Question:
I have a question concerning the timing of death. Do humans have any influence/control on their time of death? As an extreme example: if it was not written for me to die today, is it possible for me to die if I tried?
Also, does free will have anything to do with the time of death?
Answer:
The timing of death is of two kinds:
1) tentative and changeable time
2) determined and fixed time
A tentative time for death is a time which one may be able to change. For example, the Almighty God has so willed for someone to die at the age of 43 unless he visits one of his relatives with whom he has cut off relations. Or it is the will of God for someone to live for 80 years if he/she doesn’t cause any life-threatening harm to himself.
On the other hand, the determined death is when all the causes of one’s death come into existence and his death becomes inevitable.
Now, from our perspective, our life and death are only tentative as we are unaware of all the causes involved in keeping us alive or causing our death, whereas for God it is always a determined factor as He is All-Aware of all the factors involved in keeping us alive or causing our death.
Answered by: Sheikh Mansour Leghaei
