Heres how i explain it everytime it comes up,

Predestination- Allah already knows what choice we gunna make

Free will- we make the choice

Its kinda like you mum coming and asking, "what do you want for dinner? Burgers or Pasta?" She knows you're gunna choose Pasta, but you also have the option of Burgers. You choose Pasta Does this mean your choice didnt matter? No. Dinner was made acc to your choice Similarly we have the choice everyday to obey or disobey Allah swt He knows what were going to choose, but the choice is still ours entirely Predestination doesnt mean your free will was taken away Its just that your choices were already known even before tmthe situations were presented to you

But if Allah already knows what we gunna choose why give us a choice anyway?

Back to my example scenario, if mum had made pasta without asking you, come dinner time you might have said "pasta? I wanted burgers you didnt even ask me!" sulks Similarly if we were brought to account based on the knowledge of Allah swt alone , people would be able to argue "i wasnt given a choice!" And it would have subracted from Allah swts maximally perfect quality of being The Most Just.