Predestination in Islam

Qadar (Arabic: قدر, transliterated qadar, meaning literally "power", but translated variously as: "fate", "divine fore-ordainment", "predestination," "divine decree", "decree" of Allah", "preordainment") is the concept of divine destiny in Islam. As God is all-knowing and all-powerful, everything that has happened and will happen in the universe is already known. At the same time, human beings are responsible for their actions, and will be rewarded or punished accordingly on Judgement Day.

Predestination/Divine Destiny is one of Sunni Islam's six articles of faith, (along with belief in the Oneness of Allah, the Revealed Books, the Prophets of Islam, the Day of Resurrection and Angels). In Sunni discourse, those who assert free-will are called Qadariyya, while those who reject free-will are called Jabriyya.

Since many things that happen on earth as a part of God's decree are bad/evil, "the will of Allah" can be divided into two sorts—the "universal will" (everything that happens, the subject of this article); and the "legislative will", what God commands human beings to do that they sometimes do not (obey sharia).

Some early Islamic schools (Qadariyah and Muʿtazila) did not accept the doctrine of predestination; Muʿtazila argued that it was "unthinkable" that God "would punish man for what He himself had commanded". Predestination is not included in the Five Articles of Faith of Shi'i Islam. At least a few sources describe Shi'i Muslims as denying predestination, and at least one Shi'i scholar (Naser Makarem Shirazi) argues "belief in predestination is a denial of justice".