Divine Decree and Human Earning
Allah created all things — and you are responsible for what you earn
Core Claim
Allah created everything — including our actions, our wills, and our inclinations. Yet we are held accountable for what we earn (kasb), because the choice-experience is real even though the power to create is not ours
Why It Matters
This is the most philosophically dense chapter. Getting it wrong leads into two errors: Jabriyya (we are puppets, therefore not responsible) or Qadariyya (we create our actions independently, therefore Allah doesn't control them). Classical Islam walks the middle path
Lesson
Allah says: "And Allah created you and what you do" (Qurʾān 37:96). "Say: Allah is the Creator of all things" (Qurʾān 13:16). Allah creates everything — bodies and their attributes, good and evil, belief and disbelief, every human action.
The Prophet ﷺ said: "What Allah wills, happens; what He does not will, does not happen." Nothing in the universe occurs except by Allah's will.
Objection: If Allah creates our actions, how can we be held accountable?
Answer: Allah creates in you the will, the thought, the inclination, the act — but this is experienced through what we call kasb (earning). You choose and you act, and your sense of choice is real, and it is what you are held to. "For it is what it has earned, and against it is what it has accumulated" (Qurʾān 2:286). But the creating of the act belongs to Allah alone, because 'there is no creator but Allah.'
The dichotomy 'are we free or predestined?' is a poorly posed question. A person has a will — but that will operates under Allah's will. "And you will not will, except that Allah wills" (Qurʾān 81:29).
Guidance and misguidance are Allah's: The one Allah wills to guide — He creates in them the inclination toward good. The one Allah wills to leave astray — He creates in them the inclination toward evil.
Allah creates good and evil, but loves only good. Distinguish will (mashīʾa) from love (maḥabba): Allah willed the existence of disbelief in the disbeliever, but does not love it. "And He is not pleased with disbelief for His servants" (Qurʾān 39:7).
Allah's wisdom is not questioned. "He is not questioned about what He does; they are questioned" (Qurʾān 21:23). Saying 'why did Allah decree this?' as an accusation is a danger to one's faith. The believer says: 'I submit to His ruling, even when I don't understand it.'
Causes are Allah's way in the world. Allah doesn't need causes, but He established cause-and-effect as wisdom. You go to the doctor and take medicine — certain that the Healer is Allah, while doctor and medicine are means. This is the sound integration of belief in qadar with action through causes.
Key Points
- 1
Allah creates all things including human acts
- 2
The servant earns (kasb) but does not create — earning is what is accounted for
- 3
Will is not love — Allah willed disbelief from the disbeliever but does not approve it
- 4
Causes are Allah's custom and He is the actor — the doctor is a means and the Healer is Allah
- 5
'He is not questioned about what He does' — objecting to Allah is a danger to faith
Evidence
وَاللهُ خَلَقَكُمْ وَمَا تَعْمَلُونَ
And Allah created you and what you do
Quran 37:96
لَا يُسْأَلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ وَهُمْ يُسْأَلُونَ
He is not questioned about what He does; they are questioned
Quran 21:23
وَمَا تَشَاءُونَ إِلَّا أَن يَشَاءَ اللهُ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ
And you will not will, except that Allah, the Lord of the worlds, wills
Quran 81:29
And that you believe in qadar, its good and its evil
Sahih Muslim 8 (Hadith of Jibrīl)(sahih)
Glossary
قضاء
qaḍāʾ
Eternal decree; Allah's pre-eternal knowledge of all things and His ruling on them
قدر
qadar
Divine measure; the unfolding of the divine decree in time and space
كسب
kasb
Earning; the servant's real, accountable choice and act — without being the creator of the act
مشيئة
mashīʾa
Allah's all-encompassing will — what He wills happens and what He does not will does not happen
محبة
maḥabba
Divine love; distinct from will — Allah wills all things but loves only good
Learn with quizzes, audio & progress tracking — Sign up free
Get Started