the very fabric of faith and the foundations of knowledge: acknowledging Allah’s absolute oneness and His lordship, as the Most High has declared with regard to human effort—while the outcomes are entirely in Allah’s hand.

This doctrine of decree and predestination forms part of belief in Allah. Whoever is not a believer in decree and predestination is not a believer in Allah, but rather is disparaging Allah. Faith in it belongs to the core of creed; it is not something secondary or peripheral. Belief in decree and predestination lies at the heart of doctrine and is one of the pillars of faith, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Faith is that you believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and that you believe in destiny, its good and its evil” (1).

Belief in decree and predestination enters into tawḥīd al-rubūbiyyah (affirming Allah’s lordship), for it concerns the acts of Allah, the Glorified. Whoever denies decree and predestination has failed to affirm the monotheism of lordship.