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From Issue: 422 [Read full issue]

Living the Quran

Al-Anam (The Cattle)
Chapter 6: Verse 148

Fallacy of Absolute Determinism
"Those who associate others with Allah in His divinity will now surely say: 'Had Allah willed, neither we nor our forefathers would have associated others with Allah in His divinity, nor would we have declared anything (which Allah did not forbid) as forbidden.' Even so those who had lived before them gave the lie (to the Truth) until they tasted Our chastisement. Tell them: 'Have you any sure knowledge that you can produce before us? In fact you are only following idle fancies, merely conjecturing.'"

The apology advanced by criminals and wrong-doers has always been an apology based on the assumption of absolute determinism. They would plead that the wrongs they have done was because those acts had been willed for them by God.

The complete refutation put forth by Allah is as follows:

Citing God's will to justify one's errors and misdeeds, and making it a pretext for refusing to accept true guidance was the practice of the evil-doers of all time. But they should remember that this had led to their ruin and they themselves were witnesses to the evil consequences of deviation from the Truth.

Their plea is based on fancy and conjecture rather than on sound knowledge. They refer to God's will without understanding the relationship between God's will and man's action. The fact is that whichever path a person chooses, be it that of gratitude or ingratitude to God, of guidance or error, obedience or disobedience, God will open that path for him, and thereafter God will permit and enable him with the framework of His universal scheme, and to the extent that He deems fit - to do whatever he chooses to do whether it is right or wrong.

Source:
"Towards Understanding The Quran " - Abul Ala Mawdudi

Understanding the Prophet's Life

The Prophet's Night Prayer

"I happened to pray one night with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet started reciting Surah al-Baqarah and I thought he would stop after 100 verses.

But when he went beyond it I thought that he may want to recite the whole Surah in one Rakah.

When he finished al-Baqarah I thought he would do Ruku but then he immediately started reciting al-Imran and when he finished he started reciting an-Nisa.

The Prophet was reciting very slowly with enough pauses and would do Tasbih and Dua according to the subject being discussed in the relevant Ayah.

After that the Prophet did Ruku. In Ruku he stayed as long as he did when he was in Qiyam. After Ruku he stood up for almost same time and then he performed Sajdah and stayed there as long as he recited Quran while doing Qiyam".

Source:
Hudaifa (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated this hadith as in Sahih Muslim, Nasai

Blindspot!
No Staying Behind

... And there is due from the servant to Allah, in every moment from his time, servitude which will advance him or bring him nearer to Allah. So if he spends his time in servitude to Allah, he will advance to his Lord and if he busies himself with desires, or relaxation or inactivity, he will lag behind. And the servant never ceases either to be moving forward or falling behind, and there is no stopping whilst on the path, ever.

And if he is not moving forward then he is remaining behind, by necessity. Therefore, the servant is always moving and does never stop (in one place). So either he moves higher or he falls lower, either he moves to the front or he goes to the back ... it is but the steps or phases of a journey which lead, in the most rapid manner, to Paradise or to Hell-fire. Therefore (there is one who is) fast and slow, one who moves forward and one who remains behind and there is no one on the path who stands still, ever. They only differ with each other as to how quickly or slowly they move.

Compiled From:
"Madaarijus-Saalikeen" - Ibn al-Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

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