Video summary

If Allah Willed It, Why Will He Judge Me? - Qadr Explained - Dr.Umar Faruq Abd Allah

Main summary

Key takeaways

Educational

Main ideas and lessons

  • Qadar (Divine Decree) explained via God’s Oneness in “causation”

    • The talk distinguishes:
      • Cause/link (sabab): the observed “link” between things.
      • Effect (mus/maṣs?): what follows in association with the link.
      • The enactor of the link (museib): God, who creates the connection.
    • What humans empirically observe (e.g., fire burning dry wood, rain causing floods) is not real metaphysical causation, but customary correlation.

  • Why true causation isn’t accessible to the five senses

    • Causation is metaphysical and cannot be known by sensory observation alone.
    • To understand causation beyond senses, one uses:
      • Revelation
      • Pure reason (philosophical rational reflection)

  • Scientific methodology limits and proper scope

    • Empirical science can:
      • measure, weigh, run experiments
      • describe phenomena
    • Science should not intrude into metaphysics (e.g., making metaphysical claims about ultimate causation).
    • The speaker criticizes scientific approaches that:
      • treat metaphysical assumptions as if they were settled physical facts
      • make “natural laws” sound necessary when they are really provisional generalizations
    • Laws of nature are described as:
      • not imposed by nature itself
      • not deductively derived from first principles
      • rather psychological/generalizing presumptions based on repeated experience

  • God can suspend “sunnah” (customary patterns)

    • Regular patterns like fire burning are valid descriptions of what usually happens.
    • But God can abrogate/suspend these patterns (miracles, rare events).
    • Examples of “exceptions to customary experience” are presented, including a personal anecdote of the speaker’s wife witnessing mice apparently “talking.”

  • Uniformity of nature is not guaranteed

    • The speaker notes an assumption often made in modern science (linked to Hume)—the uniformity of nature—and argues there is no solid basis for it.
    • This matters for interpreting evidence such as the Doppler effect and Hubble’s law about cosmic expansion.

  • Metaphysical framework: necessary vs possible existence

    • Necessary being: absolute unity, no parts or multiplicity (God).
    • Possible being: infinite possibilities and multiplicity (created reality).
    • Existence is described as multi-leveled and profound; only limited aspects are discussed in creed.

  • Human action and responsibility: “doctrine of acquisition”

    • God is:
      • a perfect actor (creating/bringing into being)
    • Humans are:
      • real actors in an acquired sense (they choose and “acquire” what they do)
    • Action is described in two categories:
      • Not acquired: e.g., heart beating, blinking, cellular processes → Allah does it
      • Acquired: e.g., choosing to sit, dress, fast or not → the human chooses/acquires, while God creates/wills that choice into existence
    • The key point: no contradiction between:
      • divine creation/will
      • human responsibility and agency
    • The doctrine is linked to Quranic terminology and called the doctrine of acquisition (kasb / “ikhtisab” as referenced).

  • Rejection of two extremes (the “middle” position)

    • The speaker lays out three conceptual positions:

      • Extreme 1: “Kadariyya” (human creates actions)

        • People who claimed humans create their actions.
        • Treated in early disputes as highly problematic; associated with rigid views of iman (e.g., making belief depend on performing obligations and avoiding prohibitions).

      • Extreme 2: complete determinism

        • People act but it is “as if” they are compelled (“leaf in the wind”).
        • Acts are described as not truly the person’s; responsibility is denied.
        • The speaker says this denies Sharia’s moral accountability.

      • Middle position (Ahl al-Sunna / “Imam Ali/Imam Hasan” framing)

        • No coercion: you are not forced to do wrong.
        • No consignment of actions to you in the sense of God losing control/knowledge/will/power.
        • You are responsible because you acquire your act; God is responsible for creating it.
        • Imam Hasan is quoted: the gap between the two extremes is like the distance between heaven and earth.

  • Human action as spiritually “miraculous”

    • The speaker emphasizes bodily systems as evidence of divine wisdom (nervous system, listening to the body, etc.).
    • He connects action to ethics and inner states (trust, gratitude, humility).

  • Practical spiritual advice: how to “acquire” actions

    • When acquiring your acts:
      • do so with courtesy (adab)
      • with thanksgiving (shukr)
      • with the right intention—“handing it back” to God
    • The more purely one acquires—through heart/servanthood—the more the action is described as spiritually valuable.

  • Family, sexuality, and social harm (moral applications)

    • The speaker comments that social breakdown and abuse affect how people understand prophetic models.
    • He discusses:
      • cultivating love in marriage
      • consequences of loveless marriages for children
      • caution about discussions of “illegitimacy,” stressing that Islam erases blame in ways that protect human dignity.

  • Positive divine attributes introduced

    • After discussing negative attributes (majesty/jalal), he transitions to positive attributes (beauty/jamal, perfection).
    • He indicates a structure (ascribed to al-Qāṭanī or the text being discussed):
      • Seven power, eight will, nine life, ten knowledge (as mentioned in the segment)
    • These are presented as foundational attributes needed to know God:
      • Life, Knowledge, Will, Power, Hearing, Seeing, Speech
    • He emphasizes revelation as the primary basis for hearing/seeing/speech.

  • Historical-religious context: Sahaba differences and political tests

    • The speaker warns against speaking negatively about the Sahaba.
    • He frames disputes (especially after the Prophet’s death) as part of a divine wisdom test, using the idea of “inoculation” against future sickness in religious communities.

  • Call to effective propagation

    • Toward the end, he shifts into motivation:
      • preserve faith foundations amid differences
      • help “wake up” people and spread the message through books, films, documentaries, websites, and institutions

Methodology / instruction-style elements

Reasoning about causation (metaphysics vs senses)

  • Treat observed “cause/effect” in the world as links (sabab → musibat) rather than metaphysical causation.
  • For explanations of real causation:
    • go beyond the five senses
    • use revelation and pure reason

Doing science

  • Keep empirical science within what it can do:
    • measure, weigh, run experiments
    • describe phenomena
  • Do not claim metaphysical conclusions as if they are physics.
  • When discussing “laws of nature,” remember:
    • they are provisional generalizations
    • not necessary “natural impositions”
    • not deductively valid from first principles

Rare events / miracles

  • Use “exceptions to customary experience” to indicate that God can abrogate customary patterns (sunnah).
  • Do not assume uniformity of nature as a guaranteed principle without basis.

Living responsibility under qadar

  • Distinguish:
    • acquired actions (human will/choice) vs
    • non-acquired natural processes (heart beating, blinking, cellular function)
  • Practice intention-correct acquisition:
    • acquire actions with adab (courtesy)
    • with shukr (gratitude)
    • return the act to God as coming from Him
  • Avoid two extremes:
    • no coercion
    • no denial of God’s creative control and will

Learning theology / creed

  • Follow a “map” (creed):
    • belief in divine decree and destiny
    • belief that God knows everything, yet humans are free in the acquired sense
  • Begin studying divine attributes in the intended order:
    • negative → then positive attributes (life, knowledge, will, power, hearing, seeing, speech)

Speakers / sources featured (as named in the subtitles)

  • Dr. Umar Faruq Abd Allah (primary speaker)
  • Imam Ali (referenced; quoted regarding human action and freedom between extremes)
  • Imam Al-Hasan (referenced; quoted about distance between extremes)
  • Imam al-Ghazali (referenced via story about losing speech before returning to scholarship)
  • Abu Hanifa / Imam Abu Hanifh (referenced regarding belief in God by reason and critique of modern cognitive limitations)
  • Ibn (or) Imam Mahdi? / “Al-Qāṭanī” (work/author referenced as al-qatani for attribute discussion)
  • Sheikh Hamza (referenced regarding metaphysical levels like jabarut/malakut/mulk)
  • Muhammad Raan (referenced as a capable scholar/scientist involved in biological/genetic discussions)
  • Hume (referenced regarding uniformity of nature assumption)
  • Prophets: Moses (Musa) (and reference to Samir/“Samuri”); Abraham not clearly identified (main explicit: Moses)
  • Adam (referenced)
  • Satan/shaitan (referenced)
  • Pharaohs (mentioned generically)
  • Quranic terms: “acquisition” (kasb/related term as referenced) and reference to Sharia
  • No other named religious historians clearly beyond those above.

Original video