By: Kanwal Malik Saba
“Mom, what is Qadr?” My almost eight-year-old daughter asked me. She was doing her Islamic school homework. I sat there thinking how history repeats itself. I used to ask my dad a similar question all the time. “Why do we have to do good things when Allah has chosen our destiny already Papa?” As a Pakistani, the concept of “Kismat” was drilled in my head. A predestined, preordained path.
My daughter beckoned me again, and I told her Qadr meant “the will of Allah, or destiny”.
“According to most sources, there are four aspects of Qadr. These are knowledge, which depicts that Allah knows everything; pre-recording, which is the idea that everything is already written in “Al-Lawh Al Mahfooz (The Preserved Tablet). Qadr also entails that everything happens because of Allah’s will, and that Allah created everything.“ http://www.islamweb.net/en/article/103101/the-four-aspects-of-belief-in-al-qadr-divine-decree
“Every affliction that falls on the earth or yourselves, already exists in a Book before it is brought into being by us. No doubt that is easy for Allah to accomplish.” (Surah al-Hadid, 57:22)
Allah makes it very clear in the Quran that everything happens as Allah wishes it to be! However, that does not mean that we sit around and wait for miracles to occur. The Quran also goes on to explain that "Allah never changes the condition of a nation unless it changes what is in its heart.” (Surah al-Ra`d, 13:1).
It is up to us to make our journey in this dunya to lead where our priorities take us. The Quran goes on to elaborate “We have shown man the right path. Now it is up to him to be grateful or thankless”. (Surah al-Dahr, 76:3).
May Allah give us all the wisdom to follow HIS path and to lead a life that has the love of akhira as our highest priority! Ameen.