Al Qadr (Divine Decree, Predestination, Fate)

Some Muslims really have a hard time understanding ’Qadr’ because they think it is contradicting the free will. They say if everything is pre-written and decreed then how can there be any choice! Well, such people have misunderstood what Qadr actually means.

Al Qadr means that Allāh has written everything that is going to happen till Qiyāmah (written in Al Lawh al-Mahfūz). And believing in Qadr is one of the pillars of Īmān (Faith). The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said : "The first thing Allāh created was the pen. He told it to write and when it asked Him what it should write He told it to write what was decreed, so it wrote what had taken place and what would take place till Qiyāmah."

One of the names of Allāh is Al 'Alīm, The All Knowing. He is the One Whose Knowledge encompasses all things, seen and unseen, secret and open, everything that is inevitable or impossible or possible, in heaven and on earth, the past, the present and the future. Nothing whatsoever is hidden from Him.

Sūrah Al-Hajj 22:70 "Do you not know that Allāh knows what is in the heaven and earth? Indeed, that is in a Record. Indeed that, for Allāh, is easy."

The concept of Qadr is quite easy to understand. I remember a friend of mine asking me ”Akhi, whatever I have to do Allāh has already written that right? And I said to him, no! Allāh has not written what you have to do, He has written what ’you will do’”

let's give an example, suppose your name is Abdullāh, you are on your way to somewhere in your car and you find two turns in front of you, a right turn and a left turn and you make a right turn just because you felt like it or whatever the reason might be, it was your choice. Allāh, who is Al 'Alīm (The All Knowing) knew what you would do, so Allāh in advance wrote in Al Lahw al-Mahfūz that “Abdullāh will reach this particular place and he will make a right turn”

If you understood this example it will be clear that, all your choices are based on free will but Allāh in His Infinite Knowledge has already written what your choices will be.

No matter what you do, whether you are at a restaurant ordering something to eat or you are choosing a life partner, it is all your choice and as Allāh already knows what you'd choose, He has already written what you would order at that restaurant and whom you'd choose as your life partner.

It's that simple.