The destinies set by God and the role of man in determining his fate from the viewpoints of the Qur’an and logic

Determination of destinies is an act of God and a basic issue discussed in the Qur’an. The clarification of this subject and how man plays a role in this regard can shape up man’s ideology and direct his acts. This study is conducted to answer two questions; “what is destiny as set by God?” and “what is man’s role in determining his fate?”. This kind of investigation calls for an analysis of the relationships among God, the world and man. The approach adopted for the research is the one by which the Qur’an deals with the subject. Also, the method of the study is based on ration and narration practiced through the analysis of documentary sources. As the results show, setting destinies is an act of God carried out within a framework of ways and means. According to this view, God is the creator of all the phenomena in the universe, and the entity as well as the identity of everything is already predestined by Him. It is shown in the research that God’s predestination of affairs as depicted in the Qur’an is not in contrast with man’s role in the world and his will and power to determine his own fate. Indeed, the creation is based on a system of causes and effects according to which any phenomenon is created or comes to being through a certain route or by certain means. By virtue of this relationship, man’s will is an instance of God-predestined entities that are not embodied unless required actions are done.