What is the ruling on attributing matters to chance and the like?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner says that a news item was published in one of the newspapers: that a woman gave birth to five children, and she gave birth to each one on the same day of the year following the first birth. Then the news item mentioned that this was pure chance. The writer of the news item said that this is a matter of pure chance. Then he said: and he confirmed that chance is the one playing its role in that. Then he said: and that the whole matter was by pure chance?
Answer:
All of this is invalid. It is not by chance, but by the decree of Allah, our Lord, who knows what He wills,[Fatir 35:11] , He is the All-Knower of the unseen: [al-Ra'd: 8] . So the one who gave birth in each year on known days, or on a known day that coincided with the fourth day of the month, or the tenth day of the month, this is not merely chance, but by decree, by the knowledge and decree of Allah .
But this is a compounded ignorant person who does not believe in the divine decree of Allah. The placement of the fetus and its attachment to the womb is all by the decree of Allah. Its design, whether beautiful or ugly, complete or incomplete, is all by the decree of Allah , not by mere chance, but by a prior decree that Allah decreed: that it will be born at such a time, or die at such a time, or be formed at such a time, or be embraced by the womb at such a time, and so on. All of it is by a known decree.
Therefore, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Muwatta Malik 46:4, [al-Qamar: 49], thus He says .
Q: When some people meet each other without an appointment, do they say: this is a matter of chance, or by chance?
The Shaykh: I mean: this is with respect to them, not with respect to Allah. I mean: that they did not make an appointment. That is its meaning. I mean: if you meet him on the road or at so-and-so's place, you say: chance. I mean: you did not make an appointment with him; you met him without an appointment. They call it: chance, by convention between them, by convention among people. There is no harm in it between people, but with respect to Allah, no, it is by knowledge, by a prior decree.
The questioner says that a news item was published in one of the newspapers: that a woman gave birth to five children, and she gave birth to each one on the same day of the year following the first birth. Then the news item mentioned that this was pure chance. The writer of the news item said that this is a matter of pure chance. Then he said: and he confirmed that chance is the one playing its role in that. Then he said: and that the whole matter was by pure chance?
Answer:
All of this is invalid. It is not by chance, but by the decree of Allah, our Lord, who knows what He wills,
And no female conceives nor does she give birth except with His knowledge
وَمَا تَحْمِلُ مِنْ أُنثَىٰ وَلَا تَضَعُ إِلَّا بِعِلْمِهِAllah knows what every female carries and what the wombs lose [prematurely] or exceed. And everything with Him is by due measure.
اللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَحْمِلُ كُلُّ أُنْثَى وَمَا تَغِيضُ الْأَرْحَامُ وَمَا تَزْدَادُ وَكُلُّ شَيْءٍ عِنْدَهُ بِمِقْدَارٍBut this is a compounded ignorant person who does not believe in the divine decree of Allah. The placement of the fetus and its attachment to the womb is all by the decree of Allah. Its design, whether beautiful or ugly, complete or incomplete, is all by the decree of Allah , not by mere chance, but by a prior decree that Allah decreed: that it will be born at such a time, or die at such a time, or be formed at such a time, or be embraced by the womb at such a time, and so on. All of it is by a known decree.
Therefore, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Everything is by decree - even incapacity and ability
كل شيءٍ بقدرٍ، حتى العجز والكيسIndeed, all things We created with predestination.
إِنَّا كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقْنَاهُ بِقَدَرٍQ: When some people meet each other without an appointment, do they say: this is a matter of chance, or by chance?
The Shaykh: I mean: this is with respect to them, not with respect to Allah. I mean: that they did not make an appointment. That is its meaning. I mean: if you meet him on the road or at so-and-so's place, you say: chance. I mean: you did not make an appointment with him; you met him without an appointment. They call it: chance, by convention between them, by convention among people. There is no harm in it between people, but with respect to Allah, no, it is by knowledge, by a prior decree.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.