[Nptxsews]

assalamu 'alaikum -

I heard in a lecture that giving regular sadaqa prevents calamities from befalling a person since Allah swt is always raining calamities down on the universe (for example, cancer, burglaries, etc)...

my questions:

1. if Allah will's a person's destiny and what will happen to the person, how can sadaqa change this if it is already determined? Does sadaqa change the qadr???

2. also, if the most righteous, like the prophets, are tested the most by Allah with trials, they also know to give sadaqa, right? How come this did not prevent the trials and tribulations from coming to them?

jazakallah for any thoughts on this...

[Idorsearogele]

Well in response to your point 1), if the person gives sadaqa by virtue of which he is "saved" from some calamity, then the giving of the sadaqa was also part of his destiny. So he was always going to give the sadaqa, which was always going to prevent the calamity from afflicting him. But then you run into the issue of free will vs predestination which honestly, I have yet to see a real reconciliation of. When I run into that issue, I just shut my brain off and accept that I can't understand it.

2)I'm no scholar so I am just giving a possibility here, that maybe the kind of calamities sadaqa saves us from are those that we are afflicted with as punishment for our sins, whereas the hardships always undergone by the prophets (since they don't sin) and all other believers from time to time, are those that are meant to earn the person reward and elevate their status.

[ebookinfo]

My policy is to speak as little about Qadr as possible.

Hadith - Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah,
Narrated 'Aisha(ra):
I heard Allah's Messenger saying: "He who discusses about the Divine Decree (al-Qadr) will be answerable for it on the Day of Resurrection and he who observes silence about it, will not be answerable for it. "

[iiilizium]

For sure, sadaqa prevents calamities.