Free Will… does it even exist?... scientific and Islamic perspective
· Our universe had a beginning and was created. [1]
· Our universe is a deterministic system.
A
Deterministic System is governed by a set of laws pre-defined by its designer (creator).
We
Know Free will exist, the very fact that you choose to believe in God
Or not to believe and people can be forced against their will, proves
Free Will exist.
The paradox… Than can free will and determinism co-exist?
First lets define Free Will…
Human bodies are made of atoms and molecules and it has deterministic attributes.
Physical actions of our body are driven by two things.
1)
Auto response built into our system, for example if you hold
Something very hot, you drop it immediately without thinking, this is an Auto response of your body,
2)
Our thoughts also drive our bodies into physical action.
Suppose you are standing in a crowded place and all the seats are occupied,
And
You think as soon as someone vacates a chair you will immediately go
And sit and somebody does vacate the seat, you immediately go and sit
Down.
Now before you sat down you had already determined the
Physical action that will take place, this is pre-determination, the act
Of going and sitting was the result of the deterministic nature of your
Body and it was the thought that was responsible for this physical act,
Our thoughts exhibit physical electro-chemical reactions; they can be recognized as electrical signals in our brain.
Scientists
Today are able to detect, intercept, analyze and to some extent
Determine what physical response they can elicit in our body.
Using
This knowledge they are able to make gadgets that can be driven by our
Thoughts in fact one scientist was able to move his colleague’s hand by
Using his thought.
_“University of Washington researcher Rajesh
Rao sends a brain signal to Andrea Stocco via the Internet, causing
Stocco's right hand to move on a keyboard.”_
http://goo.gl/4npF9E
Multiple thoughts can occur in our brain and many times conflict with each other.
Our ability to choose which thought manifests itself into physical action is our Free Will.
Whether this choice manifest itself into actual physical action is immaterial.
Unlike
Our thoughts Free will does not exhibit physical existence just like
'information' exist but cannot be defined in terms of physical attributes.
Free Will is a separate component from the deterministic mechanism of our body.
Not everything that exists in our universe has free will.
Also our free will has limits; we can choose but have limited options.
You cannot will and become ‘Prince Charming’ if you are a Toad you remain a Toad…
So if Humans have free will can they influence the future? There by undermining the deterministic nature of our universe.
No…!!! They cannot…
Well…
You may believe that the actions we take can influence our future
But this is not true, for us to have ability to influence the future our past must exist, we must be able to go back to the past.
But we cannot go back in our past, simply because our past does not exist…! Only our present moment exist, we cannot reverse time.
Let’s
Say you want to become a surgeon you work hard and you are almost there
But suddenly you are struck by tremor or shaky hand syndrome, all your planning and hard work has come to naught, you failed to influence your future.
You
May argue that though we don’t have full control of our future but there are
Many examples where people succeed when they plan ahead and make right
Choices and thereby have controlled their future.
Or
The principle of cause and effect.
Let’s say you kick a ball and it lands exactly in the right corner of the goal post.
The kick (cause) is the past when the ball land in the goal, landing of the ball is the future (effect).
Well no…!
According to Islamic principle of Qadr and latest scientific research.
Landing of the ball (future) is the cause, you kicking the ball (present) is the effect..!
The future is the cause and present is the effect…!
In
Islam there is concept known as al-qaḍāʾ wa al-qadr.
It is one of the article of faith in Islam.
The phrase means "the divine decree and the predestination";
"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"
(The Noble Qur'an Al-Hadid 57:22)
Allah (swt)
Ordered to be written in the Preserved Tablet ("al-Lauḥ
Al-Maḥfūẓ") all that has happened and will happen, which will come to
Pass as written. According to this belief, a person's action is not
Caused by what is written in the Preserved Tablet but, rather, the
Action is written in the Preserved Tablet because Allah (swt) already
Knows all occurrences without the restrictions of time.
So if everything is predestined then there is no free will.
And the concept of reward and punishment is meaningless…!
So how do you reconcile the two?
And this is how it works.
Our present is not defined by the choices we made in the past
According to Islam
Our present is defined by the Preserved Tablet ("al-Lauḥ al-Maḥfūẓ") that Allah (swt) had ordered written.
Only our present is relevant, our future is yet to happen.
And
Our present is defined by the future which is already written in the Preserved Tablet.
Once
We make a choice it becomes our past and it has
no influence on our Present we can only move forward in time and cannot go back.
Arrow of Time, does not allow us to change any event from past.
Because our past does not exist...!
Only our present and our future exist.
Does this sound logical?
Well... It is; in fact science agrees and have scientific evidence. For it.
"Experiment suggests that reality doesn't exist until it is measured"
http://www.gizmag.com/quantum-theory-reality-anu/37866/
“Quantum experiments shows that measurements performed in the future can influence the present.. The laws of physics pull us inexorably toward our
prewritten fate?”
_“quantum experiments confirm... Measurements performed in the future can influence results that happened before those measurements
Were ever made..”_
http://goo.gl/EXWcP8
This is predestination in Islam…!!!
Fate in Islam:
http://goo.gl/eFHB7D
Everything that has had happened and will happen cannot happen without the will of Allah (swt).
You may ask, evil things happen in our world does that mean it is the will of Allah (swt)?
Yes…!
Allah (swt) allows evil things to take place, but he is not responsible for it.
People by their free choices are responsible for evil.
And they will be held accountable for it.
And the one against whom injustice is done will be compensated for it.
Nothing
Can take place against the will of Allah (swt) if anything takes
Place against the will of Allah (swt) then it will mean he is not all
Powerful and is not in control of everything.
By De-linking our past actions from our present and by linking our present to the future.
Allah (swt)
Has allowed us to exercise our Free Will, in spite of predetermination.
Kept the deterministic attribute of our universe intact
And showed us that
nothing can happen against his will.
Pretty neat huh...!
Happy free willing…
Ajazz Shake.
Allah (swt) alone knows best. He is alone is possessor of absolute knowledge.
Related Topic: Existence of God, scientific perspective
https://plus.google.com/u/0/110716853743730454470/posts/KUDDAqiNG6f
[1]
http://www.hawking.org.uk/the-beginning-of-time.html