In the ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd (رضي الله عنه) that Allāh’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:[1]
By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, indeed, one of you works the deeds of the people of Paradise until there is only an arm’s length between him and it, then the Book (the Decree) overtakes him, and he does the deeds of the people of Hell and enters it. And indeed, one of you works the deeds of the people of Hell until there is only an arm’s length between him and it, then the Book (the Decree) overtakes him, and he does the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it.
In his commentary on this ḥadīth in the course of explaining Aʾlām al-Sunnah al-Manshūrah of his shaykh, Shaykh al-Ḥāfiḍh al-Ḥakamī (رحمه الله), Shaykh Aḥmad al-Najmī (رحمه الله) mentions a narration cited by ʿAbd Allāh bin al-Mubārak (رحمه الله):[2]
Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥman al-Masʾūdi said: “We raided the land of the Romans with Faḍalah bin ʿUbayd, and Fadalah did not raid any other land. He stopped in a meadow with a hill on it, on which was a castle, in which was a fortress.
He (the narrator) said: Some of us were standing, and some of us were descending, when we came upon a red-haired man with a mustache, so we brought him as a stray person (who got lost), and we said: This man came down from the fortress without a covenant or agreement.
So he (Faḍālah) asked him: What is his matter? He said: ‘Last night I ate pork, drank wine, and had intercourse with my wife. While I was sleeping, two men came to me, washed my stomach, and married me to two women, neither of whom was jealous of the other. They told me: ‘Become a Muslim.’’ ‘So I am a Muslim,’ he said, and his words were no quicker than we were shot. He came rushing down until he was hit above his neck in the midst of people.
Faḍalah said: ‘Allāhu Akbar, a little deed, and a great reward. Pray for your brother.’ So we prayed over him, then we buried him in our place, and we went on our way.” Abdur-Rahman said: Al-Qasim said, mentioning this: “This is something I saw myself.”
01 When Allah’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) spoke about the issue of al-Qadar, the Companions asked whether they should rely upon the decree, and he replied by saying: “Work deeds, for each person will be facilitated for that for which He has been created.”[3]
From this, the Companions understood the necessity of taking the means (asbāb), and that outcomes (worldly or religious, in the hereafter) are only arrived at through the ways and means. When they understood these ḥadīths, then they became more intense in their striving, like never before, in working deeds.
Shaykh Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn (رحمه الله) said:[4]
Abandoning the means is foolishness, because Allāh (سبحانه وتعالى) decrees things through their means, and due to His wisdom, everything has a means (i.e. a cause).
02 In the above story, a man had just spent his night eating pork, drinking wine and having intercourse. After seeing a dream, he accepted Islām, and in the morning walked out of the castle, until he was captured by Fādālah’s soldiers, and was killed by an arrow.
This is an illustration of the above-mentioned ḥadīth, just as the ḥadīth of the man who fought bravely in jihād in the era of the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم), but was destined for the Fire because he committed suicide, and the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “Indeed, a man does what appears to the people as the deeds of the inhabitants of Paradise, but he is from the inhabitants of Hell, and indeed, a man does what appears to the people as the deeds of the inhabitants of Hell, but he is from the inhabitants of Paradise.”[5]
Another man came to the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) during the Battle of Uḥud and said: “Shall I accept Islām or fight?” The Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “Accept Islām and fight.” So he declared the shahādah, fought and was killed, and the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “He worked little but was rewarded a lot.” .”[6]
03 The written decrees are of five levels:
a) that which is in the Preserved Tablet,
b) that which was decreed of Paradise and Hellfire upon souls when extracted from Ādam (عليه السلام) in the ḥadīth of the covenant (mīthāq),
c) that which is decreed of the portion and outcome of each person in the womb (his lifespan, sustenance, deeds and happy or wretched),
d) the yearly decree on Laylah al-Qadar,
e) the daily decree.
The first three never change, and as for what is given to the angels of the yearly decree, then they are given it in a connected (dependent) form tied to the ways and means (asbāb). For that reason, ʿUmar bin al-Khaṭṭāb said: “O Allāh, if you have written me to be wretched (misguided), then write me to be happy (i.e. guided).”[7] Meaning, in what relates to the decrees of that year of guidance and misguidance.
This indicates that the Divine Decree occurs through ways and means (asbāb) and everything has a cause, and thus to strive in the causes, from which is supplication and deeds, is the way to “change”—as per the speech of ʿUmar in relation to the yearly decree—and pursue one’s destiny, and all things (including the changes) are part and parcel of al-Qadar, with nothing escaping it.
04 Within these ḥadīths is a refutation of the misguided Muʿtazilah who deny that Allāh guides and misguides, has decreed each person’s destiny, and facilitates for each person the deeds that take him to his destined outcome, in accordance with His wisdom and justice, without wronging them in the least, for His proof (ḥujjah) is already established against them through the sending of Books and Messengers and the faculties of the original disposition (fiṭrah), hearing, seeing, thinking, reflecting (ʿaql), willing, choosing and doing.