Allah Almighty has known since eternity those who will enter Paradise and those who will go to the Hell-Fire. No increase or decrease in this divine knowledge will occur at all.
Allah Almighty knows all the actions that the people will undertake. The actions that are destined for each individual will be made easier to him. Actions are valued according to their ends. Fortunate is the one, whose Taqdir is in his favour and wretched is the one whose Taqdir falls against him.
Taqdir is a secret placed by Allah Almighty among His creatures which is not known even by any close angel or by a Messenger. The more you think about it, the more you will find yourself depressed, deprived and arrogant. This is why a Muslim should abstain from thinking deeply about it. Allah has withdrawn the knowledge of Taqdir from His creatures and forbade them from arguing about it.
He says:
“He cannot be questioned as to what He does, but they will be questioned.” (Surah Al-Anbiya’, 21:23)
By asking ‘why did Allah do this?’, a man rejects one of the injunctions of the Qur’an and whoever does this, enters the rank of the disbelievers.
Only the friends of Allah whose hearts are lit by a light of Allah, believe in the Shar’iah practically and dogmatically as revealed from Allah. People with deep knowledge receive such status.
Knowledge is of two kinds:
(i) – Knowledge of the present (i.e. that of the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet (Peace be upon him)
(ii) – Knowledge of the absent (i.e. that of Taqdir which is hidden from the creatures).
To deny the knowledge of the present and to claim to have knowledge of the absent amount to disbelief. A man’s faith is strengthened by accepting what is present and leaving aside what is absent.
We believe in the pen and the tablets and whatever is associated with the writing of Taqdir. What Allah has decreed must happen even though all the creatures may try their best to stop it happening. Similarly if Allah has decreed for anything not to happen, it will never happen though all the creatures will try their utmost to do it. Allah has decreed whatever is going to happen until the Day of Judgment. Allah’s decree will never fail. Whoever does wrong, would never have been able to do otherwise. And whoever does right, would never have been able to do wrong.
Let all the people know that whatever happens in this universe is known to Allah before it happens. No one can change or overrule or increase or decrease whatever is decreed by Him. To believe in these facts indicates a firm belief, recognition of truth and well awareness of the Oneness of Allah.
Allah says:
“He has created everything, and has measured it exactly according to its due measurements.” (Surah Al-Furqan, 25:2)
“And the command of Allah is a decree determined.” (Surah Al-Ahzab, 33:38)
A man subjects himself to destruction by unknowingly disputing on the issue of Taqdir, in a vain pursuit of the hidden knowledge through superstition and conjecture and ends up eventually as a liar and forger.