Destiny vs Free-will & Accountability
We ask: If fate has already been destined then what is human accountability for?
We ask: If all events and actions are predetermined then what is the significance of the Day of Judgement?
Allah declares: "I did not make them witness to the creation of the heavens and the earth or to the creation of themselves, and I would not have taken the misguiders as assistants." (18:51) Categorically speaking, we are thrown into God’s plans without a choice.
The scathing truth is that life and its provisions including health, intellect, and environment are outcomes of a predetermined destiny. Locked temporarily aboard a rotational globe of coalesced debris, we are sustained without a knowledge of our origins or the Hereafter. Destiny is beyond the scope of manipulation. The situations we encounter, stem from a timeline of pre-planned events, as Surah 35, verse 11 describes: “No female conceives nor does she give birth except with His knowledge, and nor is an aged person granted prolonged length of days, nor is a part cut off from his life duration, but everything is in a Decree already ordained.”
Like or not, Allah's will is the foundation of our unalterable organisation, except that within this prescribed set-up, God has also willed discretion to mankind. However, Allah’s jurisdiction remains staunch, except that you are allowed to make up your mind whether to comply or defy within the parameters of pre-arranged destiny.
It is scientifically proven that our behavioral tendencies—habits, thought patterns, and emotional reactions—act as signals to the body, initiating the production and release of chemical messengers such as neurotransmitters, hormones, and neuropeptides, to maintain balance or react to perceived threats. These regulatory substances in turn dictate how we feel and function. For example, individuals who frequently engage in social interaction, empathy, or nurturing behaviors foster a specific chemical environment which is the release of a love and bonding hormone called Oxytocin.
Surah 35, verse 8 confirms how human inclinations work in favour or against them. The Quran says: “What! is he whose evil deed is made fairseeming to him so much so that he considers it good? Now surely Allah leads astray whom He wills and guides whom He pleases.” This means that we are being consistently judged and driven to the path of our choice. In Surah 13, verse 11, the Quran says, “Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.”
Surah 17 verses 17 to 18, explain, “Whosoever desires pleasures in this life, We hasten for him therein what We will unto whomsoever We desire; and whosoever desires the Hereafter and strives after it as he should, being a believer - those, their striving shall be rewarded.” Here “We desire” refers to the decreed criterias, that decide which direction we maintain an inclination to be pushed.
We find that there is an automated system in place inside the human body that quickly responds to our trends and inclinations - therefore increasing the release of corresponding chemicals in the body. If you choose to defy, your resistance is decreed to increase and vice versa.
We are caught up in an austere system where our actions are duly recorded as evidence of what we do and care about. We seem to be the only creatures exempt from compulsory subjugation to the programmed discipline that is otherwise mandatory to the rest of the universe. However, our discretionary behaviours are limited to obedience or resistance without changing anything of the system. We are part of an organisation that has to be sealed to interference for the sake of its survival: "Had there been within the heavens and earth gods besides Allah, they both would have been ruined.” 21:22.
Creation is not without obligation. As a matter of rule, selection between the compliant and no-compliant were a compulsion. Here is an example from Quran-7, verse 175. “Recite unto them the tale of him to whom We gave Our revelations, but he detached himself from them, so Satan overtook him and he became of those who lead astray.” Now this next verse 176 explains about destiny and the role of free will. “And were We pleased We could have elevated him by the means of those revelations, but he clung to the earth and followed his own desire. Therefore his likeness is like that of a dog: if you chase him he pants with his tongue out, and if you leave him alone, he pants with his tongue out.”
Choice making is a special concession because when Adam vetoed Paradise for waywardness, he became fated to it. Discretionary behaviour is an exceptional allowance and for this very reason, it is not without the heavy price of judgement. Allah does not dispense favours so we have been made accountable for the privilege. For instance, celestial objects and other intrinsically inspired creatures, that are in automatic bondage to the decreed discipline of law and order, have not been held accountable because they are already in subjugation: “It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor can the night outstrip the day. They float each in an orbit.” 36:40
We are responsible for our behaviours within the parameters of destiny and that is not without Allah’s will. For example someone born into prostitution is not accounted as a sinner as stated in Surah Noor, verse 33. Allah considers her caught up in her destiny, so she is not a transgressor. However, if she continues to be a willing part of shadiness - never making an effort to disengage from profane acts, she is liable. Our effort is what we are judged for.
Categorically, someone can be fated to adverse mental inclinations, but no one is ever devoid of differentiation between right and wrong. Even the worst of offenders commit criminal acts knowingly, because calculated secretiveness is their weapon of success. Even the mentally retarded are conscious enough to hide stolen stuff behind their backs. In fact, everyone has an alert consciousness, never too far away to issue warnings. Our determination and desire to abide by the established rules of law has to be under scrutiny for the sake of maintaining order. Our resolve to overcome obstacles and having a positive mindset is what our free will is for.
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