If Allah knows everything about us and what we are going to do why does Allah(swt) punish us ?


As Muslims, we cannot proceed through life based on the Knowledge of Allah, because the Knowledge of Allah is beyond our comprehension. Rather, we proceed through life based on the Halal and Haram, which is very much within our reach and within our ability to understand. And based upon this obedience, we will be rewarded or punished.

Allah's Knowledge does not compel us to act in a certain way, because Allah (swt) created within us the freewill to choose which path to follow. The fact that Allah (swt) knows is because His knowledge has no limits. The following analogy helps: Suppose that I were a teacher, and before the semester begins, I know that four students will fail. Sure enough, by the end of the semester, those four students fail the class. My knowledge of this had no impact whatsoever on the decisions they made throughout the course of the semester and how they chose to spend their time. Perhaps I knew this because I have enough experience to look at somebody and determine from the outset that they are the failing type. Even if I revealed this to the students, still they have the freedom to decide on their own whether they want to succeed for fail. Because my knowledge is limited, then there is a possibility that my prediction could be inaccurate or flawed. However, with the case of Allah (swt), His Knowledge is accurate because it is All-Encompassing.

One incident during the time of Umar ibn Al-Khattab summarizes the attitude that we should have beautifully. When Umar was about to enter a town, he was informed that the town was suffering from a plague, and he decided not to enter the town. One of his companions asked Umar: "Are you running away from the Will of Allah?" Umar replied: "Yes, I am running away from the Will of Allah and going towards the Will of Allah." Umar understood that the Knowledge of Allah or Allah's Will is beyond our comprehension; therefore, it is futile to guess or speculate what Allah Wills. And regardless of which path he chooses, Umar realized that either choice would be within Allah's Knowledge.

Unfortunately, many Muslims abuse this concept. We see some Muslims either resort to passiveness (claiming that everything is in the Hands of Allah, so I will sit and do nothing) or reckless behavior (indulging in the Haram, claiming that "Allah Willed me to do this"). Both types of extremes are very dangerous, and they have led to stagnation and backwardness. The correct attitude is not to proceed through life based on Allah's Will or Allah's Knowledge because we do not have access to either. Rather, what we have access to is the Islamic text, the Islamic concepts and way of life, the Ahkam Shariyah, the Halal and the Haram, and the realities around us, which we must seek to understand in order to proceed through life in a manner that will guarantee for us success in this world and the Hereafter. And ONCE SOMETHING HAS ALREADY HAPPENED AND IT IS NOW IN THE PAST, then we can say that this was "Allah's Will," and we say "Alhamdulillah" and are content with whatever the outcome is, and then we move on.