The Ruling on Setting Conditions for Faith — Qur’anic Guidance
Source: Fatawa ʿUlama-e-Hadith, Vol. 9
❖ Question
What is the ruling on setting conditions for believing in Allah ﷻ?
❖ Answer
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام علىٰ رسول الله، أما بعد!
◈ Setting Conditions for Accepting Faith
There are people who set conditions before accepting faith in Allah ﷻ. They say: “If Allah fulfills our demands, then we will believe in Him. If He performs such and such act, then we will accept Islam.”
This attitude is exactly like that of the disbelievers, as Allah ﷻ mentions their words in the Qur’an:
﴿وَقَالُوا لَن نُّؤْمِنَ لَكَ حَتَّىٰ تَفْجُرَ لَنَا مِنَ الْأَرْضِ يَنبُوعًا (٩٠) أَوْ تَكُونَ لَكَ جَنَّةٌ مِّن نَّخِيلٍ وَعِنَبٍ فَتُفَجِّرَ الْأَنْهَارَ خِلَالَهَا تَفْجِيرًا (٩١) أَوْ تُسْقِطَ السَّمَاءَ كَمَا زَعَمْتَ عَلَيْنَا كِسَفًا أَوْ تَأْتِيَ بِاللَّـهِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةِ قَبِيلًا (٩٢)﴾ (al-Israʾ: 90–92)
"And they said: We will never believe in you until you cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us, or you have a garden of date-palms and grapes and cause rivers to gush forth abundantly therein, or you cause the sky to fall upon us in pieces, as you claim, or bring Allah and the angels before us face to face."
◈ If Allah Accepted Their Conditions
If Allah ﷻ had made the acceptance of faith dependent on fulfilling such human conditions, people would have presented the strangest demands, such as:
- Someone would demand that night be turned into day.
- Another would demand that the sun be turned into the moon.
- One would ask that the earth be changed into the sky.
- Another would demand that men be transformed into women.
Then others would demand the opposite of these conditions.
- One would say: “If such-and-such person is killed, I will believe.”
- Another would say: “If such-and-such town is destroyed, I will believe.”
- And yet another would demand the opposite.
If such conditions were accepted, the entire system of the heavens and the earth would collapse. The Qur’an states:
﴿وَلَوِ اتَّبَعَ الْحَقُّ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ لَفَسَدَتِ السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ وَمَن فِيهِنَّ ۚ (٧١)﴾ (al-Mu’minun: 71)
"And if the Truth had followed their desires, the heavens and the earth and whoever is in them would have been corrupted."
◈ Allah’s Proofs and Completion of Argument
Allah ﷻ has placed complete signs within His creation to recognize the Truth. He granted man:
- Ears to listen,
- Eyes to see,
- A heart to reflect and reason.
Through these faculties, man can discern the proofs of truth, distinguish between right and wrong, and thus the argument is completed against him, leaving no room for doubt.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
