It is often very hard, sometimes impossible to understand how things work in our life. On the one hand we are told that our life has been pre-planned and that we cannot escape destiny. On the other hand, we are held responsible for our actions and every decision we make.
True that our destiny has been written in The Safe Book of God, even before we are born, and even though sometimes it seems like we are driven by some unknown hand, we really are making our decisions consciously and of a free will. Why should we be punished for our bad deeds if they are not our own; and why should we expect to be rewarded for our good actions if all that we are doing is follow a preordained agenda of fate?
We know that God created all human spirits at one time. He then took an oath of allegience and total submission from each spirit. According to the Quran all spirits consented to accept and submit to God's every command. This makes them all Muslim, as the word 'muslim' means 'one who submits to the will of God'.
After years of pondering over this strange phenomenon, I have come to a conclusion of sorts, which not only clears a lot of ambiguity, it also brings peace to the mind. This is what I feel.
After all the spirits were created, they were shown their entire future life in a flash; a small task for the Almighty. The spirits were presented with every opportunity that their life on earth would present them with. Then they were given their options, and the free will to choose the path of their preference. Whatever choice the spirit made, was then recorded in The Book of Fate and marked as our 'destiny'.
This means that our spirits have already 'lived' their life once before and have made their choices. But they do not remember, just like they do not remember their existence in heaven before coming to live on earth in the form of a human.
God has knowledge of what path we will follow in life as our spirit has already made her choices. This explains why we shall be held responsible for our deeds. If we blame our destiny, we blame our spirit and hence the blame falls indirectly on us, as we are our spirit. So even when we say that we are victims of our destiny, we are still responsible for the decisions we take as these are the decisions taken by our spirit.
Unfortunately, the privilege of free will was given to our spirit long before we became concious of it, and as soon as it exercised this free will, the decision was stamped down as a final deed, and as our destiny. This is why we sometimes feel that we cannot really plan our future, as it has already been planned for us. All we can do is to set out on a path and meet the consequences. This is the extent of planning we can do.
Events, happenings will sort themselves out as we move along and as time passes. We are just like a herd of cattle or sheep. They wander all day in the fields, scattered and spread out in search of food. As evening approaches, they head back home. Just like them, we the humans live in this worldly life, struggling and striving. We all go our haphazard and busy courses, and all the time, with every passing moment, we are drawn towards our home, our eternal life, our Creator.
We often wonder why God causes some to prosper and progress while others remain captives of their destiny. The truth is that we are all captives of our destiny; driven on our path by the choices our spirit has made. We have formed our destiny ourselves and the only way it can be changed is by the Divine intervention of God's mercy and benevolence.
And so it is that we must bow our head before our Captor and silently but constantly remind ourselves to be humble, as captives must be. For He is the One and Only who can set us free.
True that our destiny has been written in The Safe Book of God, even before we are born, and even though sometimes it seems like we are driven by some unknown hand, we really are making our decisions consciously and of a free will. Why should we be punished for our bad deeds if they are not our own; and why should we expect to be rewarded for our good actions if all that we are doing is follow a preordained agenda of fate?
We know that God created all human spirits at one time. He then took an oath of allegience and total submission from each spirit. According to the Quran all spirits consented to accept and submit to God's every command. This makes them all Muslim, as the word 'muslim' means 'one who submits to the will of God'.
After years of pondering over this strange phenomenon, I have come to a conclusion of sorts, which not only clears a lot of ambiguity, it also brings peace to the mind. This is what I feel.
After all the spirits were created, they were shown their entire future life in a flash; a small task for the Almighty. The spirits were presented with every opportunity that their life on earth would present them with. Then they were given their options, and the free will to choose the path of their preference. Whatever choice the spirit made, was then recorded in The Book of Fate and marked as our 'destiny'.
This means that our spirits have already 'lived' their life once before and have made their choices. But they do not remember, just like they do not remember their existence in heaven before coming to live on earth in the form of a human.
God has knowledge of what path we will follow in life as our spirit has already made her choices. This explains why we shall be held responsible for our deeds. If we blame our destiny, we blame our spirit and hence the blame falls indirectly on us, as we are our spirit. So even when we say that we are victims of our destiny, we are still responsible for the decisions we take as these are the decisions taken by our spirit.
Unfortunately, the privilege of free will was given to our spirit long before we became concious of it, and as soon as it exercised this free will, the decision was stamped down as a final deed, and as our destiny. This is why we sometimes feel that we cannot really plan our future, as it has already been planned for us. All we can do is to set out on a path and meet the consequences. This is the extent of planning we can do.
Events, happenings will sort themselves out as we move along and as time passes. We are just like a herd of cattle or sheep. They wander all day in the fields, scattered and spread out in search of food. As evening approaches, they head back home. Just like them, we the humans live in this worldly life, struggling and striving. We all go our haphazard and busy courses, and all the time, with every passing moment, we are drawn towards our home, our eternal life, our Creator.
We often wonder why God causes some to prosper and progress while others remain captives of their destiny. The truth is that we are all captives of our destiny; driven on our path by the choices our spirit has made. We have formed our destiny ourselves and the only way it can be changed is by the Divine intervention of God's mercy and benevolence.
And so it is that we must bow our head before our Captor and silently but constantly remind ourselves to be humble, as captives must be. For He is the One and Only who can set us free.
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