Predestination and Free Will: A Comparative Religious Perspective
Christian tradition, drawing on the teachings of thinkers such as Augustine, considers predestination in close connection with human free will. On one hand, God possesses omniscience and omnipotence, but on the other – it is through free choice that a person can establish a deep relationship with God, as evidenced by the assertion: "The question of the relationship of human will to divine will is the cardinal point of the whole issue of freedom. In the face of this problem, material, psychological, and other causes recede into the background in relation to freedom. This question immediately reveals its antinomian character. The Christian religion affirms both God’s omnipotence and omniscience, and the freedom of human will." (source: link txt)Thus, despite the recognition of God's sovereignty, Christianity assigns an important place to personal choice, which allows a person to strive for redemption and the restoration of a relationship with God.In contrast to this, the Islamic concept of predestination is characterized by strictness and absoluteness, where every event and each action is regarded as being carried out by the will of Allah. As noted in the text: "The value of activating the religious principle of predetermination goes beyond the ordinary bounds: the connection with Allah becomes absolute. And this concept is quite different from everything known in Christianity, where, nevertheless, the act of choice remains an important key aspect." (source: link txt)Islam teaches that the fate of all creation was written long before its formation, and, despite being granted only minimal opportunities for choice, fundamentally everything is predetermined by the Almighty. This implies that, in Islam, moral responsibility and human actions are perceived through the lens of absolute dependence on the will of Allah.Thus, the primary difference between the Christian and Islamic perspectives lies in the degree to which free will plays a role. In the Christian understanding, free will is a crucial condition for achieving redemption even against the backdrop of divine predestination, whereas the Islamic worldview emphasizes the complete determination of all events by the will of Allah, significantly limiting the autonomy of human choice.Supporting citation(s):"The question of the relationship of human will to divine will is the cardinal point of the whole issue of freedom. In the face of this problem, material, psychological, and other causes recede into the background in relation to freedom. This question immediately reveals its antinomian character. The Christian religion affirms both God’s omnipotence and omniscience, and the freedom of human will." (source: link txt)"The value of activating the religious principle of predetermination goes beyond the ordinary bounds: the connection with Allah becomes absolute. And this concept is quite different from everything known in Christianity, where, nevertheless, the act of choice remains an important key aspect." (source: link txt)