As discussed in part 1, our Qadr (diving destiny) is already set for us. This includes who/when you would marry, when/if you will have children, who you will meet in the life, where you will go, everything... subhanAllah believing firmly in Qadr really helps with patience and avoiding envy as you know each person has their own destiny for when they will receive certain things and how much they receive (of good and of bad)... and like Boona Mohammed said in one of his pieces, "If everything is from above then everything is the same." Whether you receive less or more, good or bad, they are all tests in their own way. What matters is for you to pass your own test, don't get caught up in looking what everyone else has - Allah gave them, and Allah gave you as well other things. And only Allah knows what He will give you and them tomorrow, and what He will take away.
This concept for me kind of makes each day exciting. You go out with your plans, expectations in your mind of what will happen, maybe just a routine day at work or school, but then suddenly something happens you never imagined... the power goes out and everyone get to go home early, or your boss calls you in to tell you you got a raise, or you meet the most amazing person who ends up changing your life. Even the moment of death and how much time you have left in this life is part of this Qadr, it is already on its way. Anything could happen at anytime - you never know what to expect, what Allah's plans are for you. Even over years you look back and see how all the different events which occurred brought you to where you are now subhanAllah.
And His plans can totally override any plans you jotted down in your agenda... so definitely organize yourself but realize we are all in the flow of Qadr... As sister Naima Robert described in her book, From My Sisters' Lips, of her journey into Islam and the places it took her:
"All the while, I was consumed by a strange sensation. I felt like I was floating on the waves of destiny, of the qadr, swimming with the tide, drifting far out to sea." (pg. 19)
Swimming with the tide... mashaAllah I felt that was a beautiful way to put it. We will live out our Qadr whether we accept it or not... so rather then fighting against it, complaining about it, saying "Why did this happen to me?" and trying to battle against the current in vain, we can choose to go with the flow... and find peace in knowing that it is our destiny, accepting it, making lemonade out of any lemon trees that sprout on our yards.
Please understand though this is in terms of accepting Allah's Will for us and that He has full knowledge, not taking a position of fatalism and accepting certain things in this world such as injustice, corruption, oppression, of ourselves or others (e.g. "The situation of the Ummah today, we can’t do anything to change it as Allah will bring the change" or "We cannot stand against the corrupt rulers as Allah has given them power over us"). We don't throw around the term "God's Will" to justify any action that a person wants to do or is doing, as if they do not have a choice.
As human beings we have a degree of choice in our lives. Allah does not compel us to obey Him, as He has given us the ability to choose to obey or not. However, Allah KNOWS what we will chose, because His knowledge is perfect and absolute. He is omniscient, and knows us better than we know our own selves subhanAllah.
We have to strive and make our efforts to be true Muslims as commanded by Allah and exemplified by our Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam, but knowing that success or failure of our attempts is written; it is not the result Allah will judge us by but our intentions and actions.
Finally there is a story about Qadr I want to share with you from the lives of the sahabah (companions of the Prophet):
It is narrated from Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas that, “Umar ibn al-Khattāb left for al-Sham, until he reached Sawgh where he met the leaders of the armies, Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah and his companions who informed him that plague had befallen the land of al-Sham.
Ibn ‘Abbas said, Umar ibn al-Khattāb said, ‘Call for me the first Muhājirīn’. So they called them, he consulted them and informed them about the plague that that befallen al-Sham, but they differed. Some of them said, you went out for a matter and we do not think you should change your mind about it. Some others said that you have with you some people and the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (saw) and we do not think that you should expose them to this plague. Umar said ‘Withdraw from me’.
He then said, ‘Call for me the Ansār’, so they called them, he consulted them, and they took the path of the Muhājirīn, so they differed like them. He said: ‘Withdraw from me.’
Then he said, ’Call for me whoever present here of the leaders of Quraish who are of the Muhajireen of the Conquest’, so they called them and even two men of them did not differ in their opinion to him. They all said, ‘We think that you should turn back together with the people who are with you and not expose them to this plague.’
Thus Umar announced to the people, ‘I will be riding (back) in the morning, so you do the same’.
Abu Ubaydah then said, ‘(Are you) fleeing from the qadar of Allah?’
Umar replied, ‘had someone else said that O Abu Ubaydah; Yes, we are fleeing from the qadar of Allah to the qadar of Allah. What do you think if you had camels and you descended a valley that has two slopes (sides), one of them is fertile and the other barren. Is it not true that if you grazed (in) the fertile one you would do so with the qadar of Allah, and if you grazed (in) the barren one you would so that with the qadar of Allah.”
The qadar of Allah here means the determination and the knowledge of Allah, that is, if you grazed (in) the fertile you did what Allah had decreed in the Lawh al-Mahfūdh and what He did know. Similarly if you grazed in the barren one you did what Allah decreed in the Lawh al-Mahfūdh and what He did know.
For some videos that can assist towards understanding Qadr, please check out the following:
Yusuf Estes "Beauties of Islam" on Divine Destiny
Bilal Phillips - Belief in Destiny
Salem Al-Amri - What is Qadr?
Abdullah al-Farsi - Faith in the Divine Decree (Eeman Series)
AbdurRaheem Green answers question about the divine decree
Some articles:
Our Rizq Runs After Us
Clarifying Misunderstanding of Taqdeer (scroll down a third of the way into the article)
If I have said anything wrong, please correct me and may Allah forgive and increase us all in beneficial knowledge.
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