It may be said that all sacred Books are full of such indications”.

It may be said that all sacred Books are full of such indications”. After referring to the belief in destiny as prevalent among the ancient Greeks and the Romans, he says “It is clear that Islam has not given more importance to this question than other religions. Islam has not given to it even as much heed as some of the contemporary scholars”. Gustav Le Bon admits that a belief in fate amounts to a belief in predestination and a refutation of freedom of will.

But he says that such a belief is found in all religions and most of the philosophical systems. In his History of Civilization, after giving a gist of the Qur’anic verses on the comprehensiveness of Divine Knowledge and Will and referring to a well-know hadith found in al-Bukhari’s al-Sahih, Will Durant says that “Belief in predestination is a part of the Islamic way of thinking”. Now let us see what Mr. Dominic Sordell has designed to say in this respect. He has written a book, named “Islam”.

In it he says: “From the very beginning of the Islamic era the Muslims were conscious of the contradictions in the Qur’an. According to an available report they even pointed out some contradictions to the Prophet himself who in reply said: “Keep believing in what is worrying you”. Later the Muslims who did not like to accept certain doctrines off-hand, tried to interpret certain words and expressions of the Qur’an. That is how the science of exegesis developed.

The first question which attracted the attention of the Muslims was - If man cannot act contrary to what Allah has preordained and still Allah requits him for his good or bad deeds, does that not constitute a contradiction between Allah’s Power and human responsibility? The Qur’an does not answer this question, but the Omnipotence of Allah has been so much emphasized throughout the Qur’an, that no room has been left for human liberty.

Thus submission to the Will of Allah prevails over a sense of human responsibility”. Mr. Dominic Sordell’s book is full of such kind of research. This is the way of thinking of the orientalists and that is how they derive their conclusions. This instance shows how far they are able to express an opinion in regard to such a question. It is clear from the foregoing that the question of fate and destiny has been repeatedly mentioned by the Qur'an itself.

It is not an invention of the scholastic theologians. Further, it is also clear that a belief in destiny as taught by the Qur’an is poles apart from predestinarianism.