Now we are ready
to begin to give the answers.
Answer: 2003 - Sept 15 14:40 EST -
The question that
atheists usually ask regarding our belief in God, vary to some degree,
but they are quite predictable over all. Let us consider a few:
1. "If
God created everything - then who created God?" (may Allah forgive
me)
Answer:
(Remember to use the formula above - i.e.; "Thank
you for asking me about my religion..." etc.)
According to the Quran, Allah tells us that He is the only creator
and sustainer of all that exists and that nothing and no one exists
alongside Him, nor does He have any partners. He tells us that He
is not created, nor is He like His creation in anyway. He calls Himself
by a number of names and three of them are:
He always has
existed and He never was created, as He is not like His creation,
nor similar to it, in any way.
2. "How can you believe in God, when you can't see, hear,
touch, smell, taste or even imagine what He is?"
Answer:
We know from the teachings of Muhammad, peace be upon him, that no
one has ever actually seen God - at least not in this lifetime. Nor
are we able to use our senses to make some kind of contact with Him.
However, we are encouraged in Islam to use our senses and our common
sense to recognize that all of this universe could not possibly come
into existence on its own. Something had to design it all and then
put it into motion. That is beyond our ability to do, yet it is something
that we can understand.
We don't have to see an artist to recognize a painting, correct? So,
if we see paintings without seeing artists painting them, in the same
way, we can believe that Allah created everything without having to
see Him (or touch, or hear, etc.).
3. "Can God do anything? - Can He make a rock so big
that nothing can move it? - If He did make a rock so big that nothing
could move it, would that mean that He couldn't move it too? Or would
it be impossible for Him to make something so big that He couldn't
move it?"
Answer:
Allah tells us that "Allah is capable of doing anything that
He Wills to do." He can make a rock (or anything for that matter)
that is so large or heavy that nothing in the entire universe can
move it. As regards Allah "moving" it, He is not in the
universe and He does not resemble His creation. Whenever He wants
anything done, He merely says "Qun! Faya Qun!" (Be! And
so it will be!)
4. "Where is God?"
Answer:
Some other religions teach that "God is everywhere." This
is actually called "pantheism" and it is the opposite of
our believe system in Islam. Allah tells us clearly that there is
nothing, anywhere in the universe that resembles Him, nor is He ever
in His creation. He tells us in the Quran that He created the universe
in six "yawm" (periods of time) and then He "astawah
'ala al Arsh" (rose up, above His Throne). He is there (above
His Throne) and will remain there until the End Times.
5. "Why
did God create everything?"
Answer:
Allah says in His Quran that He did not create all of this for any
foolish purpose. He tells us that He created us for the purpose of
worshiping Him, Alone and without any partners.
6. "Is
God pure, good, loving and fair? - If so, then where does evil, hatred
and injustice come from?"
Answer:
Allah tells us that He is Pure, Loving, and absolutely Just in every
respect. He says that He is the Best of Judges. He also tells us that
the life that we are in is a test. He has created all the things that
exist and He has created all that happens as well. There is nothing
in this existence except what He has created. He also says in the
Quran that He created evil (although He is not evil). He is using
this as one of the many tests for us.
7. "Does
God really have power of things? - If so, then why does He let people
become sick, oppressed and die?"
Answer:
Oppression is something that Allah forbids for Himself to do to anyone
and He hates it when anyone oppresses someone else. He does have absolute
power over everything. He allows sickness, disease, death and even
oppression so that we can all be tested in what we do.
8. "Can
you prove there is a God?"
Answer:
Can you prove that you exist? Yes, of course you can. You merely use
your senses to determine that you can see, hear, feel, smell, taste
and you have emotions as well. All of this is a part of your existence.
But this is not how we perceive God in Islam. We can look to the things
that He has created and the way that He cares for things and sustains
us, to know that there is no doubt of His existence.
Think about this the next time that you are looking up at the moon
or the stars on a clear night; could you drop a drinking glass on
the sidewalk and expect that it would hit the ground and on impact
it would not shatter, but it would divide up into little small drinking
glasses, with iced tea in them? Of course not.
And then consider if a tornado came through a junkyard and tore through
the old cars; would it leave behind a nice new Mercedes with the engine
running and no parts left around? Naturally not.
Can a fast food restaurant operate itself without any people there?
That's crazy for anyone to even think about.
After considering all of the above, how could we look to the universe
above us through a telescope or observe the molecules in a microscope
and then think that all of this came about as a result of a "big
bang" or some "accident?"
(see also "Quran" below)
9. "Does God know everything that is going to happen?
- Does He have absolute control on the outcome of everything? - If
so, how is that fair for us? Where is our free will then?"
Answer:
Allah Knows everything that will happen. The first thing that He created
was the "pen" and He ordered the pen to write. The pen wrote
until it had written everything that would happen. And then Allah
began to create the universe. All of this was already known to Him
before He created it. He does have absolute and total control at all
times. There is nothing that happens except that He is in control
of if.
There is a mistake in the question: "Free Will." Allah alone,
has Free Will, He Wills whatever He likes and it will always happen
as He wills. We have something called, "Free choice." The
difference is that what Allah "Wills" always happens and
what we choose may or may not happen. We are not being judged on the
outcome of things, we are being judged on our choices. This means
that at the core of everything will always be our intentions. Whatever
we intended, is what we will have the reward for. Each person will
be judged according to what Allah gave them to work with, how they
used it and what they intended to do with it.
As regards the actual "Judgment Day" - Allah tells us that
everything we are doing is being recorded and not a single tiny thing
escapes from this record. Even an atom's weight of good will be seen
on the Day of Judgment and even a single atom's weight of evil will
be seen too.
The one who will bring the evidences against us will be ourselves.
Our ears, tongue, eyes and all of our bodies will begin to testify
against us in front of Allah on the Day of Judgment. None will be
oppressed on that Day, none will be falsely accused.
He could have put everyone in their respective places from the very
beginning, but the people would complain as to why they were thrown
in Hell without being given a chance. This life is exactly that; a
chance to prove to ourselves who we really are and what we would really
do if we indeed had a free choice.
Allah Knows everything that will happen, but we don't. That is why
the test is fair.
10. "If there is only one God, then why are there so
many religions?
Answer:
Allah does not force anyone to submit to Him. He has layed out a clear
path and then made it known to them the two ways (Heaven or Hell).
The person is always free to make his or her own choice. There is
not complusion in the way of "Islam." Whoever choses to
worship Allah without partners and is devoted to Him and is obeying
His commands as much as possible, has grasped the firm handhold that
will never break. Whoever denies God and choses some other way to
worship or not to believe at all, for them there is an eternal punishment
that is most horrible (Hell).
All religions originated with Allah and then people began to add or
take away from the teachings so as to take control over each other.
Man made religions are an abomination before the Lord and will never
be accepted. He will only accept true submission, obedience and in
purity and peace to His commandments.
11. "How do you know that the Quran is really from God?"
Answer:
Muslims have something that offers the most clear proof of all, The
Holy Quran. There is no other book like it anywhere on earth. It is
absolutely perfect in the Arabic language. It has no mistakes in grammar,
meanings or context. The scientific evidences are well known around
the entire world, even amongst non-Muslim scholars. Predictions in
the Quran have come true; and its teachings are clearly for all people,
all places and all times. No one has been able to produce a book like
it, nor ten chapters like it, nor even one chapter like it. It was
memorized by thousands of people during the lifetime of Muhammad,
peace be upon him, and then this memorization was passed down from
teacher to student for generation after generation, from mouth to
ear and from one nation to another. Today every single Muslim has
memorized some part of the Quran in the original Arabic language that
it was revealed in over 1,400 years ago, even though most of them
are not Arabs. There are over nine million (9,000,000) Muslims living
on the earth today who have totally memorized the entire Quran, word
for word, and can recite the entire Quran, in Arabic just as Muhammad,
peace be upon him, did 14 centuries ago.
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