Free Will and Determinism in Classical Islamic Philosophy: Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd

e debate about the relation between free will and determinism, which revolves around the idea of human freedom and possible obstacles to that freedom, has been on the agenda of the philosophers for centuries. is debate is mainly associated with qadar (predestination) in Islamic philosophy and Islamic philosophers has been trying to reconcile God’s omnipotence with human responsibility.

Prof. Catarina Belo of the American University in Cairo discuss the question of free will and determinism from the perspective of Islamic philosophy comparing the ideas of al-Farabi, Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd. She argues that al-Farabi is a proponent of human free will while Ibn Sina strongly defends a deterministic approach to causality and Ibn Rushd accepts that we have the power to act, but this is determined by external causes, and ultimately by God.