Islam teaches that Allah is the ultimate cause of everything, but it does not teach that ordinary causes are unreal or that human action is pointless. Divine decree gives cause-and-effect its dependence on Allah; it does not abolish the order through which Allah normally brings things about.
What the objection gets right
The objection has a serious form. If every event is attributed directly to Allah, one might ask why a person should inspect a car, study medicine, make a plan, or correct a mistake. If the tire will burst only when Allah decrees it, does checking the tire matter? And if the past is treated as the perfect model for every age, does belief in decree encourage passivity and resistance to reform?
These concerns would be justified if Islam taught that causes have no practical significance, that choice is an illusion, or that seeking worldly means shows weak faith. But that is not what the Quran or the Prophetic teaching says.
Allah creates the order, including its means
The Quran repeatedly directs people to act through causes: prepare strength, take precautions, consult others, travel, trade, cultivate the land, and seek treatment. Allah's creating a result does not make the means meaningless. It means that the means work by His permission rather than independently of Him.
"Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves."
Quran 13:11
Classical scholars differed over how to describe causation philosophically. Some theologians stressed that no created thing has independent power; others gave a fuller account of real created causes and their effects. They agreed, however, that fire burns, food nourishes, medicine can heal, and negligence can cause harm - all within Allah's creation and decree. Dependence on Allah is not the same as denying the patterns He established.
Trust in Allah means taking the means
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) joined reliance upon Allah with practical responsibility:
"Be keen on what benefits you, seek help from Allah, and do not feel helpless."
Sahih Muslim
He also taught the man who asked whether to leave his camel untied: "Tie it and trust in Allah." The lesson is plain: prayer does not replace checking the tires. A person checks them, drives carefully, and asks Allah for safety. Saying "inshallah" properly expresses humility about the outcome, not refusal to act.
Qadar also does not turn moral choice into compulsion. Allah knows and wills what occurs, while people still choose, intend, and act within the capacity He gives them. That is why the Quran commands, praises, warns, and holds people accountable. Foreknowledge is not coercion, just as a person's knowing what happened does not cause it to happen.
What this argument does and does not establish
It identifies a real danger: Muslims can misuse belief in decree as an excuse for laziness or poor judgment. That is a failure to follow Islam, not the teaching itself. Nor does belief in an ideal early community require freezing every later society in the seventh century; principles remain stable while methods, institutions, and technologies can change.
Islam therefore rejects both self-reliant materialism and fatalistic passivity: take the means, think carefully, act responsibly, and entrust the result to Allah.