أجل
Ajal
The time that God has appointed for any event, above all the span of a life or the end of a nation.
What it means
Ajal is the term that God has fixed for an event. The Quran says: “For every nation there is a term; when their term comes, they can neither delay it by an hour nor bring it forward” (7:34), and “God never delays a soul when its term has come” (63:11). The word also serves in everyday dealings, as in the verse on debts, “a stated term” (2:282). Muslims therefore hold that the hour of death is known to God and fixed by Him, and that no one can hasten or postpone it.
Often misunderstood as
Rendered “fate” or “doom”, it suggests a blind force, while ajal is a term known to God within which people remain responsible for their deeds.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 23, listed as AJAL. The definition is restated here.