Write an account about the relationship between belief in God's divine decree and human responsibility.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2017). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. 5(a) The fifth article of Islamic faith is belief in divine decree which means that everything good or bad, all moments of happiness or sorrow, pleasure or pain, come from God.
2. 5(a) Firstly, it could be said that God's foreknowledge is infallible.
3. 5(a) God is not indifferent to this world or its people.
4. 5(a) He is Wise and Loving, but this should not make us fatalists, throwing up our hands and saying, 'what's the point of making any effort?'
5. 5(a) God's foreknowledge does not compromise human responsibility.
6. 5(a) God holds us accountable for what we can do, what is within our capability, but He does not hold us accountable for things we cannot do.
7. 5(a) He is Just and, as He has given us only limited responsibility, judges us accordingly. Whoever refuses, this denies God's perfection because the opposite of knowledge is either ignorance or forgetfulness. Both are deficiencies which God is free of.
8. 5(a) Second, God has recorded everything that will occur until the Day of Judgment in the Preserved Tablet (al-Lauh al-Mahfuz). The life spans of all human beings are written and the amount of their sustenance apportioned.
9. 5(a) Third, whatever God wills to happen happens, and whatever God does not will does not happen. Nothing occurs in the heavens or on earth without the will of God.
10. 5(a) Fourth, God is the Creator of everything. "...He has created everything, and has ordained for it a measure." (Quran 25:2)
11. 5(a) In Islamic doctrine every human act both in material and spiritual life is predestined, yet it is incorrect to believe the action of fate is blind, arbitrary, and relentless. Without denying divine interference in human affairs, human liberty is kept intact. It does not discount the principle of man's moral freedom and responsibility. All is known, but freedom is also granted.
12. 5(a) Man is not a helpless creature borne along by destiny. Rather, each person is responsible for his acts. Man is bound to obey the moral law; and he will receive merited punishment or reward as he violates or observes that law. However, if such is so, man must have within his power the ability to break or keep the law. God would not hold us responsible for something unless we were capable of doing it: "God does not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear". (Quran 2:286)
13. 5(a) The above is a very detailed response to the question asked written for the guidance of examiners. Candidates are not expected to write in this much detail but must cover the points made in the given answer, the mark will depend on the depth of the answer.
14. 5(b) Belief in divine decree strengthens one's belief in God. A person realises that God alone controls everything, so he trusts and relies on Him. Even though a person tries his best, at the same time he relies on God for the final outcome. His hard work or intelligence does not make him arrogant, for God is the source of all that comes his way. Finally, a person attains peace of mind in the realisation that God is the Wise and His actions are dictated by wisdom. Things don't happen without a purpose. If something reached him, he realises it could never have escaped him. If something misses him, he realises it was never meant to be. A person achieves an inner peace, and is inwardly at rest with this realisation.