Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the polytheists of Quraysh, while disputing about destiny, came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so this verse was revealed: "The Day they will be dragged on their faces into the Fire (it will be said): 'Taste the touch of Hell.' Indeed, We have created all things with predestination." (Al-Qamar: 48-49). (From this hadith, it is understood that by "qadar" in this verse, destiny is meant, and some have interpreted it to mean that We have created everything according to its measure, that is, as much as was appropriate.)

Tawoos says: I met several companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and they used to say that everything is by destiny. And I heard from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say: "Everything is by destiny, even incapacity and intelligence (that is, some people are clever and wise and some are foolish and lazy, this too is by destiny)."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: A strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than a weak believer, and there is good in each of them. Be eager for those things that benefit you (i.e., that will benefit you in the Hereafter), seek help from Allah, and do not lose heart. And if any calamity befalls you, do not say: If I had done such and such, then such and such would have happened; but rather say: This is what Allah had decreed, and He did what He willed. For saying "if" and "but" opens the way for Satan.

`Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) says that I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: Allah Almighty wrote the destinies of the creatures fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth, and at that time His Throne was upon the water.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Adam and Musa (peace be upon them) debated with each other before their Lord, and Adam (peace be upon him) prevailed over Musa (peace be upon him). Musa (peace be upon him) said: Are you the Adam whom Allah created with His own hand, breathed His spirit into you, commanded the angels to prostrate to you (meaning the prostration of greeting, not worship, and at that time the prostration of greeting was permissible, but in our religion it is forbidden to prostrate to anyone other than Allah), and gave you a place to live in His Paradise, then because of your mistake you caused people to be sent down to the earth? Adam (peace be upon him) said: Are you the Musa whom Allah chose as His Prophet, spoke to directly, gave you the tablets of the Torah in which everything is explained, and brought you near for private conversation? And do you know how long before my creation Allah wrote the Torah? Sayyiduna Musa (peace be upon him) said: Forty years. Adam (peace be upon him) said: Did you not read in the Torah that“Adam disobeyed his Lord and went astray”? Musa (peace be upon him) said: Why not, I have read it. Adam (peace be upon him) said: Then do you blame me for an act which Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, had decreed for me forty years before my creation? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Thus Adam (peace be upon him) prevailed over Musa (peace be upon him).

Abu Al-Aswad Al-Daili says:“Sayyiduna Imran bin Husain (may Allah be pleased with him) said to me: ‘What do you think about that for which people are acting today and enduring effort and hardship—has that matter already been decided and passed according to previous decree, or is it something that is yet to happen, according to the hadith and proof from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?’ I said: ‘That matter has already been decided and passed.’ Imran said: ‘Is this not injustice? (Because if Allah has written in someone’s decree that he is to be among the people of Hell, then how can he act contrary to that?)’ Hearing this, I became very anxious and said: ‘This is not injustice because everything is created by Allah and belongs to Him; no one can question Him, but they will be questioned.’ Imran said: ‘May Allah have mercy on you, I only asked this to test your understanding.’

Two men from the tribe of Muzaynah came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! What do you say about that for which people are acting today and enduring hardship—has the matter already been decided and passed in the decree, or is it something that is yet to happen, according to the command which the Prophet has brought and the proof has been established upon them?’ The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘No, rather the matter has already been decided.’ And its confirmation is in the Book of Allah, where Allah the Exalted has said: ‘By the soul and Him Who proportioned it, then inspired it with its wickedness and its righteousness.’ (Ash-Shams: 7-8).

‘Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) says: We were in Baqi‘ with a funeral when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came. He sat down and we also sat around him. He had a stick with him. He sat with his head lowered and began to draw lines on the ground with the stick. Then he (peace be upon him) said: There is none among you, there is no soul, whose place has not been written by Allah, either in Paradise or in Hell, and it has not been written whether he is fortunate or unfortunate. A man said: O Messenger of Allah! Then why should we not rely on what has been written for us and abandon deeds (i.e., is it useless to act in the face of destiny, whatever is destined will surely happen)? He (peace be upon him) said: Whoever is among the fortunate will be led to the deeds of the fortunate, and whoever is among the unfortunate will be led to the deeds of the unfortunate. And he (peace be upon him) said: Act! Everyone is facilitated, but the righteous will be made to do the deeds of the righteous, and the wicked will be made to do the deeds of the wicked. Then he (peace be upon him) recited this verse:“So as for he who gives (in charity) and fears (Allah) and affirms the best (religion, i.e., Islam), We will ease him toward ease. But as for he who withholds and considers himself free of need and denies the best (religion), We will ease him toward difficulty.”(Al-Lail: 5...10).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: A man performs good deeds for a long time (i.e., the deeds of the people of Paradise), then his end is upon the deeds of the people of Hell. And a man performs the deeds of the people of Hell for a long time, then his end is upon the deeds of the people of Paradise.

`Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with them) narrates that Umm al-Mu'mineen Umm Habibah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "O Allah! Grant me benefit from my husband, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), my father Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him), and my brother Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him)." So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to her: "You have asked Allah regarding matters whose terms are fixed, and the steps that are to be taken are already written, and the sustenances are already distributed. None of these things can Allah advance before their appointed time or delay after their appointed time." If you had asked Allah to save you from the punishment of Hell or the punishment of the grave, it would have been better." A man asked: "O Messenger of Allah! Are monkeys and pigs among those who were transformed?" The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: "Allah did not let any nation whom He destroyed or punished have descendants, and monkeys and pigs existed before those people."

`Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to us, and he (peace be upon him) is the truthful and the one who is made truthful, (he said that) indeed the sperm of each one of you remains in his mother's womb for forty days, then it remains as a clot of blood for forty days, then it becomes a lump of flesh in forty days. Then Allah Almighty sends an angel to it, who breathes the soul into it and is commanded regarding four things: to write down his provision (i.e., whether he will be needy or wealthy), to write down his lifespan (how long he will live), to write down his deeds (what he will do), and to write down whether he will be fortunate (of Paradise) or unfortunate (of Hell). So I swear by Him besides whom there is no deity, that indeed one of you performs the deeds of the people of Paradise until there remains between him and Paradise only a handspan, then what is written in destiny overtakes him, so he begins to do the deeds of the people of Hell and thus enters Hell. And a man performs the deeds of the people of Hell throughout his life, until there remains between him and Hell only a handspan, then what is written in destiny overtakes him, so he begins to do the deeds of the people of Paradise and thus enters Paradise.