Often when people are faced with a good or bad condition, quite a few of them say, “This is the way of destiny.”
So that a habit is formed when a person achieves success or is in good condition, then he will feel very happy and proud of his destiny. However, on the contrary, if what is found is failure or a condition of decline, then often he will be very disappointed and blame his destiny in life while questioning why destiny is not in line with his wishes.
So these two positions give rise to confusion as to what is actually the cause of success and failure, is it humans or destiny itself?
Before discussing further, we need to understand the concept of destiny. In Islamic teachings, destiny is also called qada and qadar . Both are God’s decrees that were determined long before God created the world and everything in it. A Muslim is obliged to believe in qada and qadar and must believe wholeheartedly that Allah is the only Khaliq or Creator.
Therefore, it has become a necessity because we believe that Allah is the Khaliq. It should be easy for a Muslim to apply the understanding that Allah understands us best, and Allah has definitely written all the best life destinies for us. So whatever destiny we get is essentially all good destiny, but often we don’t understand the language of God’s love that is inserted through that destiny.
Then if God has written and determined success and failure, then why do we try? Why don’t we just wait for success to come by itself in time, or failure to come by itself without having to sacrifice our hard work?
So the answer is, it is true that in this life we are bound by a predetermined destiny, but don’t forget that Allah also gives freewill or freedom of choice and will to each of His servants. Allah has equipped us with reason, instincts and five senses with the aim of testing us whether we can make life choices that are in line with Allah’s Shari’a or life choices that are contrary to Allah’s Shari’a.
We need to understand that the fate or qada and qadar that comes our way, whether in the form of success in an achievement or even failure, all of this will not be taken into account by Allah or will not bring sin or reward because it originates from Allah’s provisions. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything, because what Allah will take into account (bring reward or sin) is our response and choice towards fate.
Therefore, from this we can understand that the successes and failures that we experience are basically based on God’s provisions, but our efforts and our struggles are what is most important because God judges our efforts, not the results. The final result of our struggle is determined by Allah and will not be taken into account by Allah, but it is the effort and process we struggle to achieve something that Allah will value and in the future it is this process that can bring Allah’s pleasure if in this process we make choices that are in accordance with the Shari’a.
We need to distinguish that the control of life is divided into two, there is a part that is under God’s control and there is also a part that is under human constraints. Matters of failure and success are under God’s control, so we don’t need to be confused or disappointed if we experience failure or don’t be too happy if we get success because it is all under God’s control.
Meanwhile, the part of us that we can control is the effort to achieve something, as well as control over our response when we encounter a destiny. If our efforts and response are good, it will bring rewards, but on the other hand, if it is done in a bad way, it will bring sin.
Now we understand the relationship between fate and its influence on success and failure. Then we also have to take a washatiyah attitude or middle position, namely believing that life is above God’s destiny, but God also provides choices that are free for His servants to choose.
However, we need to remember that all the choices and decisions we make will later be held accountable. Humans are encouraged to try as hard as possible to obtain something, and accept it with sincerity and satisfaction accompanied by the belief that this is the best destiny.
Our task is to try as hard as possible so that the process we undertake can bring Allah’s pleasure, and whatever results we receive, we must always have a good opinion of Allah, because indeed Allah is according to the prejudices of His servants. So with this, we can conclude that the results of our struggle, whether in the form of failure or success, these two things are in the realm of Allah.
We as humans focus on efforts and processes because that is our battlefield. There is no need to worry about the final result, be it success or failure, everything is in Allah’s planning and Allah will definitely give us the best destiny.