Al-Qadar — Believing in Divine Decree

The sixth pillar of iman is belief in al-Qadar — Allah's divine decree. It means accepting, with a settled heart, four truths: Allah knows all things before they happen; He wrote them in a Book with Him before the heavens and the earth existed; nothing occurs except by His will; and He is the Creator of all things and all events. Nothing in your life — the family you were born into, the door that closed, the person you met "by chance," even the path that led you to read this lesson today — slipped past His knowledge or arrived without His permission. Be clear about what this is not. Qadar is not fatalism. Islam commands you to act, to strive, to choose — and holds you responsible for your choices. The believer ties the camel first, then trusts in Allah. You plant; Allah grows. You knock; Allah opens the doors He has written for you. Your effort is your worship — the outcome was always His. Lived honestly, this belief is the deepest peace available to a human heart. The Prophet ﷺ taught it to a young boy in words every believer should carry: "Know that if the entire nation gathered to benefit you, they could not benefit you except with something Allah had already written for you; and if they gathered to harm you, they could not harm you except with something Allah had already written against you" (Tirmidhi 2516, graded sahih). Read that again, slowly. No rival can take what is yours. No failure can lose what was written for you. So good that arrives is His gift — you say alhamdulillah, "all praise belongs to Allah." And hardship that arrives passed through His wisdom before it reached you — so you hold on with patience, knowing it was never random. Gratitude in ease, patience in difficulty: that is qadar, lived.