The question of predestination has long occupied the minds of human beings. The philosophical dilemmas one can easily land oneself in have caused many to turn to atheism.

Yet there is no need for this; what is necessary is to maintain a proper perspective.

People find it difficult to reconcile the horrors we see in the world with the concept of a loving God. If God is compassionate, the argument continues, how come He foreordains some to Heaven and others to Hell?

Obviously, there cannot be responsibility without freedom of choice. If God had not given man this freedom, He in His justice would not hold man accountable. The very fact that a system of rewards and punishments exists bespeaks man's freedom to choose between good and evil.

This freedom is a sine qua non for the fulfillment of the purpose of existence. Yet it is also a heavy burden. Most of the evils we observe in the world are a product of man's wrong choice, not God's. It is easier to blame one's Creator for one's own misdeeds than to shoulder responsibility and solve them. But this is to add insult to injury, and only exacerbates our eventual punishment. To say: "God created me this way. What can I do? I would have acted good if He had created me good," is the worst form of cop-out. God is not responsible for stopping the evils of this world—we are. For the worst of them are manmade.

Furthermore, God has made us the stewards and custodians of this world, and it is our duty to take proper care of our planet.

But if God is omniscient and all-powerful, how can He punish our misdeeds? Aren't these predetermined by God, too?

The Islamic response is as follows: God has donated a small portion, a fragment, of His will to each individual human being, which a person is entitled to exercise freely. This partial or fragmentary will of man can choose to comply with or oppose the total or universal will of God. If God forced us to make an ethical choice, only in that case would He and not us be responsible for it. And in fact, we shall be held accountable only for our free moral choices and actions, not for the situations we may find ourselves in through no fault of our own. A moral choice made under adverse circumstances, however, is of greater merit than the same choice under conditions of ease.

Note here the existence of a very fine, delicate point: the will exercised by each of us has been loaned to us by God; it is a fragment of God's own will. This is a very great responsibility: a human being can, under certain conditions, influence the fate of millions of human beings for good or ill. Hence, it is only normal that man should be held accountable for its misuse.

This also means that we cannot always let events follow their course. Under certain conditions, moral conduct requires us to intervene. Suppose you see a person who has fallen into a river and is on the verge of being drowned. You cannot say: "This is what the Universal Will wants," and allow him to drown. You have to exercise your individual, fragmentary will, and try to save him by whatever means you find at your disposal. God, who has placed you in the presence of that situation, has delegated to you the resonsibility to do something about it.

Freedom of the fragmentary will of the individual is a right granted by God which He does not violate. Rather, He causes the choice to be fulfilled with complete disregard as to whether it is good or bad. People can carry out the worst crimes as well as the best deeds.

Man proposes, God creates and delivers the result. It is only in the afterworld that the final reckoning will occur. But occur it will, for man is capable of committing crimes so horrible that it would be impossible for God's justice to let them go without punishment.

Since God is all-knowing, He knows that a person will, at a certain time, do such-and-such.

But He does not interfere. Omniscience does not imply omni-interference. The Universal Will does not infringe the right of the fragmentary will to decide independently.

To be sure, "the ways of the Lord are mysterious." Not everything in His creation lends itself to easy explanation by our reason. We may comprehend only to the extent we are able to. Hence, the best thing is to steer clear of unproductive arguments on predestination, and concentrate on carrying out the clear orders God has given us. This, and nothing else, is to our ultimate benefit.

For more tips for dealing with this life try to read "advice to kim" in the same book . You can find it on islamicspiritualite groups in files .

May Allah The Enricher, enrich us .