thebeautyofislam:

avodashashem:

I’m reading Qur’an and have a question.

Surah al-Baqarah, ayat 6-7;

6 - As to those who reject faith, it is the same to them whether you warn them or do not warn them; they will not believe.

7 - Allah has set a seal on their hearts and on their…

I’d just add that this deals with the very complex notion of “Qada’” and “qadr”; which is very often loosely translated in English as “Pre-destination” and “Divine Fate”, both of which are partial misnomers. 

First of all, the concepts are rather hard to translate and contextualize in the modern English language as well as within the human limitations of conceptualizations of time. “Qada”, or “Pre-destination” as it is translated, deals with a concept of post-time. In other words, it refers to God’s unique ability to transcend time and space to “foresee” (as we time-linear creatures see life) what is to occur.

In other words, those who have “sealed their hearts” in this case, are “foreseen”, so to speak, by God. And in my own personal opinion, it is not so much that God is teaching us to “give up” on these individuals, but that simply this phrase and verse is to tell us consolingly that we should not blame or berate ourselves for not bringing them to the path of Islam. Rather, they are people who have hardened themselves to the speech of others. And to emphasize, this is where the element of human free will comes into play. 

As human beings, we have the choice to make certain moves and actions and acceptance of things. “Predestination” in this case doesn’t really refer to God “forcing” us in a certain action where we have no choice, but rather more of a “foreseen” concept. Humans are, in my opinion, given full rein on their own choices. And it is when we make the choice to ignore the calls of others that we harden our own hearts. So in this case, we make ourselves unreachable. Not because we have been forced by some divine control, but because we ourselves have removed our selves. 

This is my personal opinion and understanding of the concept developed when I studied these two verses and looked into the concept of “predestination”. But please forgive me for any misunderstandings/mistranslations! InshAllah May Allah Bless you for asking an oft-ignored question in our community :)