When and How are the Fates Determined?

When and How are the Fates Determined?

Response to a Criticism on the Qur’an

Moiz
Amjad

In one of his articles[1]
Mr. Jochen Katz has pointed out a contradiction in Al-Qadar 97: 3 – 4, Al-Dukhaan
44: 3, Al-Hadeed 57: 22 and Al-Israa 17: 13.

 

Al-Qadar 97: 3 – 4 reads as:

The Night of Qadar is better than a
thousand months. The angels and the Ruh descend during it, according to
God’s command with all decrees.

Al-Dukhaan 44: 3 reads:

We revealed it in a blessed night, for
We had [decided] to warn.

Al-Hadeed 57: 22 reads as:

No misfortune befalls – neither the
earth nor your own selves – but it is already recorded in a book, before We
bring it into existence.

Al-Israa 17: 13 reads as:

Every man’s luck have We fastened to his own neck,
and on the Day of Judgment We shall bring out [for him] a book, spread open.

Explaining the contradiction in the above-cited verses, Mr. Katz writes:

To Muslims, the “Night of Power” is a blessed
night on which fates are settled and on which everything relating to life,
death, etc., which occurs throughout the year is decreed. It is said to be the
night on which Allah’s decrees for the year are brought down to the earthly
plane. In other words, matters of creation are decreed a year at a time.

Contradicting this, Sura 57:22 says, “No affliction
befalls in the earth or in your selves, but it is in a Book before we create
it.” This means it is written in the Preserved Tablet, being totally fixed
in Allah’s knowledge before anyone was created.

Also contradictory is Sura 17:13: “And every
man’s fate We have fastened to his own neck.” This says that man alone is
responsible for what he does and what happens to him.

A clarification of the cited verses should suffice
as answers to the objections of Mr. Katz.

As far as the ‘Muslim Belief’ relating to the
‘Night of Qadr’ (Night of Power) is concerned, it is not, as Mr. Katz
has stated, the night ‘on which fates are settled and on which everything
relating to life, death, etc., which occurs throughout the year is decreed’.
On the contrary, it is the night on which, also as Mr. Katz has stated,
‘Allah’s decrees for the year are brought down to the earthly plane’.
There is a significant difference in the implications of the two statements.
According to one, God makes decrees for a year at a time, while according to the
other, irrespective of the length of time for which God decrees, these decrees
are brought down to the earth, on the Night of Qadr. Thus, the first two
cited verses do not, as Mr. Katz has stated, imply that ‘matters of creation
are decreed a year at a time’. On the contrary, the first verse implies only
that the decreed matters are assigned to the respective angels and brought down
to earth on the Night of Qadr[2].

The third cited verse, which, incidentally, is the
only verse cited by Mr. Katz that actually is pertinent to the issue of fate,
states that the occurrences in the world – whether internal or external to man
– are not mere chances but are, in fact, decreed, determined and recorded in a
book, before they actually occur. Nevertheless, even this verse does not inform
us about how much sooner than their occurrences are the decrees made. Thus, the
stated verse does not necessarily imply, as Mr. Katz has stated, that ‘it is
written in the Preserved Tablet, being totally fixed in Allah’s knowledge
before anyone was created’. On the contrary, it merely implies that all the
happenings around us are strictly in accordance with God’s decisions, which
precede these happenings.

The fourth verse cited by Mr. Katz states that
every man’s luck have We fastened to his own neck. The word ‘luck’ in this
verse does not imply ‘fate’ in the connotation in which Mr. Katz has
construed it to be. In this verse, the word ‘luck’ or ‘fate’ is with
reference to a person’s being among the successful or the unsuccessful from
the perspective of the hereafter, as is evidenced by the succeeding part of the
verse. In other words, the verse actually implies that a person’s luck from
the perspective of his ultimate success and failure is in his own hands. When he
decides to do ‘good’, he is allowed to do so and vice versa. In other words,
a scroll is tied to each person’s neck, on which he himself, through his
‘good’ and ‘bad’ deeds writes his fate for the hereafter. Then, in the
hereafter, this record shall be compiled and placed open before each individual.
Thus, explaining this verse, Ibn Katheer writes:

“Every man’s luck have
We fastened to his own neck” relates to the deeds that are wrought by each
man, as has been reported from Ibn Abbas (ra), Mujahid and
others besides him that they include all his deeds – the good as well as the
bad. Such deeds get stuck to the person and he shall be held accountable for
them. Thus, whoever has done even a grain of good, shall find it present and
whoever has done even a grain of evil shall find it present… Whoever does
evil, shall face the consequences. The implication is that each of man’s
deeds is being saved for him – whether it be big or small – it is being
recorded at all times.

Keeping the above explanation in perspective, the
three topics covered by the cited verses is:

1. All happenings – whether internal or
   external to man – are according to the decisions of God, which precede
   them;

2. The angels bring all of God’s decrees to the earth
   on the Night of Power.

3. Every man’s luck in the hereafter is tied to
   his own neck – is in his own hands.

Is this really a case of inconsistency and
contradiction?

Let it be for the reader to decide.

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