What is the concept of destination or fate in Islam? Is everything pre-determined? What room for maneuver do we have then?
Answer
Predestination or Taqdir, as I understand, in Islam means two things: The foreknowledge of the Almighty of events to come and the definitiveness of His decisions that man cannot change.
The first aspect of Taqdir has to do with the Almighty’s perfect Knowledge. He knows everything beforehand, although that doesn’t necessarily mean that what we do is a consequence of His knowledge. His knowledge also includes the understanding that when a person would do something, he, at times, would do it with his free will and will face the consequences of it. In other words, His foreknowledge would not force an individual to do what he will do.
The other aspect of His knowledge is what makes certain events definite because of His decisions. For instance, if a person is to die at a certain time in God’s decision, he has to die, and the person who has to survive will survive. No one else’s decision can change what God has already decided. A criminal can decide to kill a person, but he can’t actually take the life of the person he is attempting to kill if God’s decision is not there. However, the person would get punished for his decision to kill the person and for doing as well as he could to get him killed. Likewise, a doctor does everything to save a person from dying, however, despite his good intentions and efforts, the patient would die if God has already decided death to be his fate. The doctor however would get rewarded for his good efforts of trying to save the individual.