Sure, PouringRain.
I agree that God is in control of all things and has the power over every little thing. Even if people make dua, it is still God's choice to intervene in the outcome or not, would that be correct? If people do not make dua, God can still intervene or he can choose not to, would you say that is also correct?
Yes, that is correct. It is up to Allah whether to give an immediate acceptance of a dua (supplication) or not. Acceptance of dua depends on a number of factors, such as sincerity in asking, the level with which a person is obeying Allah in his daily life and more. Sometimes a dua will be withheld, with the reward of it being given in paradise. So, technically, every dua is answered, either in this world or rewarded for in the hearafter.
One of the 99 main attributes of Allah is that he is All Wise, so he may withhold from answering a dua because he has something else that is better than that which is being asked in store. Like in the example of the person who had the accident - if he had made dua for protection from all calamities the morning of that day before he got drunk, it can be said that Allah didn't answer that specific dua since he had something better planned for the brother (something that ultimately led him to practise his religion more keenly, benefiting him in his afterlife).
I agree that all things are within God's control, and he could have prevented the accident. Would it be correct to say that your position is that God caused the accident in order to teach him a lesson? As opposed to my belief that God allowed the accident to happen as a natural consequence of drinking and driving, and then used the calamity for his good?
How about
: Allah allowed it to happen as a natural consequence of drink/driving in order to teach him a lesson and used the calamity as a means for his good.
I do agree that God puts us through trials. I believe it is for the purpose to mold us, teach us, grow us, perfect us, etc. Are you saying that all trials are given by God?
Yes, they are all from Allah. I too believe hardships are there for us to take lessons from. A form of 'tough love'.
For me, I believe that there are trials that God directly puts us through, and there are those that he allows us to go through on our own.
I reflected on what you say here for quite a while and I actually agree. For example, you might be born blind which would be a direct trial from Allah whereas other stuff like being trialled with accident could arise out of our own negligence in following his commandments.
I'm going on a bit of a tangent, but Islamically, every single little moment and every single situation we find ourselves in during our lives is to be seen a trial. Not just the major hardships one would go through. One of the most fundamental concepts in Islam is that this life is a test. Every single waking moment is part of this test.
It's not just hardships that trial us. We also have to watch what we do with the blessings we have been given. For example, we are gifted with time - how do we spend it? If we waste it doing something futile, we're failing the test. Likewise if we think of water. It's a great blessing Allah has given us. How do we use it? Do we conserve and use only as much as is necessary or do we take it for granted and abuse? Same can be said for wealth, health and countless other stuff. These are all 'trials' of some sort or another.
I view the car accident as the second type of trial. God allowed it to happen as a natural consequence of a bad action, but then he used the bad for good-- to bring the man back to a right place with him. This does not mean that God could not have intervened at any time and stopped it.
This I agree with too.
Medicine gets into another type of discussion completely, especially when discussing God's will, because of those who believe that we should not use medicine at all and should rely solely on God to determine the outcome of the individual. So, I won't ask any questions about this area.
Just so there's no ambiguity, I meant to say medicine in and of itself cannot cure a person. If Allah has destined for a person to be faced with a particular type of illness for however many years, no amount of medicine would be effective. However, this does not mean we neglect and 'resign' to fate/become fatalistic. We have been told to look for means to cure ourselves and medicine is just that, a permissible means.
There's an anecdote from the time of the Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) time which I think is related to this issue of reliance:
One day Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) noticed a Bedouin leaving his camel without tying it and he asked the Bedouin, "Why don't you tie down your camel?" The Bedouin answered, "I put my trust in Allah." The Prophet then said, "Tie your camel first, then put your trust in Allah" (At-Tirmidhi).
It makes clear that we have to use the means provided while at the same time having trust. We can't neglect either. They both have their place.
I hope I have explained myself clear enough. Feel free to ask if anything doesn't make sense.