The Contradiction Between Free Will and Predestination in Islamic Theology and its Political Usage for his Personal Benefits by Muhammad

Summary:

This contradiction stands among the most profound paradoxes within Islam’s intellectual structure. On one side, Islam declares that everything is governed by God’s Qadā and Qadar (Divine Decree and Predestination), claiming that not even a leaf falls without His command. Yet, on the other side, it holds humans accountable for their choices, rewarding or punishing them in the afterlife based on their supposed free will.

The question naturally arises: if every act is preordained by God, then why is man blamed or praised for actions he never truly controlled? And if man does possess free will, what meaning remains for Qadā and Qadar? This unresolved tension not only exposes a philosophical flaw in Islam’s doctrine of destiny but also makes its moral framework incoherent.

Why does Islam contain two mutually contradictory ideas at its core? The answer is rather clear: Muhammad required both. Predestination instilled absolute submission, while the notion of free will justified reward, punishment, and moral accountability, together ensuring complete obedience to his authority.

The Trap of Destiny: The Dialogue Between Adam and Moses

Islamic traditions clearly indicate that God Himself creates people to be inherently disobedient, and then punishes them for the very sins over which they had no control. Man's actions, his faith and disbelief, even the mistakes of the prophets, are all pre-determined according to God's decision.

According to numerous Hadith in Bukhari and Muslim, Moses (peace be upon him) said to Adam (peace be upon him):

"You are the one who, by your sin, expelled mankind from Paradise and caused them distress."

Adam replied:

"O Moses! Do you blame me for a matter which Allah had decreed for me even before my creation?"

Muhammad stated that Adam prevailed over Moses with this argument.

(Reference: Sahih Bukhari 6614, 4738; Sahih Muslim 2652, etc.)

The most interesting aspect of this Hadith is that Adam blamed not Satan, but God's decree for his sin. That is, in his view, God Himself was the true source of his sin because the act had been "written down" before he was created.

If Adam had Free Will, his expulsion from Paradise would have been his own mistake, but according to his own statement, he was merely acting on God's pre-ordained decision.

The question then arises: Who is truly responsible for the expulsion of mankind from Paradise? Adam? Satan? Or the Being who determined all of this in advance?

Quranic Verses That Nullify the Concept of "Free Will"

1. God Himself Grants Guidance and Misguidance

"فَمَنْ يُرِدِ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَهْدِيَهُ يَشْرَحْ صَدْرَهُ لِلْإِسْلَامِ، وَمَنْ يُرِدْ أَنْ يُضِلَّهُ يَجْعَلْ صَدْرَهُ ضَيِّقًا حَرَجًا كَأَنَّمَا يَصَّعَّدُ فِي السَّمَاءِ"
(Al-An'am 6:125)

Translation: "Whomever God wills to guide, He opens his heart to Islam, and whomever He wills to lead astray, He makes his chest narrow and constricted, as if he were ascending to the sky."

This verse is a clear declaration that guidance does not depend on man's action or intention but on God's will.

2. God Seals the Hearts

"خَتَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ وَعَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِمْ وَعَلَىٰ أَبْصَارِهِمْ غِشَاوَةٌ"
(Al-Baqarah 2:7)

Translation: "God has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and over their eyes is a veil."

Man has no will of his own here. When God Himself seals the heart, how can man decide on disbelief or faith? This ceases to be a punishment and becomes a "pre-determined outcome."

3. If God Willed, All Would Believe

"وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ لَآمَنَ مَنْ فِي الْأَرْضِ كُلُّهُمْ جَمِيعًا"
(Yunus 10:99)

Translation: "And if your Lord had willed, those on earth would have believed—all of them entirely."

This verse clearly indicates that God Himself determined that not all would believe.

4. God Leads Astray Whomever He Wills

"يُضِلُّ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَهْدِي مَنْ يَشَاءُ"
(An-Nahl 16:93)

Translation: "He leads astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills."

This is an open contradiction of judicial logic. For the person whom God has decided to lead astray has no path left to virtue or faith. How is it just to punish such a person?

5. Every Calamity is Already Written

The Quran says:

"مَا أَصَابَ مِن مُّصِيبَةٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فِي أَنفُسِكُمْ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ مِّن قَبْلِ أَن نَّبْرَأَهَا"
(Al-Hadid 57:22)
"No disaster strikes upon the earth or among yourselves except that it is in a register before We bring it into being."

This verse clearly shows that human decisions or actions have no real effect; everything is already "written down."

If the murderer's act of killing was written down beforehand, why is he a criminal? If the thief's act of stealing was in God's decree, then what is the meaning of punishment?

6. Both Good and Evil are by God's Will

Many verses attribute sin, disbelief, and faith to God's own decree. For example:

"خَتَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ"
(Al-Baqarah 2:7)
"God has sealed their hearts."

If God is the One who seals the hearts, why should they be punished for not believing? This is a morally tyrannical principle.

Scholarly Justifications: Conflicting Interpretations in Defense of the Two Contradictory Beliefs

Islamic scholars were well aware of these contradictory beliefs and the questions and doubts they raised about Islam. Consequently, they tried their utmost to provide an interpretation that could resolve this contradiction.

However, the problem is that the justifications they provided (which were essentially self-invented excuses) also turned out to be contradictory among themselves.

When it became clear from these narratives that Adam's sin was not truly his "optional" act but part of God's eternal decree, exegetes and scholars ran into difficulty. Had they accepted this reality, the entire moral system of Islam would have collapsed, as no human could then be held responsible for their sins. Therefore, they began weaving a web of interpretations that ostensibly reconciled predestination and free will, but in reality, only highlighted the contradiction further.

Some commentators argued that Adam's mistake was an "Ijtihadi error (خَطَأ اجْتِهَادِي)", meaning his intention was good but his action was flawed. But the question is, if all this was predetermined by God, then the intention, the flaw, and the judgment were all subject to the same destiny.

Others said that God did write the decree, but did not enforce it. But the Quran and Hadith repeatedly state that God guides whom He wills and leads astray whom He wills.

Scholars attempted to resolve this conflict by seeking a "middle path between coercion and free will," inventing the concept of "Kasb" (Acquisition), or claiming that God only possessed "knowledge" but did not compel the action. Yet, despite all these interpretations, the fundamental question remained: If God knows that a person will be misguided, yet still creates them, how is that justice?

1. The Position of Ahl al-Sunnah (Ash'ari and Maturidi): The Philosophy of "Kasb"

According to the Ash'ari school:

"Every act is actually created by God, but man 'acquires' it (Kasb), meaning he chooses it from his side."

This is the famous Doctrine of Acquisition.

• God is the one who initiates the action,

• but man is responsible.

This philosophy may sound logical at first, but upon reflection, it is merely wordplay. If God is the Creator of the action, and man is only the Acquirer, then this "choice" is nothing but an illusion.

Imam Razi himself admitted that:

"This issue is not resolved by intellect, but only by submission."
(Tafsir al-Kabir, Vol. 8)

2. The Mu'tazilah Position: Man is the "Creator of the Act"

The Mu'tazilah argued:

"If God creates all actions Himself, then where is the justice? Therefore, man himself is the creator of his acts."

That is, according to them, God provides the capacity for guidance and misguidance, but man makes the decision himself.

This position appears more rational, but it creates a serious problem: if man is the creator of his own actions, it implies that other creators exist besides God.

Thus, the Mu'tazilah sacrificed divine unity for logical justice. For this reason, their opposing scholars declared them "deniers of predestination" and infidels.

3. The Ash'ari Position: Man's Will is Merely "Apparent"

The Ash'arites, also sought a middle ground by stating:

"God determined everything, but gave man an 'apparent choice' within that decree."

But this is exactly like telling a prisoner in a locked prison that the door is closed, but he is free to do as he pleases.

Questions on Divine Justice Arising from These Two Contradictory Beliefs

When Islamic scholars were confronted with the question of "justice," they had two options:

1. Either admit that God created some people for Hell, and that this is not justice.

2. Or argue that whatever God does is justice, even if it appears as oppression in man's eyes.

Most scholars chose the second path. Imam Ghazali writes:

"If God were to put all the righteous into Hell, and admit all the sinners into Paradise, it would still be justice, because the standard of justice is only God's will."
(Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din, Vol. 4)

Thus, the definition of justice was also made subject to God's will. If He were to cast an innocent child into Hell, it would still be called "justice."

The Political Use of These Two Contradictory Islamic Beliefs by Muhammad

Muhammad cleverly used these two contradictory doctrines of free will and predestination for his political and governmental advantage. This occurred as follows:

1. Coercing People to Adopt the Religion:
   When he wanted people to accept Islam, he convinced them that every person is solely responsible for their actions.

2. Demanding Absolute Obedience After Conversion:
   Once people accepted Islam, he would demand complete obedience and submission to his commands.

3. The Excuse of Destiny in Case of Failure or Defeat:
   When people obeyed completely but faced defeat in war, Muhammad would immediately resort to the "game of destiny." For example, after the defeat at the Battle of Uhud, the declaration came:

"Qul lan yusibana illa ma kataba Allahu lana"
(At-Tawbah 9:51)
"Say: 'Nothing will ever befall us except what Allah has destined for us.'"

This was a psychological tactic. The contradictory statements—sometimes attributing everything to God's will, sometimes to man's own mistake—had one sole purpose: to keep authority and accountability with Muhammad, and to keep the public from questioning.

4. Making Predestination an Article of Faith
   Muhammad did not just demand acceptance of destiny; he made it an essential pillar of faith. The Hadith states: "Belief in destiny is one of the six pillars of faith."

When oppression is labeled "God's will," protest against it becomes a religious rebellion.

Destiny: The Most Powerful Political Weapon of the Umayyad Caliphs

The clearest example in Islamic history is the Umayyad period. The Umayyad Caliphs formally made the doctrine of destiny into political propaganda. They told the public:

"Our rule is by God's decree. If we are unjust, that too is God's decision."

A famous quote from Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan is: "Whatever we have received is God's decree, and whoever prevented us, prevented us by God's decision."

That is, power is God's decree,
and oppression is also God's will.

Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik executed Ghaylan al-Dimashqi, whose crime was saying: "God cannot be an oppressor." This incident clearly shows that the Islamic doctrine of destiny was primarily used for the protection of power.

Conclusion: Justification of Oppression Behind the Veil of Philosophy

All these schools (Ash'ari, Maturidi, Mu'tazilah) ended up at the same point: none of them had a true justification for human free will.

• The Ash'arites said: "Everything is God's decree."

• The Mu'tazilah said: "Man is his own creator, but then God's power is diminished."

• The Sufis said: "Everything is a dream, the act and the punishment both."

Ultimately, the doctrine of destiny in Islam became a justification for universal oppression, an oppression sanctified by being called "God's will." Caliphs and Muslim rulers consistently used this for their political gain.