne is over the water.
إن الله قدر مقادير الخلائق قبل أن يخلق السماوات والأرض بخمسين ألف سنة، وعرشه على الماءAnd in the other verse He says :
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 يَسِيرٌSo we are rewarded with good reward for the good of obedience, types of good, and remembrance, and we deserve punishment for the bad of undutifulness, zina, theft, and the rest of sins and violations. And Allah is the One to be sought for help. Yes.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.