A great deal of misunderstanding prevails about the doctrine of predestination and the absolute decree of good and evil by God. It is necessary first to understand the correct meaning of the Arabic words qadar and taqdīr — the ideas commonly associated with their meaning being unknown both to the Holy Qur’ān and to Arabic lexicology. Qadar and taqdīr, according to Rāghib, mean the making manifest of the measure (kamiyya) of a thing, or simply measure.1 In the words of the same authority, God’s taqdīr of things is in two ways, by granting qudra, i.e., power or by making them in a particular measure and in a particular manner, as wisdom requires. An example of this is given in the taqdīr of the date-stone, out of which it is the palm only that grows, not an apple or olive tree, or in the taqdīr of the sperm of man, out of which grows man only, not any other animal. Taqdīr is therefore the law or the ordinance or the measure which is working throughout the creation; and this is exactly the sense in which the word is used in the Holy Qur’ān. For example, it speaks of a taqdīr for each and everything that has been created: “Glorify the name of thy Lord, the Most High, Who creates, then makes complete, and Who measures (qaddara from taqdīr), then guides” (87:1-3). “Who created everything, then ordained for it a measure (taqdīr) (25:2). “Surely We have created everything according to a measure (qadar)” (54:49). “And the sun moves on to its destination. That is the ordinance (taqdīr) of the Mighty, the Knowing. And the moon, We have ordained (qaddarnā from taqdīr) for it stages” (36:38, 39).
The law according to which foods, provisions and other things are provided in the earth is also called a taqdīr of God, and so, also, the law according to which rain falls on the earth, and that according to which night and day follow each other: “And He made in it mountains above its surface, and He blessed therein and ordained (qaddara) therein its foods” (41:10). “And there is not a thing but with Us are the treasures of it, and We send it not down but in a known measure
1 The word qadzā is generally associated with qadar, and in common parlance, qadzā wa qadar of God are spoken of together. But while qadar means the Divine measure of things, qadzā, according to Rāghib, means the deciding of an affair whether it be by word or by deed. It is further stated to be of two kinds, either as relating to man or as relating to God. An example of the qadzā of God in word is 17:4 where qadzainā (present plural preterite form of qadzā) means, according to Rāghib, we made known to them and revealed to them a decisive revelation: “And we made known (qadzainā) to the children of Israel in the Book. Certainly you will make mischief in the land twice.” So also in 15:66 which runs thus: “And we revealed (qadzainā) to him this affair that the roots of these shall be cut off in the morning.” In both these places qadzā means the making known of a Divine order by way of prophecy. An example of the deciding of an affair by deed is 40:20, where God’s judgment is called His qadzā: “And Allāh judges with the truth.” Or 41:12, etc. where the creation of heavens is spoken of: “So He ordained them (qadzā-hunna) seven heavens.” Referring to the distinction between qadzā and qadar, Rāghib says that qadar is the measure, while qadzā is the decision or the bringing of it into action. Thus when the Caliph ‘Umar ordered Abū ‘Ubaida to give up a plague stricken place to which ‘Umar refused to go, and to remove his troops to a healthier spot, he was met with the objection: “Dost thou fly from the qadzā of Allāh?” i.e., from what God has ordered. ‘Umar’s reply was: “I fly from the qadzā of Allāh to the qadar of Allāh.” What he meant evidently was that if God had brought about plague by His qadzā in one place, another place was free from it, and it was His qadar, i.e., a Divine law, that they should betake themselves to a place of safety (R.) Qadzā is, therefore, only the ordering of a thing to come to pass, while qadar signifies the creating of things subject to certain laws.