The Shaykh, May God bless his soul, says that our belief in this respect was the same as that had been defined by our Imam at the request of Zarara. He said: “When the Almighty God would receive His servants on the Day of Judgement, He would ask them those questions, for which He had taken a covenant with them, and He will not ask them about anything that He had implemented through Qadha wa Qadr.” 1

People have been advised to remain silent about this subject by Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib. In response to a query. He said: “The question of destiny (Qadha) is an ocean of incomprehensible depths, in which one should not enter.”

The enquirer again repeated his question and the Imam replied, “It is a dark alley, so do not walk through it.”

When he asked the same question the third time, the Imam said, “It is a secret. Do not try to investigate it. Be careful, as it is one of the hidden secrets of God. It is a treasure amongst His riches, and hidden from His creatures by an elevated veil. God’s stamp is on it, and it is within God’s knowledge from the very beginning.

He had kept His servants oblivious to it, and it is way above their thoughts and intellect, because human beings could not find His reality, nor could they envisage His immense powers or His essence or the individuality of His authority, because this irate ocean is for Him. Its depth had the dimensions of the Universe and its width is from East to West, and it is dark as a black night. It is full of snakes and fish, which are in continuous motion. In its depth is a glowing Sun, and no one other than God, the Almighty is aware of it. Anyone, who would like to investigate its reality, would be disobeying God. It would a reason for instigating feud within His Kingdom. Such a person would be among those who want to lay bare or divulge God’s secrets.

بَاءَ بِغَضَبٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَمَأْوَاهُ جَهَنَّمُ وَبِئْسَ الْمَصِيرُ

“He would be imprisoned by God’s wrath and would certainly find his place in the Hell, which is a terrible place of abode” (8:16).

Once Imam Ali (‘a) avoided a wall, which was about to fall. One of those who accompanied him asked whether he was running away from the destiny appointed by God. He replied that yes, he was avoiding the undetermined destiny of God.

Someone asked Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq (‘a) whether a holy amulet could avoid God’s destiny. Imam replied that these amulets were also among the tools of empowerment (Qadr).

• 1. It is prohibited to think too deeply about qadha.