Predestination in Islam - The Qadarite Doctrine: Development of Qadarite Doctrine Untill the Fall of Umayyad Dynasty

Predestination in Islam - The Qadarite Doctrine, Is a study of the history of Islam focusing on the development of the Qadarite Doctrine, untill the fall of the Umayyad Dynasty. This is must read for the understanding of early Islamic History. A study of the background and development of Qadarite thought, through the Umayyad period of early Islam, has never before been attempted. It is a significant subject in that knowledge of the impact of Qadarite thought upon early Islam is imperative to a true understanding of the modern world of Islam today. The Qadarite movement was not a mere protest against the despotism of the Umayyad Dynasty. On the contrary, it was an attempt to establish a firm foundation for a permanent structure of Religion and State. Among all evolving civilizations, however primitive, there are always those people who do not accept blindly what is advanced to them as Truth. They analyze, investigate, and inquire of their own inner consciousness those primeval, ever recurring questions: What is man? Whither is he going? What principles should guide his life on this earth? When men join together in groups to decide these irresistible questions and then are met by an indefatigable force opposing the consensus of their convictions, if the convictions are strong enough, they emerge as a movement, a party of sect. And some movements, like that of the Qadarite, shape the history of an Empire, leaving forever upon the scrolls of Time, their own distinguishing imprint. The Umayyads were those rulers who descended from the Quaraish, the tribe of Muhammad the Prophet, and they based their legitimacy to the throne upon a divine, predestined decree that they were the best qualified among Muslim Arabs to rule the Empire.