Predestination versus Freewill

By Mohammad A Rahman

The debate between Predestination and Freewill has haunted the followers of revealed books from time immemorial. Muslims, the followers of the Final revelation of God, are no exception in this. A cursory analysis of beliefs of many Muslims proves, beyond any reasonable doubt, the validity of our statement. We do not wish to have a detailed discussion on this topic here as it is outside the scope of this book. We will only try to understand what Qur’an says about it and we will compare this with what Gospel of Barnabas says.

The Holy Qur’an has mentioned in countless verses that God created man to test him. There is no reason to believe that God means something different than what he says. The word ‘test’ surely brings home the concept of a ‘freewill’. God’s testing of man would have no meaning if men did not posses freewill. The following verses shed light on this topic:

Surely We have created man from a small life-germ uniting (itself): We mean to try him, so We have made him hearing, seeing.  Surely We have shown him the way: he may be thankful or unthankful. (Qur’an 76:2-3)

From the above-mentioned verses, we understand that the purpose of man’s creation is to see if he chooses to go right or wrong. We also understand that God has given him intellect and reasoning (hearing, seeing). “We have shown him the way” may refer to general knowledge that all men have by which they can distinguish right from wrong and also the sending of prophets who obviously conveyed His message clearly to their people. “He may be thankful or unthankful” in these verses obviously refers to the freewill man has. It must be mentioned here that the all Merciful God in no way interferes with man’s freewill. It is inconceivable to imagine that God would force guidance on people and then reward them for it or force them to go astray and punish them for it. It can be seen that in the pages of the Holy Qur’an, God has commanded man to do certain deeds and forbade them from doing some other. These orders and prohibitions would only make sense if man had freewill. Few other verses are quoted below about the free will:

The truth is from your Lord, so let him who please believe, and let him who please disbelieve (Qur’an 18:29)

Surely this is a reminder, then let him, who will take the way to his Lord (Qur’an 73:19)

Surely this is a reminder, so whoever pleases takes to his Lord a way (Qur’an 76:29)

So let him who pleases mind it (Qur’an 80:12)

For him among you who pleases to go straight (Qur’an 81:28)

We find almost similar themes in the teachings of Jesus (upon whom be peace) from Gospel of Barnabas. Jesus makes it clear that every human being is gifted with a light that enables him to serve God. However, this light gets darkened by committing sins:

Truly I say to you that our God in creating man not only created him righteous, but inserted in his heart a light that should show to him that it is fitting to serve God. Wherefore, even if this light be darkened after sin, yet is it not extinguished. For every nation has this desire to serve God, though they have lost God and serve false and lying gods. Accordingly it is necessary that a man be taught of the prophets of God, for they have clear the light to teach the way to go to paradise, our country, by serving God well: just as it is necessary that he who has his eyes diseased should be guided and helped." (Gospel of Barnabas, Ch 78)

Obviously the above statements of Jesus (upon whom be peace) would have no meaning if we assumed that God Himself forced man to sin. God is certainly above doing something fruitless.

We see the system of cause and effect in the whole universe. As a child begins to mature, he figures out this concept. He knows water quenches his thirst, food frees him from hunger. He also realizes that he is not forced by anyone to do whatever he wants. He knows that to be successful, he has no choice but to work hard. This is precise what Jesus has preached:

Said John: "Master, to work is a fitting thing, but this ought the poor to do." Jesus answered: "Yes, for they cannot do otherwise. But know you not that good, to be good, must be free from necessity? Thus the sun and the other planets are strengthened by the precepts of God so that they cannot do otherwise, wherefore they shall have no merit. Tell me, when God gave the precept to work, he said not: "A poor man shall live of the sweat of his face"? And Job did not say that: "As a bird is born to fly, so a poor man is born to work"? But God said to man: "In the sweat of your countenance shall you eat bread," and Job that "Man is born to work." Therefore [only] he who is not man is free from this precept. Assuredly for no other reason are all things costly, but that there are a great multitude of idle folk. (Gospel of Barnabas, Ch 114)

Jesus even makes it clear that the celestial bodies do not have any merit despite their abiding God’s laws for they have no choice but to follow what they are told. In complete contrast to this, Jesus points out that worth of a man is to work hard.

Jesus (upon whom be peace) emphasizing his followers to try hard to have their evil desires under control and pray to God to keep him from unwanted desires. Evidently, we cannot understand that this prayer of man was also predestined by God:

That thereafter it would be necessary for the penitent to turn story-telling into prayer, reason itself shows, even if it were not also a precept of God. For in every idle word man sins, and our God blots out sin by reason of prayer. For that prayer is the advocate of the soul; prayer is the medicine of the soul; prayer is the defence of the heart; prayer is the weapon of faith, prayer, is the bridle of sense; prayer is the salt of the flesh that suffers it not to be corrupted by sin. I tell you that prayer is the hands of our life, whereby the man that prays shall defend himself in the day of judgment: for he shall keep his soul from sin here on earth, and shall preserve his heart that it be not touched by evil desires; offending Satan because he shall keep his sense within the Law of God, and his flesh shall walk in righteousness; receiving from God all that he shall ask. (Gospel of Barnabas, Ch 119)

Jesus (upon whom be peace) explains that God has ingrained in man the freewill. As it is true in the teachings of Islam that man is created good, Jesus (upon whom be peace) also says that God created man good and righteous. However, He left it on man choose the way of salvation or damnation:

And truly I say to you, that whoever has the light of his eyes clear sees everything clear, and draws light even out of darkness itself; but the blind does not so. Wherefore I say that, if man had not sinned, neither I nor you would have known the mercy of God and his righteousness. And if God had made man incapable of sin he would have been equal to God in that matter; wherefore the blessed God created man good and righteous, but free to do that which he pleases in regard to his own life and salvation or damnation.' (Gospel of Barnabas, Ch 154)

Jesus (upon whom be peace) said that God created man free so that he could know God. With this freewill, man can either do good or evil. In fact it would be against the way of God to interfere in this freewill of man:

Wherefore in creating man he created him free in order that he might know that God had no need of him; Verbi gratia, as does a King, who to display his riches, and in order that his slaves may love him more, gives freedom to his slaves.

God, then, created man free in order that he might love his Creator much the more and might know his bounty. For although God is omnipotent, not having need of man, having created him by his omnipotence, he left him free by his bounty, in such wise that he could resist evil and do good. For although God had power to hinder sin, he would not contradict his own bounty (for God has no contradiction) in order that, his omnipotence and bounty having wrought in man, he should not contradict sin in man, I say, in order that in man might work the mercy of God and his righteousness. (Gospel of Barnabas, Ch 155)

It is well known that God is far above being the cause of any evil. God has only the attributes of all perfections. In other words, He Knows (hence can not be ignorant), He is Just (hence cannot be unjust) and so on. Once a disciple of Jesus (upon whom be peace) attributed evil to God, see how Jesus rebuked the man and refuted the concept of predestination:

Philip answered: 'But how is that saying of the prophet Amos to be understood, that "there is not evil in the city that God has not done?" Jesus answered: 'Now here see, Philip, how great is the danger of resting in the letter, as do the Pharisees, who have invented for themselves the "predestination of God in the elect," in such wise that they come to say in fact that God is unrighteous, a deceiver and a liar and a hater of judgment (which shall fall upon them). (Gospel of Barnabas, Ch 161)

The concept of predestination is nothing less than accusing God as unjust. All the prophets of God (peace be upon them all) are known to have called people to t he path of God. Predestination demands that calling and not calling people to God have no effects whatsoever. How can a sane believer believe in this absurd concept of predestination? Barnabas has devoted a whole chapter in his Gospel on predestination. It will not be out of place to quote the whole chapter:

I will accordingly tell you now [what] little God has granted me to know concerning this same predestination. The Pharisees say that everything has been so predestined that he who is elect cannot become reprobate, and he who is reprobate cannot by any means become elect; and that, even as God has predestined well-doing as the road by which the elect shall walk to salvation, even so has he predestined sin as the road by which the reprobate shall walk into damnation. Cursed be the tongue that said this, with the hand that wrote it, for this is the faith of Satan. Wherefore one may know of what manner are the Pharisees of the present day, for they are faithful servants of Satan.

What can predestination mean but an absolute will to give an end to a thing [of which] one has the means in hand? for without the means one cannot destine an end. How, then, shall he who not only lacks stone and money to spend, but has not even so much land as to place one foot upon, destine to build a house? Surely, none [could do so]. No more, then, I tell you, is predestination, taking away the free will that God has given to man of his pure bounty, the Law of God. Surely it is not predestination but abomination we shall be establishing.

That man is free the Book of Moses shows, where, when our God gave the Law upon Mount Sinai, he spoke thus: My commandment is not in the heaven that you should excuse yourself, saying: Now, who shall go to bring us the commandment of God? and who perhaps shall give us strength to observe it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that in like manner you should excuse yourself. But my commandment is near to your heart, that when you will you may observe it.

Tell me, if King Herod should command an old man to become young and a sick man that he should become whole, and when they did not [do] iti should cause them to be killed, would this be just? The disciples answered: "If Herod gave this command, he would be most unjust and impious."

Then Jesus, sighing, said: "These are the fruits of human traditions, O brethren; for in saying that God has predestinated the reprobate such that he cannot become elect they blaspheme God as impious and unjust. For he commands the sinner not to sin, and when he sins to repent; while such predestination takes away from the sinner the power not to sin, and entirely deprives him of repentance." (Gospel of Barnabas, Ch 164)

Predestination has its origin in some of the statements of God that people misunderstood. Those statements only prove that there is no power except that of God. Will power of man was result of Power of God. In other words, God willed to give man the freewill. Jesus (upon whom be peace) has elaborated it in the following way:

Andrew replied: "But how is that to be understood which God said to Moses, that he will have mercy on whom he wills to have mercy and will harden whom he wills to harden." Jesus answered: "God says this in order that man may not believe that he is saved by his own virtue, but may perceive that life and the mercy of God have been granted him by God of his bounty. And he says it in order that men may shun the opinion that there be other gods than he.

If, therefore, he hardened Pharaoh he did it because he had afflicted our people and essayed to bring it to nought by destroying all the male children in Israel: whereby Moses was near to losing his life. Accordingly, I say to you truly, that predestination has for its foundation the Law of God and human free will. Yes, and even if God could save the whole world so that none should perish he would not will to do so lest thus he should deprive man of freedom, which he preserves to him in order to do despite to Satan, in order that this [lump of ] clay, scorned of the spirit, even though it shall sin as the spirit did, may have power to repent and go to dwell in that place whence the spirit was cast out. Our God wills, I say, to pursue with his mercy man's free will, and wills not to forsake the creature with his omnipotence. And so on the day of judgment none will be able to make any excuse for their sins, seeing that it will then be manifest to them how much God has done for their conversion, and how often he has called them to repentance.

It is easily seen from above that there is no contradiction in saying that God is the Ultimate Cause and man has freewill.