2.3.6.2 Human Choice and Accountability

Human Choice and Accountability

The Gift of Choice

Allah created human beings with the unique ability to choose. We are not like the angels, who only obey, and we are not like animals, which act mainly by instinct. Allah gave us a mind, a heart, and a will, then informed us of the path of truth and the path of falsehood.

Allah says that He guided the human being by showing him the way:

“Indeed, We guided him to the way, be he grateful or be he ungrateful.”
(Qur’an 76:3)

This verse shows that a person can respond to Allah’s guidance with gratitude and obedience, or with denial and disobedience. If humans had no real choice, there would be no meaning in describing them as grateful or ungrateful.

Allah also mentions that He showed every soul the difference between right and wrong:

“And [by] the soul and He who proportioned it, and inspired it [with discernment of] its wickedness and its righteousness.”
(Qur’an 91:7–8)

So the human being has a God given awareness of good and evil, together with a real ability to choose one of them.

Qadar and Human Will Together

Belief in Qadar means that Allah already knows, wrote, and willed everything that will happen, and that nothing occurs outside His power. At the same time, Allah has given human beings a choice within what He has decreed. His decree includes your choice itself and the outcome of that choice.

Allah says:

“Indeed, all things We created with Qadar.”
(Qur’an 54:49)

And He also says about people choosing their path:

“So whoever wills, let him believe, and whoever wills, let him disbelieve.”
(Qur’an 18:29)

This verse does not mean belief and disbelief are equal. Allah warns strongly against disbelief in the same verse. It means the human will is real, and the person is not forced into belief or disbelief. The will of the servant exists, but it is always under the will of Allah:

“And you do not will except that Allah wills, Lord of the worlds.”
(Qur’an 81:29)

So there are two wills. The created will, which is the will of the human being, and the eternal will of Allah. Your will operates within what Allah has allowed and decreed. You choose and act, and Allah already knew, wrote, and willed how you would choose.

The Prophet ﷺ summed up this balance in a short hadith:

“Act, for each person will find easy that for which he was created.”
(al-Bukhari, Muslim)

This means you must act and strive, and as you do so, Allah will make easy for you the path that fits the state of your heart. The more you choose guidance, the more Allah opens the doors of guidance for you. The more a person chooses sin, the more the path of sin becomes easy for him as a consequence of his own choices.

Why Accountability Is Just

Allah is perfectly just and never wrongs anyone. He only punishes a person for what that person truly chose and did. He does not hold anyone responsible for what they were forced to do or for what was beyond their ability.

Allah says:

“Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity. It will have what it has earned, and it will bear what it has acquired.”
(Qur’an 2:286)

And He says:

“Whoever does righteousness, it is for his own soul, and whoever does evil, it is against it. And your Lord is not ever unjust to the servants.”
(Qur’an 41:46)

Rewards and punishments in the Hereafter are based on what a person “earned.” Earning means deliberate choice. Even in worldly law, people are not blamed for what they are forced to do, and they are not rewarded for what they did in total sleep or without any awareness. Islam agrees with this basic fairness, and it comes from Allah’s perfect justice.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

“The pen has been lifted from three: from the sleeper until he awakens, from the child until he reaches puberty, and from the insane until he regains his reason.”
(Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi)

These three are not held legally accountable because they lack full understanding or full control. This proves that Allah only holds to account those who are able to know and able to choose.

No Excuse in Misusing Qadar

Some people try to use Qadar as an excuse after they sin. They say, “If Allah had willed, I would not have done this,” or, “This was written for me, so I am not to blame.” This way of thinking is false and dangerous.

Allah tells us that the people of disbelief used this same argument:

“Those who associate others with Allah will say, ‘If Allah had willed, we would not have associated [anything], nor would our fathers, nor would we have forbidden anything.’”
(Qur’an 6:148)

Allah then explains in the same passage that they speak without knowledge and that He already sent them clear messengers. So their use of Qadar as an excuse is rejected.

In another verse, Allah reveals what the people of Hell will say:

“They will say, ‘If only we had listened or reasoned, we would not be among the companions of the Blaze.’”
(Qur’an 67:10)

They admit they had the ability to listen and to think, but chose not to. They do not blame Qadar. They blame their own failure to respond.

In a famous incident, a thief was brought to the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه. The man tried to excuse himself by saying he stole by the Qadar of Allah. Umar replied that they were cutting his hand by the Qadar of Allah. This shows that Qadar cannot be used to avoid responsibility.

The Prophet ﷺ also described a man who argued using Qadar about his sin of adultery. The Prophet made it clear that people must not blame Qadar for their own sins, but rather must repent and seek forgiveness.

Guidance, Misguidance, and Personal Choice

Muslims believe that guidance ultimately comes from Allah. At the same time, Allah only misguides those who first turn away and choose to reject the truth.

Allah says:

“So when they deviated, Allah caused their hearts to deviate.”
(Qur’an 61:5)

The first deviation came from the people. They rejected. After that, Allah sealed and turned their hearts further away as a result of their own choice.

About those who seek guidance, Allah says:

“And those who are guided, He increases them in guidance and gives them their righteousness.”
(Qur’an 47:17)

If a person takes the first steps towards obedience, Allah guides him more. If a person closes his eyes and ears to the truth, Allah allows him to go further into that blindness as a consequence of his own decision.

The Prophet ﷺ quoted his Lord in a hadith qudsi:

“O My servants, it is but your deeds that I reckon for you, then I recompense you for them. So whoever finds good, let him praise Allah, and whoever finds other than that, let him blame no one but himself.”
(Muslim)

So true faith is to rely on Allah for guidance, while never blaming Allah for your own sins. You ask Him for help, and you take responsibility for what you do.

The Inner Work of Choosing

Human choice is not only about external actions. It begins in the heart. The heart desires, loves, fears, and hopes. These inner states drive a person either towards Allah or towards sin.

Allah says:

“But as for he who feared standing before his Lord and restrained the soul from [its] desire, then indeed, Paradise will be his refuge.”
(Qur’an 79:40–41)

The key words here are “feared” and “restrained.” Both are acts of choice. A person can feed his desires and ignore accountability, or he can resist desires out of fear of Allah.

Even for the smallest deed, intention matters. The Prophet ﷺ said:

“Actions are only by intentions, and each person will have only what he intended.”
(al-Bukhari, Muslim)

So you choose your intention. Two people may do the same outward deed, but one is rewarded and one is not, only because of the choice in their heart. The one who intends Allah’s pleasure earns reward, the one who intends showing off earns sin. Both will be held to account.

Accountability in This Life and the Next

Allah has made this world a place of test. The Hereafter is the place of final judgment and payment. In this life, we see only part of the results of our choices. In the next life, we will see everything clearly.

Allah says:

“So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.”
(Qur’an 99:7–8)

Nothing escapes. Even the smallest good deed is recorded. Even the smallest sin is recorded, unless Allah forgives it. On the Day of Judgment the records of deeds will be brought out.

“And the record [of deeds] will be placed, and you will see the criminals fearful of that within it, and they will say, ‘Oh, woe to us! What is this book that leaves nothing small or great except that it has enumerated it?’ And they will find what they did present [before them]. And your Lord does not wrong anyone.”
(Qur’an 18:49)

This complete record is only meaningful if human beings have real choice and real responsibility. The Prophet ﷺ said:

“No one will move on the Day of Resurrection until he is asked about his life and how he spent it, about his knowledge and what he did with it, about his wealth, how he earned it and how he spent it, and about his body and how he used it.”
(al-Tirmidhi)

In all these questions, the focus is on how a person chose to use the blessings that Allah gave him.

Taking Responsibility Instead of Blaming Destiny

For a believer, the right way to live with Qadar and choice is to always take responsibility. When good happens, you thank Allah, because He guided you, gave you strength, and allowed good to occur. When sin or failure happens, you blame your own soul, repent, and correct yourself, while still believing that it occurred by Allah’s Qadar and wisdom.

Allah teaches us the right attitude:

“Whatever good befalls you is from Allah, but whatever evil befalls you is from yourself.”
(Qur’an 4:79)

The meaning is that every blessing is a pure gift from Allah, not earned by you alone. Every misfortune or sin is connected to your own weakness, mistakes, or needs for purification, even though all is within Allah’s decree.

After the battle of Uhud, some companions wondered why defeat happened. Allah explained:

“And whatever struck you on the day the two armies met was by permission of Allah that He might make evident the [true] believers.”
(Qur’an 3:166)

So it was by Allah’s permission as part of His wisdom. It revealed the reality of people’s faith. At the same time, Allah said earlier in the same passage that they had disobeyed commands. So their choices and Allah’s decree came together.

The Prophet ﷺ taught his companions, when something happens, to accept the Qadar of Allah without falling into regret that destroys a person:

“Be keen on what benefits you, seek help from Allah, and do not give up. If something befalls you, do not say, ‘If only I had done such and such,’ but say, ‘Qaddar Allah, and whatever He willed, He did,’ for ‘if only’ opens the door to the work of Shaytan.”
(Muslim)

So before you act, you use your choice and make effort. After what is decreed occurs, you accept the result, learn from your mistakes, and keep moving forward.

Using Free Will as a Path to Jannah

Knowing that you have real choice and that you will be questioned for it is not meant to frighten you into despair. It is meant to wake you up to the value of each moment. Every day, you are writing your own story that will be read out loud on the Day of Judgment.

Allah promises a great reward for those who use their will in obedience:

“As for those who believe and do righteous deeds, indeed We do not allow to be lost the reward of anyone who does well in deeds.”
(Qur’an 18:30)

Even when you fail, as long as you turn back to Allah with sincere repentance, He forgives and turns your bad deeds into good, by His mercy.

“Except for those who repent, believe, and do righteous deeds, for them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.”
(Qur’an 25:70)

Your free will is therefore a trust and an amazing opportunity. Every time you choose to pray, to tell the truth, to lower your gaze, to forgive, to give charity, or even to smile sincerely to your brother or sister, you are using that trust in the correct way.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

“The clever person is the one who controls his soul and works for what is after death, and the helpless one is the one who follows his desires and merely hopes upon Allah.”
(al-Tirmidhi)

So the intelligent way to deal with free will is to discipline your soul, make choices that please Allah, and prepare for the meeting with Him.