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Fatwa CenterEngaging in discourse concerning fate leads to deprivation
Question
The Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said that Allaah Is more Merciful than a mother is to her child. However, there is a verse in the Noble Quran that says (what means): {Indeed, Allaah Does not Forgive association with Him, but He Forgives what is less than that for whom He Wills.} No mother can torture her child forever. First of all, I thank Allaah The Almighty for Making me Muslim. However, why Did He Create the polytheists non-Muslim while He Is able to Create them Muslim? Let me ask you frankly, if someone was born from a Christian mother and father and all his relatives were non-Muslims, can he be a Muslim? These whispers always occur to me. Please help me.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
Belief in fate is one of the pillars of the sound faith. Fate is part of the unseen that Allaah The Almighty Concealed from His creatures and belief in it mainly depends on complete submissiveness to Allaah The Almighty and on the belief that Allaah The Almighty Does nothing except according to His Comprehensive Knowledge and Perfect Wisdom.
It may be appropriate to mention here what Imaam At-Tahaawi stated in his book ‘Aaqeedah regarding this issue, “The origin of fate is the Secret of Allaah The Almighty in His creatures. No angel who is close to Him and no Prophet whom He Sent knows it. Delving deep into such matters only leads to failure, deprivation and transgression. So, beware of thinking wondering about this matter. Allaah Has Kept the knowledge of His fate hidden from His creatures, and Has Forbidden them from asking about the reasons behind it, as He says in His Noble Quran (what means): {He Is not Questioned about what He Does, but they will be questioned.} So, whoever questions why Allaah The Almighty Did something has rejected the judgment of the Book of Allaah and whoever rejects the judgment of the Book of Allaah The Almighty is counted among the disbelievers.”
So, the Muslim has to believe that whatever Allaah The Almighty Wills must inevitably come to pass and that whatever He Does not Decree does not happen, and know that whatever had befallen him would never have missed him and that whatever had missed him would never have come to him.
Scholars stated that fate has four levels:
1- Knowledge 2- Writing 3- Will 4- Creation
What is beyond this is the secret of fate and no one can reveal it. Thus, no one should say: Why this person was led astray and this person was guided, or why this person was made rich and this person was made poor, and so on. Asking about the reason behind such matters and pursuing this kind of knowledge is misguidance. So, every Muslim has to beware of this and repel all the ideas that occur to him of the whispers of the devil and doubts. Also, he has to seek refuge with Allaah The Almighty from the accursed devil and say: “I believe in Allaah The Almighty.” In this way, the slave will be safe and secure.
As for your saying that if someone was born to Christian parents, Islam does not hold Muslims responsible for their non-Muslim relatives. So, whoever fulfills all of the pillars of Islam is a Muslim, with the same rights and obligations as other Muslims have, even if his parents are non-Muslims. It was narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Whoever testifies that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allaah, faces our Qiblah (during the prayers), prays like us and eats our slaughtered animal, then he is a Muslim and has the same rights and obligations as other Muslims have.” [Al-Bukhari]
Allaah Knows best.
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