Do we really have free will when we are products of our environment and upbringing?

Do we really have free will when we are products of our environment and upbringing?

Those who start of life with an adverse upbringing, are much more likely to have bad outcomes. Those who abuse others, have often been abused themselves. Does this mean that we do not have free will because our actions are the result of our environment which is beyond our control? Our environment has an impact…

Be good to your relatives

Be good to your relatives

In Imam Ghazali’s Kitaab Al-Arba’in Fi Usul ad-Din, The Forty Principles of the Religion, he explores how to deal with different people. In this section we will look at how to treat relatives. Blood ties are special ‘Abdu’r-Rahman ibn ‘Awf heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) said: عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ عَوْفٍ،…

There are no coincidences

There are no coincidences

Creation has precision In the beginning of Surat al Furqan, which is a Makki surah, Allah Almighty said: تَبَارَكَ ٱلَّذِى نَزَّلَ ٱلۡفُرۡقَانَ عَلَىٰ عَبۡدِهِۦ لِيَكُونَ لِلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ نَذِيرًا (١) Glorious is the One who has revealed the Criterion to His servant, so that he may be a warner to all the communities (25:1) الَّذِي لَهُ مُلْكُ…

free will, guidance and and destiny explained

Free will, guidance and destiny explained

Is guidance restricted? Indeed, those who have believed then disbelieved, then believed, then disbelieved, and then increased in disbelief – never will Allah forgive them, nor will He guide them to a way. (4:137) A superficial reading of this ayah and similar ayahs can be misinterpreted if one does not have a deeper understanding of the concept…