Anwar:As you like, sir. You know better.
Hasan:All right! Dear Brother, fate and destiny are Islamic issues mentioned both in the Noble Quran and Honorable Sunna, and we need to believe in them because Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) ordered us to do so in this Hadith:(There are four God does not look at in Judgment Day: the ungrateful to parents, the favor reminder, the fate refuter and the alcoholic).
Anwar:So, we must believe in them whether we knew the details to them or not.
Hasan:Very good. Wise answer, but it’ll be good if we know something about them in brief.
Anwar:Go ahead. I’m all ears!
Hasan:First, we need to define fate and destiny:
Fate linguistically means to limit the amount, value and price of everything.
Destiny linguistically means to perform something precisely and accurately.
In fact, destiny refers to many concepts, some of which
were mentioned by Sheikh Al-Mofid([3]) – God bless his soul:“It can mean creation, command, informing and even judgment; this way we can understand this Holly Verse: (Then He ordained them seven heavens in two Days)41;12, that is, He made them expertly”.
Anwar:It is as if nothing can be done without knowing fate and destiny conventionally, isn’t it?
Hasan:Very true. Now, you are going to know both of them conventionally, and of course, to know them ‘conventionally’ refers to the knowledge we get about them from the experts in ideology and scholastic theology. We can talk now about these two basic elements:
Fate or estimation conventionally means all of the characteristics of something that is related to time, place, quantity and quality, i.e. the boundaries of its existence from being to non-being.
Anwar:Talk to me clearly, I beg you!
Hasan:I will do so next time, and with examples, Inshallah. See you!
[3]Sheikh Al-Mofid (948 – 1022): Abu Abdullah Mohammed bin Mohammed bin Al-No'man Al'okbori Al-Baghdadi. Known as Al-Sheikh Al-Mofid and ibn Al-Mu'allim for his expertise as a traditionalist and philosophical theologist. He was an emineng twelver shi'a theologian.
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Anwar:Salam ‘Alaykom!
Hasan:‘Alaykom As-Salam , Akhi Anwar! You must be waiting for the rest of our discussion.
Anwar:I am looking forwards for that!
Hasan:Fate is like when we want to estimate the value of a building. So, we say, for instance, it consists of three floors, and in each floor, there are four flats made of reinforced concrete; the area of premises is four hundred square meters, and it is all covered with brown decorative stone, and so on and so forth. These features are representing the estimation of objects and so is fate.
Anwar:Excellent. Now, what does destiny mean?
Hasan:Destiny conventionally is segments of causes for the existence of something come together to an extent that makes it essential to exist.
Anwar:Elaborate, please.
Hasan:In other words, if something is described within its supposed boundaries, it is judged that there is no hindrance for it to occur.
Anwar:Will you clarify destiny using the example you have just used for fate?
Hasan:If we can get the land, the construction materials and the layout, and we decided the dimensions and colors, only then can the civil engineer determine the construction of that building.
Anwar:It is time now to bring what we learned into effect in real life. What do you say?
Hasan:Before doing so, I need to tell you two Hadith supporting what we just said:
First, it is reported that Yunis asked Abu Al-Hasan Al-Riza (PBUH) about the meaning of fate and destiny. His
response was:“Fate is engineering and putting boundaries from being to non-being whereas destiny is ratification and justice”.
Second, Imam Al-Riza (PBUH) said to Yunis, valet to Ali Bin Yaqtin:“Do you know what Fate means?”, Yunis said no. Imam went on:“it is engineering from length, width and survival. When Allah wills something, He wants it; when He wants it, He preordains it; when He preordains it, He performs it; when He performs it, He accomplishes it”.
These Hadith and other ones confirm the meaning of fate and destiny.
Anwar:This is Excellent and very clear!
Hasan:Now, we can apply this to real life. So, we say that the ruling Divine practices in the universe and the human society cannot be denied; these practices (Sonan) have effects regarding healing and happiness. For example, in a community, majority of people live in poverty and deprivation and a minority live in luxury and wealth through tyranny and aggression. In another community, everyone lives in comfort and happiness
jointly and severally.
Both situations are preordained by the Glorious Allah, but He does not force any of them, that is, if people choose oppression and aggression, they will live in poverty and deprivation, and if they choose to work jointly, they will live in comfortably and happily. This is estimation of the Almighty Allah that has no compulsion in it.
Anwar:So, the Almighty Allah has no hand in what people choose to be?
Hasan:Only estimation; people choose by themselves.
Anwar:So, where is God’s will (Ghadha’) here?
Hasan:After people make their choice comes the will of the Almighty Allah to be applied on their own choose.
Anwar:Will you clarify more?
Hasan:I will after a cold glass of water and a hot cup of tea. What do you say?
Anwar:I can’t complain!
Symposium 23
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Anwar:Now that we enjoyed having tea, let’s enjoy our time having some Divine knowledge.
Hasan:Sure. We said the Most Exalted Allah dos not force anyone to do anything. I will clarify this through these two examples:
Let’s say we have a sick person; there are actually two estimations or assessments before this person:
· He can either go see a doctor and follow a prescription, or
· He can consult no one.
If he chooses the first one, he will heal soon, but if he chooses the second one, he will stay sick. Both of these estimations are from the Almighty Allah, yet the patient is free to choose any of them.
Anwar:Now I understand that the Almighty Allah never forces anyone to do anything.
Hasan:No doubt in that, because compulsion goes against justice, and the Glorious Allah is far above compulsion and injustice.
Anwar:But what does it mean that the Almighty Allah destined something and that it is preordained, so it has to happen?
Hasan:We have to know the fact that fate and destiny that is all God’s does not cancel man’s choice, because freedom of choice is one of man’s characteristics and it is part of fate as well. Also, the Most Exalted Allah structurally destined mankind to act with complete freedom of choice.
Anwar:Will you explain more, please?
Hasan:What I mean is that right of option is something the Glorious Allah has fated in creation of mankind and