The Prophet says that at the sixth week of the Embryo's development, God
sends an angel to write whether it will be righteous and prosperous or wicked
and condemned. What does this mean, and how can we reconcile it with human free
will?
In addition to what has been said above, we will make the few following comments.
Destiny is a title of Divine Knowledge. It does not cancel our free will
or force us to behave in a preordained way. Since God knows beforehand what
we will do and say (as He is not con-strained by our concept of time), He has
an angel to write down our life-history. A human being behaves according to
the dictates of his or her free will, not because God wrote down his/her future
life.
Destiny is related both to the cause and effect. There are not two separate
destinies, one for the cause, the other for the effect. God knows beforehand
how His servant will behave in what circumstances and His pre-knowledge does
not contradict a human being�s having free will.
Only God knows whether we will go to Paradise or Hell. Although unbelief
deserves eternal punishment, we may not say that unbelievers are going to Hell,
for one day they might accept belief and go to Paradise. Many atheists have
become Muslims. Islam came to guide unbelievers to faith and worship, and to
eternal happiness in Paradise.
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