Are our behaviours pre-determined, or are we free to choose?

Published on January 7th, 2010 in Personality Psychology, Psychology in `Aqidah

How much is behaviour a matter of free will (choices made freely by an individual), and how much is subject to determinism, the notion that behaviour is largely produced by factors beyond peoples wilful control? (Feldman, 2001, p. 19). According to Feldman, the humanistic and cognitive perspectives hold that behaviour is a matter of free-will (self-actualising, decision-making, problem solving, etc.) whereas the other perspectives hold the behaviour is subject to biological (biological perspective), environmental (behavioural), and unconscious sexual and aggressive (psychodynamic) factors. Thus, none of the psychological perspective has a balanced view when it comes to the issue of freedom of choice and determination of behaviours. Islam requires Muslims to believe that human beings behaviour is determined by Allahs will, but it depends on their own freedom of will (Quran, 18: 29; 25: 29; 74: 37; 76: 30, 74: 54-56; 81: 27-29).There are numerous Quranic verses that indicate a human beings freedom of choice despite what has been determined by Allah through His knowledge, will and power (Quran, 73: 19; 92: 5-10, 6: 148; 11: 101, 29: 40). At the same time, human beings are reminded that Allah too has His own will which is, unlike human beings, limitless and not bound by time and space, thus making the term determinism somewhat a misnomer (e.g., It is not right to say that Allah has pre-determined human beings behaviour in advance because that is indirectly claiming that Allah is bound by time and space [which He is not] and thus, rejecting Allahs Godly attribute or worse making Allahs attributes similar to human attributes). In most Quranic verses, it is clearly indicated that the soul (i.e., iman or faith) influences human beings freedom of choice. There are several Quranic verses that state that Allah knows what will happen (Quran, 10: 61, 6: 59), anything that happens is based on the will of Allah (Quran, 2: 253), and Allah had written all that will happen (Quran, 6: 38, 57: 22, 3: 154). The Prophet (PBUH) said: The good deeds are made easy for the blessed, and bad deeds are made easy for the wretched. Then he recited the verses: As for him who gives (in charity) and is Allah-fearing and believes in the best reward from Allah (Quran, 92: 5-10) (narrated by Bukhari, Vol. 2, Book 23, No. 444), suggesting that whatever behaviours have been determined are actually chosen by human beings out of their own free-will. Compare the deterministic perspective of Iblis when he blamed Allah for his wrongdoings (Quran, 15: 39) and Adam (PBUH) who accepted that his wrongdoing is based on his own free choice without denying Allahs will (Quran, 7: 23). In other words, having a deterministic perspective in psychology is akin to Iblis perspective. Islam also does not deny the influence of worldly factors though not to the extent of total determinism in influencing human behaviour and mental processes without neglecting the soul. Allah said in the Quran except that who is forced [environmental factors], and whose heart is at rest with faith [soul factors] (Quran, 16: 106; see also 2: 173). Allah also said And there is no sin on you if you make a mistake, except in regard to what your hearts deliberately intend [unconscious factor]. And Allah is Most Forgiving and Most Merciful [soul

factor] (Quran, 33: 5). Similarly, the Prophet (PBUH) said: There are three (persons) whose actions are not recorded: a sleeper till he awakes (unconscious factor), a boy till he reaches puberty (biological factor), and a lunatic till he comes to reason (cognitive factor) (narrated by Abu Dawud, Book 3, No. 4389). In another hadith, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: Verily, Allah will forgive peoples behaviours which are unintentional (unconscious factor), out of forgetfulness (cognitive factor), and out of being forced (environmental factor) (narrated by Ibn Majah, No. 2045). In sum, it can be said that human beings have freedom of will, but their will depends on the will of Allah who has the knowledge of all our wills and deeds, has written all His knowledge in Lawh al-Mahfuz (the Preserved Tablet) and has the power to allow human beings to perform their deeds. The soul factor such as iman plays a very important role in influencing human behaviour and mental processes. At the same time human behaviours are, to an extent, influenced by various worldly factors such as biological/physical activities, cognitive factors, their own selves, environmental stimuli, and unconscious motives. A more important point (in terms of nafs/soul) is: all these worldly factors can still be moderated by the soul. The most important point (in terms of `aqidah/creed) is: Allah SWT is the ultimate transcendental non-worldly factors that control our behaviour and mental processes. Therfore, always ask for His guidance as we have always (automatically) do in Al-Fatihah verse 6. Yours Islamically and psychologically, Alizi Alias Extracted from:
Alias, A. (2009). Human nature. In N. M. Noor, (Ed.), Psychology from an Islamic perspective: A guide to teaching and learning (pp. 79-118). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: IIUM Press.