2. With regard to understanding qadar and defining its limits and

dimensions, we must rely on the Quran and Sunnah, and not on 2 Shar� af-Ta�aawiyah, p. 276. 3 Ash-Sharee 'ah by Al-Aajurri, p. l 49. 4 Shar� U!iool J'tiqaad Ahl as-Sunnah, p. 1 57. 5 Ibid, p. 1 65 . rational analysis and analogy. For human reason is incapable on its own of forming the guidelines which will save it from going astray on this issue. Those who indulged in discussing this issue from a rational point of view have gone astray and gotten lost. Some of them denied qadar altogether; some of them thought that belief in qadar implied that we are compelled (al-jabr); and some created a conflict between Shariah and qadar. Each one of these deviations caused problems in people's daily lives and societies, because ideological deviations cause deviations in behaviour and daily life. 3.

We should avoid discussing qadar in depth, because some aspects of it cannot be comprehended by the human mind, no matter how brilliant it may be, and others cannot be comprehended except with a great deal of difficulty. It may be said: is this not a means of restricting the human intellect? The answer is that this is not aimed at restricting human thought, but at protecting the human mind from wasting its energy on something at which it cannot excel, so that it can engage in areas where can succeed. Islam presents man with the guidelines for believing in qadar. The concept of qadar is based on the fact that Allah knew everything that would be, and He wrote it, willed it and created it.

It is easy for the human mind to understand these facts; there is nothing difficult, complex or ambiguous here. But searching for the secret of qadar and pursuing the matter in depth is a waste of intellectual energy. The attempt to understand how Allah knew, wrote, willed and created, is an attempt to understand the essence of Allah's attributes and how these attributes operate these matters are hidden from the human mind. This is something which is unseen, which we are required to believe in, but it is not permissible to ask about their nature and essence. The one who asks about these things is like the one who asks how Allah rose over the Throne.

What we say to him is: these are attributes on which the principle of predestination (qadar) is based. The apparent meaning is understood, but how it happens is not known to us. It is obligatory to believe in it, but asking how is bid 'ah (heresy). Asking about its nature, how is the matter, exhausts those who ask about qadar, and makes the matter complicated and makes believing in qadar difficult. This is the cause of the confusion which affects many of those who look into this matter.

Hence, scholars defined the limits beyond which it is not permissible to go when discussing qadar. We have quoted above what Imam Ai:).mad ibn ijanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "It is a part of the well-known Sunnah to believe in qadar, both good and evil, to accept the al}aadeeth on this topic and to believe in them, and not to ask why or how. " 6 Those who discussed the matter of qadar (predestination) indulged in discussing how Allah creates the deeds of His slaves when these deeds in fact stem from the individual, and they discussed how Allah knows what His slaves will do, and how He obliged His slaves to strive even though He knew what they would do, and He knows whether their ultimate destination will be Paradise or Hell. Those who discussed this matter tried to create conflicts between parts of the Quran, and they became confused and lost, and failed to reach any sound conclusion. The Messenger (�) warned his ummah against following this path and indulging in this vast desert.

In Sunan Al-Tirmidhi it is narrated with a l}asan Isnad that Abu Hurayrah (�) said: "The Messenger of Allah (�) came out when we were debating about qadar, and he became so angry that his face turned red, as if a pomegranate had been squeezed over his face. He said, 6 Shar� l 'tiqaad Ahl as-Sunnah by Al-Laalkaa'i, 1 / 1 57. 'Is this what you have been commanded to do? Is this why I was sent to you? Those who came before you were destroyed when they debated about this matter.

I urge you not to dispute about it. "' 7 The extent to which the human mind can comprehend the reasons behind things, the commands and deeds, and what i s good or evil in them The majority of scholars of earlier and later times said that there are reasons and wisdom behind the commands that Allah gives and the things that He creates, because He does not issue any command except for a reason, and He does not create anything except for a reason. Some of these reasons are connected with people, and others are related to Allah. Those that are connected with people have to do with what is good for them and is in their best interests, in this world or in the Hereafter. Those that are connected to Allah have to do with the fact that He loves to be worshipped and obeyed, and to have people turn to Him in repentance, put their hopes in Him, fear Him, place their trust in Him and struggle bard in His way and for His sake.

Allah (�), says: "' "\'. � .:i Y:'l -11 ,,·-Ji' � i\ .� :;c t.::'-' � )) . ., � v..l '.) 0"';: ,, :i.. 1' � �And I [Allah] created not the j inn and mankind except that they should worship Me [Alone].� (Qur 'an 5 1 : 5 6) � @ .>.% �x J �'i ..�,,�J t �Does man think that he will be left neglected [without being punished or rewarded for the obligatory duties 7 Tirmidhi, 2/223. enjoined by his Lord Allah on him]?� (Qur 'an 75: 36) � e � t;; �b �3 t� � �And We have sent you [O ' Muhammad] not but as a mercy for the 'Aalameen [mankind, jinn and all that exists].� (Qur 'an 21: 1 0 7) ,,,( "'\ � / > Wy>-/j .! ..:;J (i:..:..\1" · � r'-' � "�1"' ,{ � "'': · �-: ;\� ,,L...i-:: t1 ·» � "'"'"i 1' },._ �Did you think that We had created you in play [without any purpose], and that you would not be brought back to Us?� (Qur 'an 23: 115) There are many texts, which indicate that Allah is Wise in all that He commands and creates; it is not possible to list them all here. The human mind can comprehend only a little of this wisdom. Majority of the scholars also said that the human mind is able to grasp what deeds are good and evil. So reason understands that oppression, lying, stealing and killing are evil, and that justice, truthfulness, reconciliation and saving someone who is drowning are good. The purp oses that Shariah seeks to achieve fall into three categories: 1 .

Every action is either good and beneficial or mischievous, even if Shariah does not refer specifically to a given action. It is known that justice serves the interests of all, whilst oppression has the opposite effect. This category refers to right and wrong, and we may know what is right and wrong through reason or through shari 'ah. But reason alone cannot know that a person will be punished for a wrong action in the Hereafter, unless shari' ah clearly states that this is the case. Whoever asserts that Allah can punish His slaves for evil actions such as shirk, kufr, etc., without sending Messengers to them, is mistaken. 2.

When the Lawgiver commands something, it is good, and when He forbids something, it is evil. Thus, actions are determined to be either good or evil according to the statements of the Lawgiver. 3 . The Lawgiver commands things as a test and a trial, as when Allah commanded Ibraaheem (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismaa'eel (Ishmael). The intention was not that the child should be slaughtered; the aim was to test Ibraaheem. The Mu 'talizah approved of the first category, but not the second or third.

The Ash 'ari 'ah said that all the commands and prohibitions of Shariah were in the nature of a test, and that no deeds could be described as being good or evil, whether in the light of Shariah or otherwise. But wise people, and the majority of scholars, affirm all three categories. 8 This is the view of the majority of Ahl as-Sunnah, that there are reasons behind all that Allah does and that it is possible, by rational analysis, to know which actions are good and which ones are evil. This opens the door for the human mind to examine the clear reasons for which Allah created all things, and why He prescribed the laws that He prescribed. This is a vast area, in which people can gain great knowledge, strengthen their faith, increase their conviction and come to realize the absolute perfection of the Mighty Creator. i.. / /> <( (¥) . µr �� J;' z;:j l>�I � . . �Who made everything He has created good . . ) (Qur 'an 32: 7) How can it be otherwise, when Allah has promised to show His slaves His mighty Signs which confirm the truth of the Message 8 Concerning the reasons behind what Allah does and the rational analysis of which actions are good and which are bad, see Majmoo ' al-Fataawa of Shaykh al­ lslam Tun Taymiyah 8/ 1 22, 308, 428. brought by H is Messenger, and He has revealed in His Book the words: ... "Jj.1 it � � &-- Ft�)it t!_; �\j11 � L?1: �;::, )> �@ �We will show them Our Signs in the universe, and in their own selves, until it becomes manifest to them that this [the Quran] is the truth ... � (Qur 'an 41 : 53) The Quran commands us to look at, think about and ponder the aayaat (verses) that He has revealed, and the signs that He has created: � � . . .

G1:)il 0__,_).� 5l;\ )> �Do they not then think deeply in the Quran .. . ?� (Qur 'an 4 7: 24) � s . . . ��t .;..�-:.11 � l�L: ��\ ; )> �Say: ' Behold all that is in the heavens and the earth' ... � (Qur 'an J O: 101) 4. � ,: i'- � 1,'f\ J" \ � >1�: �,� }... � � ,. ... � !:- � �_;-A-J.. ,P "? �Do they not look at the camels, how they are created?� (Qur 'an 88: 1 7) 11; < J" -:.J:']\ � �� ( �� I� / {WI c::.

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'l,$fl 20.... •• ,, W. .:i� :i1 .:J.-l �,"·;j\ ,�:i: }.,,. � -r--:- T �� �Then let man look at his food: We pour forth water in abundance. And We split the earth in clefts) (Qur 'an 80: 24-26)