You just got the rejection email. The promotion you worked three years for went to someone else. The business deal fell through. The diagnosis came back worse than expected. The person you loved chose someone else.
You’re lying there in the dark wondering: why did this happen to me? What did I do wrong? How could Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) let this happen when I tried so hard, prayed so much, did everything right?
Here’s the truth that will either break you or rebuild you: this exact moment—this rejection, this heartbreak, this disappointment you’re experiencing right now—was written 50,000 years before you were born. Before the heavens existed. Before the earth was formed. Before time itself began. Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) knew this would happen to you at this exact second, and He decreed it anyway.
That’s qadr. And understanding it correctly is the difference between drowning in despair and swimming through trials with unshakeable peace.
What Qadr Actually Means
The Arabic word “qadr” comes from the root letters Q-D-R which means to measure, to determine, to decree with precise calculation. It’s not random fate. It’s not blind destiny. It’s the divine decree of Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He)—the Master Planner—who measured out everything that would ever happen with infinite wisdom, perfect justice, and complete knowledge.
According to Islamic scholarly consensus documented across all schools of theology, belief in al-Qadr is one of the six pillars of iman (faith). You cannot be a believer without accepting that everything—literally everything—happens according to Allah’s ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) decree.
Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) declares this explicitly in the Quran:
[Surah Al-Qamar, 54:49]
“Indeed, all things We created with predestination.”
Not some things. Not most things. All things. Every atom. Every breath. Every heartbeat. Every success and every failure. Every moment of joy and every moment of pain. All of it measured, calculated, decreed by the One who knows the end from the beginning.
But here’s where it gets profound: qadr operates on four distinct levels that you need to understand or you’ll misunderstand everything.
The Four Levels of Divine Decree
Islamic scholars throughout history have identified four levels of belief in qadr based on authentic Islamic texts. Understanding these levels is crucial because most people only grasp the surface and end up either fatalistic or in denial.
Level One: Allah’s Complete Knowledge
Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) knows everything that has happened, is happening, and will ever happen. His knowledge encompasses the general and the specific, the major and the minor. He knew you before you existed. He knows your thoughts before you think them. He knows your choices before you make them.
This isn’t Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) reacting to events as they unfold—He knew it all from eternity past. There’s no surprise in Allah’s ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) knowledge. There’s no “I wonder what will happen.” He knows.
Level Two: Everything Is Written
Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) wrote down everything that would happen in Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz—the Preserved Tablet. According to the authentic hadith narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) and recorded by Imam Muslim in Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2653, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Allah wrote the decrees of creation fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth.”
Fifty thousand years. Before anything existed. Your entire life—every breath, every choice, every moment of happiness and pain—already written. Not because Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) is forcing you, but because He knows what you will freely choose.
Level Three: Allah’s Universal Will
Nothing happens in this universe except by Allah’s ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) will. If He wills something to occur, it occurs. If He doesn’t will it, it cannot possibly happen. Every leaf that falls, every raindrop that lands, every heartbeat that continues—all by His will.
Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) states:
[Surah At-Takwir, 81:29]
“But you cannot will, unless Allah wills—the Lord of all worlds.”
Your will exists. But it operates within His will. He gave you the ability to choose, but He also knew what you would choose and willed to allow that choice.
Level Four: Allah Is the Creator of Everything
Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) created you. He created your abilities. He created your actions. He created the causes and the effects. You have agency and choice, but ultimately, He is the Creator of all things including your very capacity to act.
This is where people get confused, so pay attention: Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) created your ability to choose and your actions, but He didn’t force you to make evil choices. You chose evil freely using the free will He gave you, and He created that action because nothing can exist without His creation. But the moral responsibility is yours.
The Paradox That Makes Perfect Sense
Here’s the question that breaks most people’s brains: if Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) already knows what I’ll choose and wrote it down 50,000 years ago, how do I have free will? And if I have free will, what’s the point of believing in qadr?
The answer: both are simultaneously true, and trying to understand this with limited human logic is like trying to fit the ocean in a cup.
You have real free will. Your choices are genuine. You’re not a puppet. When you choose to pray or skip prayer, that’s your decision. When you choose honesty or deception, that’s your choice. You will be held accountable because your choices are real.
But Allah’s ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) knowledge of what you will choose doesn’t cause your choice. His knowledge is complete—He knows the future as clearly as He knows the past. But His knowing doesn’t remove your agency.
Think about it this way: if you watch a recording of yesterday’s game, you know who wins. But your knowledge doesn’t cause the outcome—it just means you’re viewing from outside the timeline. Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) exists outside time. He sees your entire life—past, present, future—simultaneously. His knowledge doesn’t force your hand.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) explained this beautifully. According to the authentic hadith recorded by Imam al-Bukhari in Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6596, when some companions started debating qadr and free will, the Prophet ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) came out so angry that his face was red and said: “Is this what you were commanded to do? Or is this what I was sent to you with—that you strike one part of the Book against another? Those before you were destroyed because they did this. Do not strike one part of the Book against another. What you know of it, affirm it, and what you do not know of it, believe in it.”
In other words: accept both truths. Don’t waste your life trying to resolve an apparent paradox that only seems like a paradox because your knowledge is limited. Believe in Allah’s ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) complete decree AND believe you have genuine free will. Both are true. Move on.
What Qadr Does NOT Mean
Let’s destroy some misconceptions because they’re ruining people’s lives.
Qadr does NOT mean you sit back and do nothing. The worst misunderstanding of qadr is fatalism—the idea that “everything is written anyway, so why try?” That’s not Islam. That’s laziness dressed in religious clothing.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about this directly. According to the hadith recorded by Imam al-Bukhari in Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4947, a man said: “O Messenger of Allah, should we rely on what is already written for us and abandon action?” The Prophet ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: “Work, for everyone will be facilitated toward what he was created for.”
Work. Act. Strive. Make effort. The fact that the outcome is decreed doesn’t eliminate your responsibility to try. You don’t know what’s written. You don’t know which efforts will succeed. So you pursue every lawful means while trusting Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) with results.
Qadr does NOT excuse your sins. You cannot commit evil and then say “it was qadr, I couldn’t help it.” Yes, Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) knew you would sin. Yes, He allowed it. But you chose it freely, and you’re accountable.
The hypocrites of Makkah used this excuse. They said: “If Allah willed, we would not have associated partners with Him.” Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) responded:
[Surah Al-An’am, 6:148]
“Those who associated others with Allah will say, ‘If Allah had willed, we would not have associated anything with Him, nor would our fathers, nor would we have prohibited anything.’ Likewise did those before deny until they tasted Our punishment. Say, ‘Do you have any knowledge that you can produce for us? You follow not except assumption, and you are not but falsifying.'”
Using qadr to justify sin is exactly what the mushrikeen did, and Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) condemned it. You have free will. You chose the sin. Own it. Repent from it. Don’t hide behind divine decree.
Qadr does NOT mean Allah wants you to sin. This is crucial. Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) decreed that you would have the choice to sin, and He knew you would choose it. But He doesn’t love sin. He doesn’t command it. He doesn’t approve of it.
The Quran makes this distinction clear. There’s what Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) decrees to happen (His universal will that encompasses all events), and what He loves and commands (His legislative will that defines right and wrong). Sin happens by His universal will but against His legislative will. He allows it as a test, but He doesn’t love it.
How Believing in Qadr Changes Everything
When you truly internalize belief in qadr—not just mentally accept it but deeply believe it—three massive shifts happen.
First: Anxiety about the future disappears. You realize you can’t control outcomes. You can control effort, but not results. That job interview? You’ll get it if it’s written. You won’t if it’s not. Your preparation doesn’t guarantee success—but it’s still your obligation to prepare. This removes the crushing anxiety of thinking everything depends on you.
Second: Regret about the past loses its power. What happened was decreed. That mistake you made? It was written. That loss you suffered? It was measured out for you with divine wisdom. This doesn’t mean you don’t learn from mistakes or grieve losses—but it means you don’t drown in “what if” scenarios that accomplish nothing.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us explicitly in the hadith recorded by Imam Muslim in Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2664: “The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer, although both are good. Strive for that which will benefit you, seek the help of Allah, and do not feel helpless. If anything befalls you, do not say: ‘If only I had done such and such,’ rather say: ‘Allah has decreed and what He wills, He does,’ for verily ‘if only’ opens the door for Satan.”
Stop saying “if only.” Start saying “Allah decreed it, and He is the Most Wise.”
Third: Gratitude and patience become easier. When good happens, you recognize it as Allah’s ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) decree and you’re grateful. When bad happens, you recognize it as Allah’s ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) decree and you’re patient. Both are tests. Both are written. Both have wisdom you might not see.
The Ultimate Test of Qadr
That rejection still hurts. That loss still aches. That disappointment still crushes. Reading about qadr doesn’t magically make pain disappear.
But here’s what belief in qadr gives you: meaning in the madness. Purpose in the pain. Trust that the One who decreed this trial knows exactly what He’s doing, even when you don’t.
The person who got the promotion instead of you? Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) decreed it. Maybe that promotion would have destroyed your family life. Maybe it would have made you arrogant. Maybe it would have led you to sin. Maybe Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) is preparing something better. You don’t know. He does.
That relationship that ended? Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) decreed it. Maybe that person would have pulled you away from Him. Maybe they would have broken you in ways you can’t imagine. Maybe He’s protecting you from something you can’t see. You don’t know. He does.
That illness, that financial loss, that betrayal—all written. All measured. All part of a plan you’re not meant to fully understand in this life.
Your job isn’t to understand the decree. Your job is to trust the One who decreed it, and to keep striving despite not seeing the full picture.
So tomorrow morning, you still apply for the next opportunity. You still make dua. You still put in effort. Because that’s your obligation. But you don’t destroy yourself with anxiety about outcomes, because those are in Allah’s ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) hands.
You tie your camel—maximum effort. Then you trust in Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He)—complete surrender. That’s what living with belief in qadr looks like. Not passivity. Not fatalism. Just effort plus trust equals peace.
Wake up. Make wudu. Pray Fajr. Ask Allah ﷻ (Glorified and Exalted be He) to make the decree easy. Then go face your day knowing that whatever happens was always going to happen, and the Best of Planners is in control.
That’s qadr. That’s faith. That’s how you sleep peacefully despite everything falling apart around you—because you know He’s still holding it all together according to a plan that will make perfect sense when you finally meet Him.
Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes. Readers should consult qualified Islamic scholars for specific religious rulings and personal guidance on theological matters.