Freedom to Believe

This is a reminder; whoever wills, let him choose the path to his Lord. [73:19]

We are absolutely free to believe or disbelieve in God. It is God’s will that we have freedom of choice (see 18:29, 25:57, 74:37, 76:29 etc.) God told us in the Quran that He knows the future and He knows what everyone of us will do, what we will believe, how we will behave and what acts we will commit in this life, because He is God who knows the past, present and future. God fully knows what kind of decision each one of us is destined to make; He knows which of us are going to Heaven and which are going to Hell. Even before we were born into this world, God knew which souls are good and which souls are evil.

As far as God’s omniscience is concerned, we know that God already knows everybody’s fate in this world and in the Hereafter. Yet as far as we are concerned, we are totally free to side with God’s absolute authority, or Satan’s polytheistic views. Predestination, therefore, is a fact as far as God is concerned, not as far as we are concerned. An example of God’s guidance for those who deserve guidance (based on their own decision to accept God ALONE) is found in the following verse:

“...We granted Abraham his guidance and understanding, for we were fully aware of him.” [21:51]

In other words, God knew that Abraham was a good soul who deserved to be guided, and God granted him his guidance and understanding. But the first decision to seek God was that of Abraham of his own free will. So, we are fully free to choose either God or someone else. Because of this freedom we are responsible for our decision on the Day of Judgment. We cannot blame our parents, friends, scholars, or anyone. We can only blame ourselves. Therefore, we should take heed early on and side with God and believe Him and His book.

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