In As-Sunnah, Lalkai has narrated from Abdullah bin Umar that a man came
to Abu Bakr and asked:
“Do you believe that fornication is destined?”
“Yes,” he replied.
He was asked: “Can Almighty Allah destine it for me and then chastise me for committing it?”
He replied: “Yes, O son of stinking female! By God, if there was someone with me, I would ordered him to break your head.”1
Allamah Amini says: Do you think that the Caliph knew the correct
meaning of destiny; which means: proof, inevitability of a matter, which is
present in the eternal knowledge of God, by granting of power to do or leave it,
and recognizing good and evil and explaining the consequences of those two.
إِنَّا هَدَيْنَـٰهُ ٱلسَّبِيلَ إِمَّا شَاكِرًۭا وَإِمَّا كَفُورًا (٣)
“Surely We have shown him the way: he may be thankful or unthankful.”2
وَهَدَيْنَهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ
“And pointed out to him the two conspicuous ways?”3
وَمَنْ شَكَرَ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِ وَمَنْ كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ رَبِّي غَنِيٌّ كَرِيمٌ
“And whoever is grateful, he is grateful only for his own soul,
and whoever is ungrateful, then surely my Lord is Selfsufficient, Honored.”4
وَمَنْ يَشْكُرْ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِ وَمَنْ كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ
“And whoever is grateful, he is only grateful for his own soul;
and whoever is ungrateful, then surely Allah is Self-sufficient,
Praised.”5
All these before the intellect and carnal desires of man and creating factors
of success as opposed to impulsive mind (Nafse Ammarah), which some obey
through the choice of good and some upon their own choice purse sinful acts.
فَمِنْهُمْ ظَالِمٌ لِنَفْسِهِ ، وَمِنْهُمْ مُقْتَصِدٌ : وَمِنْهُمْ سَابِقٌ بِالْخَيْرَاتِ
“But of them is he who makes his soul to suffer a loss, and of
them is he who takes a middle course, and of them is he who is
foremost in deeds of goodness.”6
مَنِ اهْتَدَى فَإِنَّمَا يَهْتَدِي لِنَفْسِهِ : وَمَنْ ضَلَّ فَإِنَّمَا يَضِلُّ عَلَيْهَا
“Whoever goes aright, for his own soul does he go aright; and
whoever goes astray, to its detriment only does he go astray.”7
فَمَنِ اهْتَدَى فَلِنَفْسِهِ : وَمَنْ ضَلَّ فَإِنَّمَا يَضِلُّ عَلَيْهَا
“So whoever follows the right way, it is for his own soul and whoever errs, he errs only to its detriment.”8
مَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلِنَفْسِهِ : وَمَنْ أَسَاءَ فَعَلَيْهَا ثُمَّ إِلَى رَبِّكُمْ تُرْجَعُونَ
“Whoever does good, it is for his own soul, and whoever does
evil, it is against himself; then you shall be brought back to your
Lord.”9
فَمَنْ أَبْصَرَ فَلِنَفْسِهِ : وَمَنْ عَمِيَ فَعَلَيْهَا
“Whoever will therefore see, it is for his own soul and whoever
will be blind, it shall be against himself.”10
قُلْ إِنْ ضَلَلْتُ فَإِنَّمَا أَضِلُّ عَلَى نَفْسِي ، وَإِنِ اهْتَدَيْتُ فَبِمَا يُوحِي إِلَى رَبِّي
“Say: If I err, I err only against my own soul, and if I follow a
right direction, it is because of what my Lord reveals to me.”11
إِنْ أَحْسَنْتُمْ أَحْسَنْتُمْ لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ وَإِنْ أَسَأْتُمْ فَلَهَا
“If you do good, you will do good for your own souls, and if you
do evil, it shall be for them.”12
إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنْ ضَلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِهِ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ مَنِ اهْتَدَى
“Surely your Lord knows best him who goes astray from His
path and He knows best him who follows the right direction.”13
رَبِّي أَعْلَمُ مَنْ جَاءَ بِالْهُدَى وَمَنْ هُوَ فِي ضَلَلٍ مُّبِينٍ
“My Lord knows best him who has brought the guidance and
him who is in manifest error.”14
Thus, destiny does not necessitate compulsion and knowledge of Allah, the
Mighty and High does not contradict the quantity of good and evil, which people
have selected and which they do; just as He does not have any effect in choice of
the duty-bound.
فَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُ
“So he who has done an atom’s weight of good shall see it. And
he who has done an atom’s weight of evil shall see it.”15
وَنَضَعُ الْمَوَازِينَ الْقِسْطَ لِيَوْمِ الْقِيمَةِ فَلَا تُظْلَمُ نَفْسٌ شَيْئًا وَإِنْ كَانَ مِثْقَالَ حَبَّةٍ مِنْ خَرْدَلٍ أَتَيْنَا بِهَا وَكَفَى بِنَا حَسِبِيْنَ
“And We will set up a just balance on the day of resurrection, so
no soul shall be dealt with unjustly in the least; and though
there be the weight of a grain of mustard seed, (yet) will We
bring it, and sufficient are We to take account.”16
الْيَوْمَ تُجْزَى كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ لَا ظُلْمَ الْيَوْمَ
“This day every soul shall be rewarded for what it has earned;
no injustice (shall be done) this day.”17
فَكَيْفَ إِذَا جَمَعْلُهُمْ لِيَوْمٍ لَّا رَيْبَ فِيْهِ وَوُفِّيَتْ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ
“Then how will it be when We shall gather them together on a
day about which there is no doubt, and every soul shall be fully
paid what it has earned, and they shall not be dealt with
unjustly?”18
Does the Caliph regard this to be from destiny and gave that reply? But the
questioner did not understand his implication and objected against him? But if his
implication was as such, he would not abuse in reply to that objection maker and would not wish that there had been someone with him, who would have broken
his nose; on the contrary, he would have mentioned his objective in the
beginning, so that the person returns to truth.
Or that the Caliph did not understand anything from destiny (Qadar), but
creation of acts of people as most of his followers have said.
In that case, what the critic said is correct, whether the Caliph abuses him or
not. What is understood from his daughter, Ayesha, is inclined to second
meaning. After staging an uprising against Ameerul Momineen Ali (a.s.) and
forsaking her seclusion and coming in crowd of males similar to style of period
of Ignorance (Jahiliyya),19 she became a target of condemnation and said:
“These acts were destined and destiny has causes.”20