The Truth of Destiny

But you will not unless Allah wills. Allah is All-Knowning, All-Wise. (Qur'an, 76:30)

As a result of experiments he performed in 1973, Professor Benjamin Libet, a neurophysiologist at the university of California, revealed that all our decisions and choices are set out beforehand, and the consciousness only comes into play half a second after everything has been determined. This is interpreted by other neurophysiologists as meaning that we actually live in the past and that our consciousness is like a monitor which shows us everything half a second later.

Therefore, none of the experiences we perceive are in real time, but are delayed by up to half a second from the real events themselves. Libet carried out his research by making use of the fact that brain surgery can be performed without the use of narcosis, in other words while the subject is fully conscious. Libet stimulated the brains of his subjects with small electrical currents, and when they experienced a perception that their hads had been touched the subjects said that they felt that "touch" almost half a second before. As a result of this measurements, Libet arrived at the following conclusion:

All perceptions are normally transmitted to the brain. As these are subconsciously evaluated and interpreted, the ego is unaware of anything.The information that appear before our mind, in other words that we can be aware of, is transmitted to the cortex, the seat of consciousness, after a certain delay.

The conclusion from this may be summarised as follows: The decision to move a muscle takes place before that decision reaches the consciousness. There is always a delay between a neurological or perceptual process and our becoming aware of the thought, feeling, perception or movement it represents. To put it another way, we can only be aware of a decision after that decision has been taken.

In Professor Libet's experiments, this delay varies between 350 & 500 milliseconds, although the conclusion that emerges is in no way dependent upon those figures. Because according to Libet, whatever the lenght of that delay- it makes no difference whether it is great or small, whether it lasts an hour or a microsecond- ous physical life is always in the past. This demonstrates that every thought, emotion, perception or movement happens before reaching our consciousness, and that proves that the future is entirely outside our control.

In other experiments, Professor Libet left the choice of when the subjects would move their fingers up to them. The brains of the subjects were monitored at the momenttheir fingers moved, and it was observed that the relevant brain cells went into action before the subject actually took the decision. To put it another way, the command "do!" reaches the individual, and the brain is readied to perform the action; the individual only becomes aware of this half a second later. He or she does not take a decision to act and then performs that action, but rather performs an action predetermined for him or her. Yet, the brain makes an adjustment, removing any recognition that the individual is actually living in the past. For that reason, at the movement we refer to as "now", we are actually living something determined in the past. As already discussed, these studies manifest that fact that everything happens by the will of Allah, as revealed in Surat Al Insan 30.
(See Harun Yahya, Timelessness and the reality of Fate, Goodword Books, New Dehli, 2001)

There is also a Hadith based on it.

Narrated 'Ali رضى الله عنه: We were in the company of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and he said, "There is none among you but has his place written for him either in Paradise or in Hell-fire." We said, "O Allah's Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم! Shall we depend (on this fact and give up work)?" He صلى الله عليه وسلم replied, "No! Carry on doing good deeds, for everybody will find easy (to do) such deeds as will lead him to his destined place." Then the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم recited: "As for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to Allah and fear Him, and believes in Al-Husna. We will make smooth for him the path of ease..."

Source: Sahih Al-Bukhari, Vol 6, Hadith No.472).

Al-Husna means the Best (i.e either La ilaha illallah: none has the right to be worshipped but Allah) or a reward from Allah (i.e Allah will compensate him for what he will spend in Allah's way or bless him with Paradise).