Believing in Al Qadr , the Divine Decree

[talibilm]

Believing in Al Qadr is one of the Articles of eeman and not believing it is disbelief . Though We all know that but still many of us engage in serious debates about it not knowing the WARNING of Prophet :saws: that deep contemplation in this issue will lead us to disbelief since its out of our Human Mind's reach as further explained below . So lets see few hadiths and verses from the Noble Quran on this Article of Faith.

Muslim :: Book 33 : Hadith 6400
'Ali reported that one day Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) was sitting with a wood in his hand and he was scratching the ground. He raised his head and said: There is not one amongst you who has not been allotted his seat in Paradise or Hell. They said: Allah's Messenger. then, why should we perform good deeds, why not depend upon our destiny ? Thereupon he said. No, do perform good deeds, for everyone is facilitated in that for which he has been created; then he recited this verse:" Then, who gives to the needy and guards against evil and accepts the excellent (the truth of Islam and the path of righteousness it prescribes), We shall make easy for him the easy end..." (92:5xcii. 5-10).

Bukhari :: Book 2 :: Volume 23 :: Hadith 444
Narrated 'Ali: " We were accompanying a funeral procession in Baqi-I-Gharqad. The Prophet came to us and sat and we sat around him. He had a small stick in his hand then he bent his head and started scraping the ground with it. He then said, "There is none among you, and not a created soul, but has place either in Paradise or in Hell assigned for him and it is also determined for him whether he will be among the blessed or wretched." A man said, "O Allah's Apostle! Should we not depend on what has been written for us and leave the deeds as whoever amongst us is blessed will do the deeds of a blessed person and whoever amongst us will be wretched, will do the deeds of a wretched person?" The Prophet said, "The good deeds are made easy for the blessed, and bad deeds are made easy for the wretched." Then he recited the Verses:-- "As for him who gives (in charity) and is Allah-fearing And believes in the Best reward from Allah. " (92.5-6)



This is a topic is where Prophet

WARNED his Sahabas from indulging into deep discussion, contemplation about Al Qadr warning that it will lead to disbelief and loosing eeman since believing in Al Qadr is a branch of articles of Eeman.

So The ONLY way we could console ourselves is that to realise that we humans could never understand certain things which are out of our Human Mind's reach like How Allah came into existence ? , How Allah 's Galaxies are for infinity and expanding ? and also such as The Soul . Since in spite of 10,000 folds of developments scientists cannot solve this puzzle about the Soul ,unanimously, untill now after an open challenge by the Noble Quran before 1400 years itself in the below verse 17:85

'' And they ask you (O Muhammad SAW) concerning the Ruh (the Spirit); Say: "The Ruh (the Spirit): it is one of the things, the knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only a little."


So when we can't even solve the mystery of the Soul or the spirit which is the most nearest to every one of us :hmm: as every human lives with it, ( the most Main difference between ourselves and our dead body , is the Soul ) then how are we going to solve about decree , Al Qadr ? which is far from us or not felt and seen ?

Al Qadr is a BLESSING OF ALLAH, AR RAHMAN.

The Noble Quran actually proves us that Allah's mentioning about the decree or Qadr is a blessing in disguise for us humans since there is no need for Allah swt to mention it to us at all . So its only the Kindness and Mercifulness of Allah swt on us by mentioning of the the decree or Qadr he is written because by human Nature we feel consoled from our failures and setbacks when we put our blames on something else for it . So Now you can blame it on Qadr for your loss, failure etc (in spite of being calculative, vigilant ) so that you do not get TOO UPSET or broken imsad nor become boastful ;D on your successes , because we know an atom of pride will NOT make us enter Paradise , Subhanallah So Allah Ar Rahman informed us about Qadr and its from the Wisdom of our Creator and its for our own consolation which is being CLEARLY ELUCIDATED by the below verse of the Noble Quran


NOBLE QURAN ' 57 :22-23

''No calamity befalls on the earth or in yourselves but is inscribed in the Book of Decrees (Al-Lauh Al-Mahfuz), before We bring it into existence. Verily, that is easy for Allah.In order that youmay not be sad over matters that you fail to get, nor rejoice because of that which has been given to you. And Allah likes not prideful boasters. ''

 

[Eric H]

Greetings and peace be with you talibilm;

So when we can't even solve the mystery of the Soul or the spirit which is the most nearest to every one of us

I would be interested to hear an Islamic understanding of the spirit, even though it is described as a mystery.

Blessings.

Eric

 

[talibilm]

Greetings and peace be with you talibilm;



I would be interested to hear an Islamic understanding of the spirit, even though it is described as a mystery.

Blessings.

Eric

Eric thank you for your kind words but sorry for my belated reply because the following hadith states the reason

Muslim :: Book 39 : Hadith 6712

'Abdullah (b. Mas'ud) reported: As I was going along with Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) in a cultivable land and he (the Holy Prophet) was walking with the support of a wood, a group of Jews happened to meet him. Some of them said to the others: Ask him about the Soul. They said: What is your doubt about it? There is a possibility that you may ask him about anything (the answer of) which you may not like. They said: Ask him. So one amongst them asked him about the Soul. Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) kept quiet and he gave no reply and I came to know that revelation was being sent to him, so I stood at my place and thus this revelation descended upon him:" They ask thee 'about Soul. Say: The Soul is by the Commandment of my Lord, and of Knowledge you are given but a little" (xvii. 58).



AFAIK , its an ORDER of Allah and it happens at the destined time of its arrival and departure for every living thing. But These words ' Soul & Spirit ' has been used (translated) interchangeably and in multiple ways so its a must that we have CONTEMPLATE FIRST in what sense it was used or meant For.

example like the above hadith & the next hadith are the same but uses the word soul & spirit interchangeably


Narrated Ibn Masud:
I was with the Prophet at one of the farms of Medina while he was leaning on a date palm leaf-stalk. He passed by a group of Jews and some of them said to the other, Ask him (the Prophet) about the spirit. Some others said, "Do not ask him, lest he should tell you what you dislike" But they went up to him and said, "O Abal Qasim! Inform us bout the spirit." The Prophet stood up for a while, waiting. I realized that he was being Divinely Inspired, so I kept away from him till the inspiration was over. Then the Prophet said, "(O Muhammad) they ask you regarding the spirit, Say: The spirit its knowledge is with my Lord (i.e., nobody has its knowledge except Allah)" (17.85)

(This is a miracle of the Qur'an that all the scientists up till now do not know about the spirit, i.e, how life comes to a body and how it goes away at its death) (See Hadith No. 245, Vol. 6)


& the below hadith 'spirit' is used in the sense of Trait of feelings & nature

Dawud :: Book 14 : Hadith 2509

Narrated Mu'adh ibn Jabal:
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Fighting is of two kinds: The one who seeks Allah's favour, obeys the leader, gives the property he values, treats his associates gently and avoids doing mischief, will have the reward for all the time whether he is asleep or awake; but the one who fights in a boasting spirit, for the sake of display and to gain a reputation, who disobeys the leader and does mischief in the earth will not return credit or without blame.

&

Dawud :: Book 23 : Hadith 3520

Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:
reported the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) as saying: There are people from the servants of Allah who are neither prophets nor martyrs; the prophets and martyrs will envy them on the Day of Resurrection for their rank from Allah, the Most High.They (the people) asked: Tell us, Apostle of Allah, who are they? He replied: They are people who love one another for the spirit of Allah (i.e. the Qur'an), without having any mutual kinship and giving property to one. I swear by Allah, their faces will glow and they will be (sitting) in (pulpits of) light. They will have no fear (on the Day) when the people will have fear, and they will not grieve when the people will grieve.He then recited the following Qur'anic verse: "Behold! Verily for the friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve."




& other understandings on spirit could be contemplated from the following hadiths


Narrated Abdullah:
Allah's Apostle said, "The key of the Unseen are five: Verily with Allah (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour He sends down the rain and knows what is in the wombs. No soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die. Verily, Allah is All-Knower, All-Aware." (31.34)

&

Bukhari :: Book 8 :: Volume 77 :: Hadith 593

Narrated 'Abdullah:
Allah's Apostle, the truthful and truly-inspired, said, "Each one of you collected in the womb of his mother for forty days, and then turns into a clot for an equal period (of forty days) and turns into a piece of flesh for a similar period (of forty days) and then Allah sends an angel and orders him to write four things, i.e., his provision, his age, and whether he will be of the wretched or the blessed (in the Hereafter). Then the soul is breathed into him. And by Allah, a person among you (or a man) may do deeds of the people of the Fire till there is only a cubit or an arm-breadth distance between him and the Fire, but then that writing (which Allah has ordered the angel to write) precedes, and he does the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it; and a man may do the deeds of the people of Paradise till there is only a cubit or two between him and Paradise, and then that writing precedes and he does the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters it."

&


Muslim :: Book 24 : Hadith 5268

Ibn 'Umar reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) having said: Those who paint pictures would be punished on the Day of Resurrection and it would be said to them: Breathe soul into what you. have created.


&



Bukhari :: Book 4 :: Volume 55 :: Hadith 644

Narrated 'Ubada:
The Prophet said, "If anyone testifies that None has the right to be worshipped but Allah Alone Who has no partners, and that Muhammad is His Slave and His Apostle, and that Jesus is Allah's Slave and His Apostle and His Word which He bestowed on Mary and a Spirit created by Him, and that Paradise is true, and Hell is true, Allah will admit him into Paradise with the deeds which he had done even if those deeds were few." (Junada, the sub-narrator said, " 'Ubada added, 'Such a person can enter Paradise through any of its eight gates he likes.")