Shakespeare’s contemporary, Christopher Marlowe, (1564 - 30 May 1593), has fatalistic tendencies that parallel Islam in the way that many Muslims believe in predestiny and accept the destiny of Allah through subservience to the will of God.
In his deeply fatalistic work ‘Dr Faustus’, the protagonist Dr Faustus, reaffirms the pact he has made with the devil in his quest for knowledge and power, and is, consequently, doomed forever. Like many Muslims, his search for redemption drives him to anticipate paradise, where all sins are redeemed, rather than hell where, traditionally, all sins are punished for eternity.
His acts are predestined, for we know that his heart and soul are crying out for repentance. Yet, some force has compelled him to remain silent.
When we consider that Faustus shows an urge to repent and that, overwhelmed by his wickedness, he continually questions himself about the desirability of turning to God and asking for his forgiveness, the conflict between these two ideas arises once more. Faustus's soul is crying out for redemption. And yet, for no apparent reason, some unseen force forbids this course of action and Faustus is therefore doomed to damnation in hell. This idea pervades the rest of the play. Faustus, as the end of the tragedy approaches, really wants to cry out for forgiveness for his sinful pact with the devil. He cries out that he knows that he is damned. After the words of the 'Old Man' he will repent his descent to hell during his quest for power and
