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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: carranza2 who wrote (216662)	2/6/2007 6:21:04 PM
From: one_less	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

"Islamic doctrine is very ambivalent concerning free will. As best I appreciate it, there is free will but it is considered an illusion somehow subsumed to Allah's will. In other words, while one may believe he is doing something volitionally, he is not as he is simply executing Allah's will. Thus, I am not sure that free will is necessarily recognized. If so, another reason for difficulty with democracy. Absolutely Islam views human beings as having free will. There is no ambivalence about it. Your issue comes from a perspective on God, which is really not so contrary to the other Abrahamic Faiths perspectives. Muslims view God as All Powerful. That being the case, it is rationally impossible to do something against God's will. What is rationally possible is for God to allow (will) human beings to choose their conduct (free will) and consequently their eternal condition in some after life. God provides the directions for living right (righteousness) but you choose your own path as God has will it to be available. In this manner you can be disobediant (Unrighteous) without being more powerful than God. Fatalism (predetermination or Divine preknowledge of your fate) is a more complex issue but is arguable from any philosophical or theological perspective.