What Is Qadar? Belief in Divine Decree in Islam

Belief in Divine Decree is at once one of the most consoling articles of faith and one of the most misunderstood. Some imagine it a licence for idleness and passive resignation; yet the Qur'an and Sunnah present Qadar not as something that releases a person from responsibility, but as a truth that directs the believer toward effort, toward reliance upon Allah, and toward patience. This article examines what qada and qadar mean, the proofs that belief in Divine Decree is a pillar of faith, and how this belief relates to human will — with every claim traced to its source.

What Do Qadar and Qadaʾ Mean?

Linguistically, the word qadar conveys a cluster of ideas: having power over something, doing a thing within a set proportion and measure, fixing the form, limits, and attributes of a thing, and appraising its worth. As a religious term, it denotes Allah's knowing — through His eternal, beginningless knowledge — every being and event together with all of its properties, and His fixing of all of them according to a determined measure. In other words, before anything exists, Allah already knows its time, place, and qualities in full and binds it to an order.

Qadaʾ (Turkish: kazâ), in turn, is Allah's bringing those things He decreed in eternity into actual existence, in conformity with that decree, once their appointed time arrives — the carrying out of the plan. On this reading qadar is the plan and qadaʾ is its execution. It should be noted, however, that the schools do not use the two terms uniformly: the early scholars (Salaf) and the Maturidi theologians hold to the distinction above, whereas most Ash'ari scholars and the Muslim philosophers effectively reverse it — for them qadaʾ is Allah's eternal, comprehensive decree, and qadar is the individual unfolding of that decree in created things. In whichever order they are defined, the pair together expresses the totality of Allah's knowledge, will, and creative act over the universe.

Is Belief in Divine Decree a Pillar of Faith?

Yes. Belief in Qadar is one of the six articles of faith affirmed by Ahl al-Sunnah. The clearest proof is the celebrated report narrated by the Companion 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), known as the hadith of Jibril. When the angel Jibril came in the form of a man and asked the Prophet what faith (iman) is, the answer listed the articles of belief one by one:

Faith is that you believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and that you believe in the Divine Decree, both its good and its evil.

Here belief in Divine Decree is mentioned in the very same sentence, and with the same certainty, as the other five articles. The phrase "its good and its evil" is significant: the believer holds that events he dislikes, no less than those he welcomes, ultimately come to pass by Allah's knowledge, determination, and creation. On the basis of this hadith, the High Board of Religious Affairs of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) has likewise stated plainly that belief in qada and qadar is one of the essentials of faith.

Divine Decree in the Qur'an

The Qur'an repeatedly emphasizes that everything in creation is brought into being within a measure and an order. Surah al-Qamar states this truth with striking concision:

Indeed, We created all things according to a measure.

The verse that follows affirms that Allah's command is a single, instantly fulfilled word: "And Our command is but one, like the twinkling of an eye." (al-Qamar, 50). According to the Diyanet tafsir, the "measure" here means that everything is created in keeping with wisdom, in a sound order and balance, and according to the form known and fixed in Allah's eternal knowledge.

That even the afflictions which befall a person are decreed beforehand is stated clearly in Surah al-Hadid:

No misfortune occurs on earth or among yourselves but that it is recorded in a book before We bring it into being.

The wisdom of this is disclosed in the next verse: "So that you may not despair over what has escaped you, nor exult over what He has given you..." (al-Hadid, 23). Belief in Divine Decree thus instils a maturity that balances excessive grief over what is lost with excessive elation over what is gained. The same understanding grounds reliance upon Allah in the verse: "Say: Nothing will befall us except what Allah has decreed for us; He is our Protector." (al-Tawbah, 51).

The Stages of Qadar: Knowledge, Recording, Will, and Creation

The scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah treat Divine Decree in four complementary stages:

• Knowledge (ʿilm): Allah knows everything that will happen before it occurs through His eternal knowledge, including the choices a person will make by his own free will. Yet Allah's foreknowledge of an act does not compel the servant to perform it; to know is not to coerce.
• Recording (kitaba): Everything known in Allah's eternal knowledge is written in the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawh al-Mahfuz). Verse 22 of Surah al-Hadid, cited above, points to this recording.
• Will (mashiʾa): Everything comes into being by Allah's wisdom-based will; nothing that He does not will can occur.
• Creation (takwin): The true creator of all acts and beings is Allah alone. The human being, in performing his own actions, contributes a direction and a choice through his partial will.

Considered together, these four stages show that Divine Decree is not a blind compulsion but a divine order encompassed by knowledge, wisdom, will, and creation.

Divine Decree and Human Responsibility: Partial Will

The most misunderstood aspect of belief in Qadar is the notion that it frees a person from responsibility. In reality, Muslim scholars affirm that Allah created the human being able to choose and carry out, from among actions with different alternatives, whichever he wishes. This power of choice given to the human being is called partial will (juzʾi irada). When the servant turns toward a deed by this will, the responsibility for the choice belongs to him, even though it is Allah who creates the act.

For this reason no one may sin while saying, "Allah decreed it this way, what can I do?" — nor may he plead Divine Decree as an excuse after sinning. The human being is a creature held accountable through his reason and will, one to whom right and wrong have been made known through messengers and revealed books. Divine Decree is not something that closes the roads before a person; it is the truth that, after he has chosen among those roads, the outcome is created by Allah.

A hadith affirms that everything is bound to a decree, and that a person's incapacity and capability alike fall within it:

Everything is by Divine Decree, even incapacity and capability.

What Does Belief in Divine Decree Give the Believer?

Belief in Qadar guards the believer against two extremes: sinking into despair when hardship strikes, and growing arrogant and heedless when blessings arrive. Having done all he can and entrusted the outcome to Allah, the believer keeps his inner peace whatever the result. This belief nourishes patience and reliance upon Allah in the face of misfortune, and gratitude in the face of blessings. A heart at peace with Divine Decree, saying "there is surely a good in what Allah has decreed," becomes both more resilient and more serene.

Such trust never means abandoning effort. On the contrary, the one who knows he has left the outcome to Allah strives all the harder to fulfil the means that fall to him. Belief in Divine Decree and reliance upon Allah (tawakkul) thus complete one another: the servant clings to the means while binding his heart to Allah alone.

Conclusion

Belief in qada and qadar is a natural consequence of faith in Allah's attributes of Knowledge, Will, Power, and Creation, and it is one of the six articles of faith. This belief does not annul the human being's will or responsibility; rather, it grants him the maturity both to strive and to accept the outcome. Those who feel uncertain about the finer points of creed should turn to a competent religious authority such as the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) for a binding opinion; this article is general, source-based information, not a fatwa. For further study, explore the Qur'an and hadith sections of our site and our sermon on faith.

References

1. Surah al-Qamar, 49-50 — kuran.diyanet.gov.tr (Presidency of Religious Affairs translation and tafsir).
2. Surah al-Hadid, 22-23 — kuran.diyanet.gov.tr (Presidency of Religious Affairs translation and tafsir).
3. Surah al-Tawbah, 51 — kuran.diyanet.gov.tr (Diyanet translation).
4. Sahih Muslim, Iman, Hadith no. 8 (the hadith of Jibril) — narrated by 'Umar ibn al-Khattab; hadeethenc.com and al-Nawawi's Forty Hadith, no. 2.
5. Sahih Muslim, Qadar, Hadith no. 2655 — narrated by Abdullah ibn 'Umar; hadeethenc.com (authentic).
6. "Kader" entry, Turkish Religious Foundation (TDV) Encyclopedia of Islam — islamansiklopedisi.org.tr.
7. "Is belief in qada and qadar an article of faith?" — High Board of Religious Affairs, Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), kurul.diyanet.gov.tr.