Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
The appointed time of death is part of the decree and destiny of Allah Almighty. Allah has written the lifespans of His servants before creating them, and a person’s appointed time neither comes earlier nor is delayed once it arrives. Allah Almighty says:
“And Allah will never delay a soul when its appointed time has come.”
[Al-Munafiqun: 11]
However, believing in divine decree does not mean abandoning the taking of means. Allah Almighty has established causes for things, including causes that may lead to death and causes that provide safety. Therefore, a Muslim should adopt a balanced approach: he should neither exaggerate fear and precaution until his life becomes dominated by obsessive thoughts, nor neglect safety measures and expose himself to danger.
If a person avoids buying a motorcycle because of a realistic fear—for example, because motorcycles are more prone to accidents in the area where he lives, because he is not proficient at riding one, or because there is another valid reason that makes him more exposed to danger—then there is nothing wrong with leaving it. This is part of taking reasonable measures for safety and avoiding danger, while believing that all causes are included within Allah’s decree and that they do not change the appointed time that Allah has decreed.
But if the fear of motorcycles has no valid basis, while a person believes that a motorcycle will inevitably lead to death, or that it inherently brings destruction, then this is an incorrect belief. Such fear may be a form of obsessive thinking or pathological anxiety. In that case, one should strive to overcome it and seek permissible psychological treatment when necessary.
The same applies to cars and all other means of transportation. What is required is to take safety measures while relying upon Allah, neither abandoning permissible means out of fear of destiny nor deliberately exposing oneself to danger on the pretext that one’s appointed time has already been written.
It is important for a Muslim to understand that taking a safety measure does not mean believing that it changes Allah’s decree. Rather, the safety measure itself is part of Allah’s decree. A person may die in a place or through a means that he never expected, just as he may survive great dangers. The appointed time does not change; rather, the causes and outcomes occur according to the decree of Allah Almighty.
Accordingly, simply choosing not to buy a motorcycle out of fear of its accidents is not shirk, as long as the intention is to take a realistic safety precaution while believing that one’s appointed time is solely in the hands of Allah.
However, believing that the motorcycle itself possesses the power to shorten or lengthen one’s life, or that merely avoiding it will necessarily increase one’s lifespan, is an incorrect belief, because the lifespans of people are solely in the hands of Allah Almighty.
And Allah knows best.