A Response to "The Qur'an and Being True to Ourselves"

Two people over at a blog called The Zen of South Park are trying to work their way through the Qur'an. Their first post was on Al-Fatiha, and now they're trying to get through the first ten verses of Al-Baqarah. What appears below is one of my comments with respect to the Qur'anic view of determinism vs. free will. I admit that this is a topic that I've had problems with in the past, but I tried to answer the questions as best I can. If anyone wants to help out, please feel free to join me. :)

According to Islam, everything in this life and world is dictated by and under the control of Allah (or God).

First, I don't know how much you've read of the Qur'an, but I will say that unless you've read through the entire Qur'an at least once (and preferably several times), it's best not to try to draw conclusions, especially on only a few verses. The Qur'an will bounce around and provide snippets of information here and there that need to be synthesized, along with material from the ahadith, in order to have a more thorough understanding of the topic being studied. This is especially the case for the topic of determinism and free will. :) The Qur'an essentially teaches that mankind has limited free will. We do have the ability to make choices although, perhaps from the perspective of Allah (swt), He knows what the final outcome will be in advance. In this case, you might say that from His perspective this is determinism, but from ours it is free will. We believe we are making our own choices. In your life, do you not think that the choices you are making are your own? Do you have the ability to choose to believe in Allah (swt) or not? We (Muslims) would in fact argue that you do have a choice. See below.


However, it is interesting that verse 7 mentions that “God has sealed their hearts and ears, and veiled their eyes.”

Because they had already made their choice not to believe in God. Even so, they are still given chances to reform their beliefs: "See they not that they are tried every year once or twice? Yet they turn not in repentance, and they take no heed." (9:126)


Under this notion, everything in this wolrd is pre-destined or determined, leaving us with no liberty to really choose what is the “straight path” because Islam and the revelation of God is what is right.

Well, Islam and the revelation of God is what is right. :) "He will admit to His Mercy Whom He will..." (76:31) If you choose to submit to the will of Allah (swt), you may, insha'allah, be able to obtain His Grace and Mercy; if you reject God, you'll suffer the penalty, insha'allah.


If the way of Allah is supreme and reigns over all other paths in this world, then why would Allah put in this world unbelievers?

The Qur'an points out in many, many passages that we are all here to be tested; e.g., see the above verse 9:126. Even if you took the extreme position that "unbelievers have no chance whatsoever to go to heaven in the afterlife; it's all been predetermined that they won't," perhaps they are being used to test the believers. Allahu alim. (God knows best.)


There is a slight impression that the God we speak of here is pretty merciless. However, if you read the bismillah, which starts off every surah of the Qur’an, except the ninth, it states, “In the name of God, the most gracious, the most compassionate.” Am I seeing things or is there a contradiction here?

To those who disbelieve, who mock Him, His messengers and His believers, who sin in such a gross fashion without sincere repentance, yes, He might seem merciless, insha'allah. To the believers, He is the Most Merciful, insha'allah. In which case, we would say, "Why would you not want to be on His good side?"