What is the Islamic understanding/concept of free will and predestination?

Basic and simple:

Free Will in Islam is man's gift from Allah to decide what he wants to do in his life, be it good or bad. Man was given this free will to make his own decisions and thus answer for his decisions. Free Will is a choice.

Allah says:“Lo! This is an Admonishment, that whosoever will may choose a way unto his Lord. Yet ye will not, unless Allah willeth. Lo! Allah is Knower, Wise.” (Al-Insan: 29-30)

Even if Allah wills a thing, man still has the right of choice to do good or bad. Allah creates the actions that we do but, He himself does not perform them, we do.


Predestination- is what is already decreed by Allah to happen. Allah knows all that will happen before it happens. Allah is not some whimsical figure that did not think of all this before creating man.

Allah decided to create man as a free agent, but He knows (and how can He not know!) before creating every man how he is going to use his free will; what, for instance, his reaction would be when a Prophet clarifies Allah’s message to him. This foreknowledge and its registering in a ‘Book’ is called qadar.

In simple terms:

If Allah created money, it is mans choice to do good with it or bad with it. But Allah in turn already knows what he will do with it. This gives man the power to make his own choices without making him feel useless. If Allah warned us about everything and choice we were going to make, what is the use is expressing our use of free will?

For more insight look up QADR, QADAR, and QADA concerning predestination.

I can give a more detailed explanation but it would fill up more than two reply spaces! Feel free to ask more ???? about these topics, okay? smaller more acurate details are best, that way you wont get confused.

so man has free will and the qadar is what is reaten it doesn't have an influence in our life is it right?