elkhayat@euler.Berkeley.EDU (Omar M. Elkhayat) (05/30/90)
> Amer writes: >> Paul writes: >> >>Quote from Abdullah (bin Mus'ud) : >>vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv >>Then Allah sends an angel who is ordered to write four things. >>He is ordered to write down his (i.e. the new creature's) deeds, his >>livelihood, his (date of) death, and whether he will be blessed or >>wretched (in religion) >>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >> >This appears to bring up the basic question of fate -- do human >beings have any 'control' or are they predestined. >Especially in 2:30 onwards (Al Baqarah, discussion on Adam) it >appears that one of the main distinguishing features of humans >is that they do have a will and they can make their own decisions >(this is one of the features that distinguish them from Angels The question of human being fate is complex, and I have to admit that I myself had questioned this for quite some time, and though I reached some conclusions, I can't still comprehend its all aspects. The human being is definitely has "some" control over his life, by virtue of believing in the day of judgement. If man doesn't have any control over his actions, then it would be meaningless, if not unfair, to be judged on actions he has no control over. First, that Allah knows the future, and knows whether this person will be damned in Hell, or will be blessed and go to heaven, doesn't mean necessarily that man is predestined. The hadith above simply indicates that Allah by his infinite knowledge knows what the actions and _hence_ the fate of that person would be, and sent an angel to write them down. The best way I can explain this is by an example of a match between two teams. If you are watching the game live, you don't know the result of the game, before the game's end. Depending, on how well each team is playing, and doing in the game, the result of the match will be determined. Now suppose that, you are watching, a pre-recorded game, and you know which team will play miserably and lose, and which team will play great and win. Now your knowledge of the final score didn't have in fact an effect on the actual performance of each team while you were wathcing the game. The situation of this hadith is analogous. In fact man has higher degree than the angels, who always obey Allah, is becuase of his ability to think & choose between good and bad. So, man is neither completely predestined, nor has absolute control over his life. Certainly, there are things happen to you in your life, that you wish they never happened, or if you could have done this instead of that. The hard question then is, "how much" does man have control over his life ? Man has the ability of "Ikhteyar Ikhtibar". That is, he has to choose in things that make the 'test of life' for him, the choice of making good deeds, or bad ones. He has the choice of things that will determine his final destiny in heaven or hell fire. >for this reason, Abdullah Yusuf Ali suggests that Iblis was not >really an angel but a jinn -- I don't know what the other >scholars say. It is not just a suggestion. There is absolutely no doubt that Iblis is a jinn, and not an angel. Not only that he disobeyed Allah, which angels don't do, and he misleads the disbelievers as mentioned in many places in the quran, but it is explicitly mentioned so in the quran. "Behold! We said to the angels, "Bow down to Adam": they bowed down except Iblis. He was one of the Jinns, and broke the command of his Lord..." [Al-Kahf, 18:50] [Y.Ali Translation] The confusion might arise from the style of the Quran, which sometimes makes the exception of one category out of a completely oppsite category. For example, "And behold, We said to the angels: "Bow down to Adam:" and they bowed down: Not so Iblis: he refused and was haughty: He was of those who reject Faith." [2:34] might lead some to think that Iblis is one of the angels who was an exception, and he disbeyed. But not necessarily so. Look carefully at [84:22-25] "But on the contrary the unblievers reject it. But Allah has full knowledge of what they secrete. So announce to them a Penalty Grievous, Except to those who believe and works rightous deed..." It is clear here the exception of the believers is not for some people who believe out of those unbelievers. See also [95:5-6], or [103:2-3] "Verily man is in Loss, Except such as have faith, and do righteous deeds..." You can find this style in the quran in few places, and you should carefully read the verses, before taking the excepted as being part of the excepted from. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Salam. Omar M Elkhayat. ---------------------------------------------------------------------