We have a free will in our actions and that is why we are punished or rewarded for what we did, but also Allah facilitates and inspires our way according to our intentions.
We have the will to choose between choosing the good path or the bad path.
The fact that our actions are either rewarded or punished by Allah means, by logic and necessity, that we have complete control over them. Otherwise, the reward and punishment cannot be fair.
Moreover, Allah has created us and equipped us with an ability to choose. That ability is set into operation and we can see its effects every minute of our lives. You have only to look at what you do and what you omit.
"These actions are a consequence of their efforts and their choice, a power that has been given to them by Allah. He thus says in the Qur'an: To whoever among you wills to go straight....."
Qur’an 81:28
".....Among you are some that hanker after this world And some that desire the Hereafter......."
Qur’an 3:152
There is no doubt that we have free choice, and we exercise it freely, and we bear the consequences.
But we should understand, however, that our lives are affected by conditions and environmental changes, which are part of Allah’s system of creation. There are causes and effects. When we can influence a cause, we are responsible for the effect, which results from our action. When we are influenced by a cause over which we have no control, we bear no liability.
"Know you not that Allah knows all that is in the heavens and on earth? Verily, it is (all) in the Book (Al-Lauh -Al -Mahjfuz). Verily! That is easy for Allah."
Qur’an 22:70
References: Sheikh Muhammad ibn Salih Al-Uthaimin.
Brother Adil Salahi
