So I was reading this article , and I read these 2 ahadith in it. and it goes like this, > Allah created some people for hell and some people for paradise. My initial understanding of this hadith was that, as people live out their lives. The people who do good will goto heaven and people who do bad will goto hell, both groups of people are given free will. So it is very fair and I dont have any issue with it. but then this next hadith confuses me, > Each one of you will find it easy to do what he was created for. This above hadith makes it sound very unfair to me, for example lets say I was created for hell that means God created a **tendency** in me to commit sins and made it harder for me to do good deeds. While the people God chose for heaven, he made a **tendency** in them to do good deeds and made it hard for them to commit sins. So this kind of negates the whole **free will** thing. It basically means that God has chosen favourites and the system is **rigged** as the chances of person created for Hell commiting sins **by design** is higher than the chances for person created for Heaven to commit sins. Also can be intrepreted as not all humans were created equal, as it is unfair towards the person created for Hell, as God literally made it easier for him to commit sins at no fault of his. I am a Muslim and I believe in Allah and his Prophet (PBUH) and this hadith could be weak or I am misinterpreting it, so please if anybody knows, can you please clarify for me. Thank you

I can't stop thinking about that question since i first has been asked it from an atheist. I am a Muslim and I believe none has a 100% belief in Allah s.w.t even me, and that is because the logical questions that come to our minds from time to time. Then I decided to try atheists' questions, and see their answers or try to answer it in order to clear all these questions to me to reach 100% certainty in Allah.

From my very basic understanding, in Islam, everything that has happened and that _will_ happen is [already known by God](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predestination_in_Islam) . Yet it also says at the same time that humans have free will. I don't get how this works in detail. If God knows everything and is the source of all actions, then we are like cogs in a giant wheel and have no free will. Yet if humans have free will, then God is not a part of at least some parts of the universe (such as human minds)? But God is a part of everything, God is not absent from any part of the universe, so I don't get how these two ideas can coexist. The only way I can imagine it is like a rat in a wheel. The rat is in a cage, running along in a spinning wheel. Inside the wheel, they are free to run and run and do whatever they want. But they are not causing anything outside of the wheel to happen, so in that sense their actions are not tied to the rest of the system. But that's as far as that metaphor goes. I have heard some people say that "well God controls the _spiritual world_, while humans control the physical world. The physical world is a test bed for how humans act, and after death they will be judged for their actions in the spiritual world, and a corresponding reward or punishment chosen for them." Sort of thing. But even then, that is saying that God is only present in the spiritual dimension, not the physical. It is as if God carved out a space (physical space) where God is not present. And only interacts through messages or something. But that contradicts other ideas which say God is omnipresent in the universe. So I'm not sure how this works. Can you please explain how the concepts of human free will and an all-knowing God can coexist, from the perspective of Islam?

I had an argument with a friend who wanted me to logically or with a reference tell him, that if Allah has decided everything for us. E.g, if I pick a glass and put it at another place, if that is decided (as Qur'an says, that our life has been written), then where is the free will because our fate has been decided, i.e., if Allah has given us free will, then how can we say that everything we do in life is already written? In the same context, why do we have angels on our shoulders writing down every thing wrong and good, if Allah knows our intention and already decided our fate even before we were born
Is there any reference or Ayah or Hadith regarding it?

I think I first heard in talk by Dr. Zakir Naik that us humans were given a choice of free will (perhaps between free will and being an angel). Obviously, we chose free will. To me, this made absolute sense: Allah would never leave a loophole where an individual who is about to go to Hell may say "Oh Allah! I did not ask for any of this!" To my knowledge there are two verses in the Quran that are related to this matter. The first one is indirectly related: > **And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants and made them testify of themselves, > [saying to them], "Am I not your Lord?" They said, "Yes, we have > testified." [This] - lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, > "Indeed, we were of this unaware." [7:172]** However, *I think,* the following verse is related to my question: > **We offered Our Trust (Our deputation) to the heavens, to the earth, and to the mountains, but they could not bear this burden and were > afraid to accept it. Mankind was able to accept this offer but he was > unjust to himself and ignorant of the significance of this Trust. > [33:72]** Could this verse be talking about the the choice of free will? (And, of course, all the responsibilities that comes with it, and that is why mountains did not accept it, and that is why mankind is considered unjust to himself and ignorant about the Truth.) **My Questions:** 1. What is the scholarly view about this verse (33:72)? 2. With respect to my original question and Dr. Zakir Naik's comment: Is there another Quranic verse or hadith (if not, any view from the great scholars of the past) that would unambiguously shed light on this topic (that mankind offered a choice between free will and something else)?

I often come across free will as an Islamic doctrine that is a somewhat central problem/proposed solution to other theological problems. Somehow I only ever see it discussed in terms of dunya, perhaps because those theological problems are mostly matters of dunya. So I'm wondering: **Question:** What positions do the schools of aqidah hold regarding whether humans will have free will in akhirah? (Possibly this only affects the inhabitants of paradise since the inhabitants of hell aren't really in a situation to fulfill their desires)

If the only purpose for mankind was to worship Allah, then why was mankind given freewill? Freewill gives man a chance to disobey and not worship Allah. Why would Allah allow that chance to exist if he knew that men who choose to not worship will have grave suffering? **Update**: The answers seem to miss the question. The question is more about the reasoning behind giving freewill to the creation if the only purpose for mankind was to worship Allah. Think about this. Let's say my wife and I have a choice to give birth to a robot or a human child. If my only purpose for having a child was for it to become a rich superstar then I would have a robot child which I can program to follow my orders. However, that's usually not the purpose of having a child. Parents usually want more from their children. One of their wants is for the child to love and respect them voluntarily.. Now, in that case, having a child with freewill makes sense! Why? Because if I'm a parent and I know that my child was programmed to love me it would not the same as if my child loved me voluntarily...

In this translation of a Hadith it says: > Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) who is the most truthful (of the human beings) and his being truthful (is a fact) said: Verily your creation is on this wise. The constituents of one of you are collected for forty days in his mother's womb in the form of blood, after which it becomes a clot of blood in another period of forty days. Then it becomes a lump of flesh and forty days later Allah sends His angel to it with instructions concerning four things, so the angel writes down his livelihood, his death, his deeds, his fortune and misfortune. By Him, besides Whom there is no god, that one amongst you acts like the people deserving Paradise until between him and Paradise there remains but the distance of a cubit, when suddenly the writing of destiny overcomes him and he begins to act like the denizens of Hell and thus enters Hell, and another one acts in the way of the denizens of Hell, until there remains between him and Hell a distance of a cubit that the writing of destiny overcomes him and then he begins to act like the people of Paradise and enters Paradise. **[ Reference: Sahih Muslim Book 46 Hadith 1 ]** My question is about the meaning of the Hadith, does it mean the Angel is instructed to write our future deeds while we’re in the womb, or is the angel instructed to record our deeds as we perform them?

'Sin' by definition is anything against Allah! However, when we think of the creation we sin because we have the freedom to choose between good and bad. Adam and Eve committed sin because of that freedom. If we assume that they sinned because of the tempter then this is not the case when Satan sinned while being in the very presence of Allah! Therefore, a free being/entity can commit sin even when that being/entity has no sinful nature internally or a sinful tempter externally. All those who enter into Jannah or the presence of Allah and enjoy eternal life will have free-will. But the question is what makes them not to sin again like Satan?

How can one understand the relationship between freewill and destiny? We accept Allah (swt) has both written our destiny and has simultaneously given us freewill. Given our premise is correct, it is obvious the latter will consequently be devoid of any kind of value (destiny > freewill) I suspect my personal failure to solve this problem is my definition/perception of destiny itself. To further clarify my queries, I will more or so present scenario.... If an individual was not able to, say get an education, after repeated number of attempts to do so- who would he/she take responsible for their inability to receive an education? Will it be destiny (Qadr) or will be their incapability in the sphere of freewill? As Allah (swt) states that he bestows education to those who seek it, and bestows wealth to whom he wishes. Regards, DK

I have done a lot of research on this site regarding the topic of free will and determinism in Islam and I am yet to receive any form of answer that satisfy my query. Essentially, the very coexistence of determinism and free will has been in talks of both philosophy and religion. And I'd like to know a little about what the Islamic position of it is. To help ease the answer to the question, take this example. Say a man starts having immense sexual urges and makes a choice between going to the mosque to deal with the urge or go the brothels. Now, unfortunately, the man takes the path to the brothels. From this, we know that the man is going to and is about to commit a sin and by fate and by what Allah has written in the book of destiny thousands of years before the big bang, he will DEFINITELY commit ZINA. Say the man never repents for his action. Now, this situation right here, the man will be accountable for his action in the day of judgment and Allah will punish him. Given he had the ability to make a conscious choice between mosque vs brothel, instead choose Zina and even after committing the sin, he didn't repent. But there's this other thing, Allah has fated this to happen to him. Allah has pre-destined, the man's path and whether he'd repent or not. In that case, do free will really exist or is it like we are bound to Allah regardless and that we are just following a code that Allah has set millions of millions of years ago as what we call destiny. And to us, the code itself appears free will? I always thought, in Islam, the idea of free will and determinism both exist at the same time. And the understanding of how they relate is beyond human understanding, but the question still bugs me to this day. If anyone can shed some perspective, I'll be immensely grateful

Did Allah *ask* the Prophet (ﷺ) if he would be His Messenger, or command him to? Essentially, was there a point where *purely theoretically* the Prophet (ﷺ) could have said no (though obviously that would never have happened)?

Has God decided one's age? If so, has He decided how he will die and by whom he will be killed? Suppose one commits suicide, did God decide that earlier? If so, who is to blame really?

I've been taught that Allah gives us free will, not the free will in philosophical and destiny terms I'm making reference to the free will of either practicing Islam, choosing to wear hijab, to drink or not to drink etc. which I all understand full well and am content with. However Sharia law makes the disobedience of those acts punishable by either lashing or time in prison. My question is, how do we have free will when in fact Sharia Law which is Gods law, doesn't give us free will. Ultimately we don't have free will otherwise it seems contradictory to say we do.

The laws of Islam seem sufficiently detailed so as to preclude any possibility of "bad behavior," assuming that a person has made the "first choice" to follow Islam and live their life by the ways of Islam. So how does choice fit into that equation? Is there enough latitude within the laws of Islam that a person can choose the shape of his or her life within the Islamic framework? Or does the framework itself more or less dictate the shape of one's life? Note: I am not Muslim, so if you're going to quote scripture, please explain what that scripture means in layman's terms. Also note that I'm not looking simply for opinions, but also reasoning.

Well, as far as I am concerned we have a fixed destiny. But I also know that it can be changed by dua. But if one doesn't make any dua then? I suppose it will remain unchanged. If so then where id our free will. Then will do what we were ment to do. But then there will be no free will. So, please can anyone help me by telling how these two lines up?

I understand that the common notion is that humans have free will and that this is easily accepted in Islam. What I'm wondering is, is it necessary to believe humans (and jinns) have free will, or could one remain Muslim while rejecting a belief in free will? As it came up in a comment: an explanation of what Islam means by "free will" - particularly a discussion of in what way it is "free" - would be helpful too. I'm hoping for answers from the mainstream schools of aqida of Sunnism or Shi'ism.

A popular Hindi saying is: "Wahi hota hai jo manzoor-e-khuda hota hai". Literally translated, it means "Only that happens which has the permission of God". Is this literally believed to be the truth in Islam? Or is it believed that some things happen without his permission also -- possibly by free-will or by the will of Shaitan?

There are a number of questions regarding the free will vs. qadr juxtaposition on the site already (see e.g. this one on [whether humans have free will in faith](https://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/8933/is-there-free-will-of-faith-according-to-islam) , this one about [free will vs qadr](https://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/12167/are-humans-destined-to-do-things-or-human-do-things-cause-of-free-will) , again [free will vs qadr](https://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/18889/how-is-there-a-fixed-destiny-if-we-have-free-will) , the comments and answer to this one relate [free will vs qadr to "is Satan to blame for evil"](https://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/37733/is-attributing-evil-to-satan-heresy)) , as well as some pulling Allah's attribute of Justice into the mix (this question about [whether nurture overpowers free will's effect of justifying punishment](https://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/24103/how-is-free-will-justified-with-those-who-are-raised-in-a-bad-environment)) . The problem with all of these posts is that I am unable to understand what each of them means by "free will" or "qadr"; there seem to be different schools of thought on free will according to [this](https://islam.stackexchange.com/a/12174/17702) and [this](https://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/36657/is-disbelief-in-free-will-kufr) and some attempts at resolving ahadith that qadr can be changed by du'a [here](https://islam.stackexchange.com/a/571/17702) , but those answers do not seem to develop the notions very clearly to me, and the one on qadr seems contradictory. Any attempt at an explanation I have seen so far fails to address the question of "does Allah give creatures with free will a power to choose in themselves?". An answer of "creatures are given an independent power of chosing" seems to contradict the idea of "la hawla wa la quwatta illa billah" (with regard to quwatta there is mention of it in [18:39](https://quran.com/18/39) , I couldn't find a source for hawla), and an answer of "Allah creates their choices and their inclinations and decisions" makes the will not "free" in any sense I can discern and does not seem to be any kind of basis for punishment (this is where free will vs qadr collides with justice). To sum up, here are my questions: - **what understandings of "free will" exist in the schools of thought, and in what sense is will considered to be "free" here?** - **what understandings of "qadr" exist in the schools of thought?** - **how do the schools of thought resolve the juxtaposition of these with regard to Justice?** What the main orthodox schools of thought say is my main interest, but I'd also be interested in the opinions of extinct schools, e.g. the Muta'zilites, just in case someone happens to know. Due to the experiences I've had with people trying to explain this: I'm not interested in posts begging the question like "of course we have free will, how else could Allah be just?" and things like that; this is exactly the point of my question, I can't make sense of these concepts taken together. Analogies seem to be largely useless in this regard, e.g. [this answer (which I find pretty much useless in the context of my question) here](https://islam.stackexchange.com/a/7287/17702) completely ignores that Allah is the creator of everything created, while the analogy assumes "randomness" originating from somewhere else; similar criticism to the consistency (!) of what the answer says applies to the answer [here](https://islam.stackexchange.com/a/37740/17702) , and I expressed that criticism in the comments to it. I don't think more vague analogies will prove any more useful; I'm interested in precise attempts at explaining the points of friction I outlined above.

We are all Muslims because we are either raised up as Muslims or at some point in life reverted to Islam. But what about others, the ones who are not being guided is it just their fault that they have not become Muslims. They would have done what the Islam teaches them to do if they had been guided and it is said that those who have not accepted Islam will go to jahannam. So how is this justified? Also, we know that the future is already written and if it's already written what's the point of free will?