Page 101 - Never Plead Ignorance

HARUN YAHYA 99

As the verses above also indicate, the perception of time changes
from one person to another. What remains from a life which seemed to be
everlasting, yet which ends abruptly, are only reminiscences that would
occupy five to ten sheets of paper. In other verses, Allah relates that time
takes different forms according to different conditions. Allah says:
The angels and the spirit ascend to Him in a day whose length is fifty
thousand years. (Surat al-Ma'arij: 4)
He directs the whole affair from heaven to earth. Then it will again ascend
to Him on a day whose length is a thousand years by the way you mea-
sure. (Surat as-Sajdah: 5)

Allah creates our perception of time. Allah, the Creator of time, is by
no means dependent on it. This is a crucial fact and it provides the answer
to a crucial question asked by many people: what is destiny?
Some people experience difficulty in understanding the meaning of
the concept of destiny.
Destiny is the eternal knowledge of Allah, Who is independent of
time and Who prevails over the whole of time and space, about all occur-
rences and situations of all the beings that are dependent on time. Allah is
the Creator of all these actions and situations just as He is the Creator of
"time". In the same way as we easily see a ruler's beginning, middle, and
end, and all the units in between as a whole, Allah knows the time to
which we are subject to as if it were a single moment right from its be-
ginning to its end.
No doubt, this is certain. Allah, Who is not bound by the relative
time-frame within which we are confined, encompasses everything time-
related. So, never plead ignorance that All-Mighty Allah created you
and that every important or insignificant occurrence you encounter in
life is within the knowledge of Allah and predestined.

Despite this OBVIOUS fact, some people have a distorted under-
standing of destiny. They assume that they can step out of the bound-
aries of destiny, "overcome their destiny" or they can live a life separate
and independent from destiny. However, as stated earlier, our destinies