Understanding Life and Death: The Concept of Divine Decree in Islam

The Nature of Death: Ibn Taymiyah on Life’s Appointed Time

THE LIFE OF THE ONE KILLED CUT SHORT BY THE KILLER?

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may ALLĀH have mercy on him) was asked about the one who is killed: Did he die at his appointed time or did the killer cut his life short?

He replied:

The one who is killed is like anyone else among the dead; no one dies before his appointed time and the appointed time is not delayed for anyone. Rather all animals and trees have their appointed lifespan and appointed time of death which cannot be brought forward or put back. The appointed time of a thing is the end of its life; its life is the period of time for which it will remain and its appointed time is the end of its life. It is proven in Sahih Muslim and elsewhere that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “ALLĀH decided the decrees of creation fifty thousand years before HE created the heavens and the earth. And HIS Throne was above the water.” And it is proven in Saheeh Al-Bukhārī that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “There was ALLĀH and there was nothing before HIM, and HIS Throne was above the water. HE wrote all things in the Book and HE created the heavens and the Earth.” According to another version: “… Then HE created the heavens and the Earth.” And ALLĀH, may HE be exalted, says: “when their term is reached, neither can they delay it nor can they advance it an hour (or a moment)” {Al-A’rāf: 34} ALLĀH knew what would be before it came into existence, and HE decreed that. HE knows that a person will die of a stomach disease or of pleurisy, or will die as a result of a wall or building collapsing, or by drowning or other causes, and that another person will die as a result of being killed, either by poison or by the sword or by stoning or by other means…

If the slain person had not been killed, some of the Qadaris (those who deny the divine decree) said that he would have lived! And some of those who deny cause and effect said that he would still have died. But both of them are wrong, for ALLĀH knew that he would die by being killed. If (hypothetically speaking) HE decreed something other than what HE knew would happen, this would be a decree for something that would not happen; if it were to happen, how could it happen? This is something that some people may or may not know. If we assume that ALLĀH knew that he was not going to be killed (at that particular time), in that case either HE decreed that he is still going to die at that particular time, or HE decreed that he would live until some other time. To be certain of one of these two scenarios, which then does not happen, is ignorance. This is like one who says, “If he does not eat what is decreed for him of provision, either he will die or be given some other provision”; and it is like one who says, “If this man did not impregnate this woman, would she be barren or would some other man impregnate her?” or, “If he did not cultivate this land, would someone else cultivate it or would it remain barren, with nothing planted in it?” or “If the one who learned the Qur’an from this man did not learn it from him, would he have learned from someone else or not learned at all?” And there are many similar examples.

{Majmoo‘ al-Fatāwa || 8/516-518}