The belief in
Predestination is part of the seventh Article of Faith in Islam. The other part
is personal responsibility. This is connected with the notion of Vicegerent, a
term which connects man to Allah.
Predestination,
pre-ordination and predetermination are all compatible with the teachings of
the Quran. They follow from the Law of Cause and effect. But none of these
ideas should be regarded as being the same as they are in the Western
Philosophy. The causes of all things derive directly or indirectly from the
Will, Command or Word of Allah and this is not a rigid mechanistic idea. The
Universe was created from a single command (54:50) and indeed, the whole of
time is like the twinkling of an eye to Allah (16:77). All the causal forces,
therefore derive from this single command. There are many of them at various
level of existence, but all arise by differentiation from the single Will of
Allah. The Universe has a direction of development and a purpose and all things
in it have a function with respect to this. This plan cannot be flouted. If we
know the present condition of the world C fully and all the laws L, then we can
calculate the outcome or results R. But only Allah has this knowledge. In so
far as we do not have it, things cannot be predicted.
Things are not,
however, as deterministic as used to be thought. On examination the Laws turn
out to be statistical. This is like a river that flows with a certain average
speed. The drops in it may have speeds that range from below to above that
speed depending on local conditions. As we do not know these local causes we
could say that any particular drop of water has a certain probability of having
a certain speed. It is also the case that nature produces a large variety so
that the range of possibilities is great enough to deal with changing
circumstances. The greater the variety the greater is the certainty that
something will survive the change or fulfill the purpose for which it exists
e.g. nature produces a great number of seed. Only some of these grow into
trees, but the others that do not fulfill their purpose die. But the seed that
die are not wasted. They rot, release their material and provide fertilizer for
those that grow. Seed may also provide food for birds, which may, in fact, help
the tree to live and reproduce itself in other more congenial places.
Therefore, even if the fate of the individual is undetermined, it leaves the
ultimate goal in tact. The overall plan cannot be flouted and it matters only
to the individual that it conforms to the plan for its own welfare and survival
or development.
From the Islamic
point of view Allah is the underlying reality, and the Universe and all things
in it were created out of nothing. Therefore, any object is known only by its
characteristics, and these exist only because of its interactions with other
things, that is, on its place and function in the scheme of things. The idea
that it has some kind of metaphysical existence apart from this is not an
Islamic idea. The conditions in its environment affect what it is. The
conditions can be described as consisting of all the other objects in its
environment. If the object changes then it could be regarded as a different
object. It may be regarded as the same object because of a continuity in time.
The object is then described by its history. If an object O is faced with
several alternative courses of behaviour, because it may enter one of several
different possible sets of conditions C1, C2, C3 etc., then if it enters one of
these, say C1, owing to internal or external causes, then the history which
describes it changes accordingly. Suppose we denote that object by O(c1). It
cannot be the same object as O(c2) or O(c3) which refers to the object when it
enters the other conditions. If the Universe or some section of it is described
by all the objects that exist in it, then it is described by the collective
history of all the objects. This will always be the case whatever the history
at any instant in the past, present or future. The future will depend on its
present and the present on its past. Predestination depends on this. It should
be evident from this that the difficulty in reconciling the idea of
predestination with freedom is a matter of how objects are defined. If they are
defined as something X which remain the same but which can affect other things
and to which things can happen then we certainly have a contradiction. This is
because we have separated the object itself from its surroundings.
The question is:
If everything is predestined, then man has no choice. How can he be praised or
blamed for anything. It would be injustice to reward or punish him for what
Allah Himself has pre-ordained.
The Prophet
(saw) is reported to have said: "Everything
is decreed, even backwardness and shrewdness." and "The place which
everyone of you will occupy in hell or in paradise has been recorded."
His companions
asked him: "What then, messenger of
Allah, is the good of doing anything if the matter is already decided."
and "Tell me whether the spells we invoke, the medicines we apply and the
caution we practice can avert anything Allah has decreed."
He replied: "They are part of Allah's
decree."
It seems,
therefore, that we cannot use pre-destination as an excuse for not making
efforts. Our decisions, whatever they are, are also pre-ordained. We are
responsible in so far as the causes of our actions are within us. It is we who
process the data of experience. We have to put ourselves in those situations
where we can benefit from appropriate influences. We have to change our own
histories. We can do so because we have been given intelligence and the
capacity for knowledge, causal forces have been introduced into us in the form
of scriptures, we have been provided with appropriate techniques, and we have
higher centres in ourselves from which we can control and alter lower modes of
functioning.
Abu Huraira
related that when Allah's messenger came to them while they were arguing about
Allah's decree, he became so angry that his face became red as if pomegranate
seeds had been burst open on his cheeks. He then said:- "Is this what you were commanded to do, or was I sent for this
purpose? Your predecessors perished only when they argued about this matter. I
adjure you, I adjure you not to argue about it."
We have limited
knowledge and cannot know what has been pre-ordained. It is Allah who has
complete knowledge. We cannot impose what we know about the relative and
restricted world onto the Absolute knowledge of God.
The problem of
freedom and predestination is like that of whether light is corpuscular or
wave-like. From the logical point of view each excludes the other. But the
problem is solved if we take into consideration the context. Light is
corpuscular under certain conditions of observation and wave-like under certain
other conditions of observations. Thus we have choice when we look inwards but
when we look outwards everything is determined by causes. In fact, the centre
from which we make our choice is the spirit which comes from Allah, or else it
is determined by some psychological mechanism such as an instinct, drive,
reason or an addiction, obsession or a habit and these, too have been created
by Allah for various purposes. We are required to act consciously and this
frees us from lower mechanisms. The centre from which it is determined cannot
see itself. Since it acts according to its own nature it seems free.
The Prophet is
reported to have said:-
"Do not sit with those who believe in Free
Will and do not address them before they address you."
Consider the
following verses:-
"Say: Naught befalls us save what Allah
has written down for us; He is our Patron. In Allah let believers trust!"
9:51
"It is He who created for you all that is
in the earth, then he made for the heavens and fashioned them seven heavens;
and He knows all things." 2:29 Also 2:115, 57:3
"Verily, your Lord is Allah, who created
the heavens and the earth in six Days (or Periods, Ages, Cycles); then He
established (or ascended) Himself firmly on the Throne (of Authority), to
govern (direct, regulate) all things; there is no intercessor, except after His
permission. This is Allah, your Lord! Therefore, worship (serve) Him. Will ye
not remind (or praise in thought and action, remember, remain aware)?"
10:4
"And unto Allah falls prostrate whosoever
is in the heavens or the earth, willingly or unwillingly, as do their shadows
in the morning and evening hours." 13:15
"There is no strength save in Allah".
18:40 See also 35:11, 54:49,52, 57:22, 87:2-3, 11:6
But,
"O ye who believe! Ye have charge of your
own souls; he who errs can do you no hurt if ye are rightly guided: unto Allah
will you all return, and He will declare to you the truth of that which ye
do." 5:105
"They said: O our Lord! We have wronged
our own souls - and if Thou dost not forgive us and have mercy on us, we shall
surely be of those who are lost!" 7:23
"Say: O mankind! There has come to you the
Truth from your Lord, and he who is guided by it, his guidance is only for his
own soul; and he who errs, errs only against it; and I am not a warder over
you." 10:109
See also 41:46, 4:79, 13:11, 40:40, 18:29
People construct
themselves by whatever they do, think or intend:-
"Is he who has laid his foundation upon
duty to Allah and of His good pleasure better, or he who has laid his
foundation upon a crumbling undermined sand cliff, which crumbles away with him
into the fire of hell? Allah guides not a people who do wrong. The building
which they have built will not cease to be a source of doubt in their hearts
until their hearts are cut asunder; but Allah is Knowing, Wise." 9:109-110
"And by the soul and Who fashioned it, and
enlightened it with what is wrong and right for it! He indeed is successful who
causes it to grow (or purifies it)! And he indeed is a failure who corrupts
it!" 91:7-10
The following
verse appears to say that there is something Allah does not know i.e. what a
person will do, and this is where man has choice. But this contradicts the
omniscience of Allah. The bit in brackets, however, is an alternative
translation that avoids this contradiction. It simply means that the judgment
will come after testing not before.
"Did ye suppose that ye would be left in
peace, when Allah yet knoweth not (or has not yet determined or tested) those
of you who will strive, and who take none other than Allah and His Messenger,
and the believers for protectors and friends? But Allah is well aware of what
ye do." 9:16
In the following
verses things are done, not by the command, but by the permission of Allah:-
"...and what has been revealed to the two
angels, Harut and Marut, at Babylon, yet neither taught any one until they
said, "We are but a temptation, so do not blaspheme." Men learn from
them only that by which they may part man and wife; but they can harm no one
therewith, unless with the permission of Allah, and they learn what hurts them,
not what profits them." 2:102
"Allah, there is no God but He, the
Living, the Eternal. Slumber takes Him not, nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever
is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. Who is it that intercedes with
Him save by His permission? He knows what is before them and what behind them,
and they comprehend nothing of His Knowledge but of what He pleases. His throne
extends over the heavens and the earth, and it tires Him not to preserve them
both, for He is Sublime, the Grand." 2:255
"It is not for any soul to die, save by
Allah's permission, written down for an appointed time; but he who wishes for
the reward of this world We will give him of it, and he who wishes for the
reward of the Hereafter We will give him of it, and We will recompense the
grateful." 3:145 See also 7:58, 8:66, 10:101, 14:1, 40:78 etc.
The implication
here is that certain possibilities or potentialities also exist which can be
actualised.
Judgment will be
given with Justice. Justice implies a Law so that things are treated in
proportion to their actions. Benefit and harm, pleasure or pain, reward or
punishment are consequences of a persons own actions. On the other hand it is
pain and pleasure which drives behaviour and evolution - the one provides
incentives and the other repulsion. But it presupposes memory and reactions or
knowledge and awareness of what will cause pain and pleasure, and the point of
interest is not so much the pain and pleasure themselves but what it is that
causes them. Pain and pleasure are merely indicators of what is harmful or
beneficial.
"And you shall see the angels going round
about the throne glorifying the praise of their Lord; and judgment shall be
given between them with justice, and it shall be said: All praise is due to
Allah, the Lord of the worlds." 39:75
However, Scriptures teach not only law and
Justice, but also Mercy and forgiveness and Truth.
"And when those who believe in our
revelations come to thee, say: Peace be on you! Allah hath prescribed for
Himself mercy; verily, he of you who does evil in ignorance, and then repents
and does right, verily, He is Forgiving and Merciful." 6:54
"Allah created the heavens and the earth
with truth. Verily, in this is a sign for those have faith." 29:44
"He it is Who has created the heavens and
the earth with truth; and on the day when He says: BE, it is." 6:73 See
15:85, 16:3, 29:49 etc.
This points to a
built-in flexibility and tolerance and to simple existence without involving
determinism. Things are not rigid. This may be compared to a sheet of paper
representing a field of potentialities. On this, lines are drawn in various
directions crossing each other and branching off. These represent causal
pathways along which people may be moving. But these lines have a centre of concentration;
they are fuzzy the further from the centre we go. Whereas we see the lines only
where they reach a certain threshold of intensity, the vision of God is not so
limited - He sees the whole Field. Or to put it in another way: whatever happens
happens in the Field, and the Field must be regarded as knowing it since it
affects it. Whereas, for us time may be said to pass, for an Eternal Being no
time passes, it is we who pass along time. In Relativity Theory time is
regarded as a dimension. It is like space. In the Quran creation is like the
twinkling of an eye. Time is relative to the perceiver or the system
considered. Thus an Hour or Day may be like a thousand years, fifty thousand
years or some other period.
The following
arguments may help understanding: -
(1) It is not
possible to do anything without a cause or without power or without the
existence of the appropriate potentialities. (a) If things could be done
without purpose or cause then this would be an arbitrary, impulsive and
irrational action. This is quite valueless and is frowned upon. Impulsive and
erratic actions are seen as malfunctions due to the failure of the mechanisms
for purposive action. But they have causes we are not aware of and do not
control. (b) There would be chaos and disorder because of the numerous sources
of random actions. Nothing would then be ordered, recognizable, predictable or
controllable, and no science would be possible. (c) It would also mean that God
is not omnipotent. This would make religion and all value systems impossible.
Everyone's values would be as good as anyone else's and things could only be
settled by conflict. But power rather than goodness would become the arbiter of
what should exist and we are back to the denial that free choice exists. (d)
All things have limitations and exist in an environment of other things that
also limit them. Though a person may intend to do something, the results of the
action depend on other things and other people over which a person has no
control. If all had free will, then each would limit the others. The person is
not responsible for the results but the intentions and the inner efforts. It is
these that modify him.
(2) Human
behaviour depends on three things:- inherent genetically determined factors,
factors acquired from the environment, and the results of efforts.
(3) There is no
"free will". But there is "freedom" and there is
"will". Freedom simply means that alternative ways of behaviour are
possible though each requires a cause. There are a great number of
possibilities or potentialities that could be actualised in nature, in things
and situations to different proportions but especially in man. Will simply
means that things or forces act according to their own inherent nature. This
applies to man (Study 2:30 and 30:30) When two things, A and B interact then
the result from the point of view of A is not only due to the external force
coming from B, but also due to the nature of A and the relationship between
them C. People falsely suppose that causation refers only to outer forces. Thus
looking inward we may suppose we have freedom. But the nature of things is made
by Allah. Therefore, ultimately their actions are also caused by Allah. Freedom
may, therefore, also mean that there are no outer or inner obstructions to this
inherent functioning, or will.
By inherent
nature is meant the structure, abilities and faculties created by God. There is
"freedom to", "freedom from" and "freedom of".
There is inner freedom from inner restrictions (habits, conditioning, and
prejudices) to the functioning of the spirit or reason or perception, and there
is outer freedom from social, political, economic or environmental
restrictions.
The damage is
done by flouting the laws of Allah, inner or outer:- Fact 1: Fire burns. Fact
2: We do not like to burn - this is inbuilt in our nature. Fact 3: We avoid
being burnt.
So we need to be
educated to avoid falling into the fire. We learn from (a) experience or (b)
observation or (c) instruction or (d) reason or (e) inspiration.
If we choose to
fling ourselves into the fire we will still burn. We will do so only through
ignorance. If I ask someone: "Why did you choose to do this rather than
that", and he says: "because of such and such", then I know his
action was not free but determined by that reason (provided he is aware and
telling the truth). If, however, he says: "No reason", then I would
think he is a fool because his action is not purposive but caused by some
impulse he was not aware of or to obsession.
There are a
great number of causes. As long as we behave in an automatic manner without
awareness and control we are subject to all kinds of outer and inner forces.
But we are also capable of acting consciously. This is another cause, a
spiritual one, but it frees us from these lower forces.
"It is not for any soul to believe save by
the permission of Allah; He sets uncleanness on those who have no sense."
10:101
"Who believe in what is revealed to thee,
and what was revealed before thee (Muhammad ), and are sure of the Hereafter.
These are guided by their Lord, and these are the successful. Verily, those who
misbelieve, it is the same to them if ye warn them or if ye warn them not, they
will not believe. Allah has set a seal upon their hearts and on their hearing;
and on their eyes is dimness, and for them is grievous woe." 2:4-7
"And whomsoever it is Allah's will to
guide, He expands his bosom unto the Surrender, and whomsoever it is His Will
to send astray, He makes his bosom close and narrow as if he were engaged in
sheer ascent. Thus Allah lays ignominy upon those who believe not." 6:125
"He
whom Allah leads, he indeed is led aright, while he whom Allah sends astray -
they indeed are losers." 7:178
"And if thy Lord willed, all who are in
the earth would have believed together. Would you (Muhammad) compel men until
they are believers? It is not for any soul to believe save by the permission of
Allah. He has set uncleanness upon those who have no sense. 10:99-100
"And Allah's is the direction of the way,
and some (roads) go not straight. And had He willed He would have led you all
aright." 16:9
"That is because they have chosen the life
of the world rather than the Hereafter, and because Allah guides not the
disbelieving folk. Such are they whose hearts and ears and eyes Allah hath
sealed. And such are the heedless." 16:107-108
"In their hearts is a disease, and Allah
increases their disease, and for them is grievous woe because they lied."
2:10
So we have
several stages:- (a) state of sin or not (b) sense or not (c) cleanness or
uncleanness (d) choice e.g. the life of this world or the hereafter (e)
confirmation by Allah.
Uncleanness
removes the choice. There is, in fact, a vicious circle involved. There is
lying (or self-deceiving, rationalization) which is the result of sin or
"disease of the heart" and this leads to more disease; a downward
spiral. The climb back is a reverse spiral.
It is Allah who
has free will and can do as He likes. Man may originally have had this will
owing to the Spirit which was breathed into him (32:9), but it was part of
Allah's will and man was a vicegerent (he was in a state of surrender). But he
was reduced to the lowest (95:4-6), except for those who believe and act right.
This traps them in a prison.
"And who does greater wrong than he who
has been reminded of the revelations of his Lord, yet turns away from them and
forgets what his hands send forward (to the Judgment) ? Lo! On their hearts We
have placed coverings so that they understand not, and in their ears a
deafness. And though you call them to the guidance, in that case they can never
be led aright." 18:57
"Verily, those who misbelieve, it is the
same to them if ye warn them or if you warn them not, they will not believe.
Allah has set a seal upon their hearts and on their hearing; and on their eyes
is dimness, and for them is grievous woe." 2:6-7
The person first
turns away from the revelation and then Allah places a covering over their
understanding. There is then no possibility that they can choose to believe or
not. It is only Allah in His mercy who might guide them back.
"Verily, he (Satan) has no power over
those who believe and who upon their Lord rely. His power is only over those
who take him for a patron, and over the idolaters." 16:99-100
"Verily, over My servants thou hast no
authority, save such of the froward (or perverse) as follow thee." 15:42
It seems here
that Satan has no powers of compulsion and a person must choose to follow him.
Indeed, Satan himself was permitted, given the freedom, to tempt man. But he
could not succeed with those who had faith. You might interpret this as a
"free choice" - a person can choose to follow Allah or Satan. But we
can still ask: what determined the choice? The answer in these verses is
idolatry (a kind of addiction) or perversity. So ultimately we have to rely on
the Mercy of Allah to guide us. This includes the causes He sets in motion:-
Messengers, Scriptures, Inspiration, Insight, forgiveness, healing, suitable
circumstances and influences, and the inner resources and faculties that He
bestows. No need for any of this if we have free will. If we did have free will
what would be the point of punishment or reward either by the State or by
Allah? Nor would it be justice to give us free choice and then punish us for
exercising it.
If we have
alternatives we choose the most advantageous one as far as we can discern them.
This determines our choice. Obviously then our intelligence, capacity for
consciousness, knowledge, inner motives or desires are relevant. The
variability of the concentration and direction of attention will determine what
we see and how we judge the alternatives. The purpose of the causal forces -
the reward and punishment, the impulse of love and the teaching and perception
of truth - is just this that all these relevant faculties should develop and
man should grow (91:7-10) .
(4) All things
including ourselves exist in an environment of other things with which we
interact. We are part of the world, made by its materials, forces and
information, and develop by interaction with it and other people. We are not,
therefore, independent of the world. But we, as all other things to different
degrees, also have a degree of separation, autonomy or self-determination that
allows resistance to, absorption and manipulation of, and adaptation to,
environmental forces. This power may be called intelligence. It is this
autonomy which gives things their distinct nature.
(5) It follows
from the above that (a) things may be regarded as systems in which the parts
have a function in creating this autonomy. (b) things only arise because they
have some function with respect to the system to which they belong. (c) The
characteristics displayed by things, by which they are recognised, dependent
not only on them but also on the environment or context in which they exist and
will vary with them. (d) There is a certain tension between the need for a
thing to maintain its own autonomy and its function with respect to the higher
system to which it belongs. But there is some inter-dependence between these
two functions.
(6) It is fairly obvious that we do not see
things as they are apart from an observer, but what we see is the effects of
things on our consciousness. The world we see is, therefore, a result, W of the
things-in-themselves, T and the nature of our Consciousness, C and the
relationship or interaction, R that exists between the two. W=TCR.
Consciousness C is a relationship between the Real World, X and ourselves, O,
both unknown. It both separates and unites. In other words experience,
knowledge or observation is a relationship between Object and Observer. All
three derive by differentiation from a single original Unity and return to it.
The new born baby does not make any such distinctions, but this distinction
begins to arise gradually. At first he/she must distinguish between self and
not-self and later he/she also learns that there is a distinction between what
he/she sees and others see or the images in memory or imagination. But human
beings, like other creatures, degenerate and die. Because of these
interdependencies the idea of self may arise as reflection of the external
world - people see themselves according to their possessions, other peoples
opinions, events and interactions with the society and the world. The external
world, likewise may be seen as a reflection of self - according to what a
person desires or does, his attitudes and personality, what he surrounds
himself with. The opinions about other people, things, subjects and the world in
general have usually little to do with the real nature of things but more with
the personality, inherent or acquired. But these lead to actions that determine
other experiences that modify the person. And this leads to the changes in
world view. This process is usually quite uncontrolled and accidental without
intelligent direction. It is religion that takes control. Since consciousness
refers to relationships, knowledge (the contents of consciousness) is always
relative. This requires that known things should always interact and be
dependent. This does not apply to X or O, and O is part of X.
(7) There are many forces affecting,
transformed and transmitted by man - mechanical, chemical, physiological,
biological (bacteria etc.), electronic, electromagnetic, social, psychological,
and spiritual. It is perfectly possible that events that may be caused at one
level are controlled at a higher level. Thus, it is possible to control one's
reflexes and instincts through higher centres in the brain. Freedom refers to
this and is relative. Human beings can be compared to a hierarchy or a pyramid.
There is progressively more freedom and power as we approach the apex. Ultimately
we can obtain control over all lower forces through the spiritual force. It is
what gives us consciousness. The Universe itself may be regarded in the same
way. All causes and power come ultimately from God. Or to put it another way,
they arise from the source of the Big Bang. The word "spirit" refers
to the original force that comes from God by His Command. (54:49-50, 65:12).
Man can, therefore, be represented as a section through the Universal Pyramid.
(8) There is an
overall direction of development to the Universe, a purpose and a goal.
Predestination refers to this. This cannot be flouted. This inherent goal is
the cause of the Universe and all processes in it. The main thing one notices
about human beings is that their life is purposive, At the simplest level they
must eat to live and this means getting and preparing food. Everything they do
arises from impulses within them and has a goal within them. Their actions are
based on past knowledge, are done in the present, for a future goal. He has a
extension in space-time. At any instance man is the result of past actions. He
constructs himself. But he is a process within a greater universal process on
which he is also dependent. His purposiveness arises from, and channels and
propagates, Universal purposiveness. The survival of the individual for
instance is dependent on the survival of the race and vice versa, and that on
the whole of the biosphere and so on. Objectively, the notions of good and evil
are connected with this - that which facilitates the goal is good and that
which obstructs or negates it is evil. All things have a function with respect
to this goal. If an entity fails to perform this function it is replaced. It
suffers and is destroyed releasing the materials it is composed of for a new
construction and leaving those things that do fulfil the function. As this
destruction removes the malfunction it is also good. The plan or goal remains
in tact and cannot be flouted. (11:57, 14:19, 70:41, 76:28) Thus the objection
to the notion of pre-determination on moral grounds is false and futile.
(9) We learn
from our experiences in the world from trial and error, pain and pleasure,
adversity and fortune, and the world was created to test us. We learn by
observation through our senses and from communication and interaction with the
world and other people, from our culture, from teaching by parents in homes,
teachers in schools and colleges and training centres. All these are causal
forces. So is the Law, the rules and regulations, the police and courts, the
reward and punishment involved in the profession, trade, industry and all kinds
of institutions and organizations and in the political system. No where in the
world is it supposed that all this is a matter of "free will". The
Prophets, the scriptures, its doctrines and instructions, the force which exist
in its rhythms and discipline are also causal forces which have been sent to us
by Allah in His Mercy to rescue us from damaging ourselves.
(10) The purpose or function of the teaching
is to indicate (a) that whatever a person may do or say, his opinions have
causes and everyone is in exactly the same position. There is nothing
significant about opinions and these are rejected (See 10:37). (b) That truth
lies at quite a different level, not in the opinion but in the processes of the
world. We must align ourselves with these to receive truth. These abstract or
formal objections to ideas such as predestination are, therefore, meaningless (c)
that man has to put himself under suitable causal forces in order to be
transformed and cannot do it by simply thinking or desiring it, though these are
also causal forces which may lead to action.
Apart from the
fact that revelation denies free will, and that it is a logically absurd
notion, there is also scientific evidence against it. Volunteers were wired up
to record their brain activity. They were asked to press a button when a
particular object came onto a screen before them. The difference between the
occurrence of the image and pressing the button gave the reaction time. They
were then asked to make a choice between objects and press a button corresponding
to the choice. The result of this experiment showed that there was brain
activity long before the conscious choice occurred, but no awareness of this.
Sub-conscious or unconscious factors determined the choice. This could be
influenced by changing various things within the laboratory such temperature,
humidity, comfort of chair, smells, the food eaten, the colours of the wall,
pictures on it, the shape of the instruments, the voices of the experimenters,
the mood of the subjects, and so on.
To summarize:-
Everything has a cause. Nothing can be done without power. The original source
of all power and cause of all things is Allah. He is the source of all the Laws
as well as what scientists or atheists call “chance” or ”random events”. Allah
is Omnipotent. If there were such a thing as Free Will, it would make Allah
less than Omnipotent. Therefore, it cannot exist. What we call Will is itself
derived from Allah. It refers to the Spirit within us. God has sealed the
hearts of miscreants. The spirit can only be activated through the guidance of
God, obtained by obeying God. That is, by using the techniques recommended by
the Scriptures He sends. Some people are puzzled by the fact that the Quran
tells us
"This is an admonition: whosoever will,
let him take a path to his Lord. But ye will not, except as Allah wills ... He
will admit to his mercy whom He wills. But the wrongdoers - for them has he
prepared a grievous penalty." 76:29-31
The following
verses tell us that God is Omnipotent 4:88, 6:149, 11:118-119, 14:4, 35:8,
74:31
Some people
think that this makes Allah into a dictator, a despot and a bully. And it is
unclear to them how anyone could be accountable for their actions if it is
Allah who has chosen not to guide them. The Quran, they think contradicts
itself by telling us that man is responsible for his own state. But they might
as well suppose that Nature and the Laws of the Universe are despotic. Giving
up religion will not help them in this regard. They cannot abolish the laws.
Nor is this attitude useful. They will have to accept them and adjust
themselves accordingly. In short they will have to Surrender (Islam). They
might prefer to believe in a God who is not omnipotent. But this preference
will not do them any good. Illusions do not solve real problems.
The Quran also
tells us that Allah has prescribed Mercy for Himself and that He is
Oft-forgiving and that in his Mercy He has sent Prophets to guide mankind. This
and the Scriptures they bring are also causal forces, which might activate us.
There are laws and these produce consequences according to what we do. If a
person carries on doing what is harmful is he not inviting the consequences?
Suppose a doctor prescribes a medicine for an illness and the patient takes the
medicine. Is there a contradiction between saying that the patient was cured
because he took the medicine or that the doctor cured him or that the medicine
cured him, or that the laws and processes of the person's body cured him? Now
if you reverse this and the patient does not take the medicine. What is his
punishment? Is it brought on by himself or by the doctor or the processes of
nature?
The Islamic
position can probably be understood better if it is realized that Islam does
not have an idea of determinism in the Western mechanical sense. That is,
things are not regarded as dead and inert requiring external forces to create
change as described by Newton’s
laws. No, things are alive and have various amounts of autonomy. There are
outer a well as inner causes and Allah is both the Inner and the Outer (53:7).
Will is an attribute of God and of His Spirit, which is also in man. To say man
has “free will” implies that there is a centre of action or causes apart from
Allah. This is not compatible with Tawhid. It is idolatry. What is really meant
is the possibility of self-determination, that the causes of the action are
within the organism (e.g. memories, drives, etc.). Freedom has meaning only
with respect to some intention or desire. Politically it means that the
self-determination of the individual should not be obstructed by others.
Biologically it means that the functioning of the organism is not obstructed by
disease, disabilities and injuries. Psychologically it means that the
functioning of the mind should not be hampered by habits, obsessions,
addictions, phobias, fantasies, prejudices and the like. Spiritually it means
that the divine spirit in man be allowed to function without obstructions. The
purpose of religion is to liberate the Spirit. The person in whom it does not is
a slave to whatever is controlling him. There are, therefore, several sources
of this enslavement – habits, addiction, fantasies and so forth and these may
be collectively described as the ego or false self.
We can,
therefore, represent a person by means of several concentric circles around a
centre or “I” which is the Divine Spirit. Each possesses its own processes.
These may be controlled from the inner circles to various degrees or obstruct
their functioning or act as barriers between the outer and inner. The purpose
of religions is to re-connect the outer with the inner. This system of
concentric circles representing a person is itself within a larger circle of
humanity and the Cosmos. Reconnection, therefore, also implies reconnection
with the Cosmos.
It is true,
of course, some Muslims, notably Qadrias and Mutazilites, erroneously believed
in free will, a belief they justified by verses such as 42:30. But these people
were misled by Greek Philosophy and a faulty Logic that always makes
dichotomies, "Either this or that". Islam is based on Unity.