لطفا منتظر باشید ...
Part 12
Special Logic of the Holy Qur'an
We previously said that the Muslim theologians started
discussing and analyzing the question of human compulsion and liberty in the
second half of the first century of the Hijri era. This question is the oldest
scholastic problem. Somehow the scholastic theologians could not analyze the
question correctly with the result that they deviated from the right path.
Some of them supported the theory of predestination and others that of absolute
human liberty. To the Muslim masses a belief in destiny meant predestination.
They considered belief in human liberty to be tantamount to the negation of
destiny. A simultaneous belief in destiny and liberty, though it was acceptable
to the clear conscience of the early Muslims, lost its popularity once it took
on a philosophical colour. Even now after a lapse of 14 centuries it does not
find favour with the Muslim masses, though the Holy Qur'an, the hadiths of the
Holy Prophet and the sayings of the Holy Imams clearly say that everything is
governed by the destiny ordained by Allah, and at the same time describe man as
an effective factor in making or marring his fortune. They hold him responsible
for all his actions. We have in the foregoing quoted some of the Qur'anic
verses dealing with these points. As we have pointed out, the predestinarians
have tried to explain away the verses indicating human freedom and the
supporters of absolute liberty have tried to explain away the verses indicating
that everything is divinely ordained. As we have seen actually there is no inconsistency
between these two sets of verses. The riddle stands solved. The
comprehensiveness of destiny does not necessarily mean that there is no such
thing as destiny. As such the question of any contradiction between destiny and
human volition does not arise, and there is no need to explain away anything.For example the Qur'an says that it is Allah who guides
the people to the right or the wrong path, who bestows on them honour, power
and health and who provides them with the means of living: Even the virtue and
the vice both have been ascribed to His Will.The Holy Qur'an says: "It is Allah to leave in error
whom He will and to guide whom He pleases. He is the Mighty, the Wise". (Surah
Ibrahim, 14:4)"Say: O Allah! Owner of Sovereignty! You bestow
sovereignty on whomever you will and you withdraw sovereignty from whomever you
will. You exalt whomever you will and you abase whom you will. In Your hand is
all that is good. No doubt you have power to do everything". (Surah
Aale Imran, 3:26)"Surely Allah is the provider of everything and the
possessor of Mighty Power". (Surah al-Zariyat, 51:58)"In the heaven is your providence and that which you
are promised". (Surah al-Zariyat, 51:22)The Holy Qur'an quotes Ibrahim as having said: "He
gives me food and drink. If I fall sick, He cures me. He will cause me to die,
and will bring me back to life". (Surah al-Shu'ara', 26:79 81)About the happy and the evil things the Qur'an says: "Say:
Everything is from Allah". (Surah al-Nisa, 4:78)But these verses do not deny the intervention of the
natural causes. Hence there is no contradiction between them and the other
verses which clearly show that it is man himself who chooses the right or the
right or the wrong path, acquires power and honour, and earns his livelihood.For example, the Qur'an says: As for Thamud, We
showed them the right path, but they preferred blindness to guidance,
consequently they were bit by the humiliating punishment of a dreadful noise
which they deserved because of their misdeeds". (Surah Fussilat,
41:17)Referring to the downfall of Pharaoh's gang, the Holy
Qur'an says: "That is because Allah does not withdraw the favour He has
bestowed on any people unless they first change what is in their hearts, and
that is because Allah is Hearer, Knower". (Surah al-Anfal, 8:53)Criticizing the predestinarian belief of the pagan Arabs,
the Holy Qur'an says: "When it is said to them: Give in charity out of
what Allah has provided you, the disbelievers say to those who believe: Are we
to feed those whom Allah would feed if He willed? Surely you are in a clear
error". (Surah Yasin, 36:47)Again the Holy Qur'an says: "Corruption has become
rife in land and sea because of the misdeeds of the people". (Surah
al-Rum, 30:41)The fact is, as already pointed out, that Allah's Will,
His Knowledge and His Decrees do not nullify the system of causation. Actually
this whole infinite system springs from His Will and Knowledge and its
effectiveness means the effectiveness of His Will.On this basis it is wrong to say which act is Allah's and
which is not His. Such a division is meaningless. If an act has been ascribed
to some other being, it cannot be said that it is not Allah's. The division of
work between the Creator and the created is wrong. Any act of a doer is that of
Allah also.There is a hadith in the Tuhaf-ul-Uqul, which appears to
be a letter written by Imam Hadi (a), the tenth Imam, to some of his supporters
in Ahwaz (Iran) on the doctrines of predestination, absolute discretion and
justice. In this letter he writes:"A person asked Imam Ali (a) whether man has power and
ability or he lacks them. If he has the power to do things, then how is it
possible to say that there is no power nor help but from Allah?"From the wording of the hadith it appears that the
questioner believed that man had the power and ability to do things, Hence he
was unable to understand how the question of Allah's Will and Divine Decree
could fit in.In reply the Imam said to him: "You asked about ability.
Do you have this ability with Allah or without Him!" The questioner was
baffled. The Imam said: "If you assert that you and Allah share this ability
and power, I would put you to death (because you would be claiming to be a
co-partner of Allah). If you say that you have this ability without Allah,
again I would put you to death (because you would be presuming that you are
independent of Allah. Such a presumptions again infidelity, for independence in
any affair means independence in essence)."The questioner said: Then what should I say?"The Imam (a) said: "You have ability by the Will of Allah,
while He has it independently. If He endows you with it, that is His favour. If
He takes it away from you, that means He is testing you. In any case, you
should remember that whatever He bestows on you, He is still its owner. If He
enables you to do a thing, that thing is still within His power".In short, this hadith indicates that while an effect is
ascribed to its cause, it is attributable to Allah also. When we ascribe an act
to its normal and natural doer, we ascribe it to its non-self-existing agent,
and when we attribute it to Allah, we ascribe it to its self-existing agent. It
is Allah who endows things with the power and quality of producing an effect.
It is He who bestows the ownership of anything on anyone. But there is one
basic difference between the bestowal of ownership by Allah and the transfer of
ownership by a man. After a man has transferred the ownership of a thing, it is
no longer his property. But Allah continues to be the owner of a thing even
after He has bestowed it on anyone else. His bestowal is not inconsistent with
His continued ownership. It is only a manifestation of His being the owner.
Similarly Allah endows things with the quality of producing an effect, and at
the same time He is the Master of all effects. There are many other hadiths
which support this view.
