الشيخ ابن عثيمين : مراتب القضاء والقدر

The Four Levels of Belief in Divine Decree

The lecture explains that belief in al-qadar (divine decree) includes four levels:

1. God’s comprehensive knowledge

   • God knows everything: the visible and the unseen, what has happened, and what will happen.
   • The lecture cites Qur’anic passages describing God’s knowledge of all things, including even a leaf that falls.

2. God’s recording of what is decreed

   • Everything was written in the Preserved Tablet before the creation of the heavens and the earth—described in the lecture as 50,000 years earlier.
   • What happens to a person could not have missed them, and what misses them could not have happened to them. The lecture advises against dwelling on “if only” regrets about events that have already occurred.
   • The lecture describes further writings:
     • Before birth: At 120 days of pregnancy, an angel is commanded to write a person’s provision, lifespan, deeds, and whether they will be happy or wretched.
     • Each year: On Laylat al-Qadr, the events decreed for the coming year are written or set out.
   • The hadith about maintaining family ties and receiving increased provision and lifespan does not contradict prior decree. The act, its reward, and its outcome are themselves included in what God has decreed. The hadith encourages people to maintain those ties.

3. God’s will

   • Nothing happens outside God’s will, including events associated directly with divine action and human acts such as prayer and fasting.
   • People have wills and act, but their wills and actions take place within God’s will. The lecture sums this up: what God wills occurs, and what He does not will does not occur.

4. God’s creation of all things

   • God is the Creator of everything, including human beings and their actions.
   • The lecture distinguishes between creation and human action or acquisition: God creates the act, while the person performs it and is responsible for it.
   • God’s attributes are not created. For example, the Qur’an is described as God’s speech and, therefore, not created.

The central lesson is to affirm all four levels together: God knows what will happen, has recorded it, it occurs by His will, and He is its Creator.

Speakers and Sources

• Speaker: A lecturer attributed by the video title to Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-‘Uthaymin.
• Sources cited: The Qur’an and sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad (hadith), including the hadith about maintaining family ties.