https://www.khutbah.info/divine-will-and-decree/ Allah Almighty has created the heavens and the earth and created the worlds. He assembled them with precision, indicating His wisdom, perfect knowledge and ability. And nothing is hidden from Him, so much as the weight of an atom on the earth or in the heaven, and not what is less than that or what is greater than that. He created everything and perfected His creation and determined everything with precise determination. He created the jinn and humans. He decreed the destinies of the creation, and nothing is left unmeasured or unallocated, down to the smallest details. Minds and intellects are incapable of grasping or fully comprehending it. The greatness of Allah Almighty is manifested in His Divine Will and Decree, leaving the Muslim minds amazed and speechless, acknowledging their inability to understand all matters, believing that everything is from Allah, and that Allah encompasses everything in knowledge: Al Imran (3) 7: We have believed in it. All [of it] is from our Lord.
إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ ,نَحْمَدُهُ ,وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ , وَنَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا ,مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ , وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ , وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
Verily, all praise is for Allah. We praise Him, we seek His assistance and we ask for His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Him from the evils of our selves. Whoever Allah guides, none can misguide. Whoever He misguides, none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no deity other than Allah and I bear witness that Mohammad is His slave and messenger.
يَا أَيُّهَا الّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ – آل عمران:102
Al Imran 102 : O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam.
Oh people:
Allah Almighty has created the heavens and the earth and created the worlds. He assembled them with precision, indicating His wisdom, perfect knowledge and ability. And nothing is hidden from Him, so much as the weight of an atom on the earth or in the heaven, and not what is less than that or what is greater than that. He created everything and perfected His creation and determined everything with precise determination. He created the jinn and humans. He decreed the destinies of the creation, and nothing is left unmeasured or unallocated, down to the smallest details. Minds and intellects are incapable of grasping or fully comprehending it. The greatness of Allah Almighty is manifested in His Divine Will and Decree, leaving the Muslim minds amazed and speechless, acknowledging their inability to understand all matters, believing that everything is from Allah, and that Allah encompasses everything in knowledge:
آمَنَّا بِهِ كُلٌّ مّنْ عِندِ رَبّنَا-آل عمران 7
Al Imran (3) 7: We have believed in it. All [of it] is from our Lord.
They submit to Allah in His actions, knowing that He is Wise and Sovereign, and He does not decree arbitrarily. If the wisdom behind His actions is hidden from them, they attribute ignorance to themselves and submit to the Wise, the Sovereign.
However, there are those viewing Allah’s decree and destiny with the limited scope of their minds. They view it as if it was the work of a created being without any wisdom behind it. They attributed the Creator to that, which is sheer disbelief and blatant madness. Exalted is Allah above what they say, He is high above all things.
The first one to engage in such an act was iblis, may Allah’s curse be upon him, when he saw that Allah preferred the human species over the jinn. He rejected and became arrogant, and said:
أَنَاْ خَيْرٌ مّنْهُ خَلَقْتَنِي مِن نَّارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُ مِن طِينٍ-الأعراف 12
Al Araf (7) 12: I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay.
Likewise, Abu Jahl objected to the Creator and His wisdom when he said regarding the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ :
We and Banu Abd Manaf competed with one another for honor. They fed, so we fed; they carried responsibilities, and so did we; they gave, and we gave. To the point we were like two horses racing neck to neck. Then they said that there is a Prophet among us who receives revelation from the heaven. When will we attain something like this? By Allah, we will never believe in him or affirm him.
وَقَالُواْ لَوْلاَ نُزّلَ هَـذَا الْقُرْءانُ عَلَى رَجُلٍ مّنَ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ * أَهُمْ يَقْسِمُونَ رَحْمَةَ رَبّكَ نَحْنُ قَسَمْنَا بَيْنَهُمْ مَّعِيشَتَهُمْ فِي الْحَيَوةِ الدُّنْيَا-الزخرف 31-32
Az Zukhruf (43) 31-32: (31) And they said, “Why was this Qur’ān not sent down upon a great man from [one of] the two cities?” (32) Do they distribute the mercy of your Lord? It is We who have apportioned among them their livelihood in the life of this world.
Applying human standards and concepts to Allah’s Will and Decree is a dangerous trap. As is the objection of the weak souls against Allah’s allocation and provision, whereby the Almighty has made some wealthy and others poor, and takes the young in their youth before reaching their full potential, and takes children from the hands of their parents. For Allah is in no need for what He took and parents have the utmost need for their children to remain not knowing the consequences of them remaining.
All of this provides an opportunity for satan to sow doubts, and he starts by faulting Allah’s wisdom and decree. Satan would find no pathway or foothold in people’s hearts, if they were filled with iman (faith), certainty of belief, and contentment with Allah as their Lord. And if they understood that Allah does not decree anything except for a wisdom, and that wisdom may be known or hidden from people, in accordance to the will of the All Mighty, All Wise.
Do you not view damaging a ship by making a hole in it an injustice and transgression? In spite of that, it may become apparent to you that this defect may be the means for salvation from destruction. And this is what befell Khidr with Musa, peace be upon him:
أَمَّا السَّفِينَةُ فَكَانَتْ لِمَسَـاكِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ فِي الْبَحْرِ فَأَرَدتُّ أَنْ أَعِيبَهَا وَكَانَ وَرَاءهُم مَّلِكٌ يَأْخُذُ كُلَّ سَفِينَةٍ غَصْباً-الكهف:79
Al Kahf (18) 79: As for the ship, it belonged to poor people working at sea. So I intended to cause defect in it as there was after them a king who seized every [good] ship by force.
Look at Yusuf, peace be upon him, when he was accused of immorality and imprisoned because of it. So that imprisonment became the way for placing him as a knowledgeable guardian over the treasures of the land,.
And Mohammad ﷺ lived as an orphan without either parent. He was afflicted in his family, wealth, and self. Doors were closed to him and stones were thrown at him and intestines of animals were placed on him. Then after that, he became the leader of all mankind. And whoever does not love him disbelieves in Allah and in what was revealed to Mohammad ﷺ.
Allah’s law has been established in His creation, whereby deeds of the heart have dominion over physical deeds. So the righteousness or corruption of the deeds is due to the righteousness or corruption of the heart. For the tranquility of a Muslim’s heart and placing their trust in their Lord, after fulfilling their obligations, is iman (faith) that all matters are under the decisive will of Allah. Therefore, they put their trust in their Lord, free from worry and anxiety.
Ibn Abbas bin Abdul Mutalib, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
ذَاقَ طَعْمَ الإِيمَانِ مَنْ رَضِيَ بِاللَّهِ رَبًّا وَبِالإِسْلاَمِ دِينًا وَبِمُحَمَّدٍ نَبِيًّا
Whoever is pleased with Allah as (his) Lord, and Islam as (his) religion, and Muhammad as (his) Prophet, then he has tasted the sweetness of faith. [Muslim 34]
And the Prophet ﷺ said:
لاَ يُؤْمِنُ عَبْدٌ حَتَّى يُؤْمِنَ بِالْقَدَرِ خَيْرِهِ وَشَرِّهِ حَتَّى يَعْلَمَ أَنَّ مَا أَصَابَهُ لَمْ يَكُنْ لِيُخْطِئَهُ وَأَنَّ مَا أَخْطَأَهُ لَمْ يَكُنْ لِيُصِيبَهُ
A servant (of Allah) shall not have faith until he believes in the Divine Will and Decree, its good and its bad, such that he knows that what befell him would not have missed him, and that what missed him would not have befallen him. [Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2144, Grade: Hasan]
People’s attitude towards the Divine Will and Decree is astonishing. Consider merchants overcome by worries, fearing the collapse of their businesses from time to time. While others sleep deeply, not bothered to make an effort, because sustenance has been decreed.
And safety lies in the middle path between these two extremes. For the Muslim performs the needed work and takes the needed measures and places their trust in Allah. And casts doubts from their heart after having performing what they are required to do in accordance with the words of the Chosen One ﷺ:
اعْمَلُوا فَكُلٌّ مُيَسَّرٌ لِمَا خُلِقَ لَهُ
Keep striving for everyone will be helped to do that for which he was created. [Bukhari 4946 and Muslim 2647]
Therefore, Hadiths regarding the Divine Will and Decree are a remedy for anxiety and pessimism and not excuses for laziness or inaction.
So what would you do if something that you hate happens to you? If changing the undesirable is within your ability, enduring it is irrationality, and contentment with it is foolishness. And if what troubles you, is beyond your control, is there a better approach than balance and firm resolve? Is there a better course than contentment and submission to the Creator, who turns ailment into a cure and a trial into a blessing? Allah Almighty said:
أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُواْ أَن يَقُولُواْ آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لاَ يُفْتَنُونَ * وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ فَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُواْ وَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ الْكَـاذِبِينَ-العنكبوت 2-3
Al Ankaboot (29) 2-3: (2) Do the people think that they will be left to say, “We believe” and they will not be tried? (3) But We have certainly tried those before them, and Allāh will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars.
And have good tidings, for the Chosen One ﷺ has said:
إنَّ رُوحَ القُدُسِ نفثَ في رُوعِي ، أنَّ نفسًا لَن تموتَ حتَّى تستكمِلَ أجلَها ، وتستوعِبَ رزقَها ، فاتَّقوا اللهَ ، وأجمِلُوا في الطَّلَبِ ، ولا يَحمِلَنَّ أحدَكم استبطاءُ الرِّزقِ أن يطلُبَه بمَعصيةِ اللهِ ، فإنَّ اللهَ تعالى لا يُنالُ ما عندَه إلَّا بِطاعَتِهِ
The Pure Spirit (Jibril) revealed to my heart that a soul will not die until it completes its term and receives its sustenance. So be conscious of Allah, and be moderate in seeking provisions, and do not seek sustenance through disobedience to Allah if it is slow in coming, for Allah does not give what is with Him except through obedience. [Sahih Al Jami’ 2085, Grade: Sahih (Albani)]
أَقُولُ مَا تَسْمَعُونَ وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ ذَنْبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
I say what you have heard and I seek forgiveness from Allah for me and you from every sin. So seek forgives from Him, Verily He is Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
Second Khutbah
الحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ, وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ , وَ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَاْ إِلَهَ إِلَّاْ اَللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَاْشَرِيْكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدَاً عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُوْلُهُ
All praise is to Allah, and peace and blessings upon the Messenger of Allah, and I bear witness that there is no deity other than Allah and I bear witness that Mohammad is His slave and messenger.
Oh Muslims:
Be conscious of Allah, and know that iman (faith) in the Divine Will and Decree is one of the pillars of this religion and is the sixth pillar of faith. Those who stray from it have indeed been deprived the guidance of Allah and have not been given success in realizing tawhid (Divine Unity), which is the right of Allah upon His servants.
Those going to extremes with regard to the Divine Will and Decree fall into error, whether they exaggerate it or neglect it. The correct position is the middle way which is the way people of Sunnah and the Community, without negligence or excess. As some scholars have said, between excretion and blood, pure milk, palatable to the drinkers.
The position of the people of Sunnah and the Community is that one must know that Allah has prior knowledge of every aspect of His creation. So He decreed that decisively and conclusively and it cannot be negated, reversed, removed or altered, and there are no deficiencies or excesses in His creation in the Heavens and Earth.
What Allah Almighty wills, is, and what He does not will, is not. And people have a will and resolve subject to the will and decree of Allah. Allah Almighty said:
وَمَا تَشَاءونَ إِلاَّ أَن يَشَاء اللَّهُ رَبُّ الْعَـالَمِينَ-التكوير 29
At Takwir (81) 29: And you do not will except that Allāh wills – Lord of the worlds.
O Allah, we ask You for iman (faith) in You, Your angels, Your books, Your messengers, the Last Day, and in Your Decree, the good and the bad. Indeed You are All Hearing, Answering.
هَذَا وَصَلُّوا وَسَلِّمُوا عَلَى نَبِيِّكُم كَمَا أَمَرَكُمْ بِذلِكَ رَبُّكُمْ , فَقَالَ
I conclude with this and send prayers of blessings and peace upon your Prophet as your Lord commanded:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
Al Ahzaab (33) 56: Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [ Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [ Allah to grant him] peace.
اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِنا فِيمَنْ هَدَيْتَ وَعَافِنا فِيمَنْ عَافَيْتَ وَتَوَلَّنا فِيمَنْ تَوَلَّيْتَ وَبَارِكْ لنا فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَ وَقِنا شَرَّ مَا قَضَيْتَ إِنَّكَ تَقْضِي وَلاَ يُقْضَى عَلَيْكَ وَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَالَيْتَ تَبَارَكْتَ رَبَّنَا وَتَعَالَيْتَ
O Allah, guide us with those whom You have guided, grant us well-being among those You have granted well-being, be an ally to us along with those whom You are an ally to, and bless what You have bestowed upon us, and save us from the evil of what You have decreed. For verily You decree and none can decree over You. He whom You support can never be humiliated. Glory is to You, our Lord, You are Blessed and Exalted.
اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ كُلِّهِ عَاجِلِهِ وَآجِلِهِ مَا عَلِمْنا مِنْهُ وَمَا لَمْ نَعْلَمْ وَنَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الشَّرِّ كُلِّهِ عَاجِلِهِ وَآجِلِهِ مَا عَلِمْنا مِنْهُ وَمَا لَمْ نَعْلَمْ اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ خَيْرِ مَا سَأَلَكَ عَبْدُكَ وَنَبِيُّكَ وَنَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا عَاذَ بِهِ عَبْدُكَ وَنَبِيُّكَ اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَا قَرَّبَ إِلَيْهَا مِنْ قَوْلٍ أَوْ عَمَلٍ وَنَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ النَّارِ وَمَا قَرَّبَ إِلَيْهَا مِنْ قَوْلٍ أَوْ عَمَلٍ وَنَسْأَلُكَ أَنْ تَجْعَلَ كُلَّ قَضَاءٍ قَضَيْتَهُ لَنا خَيْرًا
O Allah, We ask You for all that is good, in this world and in the Hereafter, what we know and what we do not know. O Allah, we seek refuge with You from all evil, in this world and in the Hereafter, what we know and what we do not know. O Allah, we ask You for the good that Your servant and Prophet has asked You for, and we seek refuge with You from the evil from which Your servant and Prophet sought refuge. O Allah, we ask You for Paradise and for that which brings one closer to it, in word and deed, and we seek refuge in You from Hell and from that which brings one closer to it, in word and deed. And we ask You to make every decree that You decree concerning us good
عِبَادَ اللّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ
Servants of Allah. Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded.
اُذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ يَذْكُرْكُمْ واشْكُرُوهُ يَزِدْكُمْ واسْتَغْفِرُوهُ يَغْفِرْ لكُمْ واتّقُوهُ يَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ مِنْ أَمْرِكُمْ مَخْرَجًا وَأَقِمِ الصّلَاة
Remember Allah, the Great – He will remember you. Thank Him for His favors – He will increase you therein. And seek forgiveness from Him – He will forgive you. And be conscious of Him – He will provide you a way out of difficult matters. And, establish the prayer.
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