and denying the causal role of causes distorts reason; disregarding causes altogether undermines the revealed Law. Allah, glorified be He, created causes and their effects and made one thing a cause of another. If someone says, “If this is decreed, it will happen without the cause; otherwise, it will not happen,” the answer is that it is decreed to occur through the cause, not without it. As the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Allah created people for Paradise; He created them for it while they were still in their fathers’ loins. And He created people for the Fire; He created them for it while they were still in their fathers’ loins.”

He also said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“Act, for everyone will be enabled to do that for which he was created. Those destined for bliss will be enabled to do the deeds of those destined for bliss, while those destined for misery will be enabled to do the deeds of those destined for misery.”

In the two Sahīh collections, Ibn Masʿūd, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—the truthful one whose truthfulness is confirmed—told us:

“The creation of each of you is brought together in his mother’s womb for forty days as a drop of fluid. Then he becomes a clot for a similar period, then a lump of flesh for a similar period. Then the angel is sent to him and commanded to record four things. He is told, ‘Write down his provision, his deeds, his lifespan, and whether he will be wretched or blessed.’ Then the soul is breathed into him.”

He said:

“By Him in whose hand is my soul, one of you may do the deeds of the people of Paradise until only a cubit stands between him and it; then the written decree overtakes him, and he does the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters it. And one of you may do the deeds of the people of the Fire until only a cubit stands between him and it; then the written decree overtakes him, and he does the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it.”