About The Book

Fate and Predestination is one of a series of books written by Sheikh Al-Sha'rawi. (Who is one of the most eminent scholars in Egypt and well received in the Muslim world) to deal with specific religious questions in a comprehensive and definitive manner.

In them he explains all the different aspects of the topic involved, removes any misconceptions which have grown up around it and clarifies any difficulties.

This book is particularly important in that it covers the subject matter of the last of the Muslim's "pillars of belief", belief in the Divine Decree. A correct understanding of this matter is absolutely necessary if we wish to know how existence really functions and what our place in it is.

There is very little in English dealing with this vital topic, which has been the subject of so much debate and difficulty throughout the ages, and this volume therefore is essential reading for all who want to deepen and clarify their understanding of it.

About The Author

Muhammad Mutawalli Ash-Sha'raawi (April 5, 1911– June 17, 1998) was an Islamic scholar and former Egyptian minister of Endowments. He has been called one of Egypt's most popular and successful Islamic preachers, and "one of the most-prominent symbols of popular Egyptian culture" in the decades of 1970, 80s and 90s.

After graduating in 1940, he went on to earn his teaching certification in 1943. He later graduated from the religious institution of Tanta, before moving to another at Zagazig and then, finally, at Alexandria. In 1950, he moved to Saudi Arabia to work as professor of Sharee'ah in the University of Ummul-Quraa. However, in 1963, the diplomatic relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia worsened and it became impossible for him to return to Arabia.

Instead, he took the position of manager of the office of the Imam of Al-Azhar, Hasan al Ma'amoon. Later, he travelled to Algeria as a head of the Al-Azhar expedition, where he stayed for seven years. During his stay in Algeria, the war of June 1967 occurred and Egypt suffered tremendous losses to Israel.

Ironically, Ash-Sha'raawi 'praised' the defeat, saying "Egypt did not gain victory while the hands of communism surrounds them and their religion remains uncorrupted." Later, he did get to return to teach at the King Abdul Azeez University in Saudi Arabia.

Alsharawi was host of very popular Friday afternoon TV program preaching Islam.

On reflection of his influence was the Egyptian parliament's repeated blocking of legislation permitting organ-transplant operations, after Alsharawi issued a Fatwā declaring such operations Haraam (sinful)(in case organs are sold and not just "donated") on the grounds that `humans do not own their bodies’.

About The Translator

Aisha Abdurrahman Bewley, born 1948 in the United States. She holds a BA in French and MA in Near Eastern Languages from the University of California, Berkeley. She spent a year with a fellowship at the American University in Cairo and at the same time attended a seminar on Sufism and Islamic philosophy at Dar al-’Ulum. She is a student of Shaykh Abdalqadir al-Murabit, and also studied Ibn ‘Arabi with the late Sidi Fudul al-Hurawi in Fes, Morocco.

Aisha Bewley converted to Islam in 1968. She is the author and translator of many published and unpublished works, some available on her website. She is married to Hajj Abdalhaqq Bewley with whom she often translates and mother of three children.