Help me interpret this hadith on qadar

[julaybib]

Narrated 'Ali:

While we were sitting with the Prophet who had a stick with which he was scraping the earth, he lowered his head and said, "There is none of you but has his place assigned either in the Fire or in Paradise." Thereupon a man from the people said, "Shall we not depend upon this, O Allah's Apostle?" The Prophet said, "No, but carry on and do your deeds, for everybody finds it easy to do such deeds (as will lead him to his place)." The Prophet then recited the Verse: 'As for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to Allah..' (92.5)

I'been troubled with this hadith for a long time. It always make me feel bad and desperate when I make a mistake, and make me feel lazy to do anything. Anyone out there knows how to see this hadith in a more optimistic manner?

Jazakallah khair

[Consider]

Assalamo-alaikum,

Qadr, predestination, is a complicated area. But it forms part of our aqeeda.

Sometimes it is better to concentrate on what allah (SWT) has commanded you to do and not worry about details such as qadr.

Even if you were bad at maths, and expected bad marks, you would still try and give it your best shot. Thats the kind of attitude you have to have in life. And the same attitude you should have in Islam. Islam is the most important thing in your life, it is your life so you should give it your best shot.

You cannot despair because allah (SWT) works his will in many ways. Remember allah is all-forgiving and all-merciful.

Look at how we try so hard at dunya stuff. Like revision for exams. o we put that energy into islam? Or preparing for a talk. Do we put that much preparation into our deeds everyday? remeber our records for the day are taken up at maghrib time.

The best answer I can give is to channel your best into islam.

Hope someone else can give a better answer,
Wassalamo-alaikum.

[jamila]

Assalam alaykum,
Those whom Allah guides, none can misguide. And those he Misguides, none can guide.

Have you heard an explanation of this verse?

It's on the same topic. We have 4 things marked out for us. When we are born. What will be our gainful deeds. Where we shall die. And our place in the hereafter (jannah or jahanam).

Those who reject the ayah of Allah, deliberately turning away, he opens the doors to misguidance and makes it seem attractive. Thus, the ones who want misguidance are misguided.

But those who turn to Allah, and ever return to him in repentance (make taubah)when they err, they are the ones that Allah strides towards in Mercy, and guides to the right path. So be encouraged. If you fear Allah and His punishment, this is a strong sign of iman, and if you fear your deeds are scrutinised by Him, and you seek to perfect them because of that, That is a strong sign of ihsan.

Allah guides those who fear Him, but balance that fear with Hope. This is what is meant by perservering in your good deeds. Every good deed is credited in the book of life, and Allah will not leave out even oe atom's wieght of justice for those good deeds. So the more you are about doing good deeds, the closer you are to a positive verdict in the end.
Alhamdulillah!
jamila

[julaybib]

Believe me, this is one of the last thing I ever want to think about. But this is definitely one of those things that I have so little knowledge about. The worst thing is that since I haven't found a perfect answer for this, everytime things go bad, then satan uses this loophole to make me feel desperate and distrustful of Allah. I don't like that, and I'm just wondering if anyone out here has ever heard about the answer that I've been looking for.

I really appreciate your comments, and I've been thinking on the same line for quite some time. I once heard from someone that Allah knows where we're going. But then why don't we go to hell or paradise straight away? He said, because those people that go to hell will ask, what did we do to make us deserve this? Thus we really are here to fulfill our destiny. One thing that keeps me hoping is one story in the tafsir of Ibnu Katheer. When one of the companion protested the other about this fact, that our share in the hereafter has been destined, the other replied,
"But Allah will not be asked about what He's been doing, it is us that is going to be asked!"

Allah knows everything, but we don't. One thing that we know for sure is that we will be held accountable for whatever we did in this world. And that's why we have to keep trying and doing our best. But isn't what we do become useless if Allah has destined otherwise? The only answer I can come up with is why do we say bismillahirrahmaanirrahiim at least 17 times a day if we don't believe in it?

But when things go bad, those devillish voices start to make their noise again. So feel free to comment.

[Consider]

Assalamo-alaikum,

Im going to try answering again, but excuse me if I get into a twist.

Allah knows us the best right?

He is our creator, he created us...he knows how our brain works, he knows how we think, like a teacher knows a student and can predict his mark at the end of the year because the teacher has taught him for a year and knows his mind. But Allah is our CREATOR so he knows more than a teacher can ever know.

He knows how we would respond to a situation, for goodness sake, he knows our every thought, every intention. He knows it all.

So the point is, allah is all knowing.

The second bit is up to us. This is the free will.

We are accountable for what we do, right?

We cant blame allah (SWT) for a bad deed we have done, because we thought of it (or shaytan!) and we did it. It was our fault. This is free will, the ability to do what we do.

So one day you steal. It is your fault. It is not allahs fault. But remeber allah, he knows your brain. He knew you were going to do it.

Essentially, because allah knows our brain the best, he can predict 100% what you would have done in your life and what your final destination was. It was written before you were born. Because allah knew already. He knew based on his knowledge what you would do.

So you cant say allah has fixed your destiny. Yes, he has in some way. Because he knew what you would do. But you have free will.

Allahs knowledge is not comparable to knowledge as wee see knowledge. Imagine the kind of knowledge a creator posesses..

You have to try your best because of free will. It is upto you to choose.

Wassalamo-alaikum

[julaybib]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Your post clicked something in my head. I guess all of my question arose from a confusion between knowing something and designing something. We all know that Allah swt knows best, and there's no doubt that He knows exactly where we're going. What I thought was that since He is also the creator, He is also the One who is responsible to direct our destiny, heaven or hell.
But this clearly contradicts the concept of free will. Why does He have to bother sending us warners and messengers, if He already decided that we are going to hell anyway? It's ridiculous. I've got the idea now. Allah swt has stressed that He can make us all the pious ones if He wants to, but instead He lets us choose. He knows that many of us will go astray and throw ourselves in hellfire, yet He send us His messengers to warn us. Subhanallah. Indeed He is the Most Gracious and Most Merciful.

[ibn ul ibn aadam]

As salaamu 'alaikum

The Yahuud, they used to ask many questions. They used to ponder over the details when they would never be able to figure it out. It is even referred to in the Quran about the Yahuud doing this kind of thing.

This is also where many a philosopher confuses themselves. They delve into matters where they have no knowledge. SubhanAllah, the best route is to ask for Allah's Refuge from shaitaan- as much as it may leave ur intrigue on a cusp.

Regarding the Knowledge of Allah ['Azza wa Jal] then the ayah:

Say (O Muhammad SAW to mankind). "If the sea were ink for (writing) the Words of my Lord, surely, the sea would be exhausted before the Words of my Lord would be finished, even if we brought (another sea) like it for its aid." [18:109]

So the explanation of Qadr is simple. Yet it is us who stretch the matter into confusion and indeed it is Shaytaan who whispers it (confusion) in our hearts. The belief in it is more than enough.

May Allah grant you tawfeeq in your Understanding. Indeed, give us all success in it. Aameen.

wassalaam

[Ebony]

~Bump~

[Abu Hasim]

ahki you should be afriad and fear being destined for the fire and ask allah swt to save you from it.

Theres nobody here who can "intepret hadith" from my understanding it means each of us and either inclined to evil or good, the people sowing the seeds of hellfire, and the people of jannah sowing the seeds of janah.


if you want optimism, thinking your lazy or fear jahannam is a good thing its a sign of life

[luqman-haqq]

An interpretation of hadith can vary depending on the knowledge the reader has.

In the topic of fate, understanding fate is like a very thin line. wrong conception of it and one will become like ''what for must i do whatever he asks me to for he alrdy noes what i will do and what i will not. so im jus goin to sit in the corner of the house''. this is wrong and its due to the lack of understanding on the knowledge of fate.

dwelving into the understanding of fate without proper guidance can lead you into the wrong path. thus for a start, put aside fate, and know that we have free will n the ability to reflect our actions and know the difference btw right and wrong. we do our utmost best to live this life as a good person, follow the sunnah etc. if we try out best to study n we fail our exam. dan we say its fate. without puttin in the effort to study n gettin the result as 'fail' n saying its 'fate' that is ridiculous.

the reason for sending us to earth is to know him. to know he exists. to watch his marvels on earth. by sending us straight to heaven or hell doesnt gve the dwellers in paradise time to know n love god. thus he sent us to earth. we as a human, look at how he created us. we ourselves are a marvel. if he sents us to heaven or hell we wont hve the ability to reflect on thoughts such as this.

as for creating humans, allah din say ''i created u all so that u can enjoy heaven for ur good deed on earth'' he said.. ''i am a hidden treasure, n wished to be known!'' does doing all the good deeds n entering paradise makes us know him? when u know allah this earth alrdy becomes ur heaven! thats the question we all hve to think about while we are on earth rather than complainin to him on wy he sent us to earth..

apologies for my long post. for im speakin with the pathetic knowledge i have. wa-alaikum salaam.

[Cartman]

this whole topic of qadar disturbs me, because no matter what the person of hell ahs done he would do deeds that will end him in the hellfire, but if allah willed he could have created him with a righteous destiny.

What confuses me is did allah decide to make destinies for everyone or did he just write down what he knew?

[`asiya]

this whole topic of qadar disturbs me, because no matter what the person of hell ahs done he would do deeds that will end him in the hellfire, but if allah willed he could have created him with a righteous destiny.

What confuses me is did allah decide to make destinies for everyone or did he just write down what he knew?

Before Allah ta ala created us He ta ala knew what we would do with the free will that He ta ala has given us. therefore Allah knew before u even lived your life what u would do with it, what actions u would take, and therefore Allah ta ala knew what your destiny would be..wow just think about that subhanAllah Allah knew the desinty of all of us before he even created us subhanAllah... ajeeb huh :lailah:

As Allahs messenger salAllahu alleyhi wa salam said : "All of my Ummah Will Enter Jannah Except Those Who Refuse"

The Companions Asked "But Who Would Refuse!"

He, Salallahu alleyhi wa salam Replied "Whoever Obeys Me Will Enter Paradise and Whoever Disobeys Me Has Refused to Enter Paradise" Sahih Al Bukhari