Islam is unique in
the sense that the Qur'an teaches two thoughts about predestination.
First, that Allah and an angel pre-plan the entire life of each
individual Muslim at birth - whether they will be a denizen (resident)
of paradise or a denizen of hell; and, second, that only faithful
Muslims are destined to spend eternity in
Here are the accounts of predestination, as taught within Islam:
Allah permits some to believe in Islam and punishes the ones that he prohibits from being believers:
"Those whom Allah (in His plan) willeth to guide,-
He openeth their breast to Islam; those whom He willeth to leave straying,-
He maketh their breast close and constricted, as if they had to climb
up to the skies: thus doth Allah (heap) the penalty on those who refuse
to believe." (Qur'an: 006.125)
"Whom Allah doth guide, -he is on the right path: whom He rejects from His guidance,-such are the persons who perish." (Qur'an: 007.178)
Here is yet another example where Allah punishes unbelievers:
"And if any believe not in
Allah and His Messenger, We have prepared, for those who reject Allah,
a Blazing Fire!" (Qur'an: 048.013)
(Poor souls, they must be
the ones that were already "predestined" not to be believers in the
first place.)
Message of hope to Muslims: While Islam teaches that Allah selects who to accept and who to reject from his guidance, Christianity believes that God invites everyone to become a believer. It is therefore up to each person to decide whether to accept or reject God's call:
"The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering
to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
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