Free Will and the Holy Quran
The Quran emphasizes many times that Allah does not interfere with human free will. He has created a system in which every individual makes their own decisions, and their choices and efforts will be judged and rewarded accordingly. If Allah wanted to interfere with human will, He possesses methods beyond human comprehension and control. However, the Quran provides a clear assurance: Allah will not interfere with your decisions. This is the essence of Islam’s true justice, as promised in the Quran many time.
(sūrat yūnus)Verse (10:99-100): وَلَوۡ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ لَأَمَنَ مَن فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ ڪُلُّهُمۡ جَمِيعًاۚ أَفَأَنتَ تُكۡرِهُ ٱلنَّاسَ حَتَّىٰ يَكُونُواْ مُؤۡمِنِينَ.
Sahih International: And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed – all of them entirely. Then, [O Muhammad], would you compel the people in order that they become believers?
No Compulsion
In this beautiful Ayah, Allah speaks to His beloved messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him). Who was extremely concerned that all the people he interacted with would be rightly guided, become Muslims, and be saved from the hardships of the Hereafter or Hell. Allah comforts him and explains that this is His divine plan and will. He has granted humanity complete free will so that they alone have the power to choose between good and evil. Even as the Creator of the universe, He does not interfere with their free will. They must make their own decisions, whether for good or evil.
So, [O Muhammad], do not be saddened by this. If I had willed otherwise, I certainly have the power and ability to create people in such a way that, without their awareness, they would all be compelled to follow My will, and there would be no disbelievers on earth.
If Allah had willed, you would have been one united Ummah, but He has given you the freedom to decide for yourselves, and thus, you have no end to your conflicts
(sūrat hūd)Verse (11:118): وَلَوۡ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ لَجَعَلَ ٱلنَّاسَ أُمَّةً۬ وَٲحِدَةً۬ۖ وَلَا يَزَالُونَ مُخۡتَلِفِينَ
Sahih International: And if your Lord had willed, He could have made mankind one community; but they will not cease to differ.
Clear Message from Allah has come be Believer or be Unbeliever as you like or will:
(sūrat l-kahf)Verse (18:29): وَقُلِ ٱلۡحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكُمۡۖ فَمَن شَآءَ فَلۡيُؤۡمِن وَمَن شَآءَ فَلۡيَكۡفُرۡۚ
Sahih International: And say, “The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills – let him believe; and whoever wills – let him disbelieve.”
(sūrat l-insān)Verse (76:3): إِنَّا هَدَيۡنَـٰهُ ٱلسَّبِيلَ إِمَّا شَاكِرً۬ا وَإِمَّا كَفُورًا
Indeed, We guided him to the way, be he grateful or be he ungrateful.
(sūrat l-baqarah)Verse (2:256): لَآ إِكۡرَاهَ فِى ٱلدِّينِۖ قَد تَّبَيَّنَ ٱلرُّشۡدُ مِنَ ٱلۡغَىِّۚ فَمَن يَكۡفُرۡ بِٱلطَّـٰغُوتِ وَيُؤۡمِنۢ بِٱللَّهِ فَقَدِ ٱسۡتَمۡسَكَ بِٱلۡعُرۡوَةِ ٱلۡوُثۡقَىٰ لَا ٱنفِصَامَ لَهَاۗ وَٱللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong. So whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.
If Allah knows that a child born today will eventually go to Hell, where is free will and justice?
In Islam, a child is pure and innocent. However, if Allah already knows that this child, once grown, will end up in Hell, it raises questions about divine justice and human free will.
Since Allah is all-knowing, He is aware of the child’s entire life, including all future actions and decisions made by the child through his own free will. Because this knowledge is based on the person’s choices, Allah knows the ultimate outcome.
However, If this child, as an adult in future, decides to change their behavior and lead a good life, Allah’s knowledge will reflect that change. If you were to ask Allah again at that moment whether this child will go to Hell, He would say “No,” because He now knows about the change in the child’s future decisions.
Step-by-step explanation
This step-by-step explanation is provided only to make the concept easier to understand. In reality, since Allah is all-knowing, He already knows about the future change in the child’s decision. Therefore, even from the beginning, Allah’s answer would have been “No,” because His knowledge includes all future changes.
Another way to understand this: Allah can sees in Future the final outcome of a person’s entire life without influencing their Free Will, purely based on their own decisions, filtering out all other influencing factors.
You could call this “man’s destiny,” but it is not fixed it changes every second based on human decisions. At any given point, a person’s destiny is the sum of all their decisions and actions, which they will make in the future through their own free will.
Allah’s knowledge about humans is perfectly just and is based on the actions they take using their free will.
The concept of free will is extremely important in Islam because, if human behavior were not based on free will, then punishing or rewarding individuals would not be just. A person is only rewarded or punished for actions for which they are truly responsible—not for external factors such as genetics, environment, society, psychological influences, their physical constitution, or even the different nature of their soul (if have any differentiation). Only a person’s “I,” which is immortal, will be rewarded or punished for their actions. This “I” within a person is divine and responsible for their decisions. The human soul is also not “I”, but belongs to this “I”, like our body as we say “my soul”.
Allah assures that He will judge with perfect justice, far beyond human understanding.
A Robot with Free Will
Imagine an engineer who builds robots and claims he can predict what they will do tomorrow. If he creates two teams of identical robots to play football, and we know every detail of their hardware, software, and even the smallest influencing factors, we could calculate and predict the game’s outcome.
Now suppose he makes the robots so perfectly identical that every measurable aspect is exactly the same. In that case, with all external factors equal, predicting their behavior becomes impossible.
Next, he installs a “Free Will” unit—an independent decision-making system whose workings cannot be understood or predicted from its design or code. The robots are now truly free in their choices, and even their creator cannot control or foresee their actions.
Finally, the engineer invents a device that can, without influencing the robot’s decision-making ability, simply inform him in advance of the decisions the robot has already chosen to execute. Now the engineer knows about all future actions of his robots beforehand.
If this is possible for a human engineer, how could it not be possible for our Creator—Almighty Allah—to know our future without interfering with our free will? The Holy Quran repeatedly affirms that Allah does not override human choice, for the very purpose of our creation is based on free will.
“If a human engineer can know his robot’s future without controlling it, how much more can the Creator know ours—without touching our free will?”
And if our free will is the very test of life, then His knowledge of our future is not a limitation of our freedom—but the ultimate proof that both divine knowledge and human choice can coexist perfectly.
Studies on Free Will
Many studies have been conducted to challenge the concept of free will. Most of these studies reveal that before performing a task, certain areas of the brain are activated before a person consciously decides to act. By studying these brain regions, scientists can predict with remarkable accuracy what a person will do.
Libet Experiment (1980s):
The pioneering work on this subject was conducted by Benjamin Libet. His experiments revealed that:
A readiness potential (a specific brain signal) in the motor cortex is detectable 300–500 milliseconds before a person becomes consciously aware of their decision to act.
Libet interpreted this as evidence that the brain “decides” before the conscious mind is aware of it.
However, Libet say “veto” effect, suggesting that conscious will might not initiate actions but could still inhibit them.
Study by Soon et al. (2008):
The scientists could predict, with up to 90% accuracy, which button a participant would press based on brain activity patterns well before the participant felt they had “made” the decision. Activity in the prefrontal cortex and the parietal cortex was observed 7–10 seconds before participants were consciously aware of their decision.
Respect for these studies, but they do not prove the absence of “free will.” it could be preparation of respective brain areas before task begin. Many factors could be responsible for the observed results. The brain knows what it has to do—for example, a very simple task like pressing a button on the right or left. the subconscious mind decides in advance which button will be pressed. The brain prepares for this action, and certain areas are activated before the conscious act is performed, . These changes can be detected and predicted.
These Experiments could be a Proof for Human Soul:
The indication of preparatory activities in certain brain areas before a conscious act could be evidence for the existence of the human soul. Suggesting that it makes decisions first, while human consciousness becomes aware of them later. However, to test this hypothesis, experiments should be made more complex. Designed in a way that only humans are capable of making the decisions, such as tasks involving higher moral aspects. In simpler tasks, the observed brain activity could be interpreted as a complex reflex, since similar patterns are found in both humans and animals.
The Libet veto effect provides further support for the existence of a human soul. In the experiment, participants were asked to make a decision to press a button — and then, at the last moment, to veto that decision and not press it.
Something very interesting occurred: this veto action did not produce any detectable pattern of brain activity in the regions being observed.
If no corresponding neuronal activity is measurable, then who or what made the decision to veto the action at the final moment?
In our interpretation, it was the human soul — not the brain alone — that made the final choice. Otherwise, we would expect to see a detectable neural signature associated with the veto decision.
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