Qadar (doctrine)
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Salafi/Kharijite Sixth pillar of Islam. |
- This is a sub-article of Sunni Islam, Aqidah and Predestination.
| Arabic |
| قدر |
| Transliteration |
| Qadr |
| Translation |
| "measure/fate" |
Qadr is divine destiny in Islam.
Contents |
[edit] Etymology
In Islam, "predestination" is the usual English language rendering of a belief that Muslims call al-qada wa al-qadar in Arabic. The phrase means "the divine decree and the predestination"; al-qadar derives from a root that means to measure out.
[edit] Concept
The phrase reflects a Muslim doctrine that God has measured out the span of every person's life, their lot of good or ill fortune, and whether they will follow the straight (righteous) path or not. When referring to the future, Muslims frequently qualify any predictions of what will come to pass with the phrase Insha'Allah, Arabic for "if God wills." The phrase recognises that human knowledge of the future is limited, and that all that may or may not come to pass is under the control of God.
Qadar is one of the aspects of aqidah. Muslims believe that the divine destiny is when God wrote down in the Preserved Tablet ("al-Lawhu 'l-Mahfuz") all that has happened and will happen, which will come to pass as written.
According to this belief, a person's action is not caused by what is written in the Preserved Tablet but, rather, the action is written in the Preserved Tablet because God knows what the person's nature will cause them to do.
Another perspective asserts that God is omniscent and therefore has foreknowledge of all possible futures. With divine power, God then also deems which futures will be allowed, and man's choice is between those possibilities approved by God.
[edit] History
Among the historical proponents were:
Those who critizised the Sunni view of the doctrine were:
- Ma'bad al-Juhani, the first man who discussed Qadr in Basra
[edit] Sunni view
Sunni enumerate Qadar as one aspect of their creed (Arabic: aqidah) They believe that the divine destiny is when God wrote down in the Preserved Tablet ("al-Lawhu 'l-Mahfuz") all that has happened and will happen, which will come to pass as written.
According to this belief, a person's action is not caused by what is written in the Preserved Tablet, rather, the action is written in the Preserved Tablet because God knows what the person's nature will cause them to do.
Another perspective asserts that God is omniscient and therefore has foreknowledge of all possible futures. With divine power, God then also deems which futures will be allowed, and man's choice is between those possibilities approved by God.
[edit] Shi'a view
Shi'a also belive in predestination, but not in the same sense as Sunnis.
A Murtada Mutahhari, a Shi'a scholar, explains [2]:
| The Beginnings of Kalam:
Though nothing definite can be said about the beginnings of 'ilm al-kalam among Muslims, what is certain is that discussion of some of the problems of kalam, such as the issue of predestination (jabr) and free will (ikhtiyar), and that of Divine Justice, became current among Muslims during the first half of the second century of Hijrah. Perhaps the first formal centre of such discussions was the circle of al-Hasan al-Basri (d. 110/728-29). Among the Muslim personalities of the latter half of the first century, the names of Ma'bad al-Juhani (d. 80/ 699) and Ghaylan ibn Muslim al-Dimashqi (d. 105/723) have been mentioned, who adamantly defended the ideas of free will (ikhtiyar) and man's freedom. There were others who opposed them and supported predestination (jabr). The believers in free will were called "qadariyyah" and their opponents were known as "jabriyyah". Gradually the points of difference between the two groups extended to a series of other issues in theology, physics, sociology and other problems relating to man and the Resurrection, of which the problem of jabr and ikhtiyar was only one. During this period, the "qadariyyah" came to be called "Mu'tazilah" and the "jabriyyah" became known as "Asha'irah". The Orientalists and their followers insist on considering the beginnings of discursive discussions in the Islamic world from this point or its like. However, the truth is that rational argumentation about Islamic doctrines starts with the Holy Qur'an itself, and has been followed up in the utterances of the Holy Prophet (S) and especially in the sermons of Amir al-Mu'minin 'Ali (A). This despite the fact that their style and approach are different from those of the Muslim mutakallimun[3] |
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[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ 431 hadith found in 'The Book of Faith (Kitab Al-Iman)' of Sahih Muslim. [1]
- ^ [2] [3]
- ^ See Murtada Mutahhari, Sayri dar Nahj al-balaghah, pp.69-76, where the author has discussed the difference between the approach of the Nahj al-balaghah to the problems of theology and metaphysics and the approach of Muslim mutakallimun and philosophers to such problems. (Translator)
