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Is marriage a matter of divine decree and preordainment written for a person before their birth, and does supplication change what has been thus written?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Allah ordained the measures of all things fifty thousand years before creating the heavens and the earth. Everything a person does is predestined for them before their birth. Divine decree (qada') is of two types: an unalterable, eternal, unchangeable decree (qada' mubram azali), and a contingent decree (qada' mu'allaq) recorded in the scrolls of the angels, which can change through supplication (du'a) and charity (sadaqa). This is what is meant by the Almighty's saying: "Allah eliminates what He wills or confirms, and with Him is the Mother of the Book," and by the hadith: "Nothing averts divine decree except supplication, and nothing increases lifespan except righteousness."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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