Does Dua Change Destiny? What is the Relationship Between Dua and Fate?
Everything that happens in the universe has a cause. Human actions also occur within a cause-and-effect relationship. However, Allah is the Creator of these causes and consequences. Through dua (supplication), humans influence their destiny regarding matters within their will. Therefore, we can say that dua is part of divine decree (takdir). Some things destined from eternity are realized through dua itself, and again through dua.
The individual’s will plays an important role in determining one’s own fate. Allah, with His eternal knowledge, knows the supplication a person will make and shapes destiny accordingly. Therefore, dua is a cause, just like other causes.
- “Supplication prevents what is destined.” (Ibn Hibban, Addu’a’, No: 872; Hakim, Ad-Du’awat, No: 1814, I, 493)
- “Dua repels calamities.” (Suyuti, I, 487)
- “Supplication benefits from what has befallen and will befall. O servants of Allah, I advise you to supplicate.” (Hakim, Ad-Du’awat, No: 1815, I, 493; Tirmidhi, Ad-Du’awat, 102)
- “Avoiding what is destined does not benefit a person. But supplication benefits from what has befallen and will befall him. For that reason, O servants of Allah, I advise you to supplicate.” (Haythami, Ad-Du’a’, 1, No: 17191)
- “Avoiding what is destined brings no benefit. Supplication benefits from what has befallen and will befall a person. Indeed, supplication confronts calamities, and supplication and calamity contend with each other until the Day of Resurrection.” (Haythami, Ad-Du’a’, 1, No: 17192)
- “Do not be negligent in making dua, for no one who makes dua is destroyed.” (Ibn Hibban, Addu’a’, No: 871; Hakim, Ad-Du’awat, No: 1818, I, 494)
QURANIC VERSES
Dua is an important requirement of servitude. However, dua is not an action performed to prevent what Allah has decreed from eternity or to bring about what He has not destined. Dua also does not mean reminding Allah of something He did not know. Rather, it is a demonstration of one’s servitude, presenting one’s weakness and need to Allah. The following verses can be cited in this context:
- “Allah will not cause any harm unless it is from Him; and when He causes harm, there is none who can avert it but He, and if He wishes good for you, then no one can prevent His grace. Indeed, He has already decreed that for those whom He wills.” (An’am, 6/17; see Yunas, 10/107)
- “If Allah were to will a harm to you, they could not avert it from you. Nor could they avail you against Him. And if Allah wills for you some goodness, no one can prevent His grace—not even those who are arrogant.” (Zumar, 39/38; see Bakara, 2/214; Isra’, 17/67; Yasin, 36/23)
Allah is the Creator of both good and evil. When Allah intends to bestow goodness upon a person, no one can prevent it, and when He intends to inflict a calamity, no one can prevent it. However, He may not grant the calamity He intended to give or may remove the affliction He gave. The dua of a servant may have an effect in this regard; Allah may accept the servant’s dua and not bring about the calamity, alleviate the affliction He has given, open the way for the servant in matters he cannot accomplish with his own strength and ability through his supplication, and help him from an unexpected place.