Determinism and Free Will

The Shaykhs' discussions about determinism and free will were frequent, but while he talked about free will as far as human responsibility for actions is concerned, he basically advocated that destiny has decreed everything and that God's Will predominates in determining one's course of action.

On Dhu'l-Ḥijjah 12, 401/ July 7, 1011, he saw a dream which again emphasizes the same attitude toward evil. He says:

I saw Satan the accursed in a dream as if I were in a big crowd and I intended to kill him. Then he said to me, "Why are you going to kill me and what is my sin? If providence sets the evil in motion I have no power to change it and transform it into good. And if providence sets the good in motion I have no power to change and transform it into evil. And what is there in my hand?" I found his appearance resembling that of a eunuch, soft in speech, a line of hairs fringing his chin, miserable looking and ugly faced, as if he were smiling before me, full of shame and fear. ( Futūḥ al-ghayb, 65)

It seems as if the Shaykh's attitude of extreme otherworldliness emanated from his faith in determinism. At times he was so distressed at the attitude of his contemporaries, whom he found weltering in the mire of sordid materialism, that he preached total renunciation of worldly pursuits and went to the extent of saying that as soon as a child was able to suck the stone of dates, one's responsibility to look after his children came to an end. At another place he says: "Teach some craft to your son and then turn your attention from him to prayers of the Almighty" (al-Fatḥ al-rabbānī, XXII, 130). Such expressions of disgust seem to have been prompted by excessive indulgence of the people in material pursuits and worldly struggles. In his Ghunyat al-ṭālibīn, however, he takes a more practical view toward family affairs, although spiritual obligations are never ignored.

 

 

 

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