The Central Contradiction
Islamic theology faces an irresolvable logical problem at its core: it simultaneously teaches that Allah predetermines all actions and beliefs (qadar) while holding humans responsible and punishable for those same predetermined actions. This isn't a minor theological puzzle—it's a fundamental contradiction that undermines Islamic justice and makes Allah the author of evil.
The Quran and hadith clearly teach both positions. Verses affirm human choice and responsibility. Other verses explicitly state that nothing happens except by Allah's will, that He creates your actions, and that you cannot even will something unless He wills it. These cannot both be true.
Quranic Evidence for Predestination
The Quran repeatedly emphasizes Allah's absolute control over human will and action:
"And you do not will except that Allah wills. Indeed, Allah is ever Knowing and Wise." — Quran 76:30
"And you cannot will except that Allah wills—Lord of the worlds." — Quran 81:29
These verses don't merely say Allah permits your will or allows your choices—they explicitly state you cannot will anything unless He wills it first. Your will is dependent on His will. You're not making independent choices; you're executing His predetermined plan.
Even more troubling:
"And if We had willed, We could have given every soul its guidance, but the word from Me will come into effect [that] 'I will surely fill Hell with jinn and people all together.'" — Quran 7:178
Allah could guide everyone but chooses not to, explicitly stating He will fill Hell. This isn't about respecting human freedom—it's about Allah deliberately creating beings for damnation.
Hadith on Divine Decree
The hadith literature reinforces this determinism. In Sahih Muslim, one of the most authentic hadith collections:
"Allah's Messenger, the truthful and truly inspired, said: 'The creation of every one of you is brought together in his mother's womb for forty days in the form of a nutfah (drop), then he becomes an 'alaqah (clot) for a similar period, then a mudghah (piece of flesh) for a similar period, then an angel is sent and he breathes the soul into it and is commanded to write down four things: his provision, his life-span, his deeds, and whether he is doomed (destined for Hell) or blessed (destined for Paradise).'" — Sahih Muslim 2643
Before birth, Allah decrees whether you're destined for Hell or Paradise. Your deeds are predetermined. How then can you be held accountable?
Quranic Evidence for Free Will
Yet other verses seem to affirm human choice:
"And say, 'The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills—let him believe; and whoever wills—let him disbelieve.'" — Quran 18:29
"Indeed, We guided him to the way, be he grateful or be he ungrateful." — Quran 76:3
These verses suggest genuine choice. Commands to believe, warnings about judgment, calls to repentance—all these imply humans can make real decisions affecting their destiny.
But this creates an impossible situation: if verse 76:30 says you cannot will unless Allah wills, how can verse 18:29 say "whoever wills"? If Allah predetermined your fate before birth (Sahih Muslim 2643), what meaning does verse 76:3 have about choosing the way?
The "Kasb" Solution Fails
Islamic theologians recognized this problem centuries ago. The Ash'ari school developed the doctrine of "kasb" (acquisition) to reconcile predestination with responsibility. The theory claims Allah creates all actions, but humans "acquire" them, thus bearing responsibility.
This is philosophical sleight of hand. If Allah creates your action and you merely "acquire" it, you're not truly responsible. Imagine a programmer writing code that makes a robot kill someone, then blaming the robot for "acquiring" the murderous action. The programmer created it; the robot simply executed it. The robot isn't morally responsible—the creator is.
The Ash'ari solution was so unsatisfying that other schools rejected it. The Mu'tazila emphasized human free will but were declared heretical. The Maturidi school tried a middle path but couldn't escape the logical trap. The debate raged for centuries because there's no coherent answer.
The Moral Implications
If Allah predetermines all actions and beliefs, He is the ultimate author of evil. When someone commits rape, murder, or disbelief, Allah created that action. The person is merely executing Allah's predetermined plan. How then is punishment just?
This makes Allah morally responsible for all evil while claiming to be perfectly good—a contradiction. The Quran tries to deflect this:
"Whatever good reaches you is from Allah, but whatever evil befalls you is from yourself." — Quran 4:79
But this doesn't solve the problem. If Allah created everything and nothing happens without His will (Quran 76:30, 81:29), then evil must ultimately come from Him. You can't have absolute divine sovereignty and absolute divine goodness when evil exists in the world—something has to give.
Created for Hell
Perhaps most disturbing is the Quranic teaching that Allah deliberately creates beings destined for Hell:
"And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like livestock; rather, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless." — Quran 7:179
"Created FOR Hell" (khalaqna li jahannama). Not "created and some end up in Hell due to choices," but explicitly created with Hell as their purpose. Their inability to understand, see, or hear isn't their fault—Allah created them that way. Yet they're punished eternally for being exactly what Allah made them to be.
This is fundamentally unjust. It's like breeding dogs for fighting, then executing them for being aggressive. They're simply fulfilling their created nature.
Biblical Contrast: Compatibilism
Christianity faces the same philosophical tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility, but it doesn't create the same logical impossibility. Biblical theology teaches compatibilism: God's sovereignty and human responsibility coexist without God being the author of evil.
"When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed." — James 1:13-14
Evil originates from human will, not God's creative decree. God permits evil but doesn't create it or predetermine it. He works sovereignly even through human choices without violating human agency or moral responsibility.
The biblical view maintains divine sovereignty without making God the author of sin. Islamic theology's absolute predestination cannot avoid this conclusion.
The Psychological Impact
This theological confusion creates practical problems for Muslims. If everything is predetermined, why pray? Why strive? Why worry about sin when Allah already decreed your fate before you were born?
This leads to fatalism—a tendency to accept whatever happens as "Allah's will" without human agency. While some Muslims emphasize the free will verses, orthodox Islamic theology has consistently leaned toward predestination, with all its troubling implications.
Questions to Consider
- If you cannot will anything unless Allah wills it (Quran 76:30, 81:29), how can you be genuinely responsible for your choices?
- If Allah predetermined whether you're destined for Hell or Paradise before birth (Sahih Muslim 2643), what's the point of this life?
- How can Allah be just when He creates beings specifically for Hell (Quran 7:179) then punishes them eternally?
- If Allah creates all actions (Ash'ari doctrine), isn't He the ultimate source of evil?
- Why does the Quran command people to believe when their belief or disbelief is already predetermined?
- How can Muslims trust Allah's justice when the system is rigged from the beginning?
Conclusion
The free will problem in Islam reveals a fundamental flaw in Islamic theology. The Quran teaches both absolute predestination and human moral responsibility—positions that cannot be logically reconciled. Attempts like the kasb doctrine only paper over the contradiction without resolving it.
The implications are severe: Allah becomes the author of evil, human moral responsibility becomes illusory, and divine justice becomes arbitrary. A God who creates beings destined for eternal Hell, then punishes them for being what He made them, is not just or worthy of worship—He's a cosmic tyrant.
Christianity's God respects human agency while maintaining sovereignty, never becomes the author of evil, and provides a rational basis for moral responsibility. Islamic theology offers logical contradiction and moral confusion.
Related articles: The Problem of Evil in Islam, No Salvation Assurance