Ar: qadr.
Narrated 'Imran:
I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Why should a doer (people) try to do good deeds?' The Prophet said, "Everybody will find easy to do such deeds as will lead him to his destined place for which he has been created.' (Sahih Bukhari 9.641 also Sahih Bukhari 2.444 )
** Muslims believed that Allah has decreed all things, good and evil from eternity, all that happens, whether obedience or disobedience, faith or infidelity, sickness or health, riches or poverty, life or death.
** History of this doctrine:
``When Muhammad died, this article was not yet included with the other five. About a century later, Muslim theologians argued much over it. One group, the Jabrites, plainly said that Allah decreed everything, good or bad, and that man had no choice to do anything except what Allah had willed for him. The Qadarite theologians did not agree. They said that evil and injustice cannot be blamed onto Allah, but were the result of man's own choice. But this raised another problem. If man chould choose to do right or wrong, then man also became a creator of actions, like Allah creates actions. No Muslim could agree to this.A third group of Muslim theologians, the Ash'arites, agreed with the Jabrites that Allah had one will and could do as he please, either good or evil. But they wanted to allow for the fact that each man feels that he has the power to make his own choices. The Ash'arites concluded that, although Allah decrees for a man to do a thing, he also gives man the choice and desire to do it. In this way, each man becomes responsible for his own actions because he chose to do what Allah had decreed for him to do, even though he could do nothing else. This teaching is known by the Arabic word "kasb," which means "acquiring".
The conclusion of the Ash'arites that Allah had predetermined all things is what most Muslim theologians believe today. This explains why the Muslim so easily says, "Insha Allah," meaning "if Allah wills." It is the reason why the illness, accident, death, or good fortune are said to be from Allah. Belief in predestination gives Muslims great courage in times of terrible hardship or when everything seems to go wrong. The Muslim believes that his sufferings have come from Allah.
On the other hand, to soften the harshness of this belief in complete dependence on Allah and that man can do nothing to change his fate, many Muslims believe strongly in the protection of Qur'anic charms in this life and in the intercession of Muhammad and other "saints" in the Last Day.
Educated Muslims, who are trained in modern sciences, place more emphasis on human responsibility. They often believe that sickness or poverty, for example, are frequently the simple result of a man's ignorance or laziness. They prefer to believe that it is Allah's will for man to fight disease instead of simply accepting it as one's fate.'' (Emory VanGerpen, Notes on Islam, 1975, pp.35-36)