Why are advocates of the Law of Attraction more misguided than the Qadarites?
The creed of ʾAhl as-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah (the People of the Prophet (PBUH)’s Way and the Community) is that Allāh created everything and decreed all things from eternity. That is, He wrote down the destinies of all creatures and has foreknowledge of everything. Accordingly, Muslims believe that Allāh created the actions of His servants and that nothing in this universe can occur except by His will, which is general and absolute, such that nothing in existence occurs contrary to it. Hence, whatever Allāh wills must happen, and whatever He does not will can never happen. This is the creed of ʾAhl as-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah and the Righteous Predecessors of the Muslim nation (the first three generations of Muslims—the Companions, the Successors, and the Successors of the Successors). The Qadarites are early Islamic theologians who openly manifested their views during the later period of the era of the Companions (i.e., in the late seventh century). They are historically defined by their firm belief in human free will, arguing that humans have complete control over their actions and are entirely responsible for them. Their doctrine consisted of denying divine decree with respect to the actions of the servant. That is, they contended that the servant’s will and power are independent of the will and power of Allāh, and that Allāh has no prior knowledge of events. In essence, they claimed that people independently bring about their own actions outside the scope of Allāh’s mashīʾah (will), qudrah (power), khalq (creative ability), and ījād (bringing things into existence). In other words, people create their own destiny. The proponents of the LOA go even further than the Qadarites, claiming that people not only create their own destiny, but also the destiny of everything around them. As mentioned earlier, they believe that people create their reality through their thoughts, such that whatever thoughts they choose to focus on is exactly what they will attract into their reality. They boast that people possess the ability to manifest their own reality and destiny through meditation. Clearly, the claim that the power to change the universe lies within the human mind is even more dangerous than the claim of the Qadarites, who denied divine destiny. For according to the Qadarites, Man’s utmost power is limited to creating his own actions, whereas the LOA proponents make Man the creator of both his own destiny and the destinies of all things around him. In doing so, they deify Man and attribute to him the distinguishing characteristics of divinity, making him a god and creator—we seek refuge in Allāh from misguidance.