of the
Authorized
English translation of the Quran by
Dr.
Rashad Khalifa
Predestination
We are absolutely free to believe or disbelieve
in God. It is God's will that we will
(18:29,
25:57,
73:19,
74:37,
76:29,
78:39,
80:12).
After committing our original
sin (
Appendix 7), God gave us a chance to denounce our crime
and accept His absolute authority
(33:72). But
we decided that we wanted to see a demonstration of Satan's competence as
a god. Many people protest the fact that
God has created them, to put them through this gruesome test. Obviously,
such people are not aware that [1] they
have committed a horrendous crime
(Introduction
&
(
Appendix 7), and
[2] that they were given a chance to denounce
their crime and redeem themslves, but they chose to go through the test.
We learn from
57:22 that our
lives, along with everything else around us, are pre-recorded on something
like a video tape. God fully knows what kind of decision each of us is destined
to make; He knows which of us are going
to Heaven and which are going to Hell. Even before we were born into this
world, God knew which souls are good
and which souls are evil. As far as God's
omniscience is concerned, we can imagine a stamp on everyone's forehead that
says "Heaven" or "Hell." Yet, as
far as we are concerned, we are totally free to side with God's absolute
authority, or Satan's polytheistic views.
Predestination, therefore, is a fact as far
as God is concerned, not as far as we are concerned.
This understanding explains the numerous verses
stating that "God guides whomever
He wills, and misleads whomever He wills."
Based on His knowledge, God assigns our souls
to the circumstances that we deserve. When God said to the angels,
"I know what you do not know"
(2:30),
this meant that some of us deserved a chance to redeem ourselves. One example
of God's guidance for those who deserve guidance is found in
21:51:
"We granted Abraham his guidance, for we
were fully aware of him." In
other words, God knew that Abraham was a good soul who deserved to be guided,
and God granted him his guidance and understanding.
Another good example is stated in
12:24. Joseph
fell for the Egyptian nobleman's wife, and almost committed
adultery "if it were not that
he saw a sign from his Lord." God
teaches us in
12:24 that
He "diverted evil and sin from Joseph,
for he was one of My devoted worshipers."
Was it Joseph who controlled his lust? Or, was
it God's protection from sin that rendered him chaste?
Such is
predestination.
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