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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books God and His Attributes Lesson 20: The Form of God’s Will and Volition Fate and destiny are one of those controversial topics that are often misinterpreted because of lack of precise understanding or, some- times, malicious intention. In order to explore the topic, we will analyze it here as concisely as possible. Everything in this world is based on a precise calculation, logic and law.

It has been put in its place according to an exact measurement, and it derives its defining characteristics from the causes and factors on which it is dependent. Just as every phenomenon derives its primal existence from its specific cause, it also acquires all its outer and inner properties from the same source; it derives its shape and extent from the cause.

Since there is a homogeneity between the cause and the effect, the cause inevitably transmits to the effect a characteristic bearing affinity to its own essence. In the worldview of Islam, fate and destiny have the meaning of God's firm decree concerning the unfolding of the affairs of the world, their extent and their limits.

All phenomena that occur within the order of creation, including man's deeds, become fixed and certain by means of their causes, their being a consequence of the universal validity of the principle of causality. Fate (qada') has the meaning of something terminated and irreversible, and it refers to the creativity and the acts of God.

Destiny (qadar) has the meaning of extent or proportion and it indicates the nature and quality of the order of creation, its systematic character; it means that God has endowed the world of being with a planned and systematic structure. In other words, destiny is the result of His creativity as it leaves its impress on all created things.

To express it differently, what is meant by destiny is the external and objective fixing of the limits and proportions of a thing, externally and objectively, not mentally. Before executing his plan, an architect will prepare in his mind the qualities and dimensions of the complex he proposes to build.

The Qur’an speaks of these fixed forms, properties and proportions of things as qadar: "We have created everything according to a fixed proportion." (54:49) "God has fixed a quantity and proportion for all things." (65:3) The term, fate (qada'), in the Qur’an means rational and natural necessities, all the parts of the cause that lead to the emergence of a thing.