Part 21

When children understand the temporal nature of this world and the fact that it will eventually come to an end, this diminishes their interest in the material things and decreases love of this life. When they realize that this world is temporary and not our permanent abode, it will become less significant to them. This is one of the characteristics of a true believer. In this way, they will not covet, work for, or compete over matters of this worldly life, as do those who

" create their own ‘paradise’ in the life of this world and focus on that as an end in itself. They will not waste their time in idle and trivial pursuits, but rather will use their time wisely, for the sake of Allah. They will set their goal for what is awaiting them in the hereafter.

146 The Day of Resurrection and the Hereafter

They will be able to delay gratification in this world for that which will come in the next, realizing that the recompense in the hereafter is eternal.

* Bukhari * Muslim

Nurturing Eemdn in Children 147

Death, in fact, may come at any moment and we need to be prepared at all times. We need to ready our children, for they may depart before us. Preparation is carried out by gaining knowledge, correcting beliefs, performing good deeds, and recalling the rewards that Allah has promised. The greatest reward will be Allah’s pleasure and the opportunity to see Him and to be close to Him in the hereafter. What better reward for nurturing eeman?

Chapter 11 Divine Will and Predestination

€No disaster strikes upon the earth or among yourselves except that it is in a register [the Preserved Slate]' before We bring it into being — indeed, that, for Allah, is easy. In order that you may not despair over what has eluded you and not exult [in pride] over what He has been

Belief in Divine will and predestination

Belief in predestination is the final pillar of eeman. There are many texts of the Qur’an that mention the will and decree of Allah. Allah (4%) says,

' The Preserved Slate, called al-Lawh al-Mahfoodh in Arabic, is the writing tablet in Heaven on which Allah’s words and decrees are engraved for all eternity. (Editor)

2 A sound hadith narrated by Al-Tirmidhi

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Indeed, all things We created with predestination.) (Qur’an 54: 49)

4... [He] has created each thing and determined it with [precise]

Many of the texts that mention the knowledge, power, will, and creation of Allah, the Exalted, the Almighty, also refer to predestination. Belief in Allah’s decree entails belief in all of these aspects.> Predestination is defined as decree, judgment, and ultimate destiny. Technically, it means:

.. something of which there was prior knowledge, one of the things which was written by the Pen* when it wrote down everything that was going to happen for the rest of eternity, when Allah decreed the affairs of all His creation and what would happen before it happened. He knew that these things

> Al-Ashgar, Divine Will and Predestination, pp. 24-23

* It is reported on the authority of ‘Ubadah ibn as-SAmit (ra) that he said to his son: Oh, son! You will never taste true faith until you know that whatever afflicts you would not have missed you, and whatever has missed you would never have come to you. I heard the Messenger of Allah (bpuh) say: The first thing Allah created was the pen; He commanded it to write. It said: My Lord, what shall I write? He (exalted is He) said: Write down what has been ordained for all things until the establishment of the Hour. Oh, my son! | heard Allah’s Messenger say: Whoever dies believing something other than this does not belong to me. In another narration by Imam Ahmad, it was reported: Verily, the first thing which Allah Most High created was the pen, and He said to it: Write; and in that very hour all what was to occur (was written) — up to the Day of Resurrection. In another version from Ibn Wahb, it was said: Allah’s Messenger said: Whoever disbelieved in destiny, the good and the bad of it, will be burnt in the fire of hell. (A sound hadith narrated by At-Tabarani)

150 Divine Will and Predestination

Belief in predestination is based upon four essential components:

1. Belief that the knowledge of Allah is all-encompassing:

Or ke] Bod SS WAG By 4... the Knower of the unseen. Not absent from Him is an atom’s weight within the heavens or within the earth or [what is] smaller than that or greater, except that it is in a clear register.) (Quran 34: 3) 2. Belief that Allah has written everything that will happen until the Day of Resurrection (in the Preserved Slate):

EBA ALY GN Kea gt i ai oi ay

{Do you not know that Allah knows what is in the heaven and earth? Indeed, that is in a Record [the Preserved Slate]. Indeed that, for 3. Belief in the will and perfect power of Allan — what He wills happens and what He does not will does not happen:

5 Ageedat al-Isfara’eeni as quoted in Al-Ashqar, Divine Will and Predestination, p. 33

Nurturing Eemdn in Children ISI

Pay aa a ae 4 tay sc] GOL SAS ICS oY 2d Verily, His Command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says

4. Belief that Allah has created everything that exists, and that He has no partner in His creation:

Allah is the Creator of all things...) (Qur’an 39: 62)

Indeed, all things We created with predestination.) (Qur’an 54: 49)

Affirming each of these pillars leads to perfection of belief in predestination.” Ibn ‘Abbas said:

Predestination is the essence of tawhid. Whoever worships Allah, the Almighty, alone and believes in predestination has perfected his tawhid, but whoever worships Allah alone but does not believe in predestination, destroys his tawhid by this disbelief.

Connecting children to Divine will and predestination

Belief in predestination revolves around the understanding that nothing happens in the world without Allah’s knowledge, permission, and will. What Allah wills for a person will occur and what He does not will does not occur. No one can stop His decree or overpower His affairs. These are significant concepts for children to understand.

7 Al-Ashgar, Divine Will and Predestination, p. 37 8 Majmoo' al-Fatdwa li Shaykh al-Islam as quoted in Al-Ashqar, Divine Will and Predestination, p. 25

152 Divine Will and Predestination

Children should be trained to believe in predestination from a very young age and to accept the good and bad of it, for it is from Allah.