We believe in the divine predestination and decree and know with certainty that this belief is the sixth pillar of faith. Indeed, belief in the predestination is part of belief in Allah, because the predestination is part of Allah's knowledge, determination, management, will, and creation.
Muslims unanimously agree that belief in the predestination is one of the pillars of faith.
We know that belief in the predestination includes the belief in Allah's comprehensive and all-inclusive knowledge and that Allah encompasses all things, great or small, in His knowledge; and that there is nothing that exists or is yet to exist except that it had been recorded in the Preserved Tablet, with all details, like its form, number, amount, the time it will come into existence, and how it will come to an end.
And we know that He, Exalted be He, knows what existed, what will exist, and how what does not exist would be like if it did exist; and that Allah Almighty had written the predestination of all creatures fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth, and His Throne was above water.
We believe that Allah Almighty has written all that exists in a Preserved Book.
We believe that Allah Almighty writes whatever He wishes and erases or affirms whatever He wishes, and with Him is the Master Book.
We believe that nothing happens except according to Allah's predestination and decree and nothing can be averted except as He predestined and decreed. All what He predestined will surely come to pass, and what He did not predestine, none could make it happen. All creation cannot do something not predestined by our Lord or avert something predestined by Him, Exalted be He. Whatever misses a person would not have befallen him and whatever befalls him would not have missed him.
We believe that whatever Allah wills comes to pass and whatever He does not will does not happen, and that His will is absolute; and that nothing happens in His dominion except if He wills it. We believe that people have wills in reality, and they are subject to Allah's will.
We believe that Allah Almighty guides whomever He wills by His grace and abandons whomever He wills by His justice. He is not questioned about what He does, but we are questioned. Any good deed a person performs is due to Allah's help, and any sin he commits is caused by his previous abandonment of Allah and by Allah; the blissful are those for whom bliss is already predestined and the miserable are those for whom misery is already predestined. All deeds of people, good and bad, are acts on their part, yet they are predestined by their Creator.
We believe that Allah Almighty loves good deeds and the doers of good, and we believe that He Almighty dislikes wickedness and the wicked and that when Allah, the Exalted, wills good for someone, He guides him to the things dear and pleasing to Him, and when He wills otherwise for someone, He establishes the proof against him and then punishes him, not unjustly.
We believe that Allah Almighty does not enjoin immoral or shameful acts and does not approve of disbelief for His servants.
We believe that Allah is the Creator of everything and that He created people and created their actions. And we believe that He has no partner in the creation just as He has no partner in the dominion. As an argument to His servants, He states that He alone is the Creator. Since He is the sole Creator, it is not for anyone to claim to be His partner in the creation.
We believe that there is no contradiction between the Shariah, the command, and the creation, for the creation and the command belong to Allah Almighty alone. Just as He does whatever He wills and is not questioned about His actions, He commands and none can stop His judgment or reverse His command.
We believe that Allah Almighty had determined the destiny of all creatures fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth. Nonetheless, He commanded people to obey Him and obey His messengers and prophets and forbade them from disobeying Him or disobeying His messengers and prophets. In His Book, Allah Almighty informs about His predestination along with the command to follow His revelation and injunctions. Our Lord points out that it is our duty to follow guidance, and that He guides whomever He wills by His grace and misguides whomever He wills by His justice. He, Exalted be He, combines with His informing about His general will His warning to the violators, and His command to His believing servants to worship Him and rely upon Him. Combining belief in the divine predestination and acting upon the Shariah is something possible and within people's reach. Allah, the Exalted, also points out that He does not burden anyone beyond his capacity.
We believe that as there is no contradiction between the creation, the command, and the Shariah, there is also no contradiction between the Shariah, the command, and reason. Everything commanded or prohibited by Allah Almighty or His Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) or predestined or stated by Allah, the Exalted, does not run counter to reason. On the contrary, it is quite reasonable and perfectly wise.
We believe that Allah Almighty revealed the books and sent the messengers so as to establish the argument against humankind. This Shariah, the command, and predestination are completing one another and lie at the climax of excellence. Nothing is more excellent than them.
Allah Almighty praises His Book, which comprises the legislation and the command, and describes it as the best speech. Everything Allah Almighty has legislated or predestined is totally perfect and excellent, whether our minds could grasp it or not. We should not make our minds and views a judge over Allah's Shariah and predestination, by approving of it some times and disproving it in other times. Indeed, all that is legislated and predestined by our Lord is at the pinnacle of beauty and perfection.
We believe that the Shariah and the divine predestination are all good. Allah Almighty would not predestine sheer evil. Evil falls under the general predestination and it is mentioned in the Qur’an being attributed to those who perpetrate it. Out of politeness, we should not attribute evil to Allah, Exalted be He.
We believe that pursuing the proper means does not contradict belief in the predestination; rather, it is a sign of perfect belief in the divine decree and predestination. Our Lord commands us to seek the proper means, and one of the best means is supplication. Our Lord commands us to supplicate to Him, though the destiny had already been determined.
We believe that Allah Almighty enjoins justice and administers justice through His Shariah, predestination, and recompense, and He negates injustice from Himself and affirms His perfect justice.
We believe that the precedence of the divine predestination and decree does not mean injustice to people, for Allah Almighty revealed the books and sent the messengers, so that people may have no excuse before Him after the coming of the messengers. He Almighty made destiny a hidden secret and gave people free will. So, whoever is guided - it is for his own benefit, and whoever goes astray only goes astray to his detriment.
We believe that it is not permissible for a person to cite the predestination as an excuse for committing sins or abandoning good deeds. Allah Almighty informs that the polytheists who cited the predestination as an excuse for them to fall into polytheism were liars and He made them taste His punishment. If the predestination was an excuse for them to fall into polytheism, Allah Almighty would not have made them taste His punishment.
We believe that a person may cite the predestination as an excuse for committing sins after repenting from them, and to likewise cite it as far as afflictions are concerned.
We believe that if the believer leaves the affair to Allah Almighty, turns to Him, and says "We belong to Allah, and to Him we will return" upon the occurrence of a disaster, he will gain three good things: blessings from Allah upon him, and mercy, and following the path of guidance.