# Predestination and Islam **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 25, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predestination-and-islam/370185 "2006-08-25T12:44:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predestination-and-islam/370185/1 "2006-08-25T12:44:21Z")
Predestination is, more or less, the belief that an all powerful God has either decided all future events in advance, or knows what they will be, & that no act by an individual can change the future. Does this view influence various Islamic sects? To what degree? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predestination-and-islam/370185/2 "2006-08-31T15:54:51Z")
A bump, & a quick cross-my-fingers-for-luck. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predestination-and-islam/370185/3 "2006-08-31T16:01:37Z")
[Kismet](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=kismet&x=0&y=0). (OTOH, I have read that belief in predestination of one’s time and place of death determines the “exciting” way some (Hindu) people in India drive.) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predestination-and-islam/370185/4 "2006-08-31T16:17:28Z")
I’ve noticed that any discussion of future events by Muslims typically involves a lot of Inshallahs ("If God wills). All things are accomplished according to the will of God, so it is hubris for a mere human to make a prediction about the future. I don’t know if this implies predestination though. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predestination-and-islam/370185/5 "2006-08-31T17:22:13Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] I’ve noticed that any discussion of future events by Muslims typically involves a lot of Inshallahs ("If God wills). All things are accomplished according to the will of God, so it is hubris for a mere human to make a prediction about the future. [/QUOTE] A friend of mine was flying into Pakistan, and the pilot said over the intercom “We will be touching down in Karachi in approximately an hour. Inshallah.” He remarked that he’d rather it was the pilot’s decision. IMO, it’s actually largely just “one of those things people say” - similar to Ireland where in the Irish language many common phrases are God-related, and in English people often tag a religious phrase on the end of sentences that are not necessarily religious in intent, e.g. “bejaysus” and “thanks be to God”. There may of course be more to it than that, but it’s so often used that I suspect it’s tokenized. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predestination-and-islam/370185/6 "2006-09-01T17:48:20Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] IMO, it’s actually largely just “one of those things people say” - similar to Ireland where in the Irish language many common phrases are God-related, and in English people often tag a religious phrase on the end of sentences that are not necessarily religious in intent, e.g. “bejaysus” and “thanks be to God”. There may of course be more to it than that, but it’s so often used that I suspect it’s tokenized. [/QUOTE] Holy Mother of Jaysus **jjimm** , I was just coming here to say almost exactly that. In fact in Ireland there is an example of exactly what **Lemur866** is talking about. ‘God willing’ is tagged on a lot e.g. God willing, I’ll buy that car one day. These things generally come from the original Irish. Irish had a very strong religious leaning. ‘Hello’ in Irish is ‘Dia dhuit’ which directly translates as God to you or God be with you. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predestination-and-islam/370185/7 "2006-09-01T17:52:27Z")
All of which generally addresses the issue, but I was hoping for a little theology. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predestination-and-islam/370185/8 "2006-09-01T21:47:34Z")
Theologically, I think the concept you’re looking at in Islam is _taqdir_, “determination” or “predestination”, as opposed to _qisma_ or _kismet_ which tends to mean the particular fate of an individual. So it’s Allah’s _taqdir_ that determines your _qisma_, so to speak. And yup, there’s lots of theological debate in Islam about how to reconcile the doctrines of predestination and free will. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predestination-and-islam/370185/9 "2006-09-01T21:57:07Z")
Theologically, I think the concept you’re looking at in Islam is _taqdir_, “determination” or “predestination”, as opposed to _qisma_ or _kismet_ which tends to mean the particular fate of an individual. So it’s Allah’s _taqdir_ that determines your _qisma_, so to speak. And yup, there’s lots of theological debate in Islam about how to reconcile the doctrines of predestination and free will.