The Quran and Determinism
“…And We send down from the Quran that which is healing and mercy for the believers, but it increases the wrongdoing people only in loss” (17:82). Among the wrongdoing people are those who rely solely on the mind to understand the truths of religion, placing all their reliance on it.
The Quran has established and emphasized the concentration of understanding determinism in the mind through its vast array of verses. When the mind’s perceptions settle in the depths of the heart, it becomes apparent that there is not a single letter in the Quran that does not call for the unity of the actor (wahdat al-fa'il). The unity of the actor is the foundation and basis of tawhid (monotheism), and by perfecting the unity of the actor, all other levels of tawhid follow. The matter of determinism is this unity of the actor.
Let us consider a set of these verses: “It is He who rides you through the land and the sea, and when you are in the ship, He causes it to glide with a good wind, and they rejoice therein, and when a storm comes over them, they assume they are surrounded by death, but it is not death; and they call upon Allah, sincere to Him in religion, ‘If You should save us from this, we will surely be among the grateful. But when He saves them, at once they commit injustice upon the earth without right. O mankind, your injustice is only against yourselves - [being merely] the enjoyment of worldly life. Then to Us is your return, and We will inform you about what you used to do.’” (10:22).
This is the clearest statement about Allah’s divine management of people. It subtly points to the cause of heedlessness, which is the breadth of ingenuity. When we become absorbed in our affairs and our ingenuity in solving our problems leads us to success, this success contributes to the causes of heedlessness, making us believe we have a chosen will. The ingenuity on land is broader than that at sea. Therefore, Allah says: “It is He who rides you through the land and the sea” (10:22), then He goes on to detail the terrors of the sea that reveal our limited ingenuity. At that point, “They call upon Allah, sincere to Him in religion, ‘If You should save us from this, we will surely be among the grateful’” (10:22). When their supplication reaches them, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, saves them. Then He recounts to us what was in their affairs, saying: “But when He saved them, they went forth in the land in unjust ways.” (10:23). It means that when they escaped the terrors of the sea, set foot on dry land, and felt capable of managing, their heedlessness returned, and they claimed it was by will and choice. This reminds us that the One who guides us on land is the same One who guides us in the sea, so we must not be among the heedless.
Allah says:
"Indeed, I have relied upon Allah, my Lord and your Lord. There is no creature except that He holds its forelock. Indeed, my Lord is on a straight path." (11:56)
Allah says:
"Do they seek other than the religion of Allah while to Him have submitted whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or by compulsion, and to Him they will be returned?" (3:83)
Allah says:
"Or have they set up partners for Allah who created like His creation so that the creation would resemble them? Say, Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the One, the Prevailing." (13:16)
Allah says:
"All seven heavens and the earth and whatever is in them exalt Him. And there is not a thing except that it exalts Allah by His praise, but you do not understand their exaltation. Indeed, He is ever Forbearing, Forgiving." (17:44)
Allah says:
"And Allah has created you and what you do," (37:96) meaning He has created you and your deeds.
Allah says:
"No disaster strikes upon the earth or among yourselves except that it is in a register before We bring it into being. Indeed, that, for Allah, is easy. So that you may not grieve over what has escaped you and not exult in pride over what He has given you. And Allah does not like everyone self-deluded and boastful - those who are stingy and enjoin upon people stinginess. And whoever turns away, then indeed, Allah is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy." (57:22-24)
In all these verses, there is profound educational wisdom, benefiting those who have certainty about the matter of determinism.
