Fate in the Quran is mentioned in a number of different ways with Allah telling us that He has decided our path and also with Him telling us that we are to strive to go towards His path and until we ourselves do not make an effort to change our circumstances Allah will not change them for us. Intentions matter and actions matter for fate to take effect. Allah says in the Quran about the fate of people: “Allah never changes the condition of people until they strive to change themselves.” (13:11)

Allah has told us that we, His creation, are responsible for our own destinies and fate and He has told us this in the Quran again and again. Allah says to us that whoever follows His path even to a small extent, Allah will bless the person and reward him with a lot of things. This includes long life, happiness, family and blessings that will contribute to the Hereafter of the person. If a Muslim performs Haj or gives charity he is automatically contributing to his good fate, that Allah will give to Him during his life. Whereas if a person does not fulfill the commandments of Allah and continues to lead his life on the wrong path, they will see that they will get punishment from Allah in various forms that span this life and the life Hereafter.

Allah has said about the topic of fate in the Quran that “{And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him. And He knows what is on the land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but that He knows it. And no grain is there within the darkness of the earth and no moist or dry [thing] but that it is [written] in a clear record.} [Quran 6:59]

Not only are the lives of humans written in a clear record but everything in the universe, the earth and skies, and the animals etc are all under His command and He is the one who writes the fate of All. Allah is hence telling us himself that he writes the fate of His creation but we do indeed have the power to change it by our acts in this world. Allah tells us again and again in the Quran to call unto him when we are in trouble doesn’t He? That is Allah asking us to change our destinies with our own acts. For when we call unto Allah we are directed towards Him and when we are directed towards Him, He makes it his responsibility to keep us on track. May Allah keep all of us on the right path and enable us to shape our destinies in a way that would please Allah. Ameen.