Like many others, understanding the concept of divine decree
had always been quite a difficult thing for me. Questions like what am I to be blamed for or be given credit for if everything has already been decided and
pre-destined? How can I be held accountable for anything that I do? For any sin
that I commit or any good deed that I perform? By listening to some lectures,
doing some research on this topic and through some personal experiences I have
finally got my answers thankfully and now I would like to share those.
Firstly, we should understand that there are two kinds of
decree:
1) Unconditional decree
2) Conditional decree
Unconditional decree includes matters that are not in our
control or that we cannot change. Like in what ethnicity we are born, what
family do we have, in what state we are born, whether we are born with some
physical or mental deficiencies or disabilities or we are born with all
physical and mental abilities intact. These are some examples of the matters
that belong to unconditional decree.
Then there comes conditional decree. To understand the
concept of conditional decree let us consider a very common example. Suppose
there is a student and he has exams coming in few days but he doesn’t study for
the exam. When his parents and teachers ask him why is he not preparing for the
exam he says that if it is destined for me to pass the exam I will pass the
exam anyway but if it is destined for me to fail then I will fail anyway. Why
bother to study? Then he appears in the exam and eventually fails. Now let’s go
back in time. Same student has exams coming in few days but now he is preparing
for the exam because he knows that if he won’t study he will fail. Then he
appears in the exam and eventually passes the exam. So, we can conclude that he
passing the exam depends on one condition and that is to study. If he fails the
exam it is because he did not make any effort to pass the exam and the reason
of his failure is his own ignorance. But if he passes the exam it is because he
made the effort to pass the exam and prepared himself for it. Since God has the knowledge of the future so He knew in
advance what decisions and choices we will make in the future and what will be
their consequences and thus wrote it in our destiny. Therefore, we do not take
certain steps because it was written in our destiny, rather, it is the other
way around. It is written in our destiny to take certain steps because we
ourselves choose to take those steps.
خودی کو کر بلند اتنا کے ہر تقدیر سے پہلے
خدا بندے سے خود پوچھے بتا تیری رضا کیا ہے
(Translation:
Set your self-determination so high that before (writing) each decree, God Himself asks
the slave tell me what your pleasure lies in)
Now here it is absolutely important to understand one more
thing. In order to achieve something it is important for us to make effort but
we cannot make it through by means of our efforts alone. Our efforts won’t
affect the consequences without God’s permission and His assistance. We cannot
achieve the desired results without God’s aid and His help and in order to get
His help we must make effort from our end. That’s why I absolutely love the
following statement:
But there is one more possibility in this scenario. Perhaps
the student did prepare for the exams and did put in complete effort from his
end but in the end he failed despite all the efforts. Sometimes such things do
happen with all of us. Sometimes we do try our best to achieve something but we
don’t get it anyway. At such times it is not incorrect to say that this thing might
not have been destined for me. Although you want it really badly but maybe it is not good for you. Perhaps God has something
better for you in store. Perhaps, it will be harmful for you in the long run to
have it. So God does not let you have it for your own good. You may like
something that is bad for you and you may dislike something that is good for
you. But God who created you, who has
the absolute knowledge of everything, seen and unseen alike, present and future
alike, knows better.
Then there can be another scenario.
Sometimes things are just not in our control and there is nothing much we can
do to change the situation. For example, a loved one is suffering from a fatal
disease and the doctor informs you that they will probably not be able to live
for long. You try to do everything you can. You take them to the best doctor,
give them the best care and everything but you cannot make their disease go
away. But you pray day and night for a miracle and that they may be restored to
health and then after sometime your doctor informs you that your loved one has
somehow started to recover. So your prayers have finally been answered and as a
result your loved one has actually been saved but it would not have been
possible without your prayers. If you would not have prayed, your loved one
would probably have died. Or maybe you did some good deed that really touched
God. For example you helped someone out of a difficult situation and as a
reward God eased your pain and saved your loved one. So, your prayers and your
good deeds also affect your destiny.
In a nut shell, the fact that
everything has been pre-destined does not remove from us the responsibility and
accountability of our own actions. It rather makes us understand that we must
carry out all our actions with responsibility and should make complete effort
from our end in all the matters. But if we do not get the desired results even
after putting in effort and carrying out all our actions with responsibility then
there lies God’s wisdom behind it and it is better for us in the long run not
to have what we want.
Following are few really insightful
quotes about divine decree:
