religion & athiesm

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Religion & AtheismHamidun Abdullah

I was reading the Independence news the other day when I was caught by this headline The March of the Atheists Movement . The comments that followed, was very enlightening but rather vague in theirstatements and comments. I must admit that I do believe in the existence of God and in Creationism andthat Atheists have so far been unable to convincingly prove that God does not exists. So for the moment,religion is still over and above the atheists with regard to the existence of God.

To deny God means to deny so many things those humans cherished in this world, especially man,which is the most perfect of all creations. Man must admit that amongst all that exists in this world, he isthe only creature capable of so many things. That he is able to overcome so many hardships in his historicalpath and that he is able to develop his environment from cave dwellers to skyscrapers shows that man isno ordinary animal. He was created to be something special and above all other creatures.

In the time of the prophet Muhammad (Pbuh), the Arabs do not believe in the life after death despitetheir believe in God. But atheists today rejected God and therefore they rejected life after death and theFinal Judgement. Atheists rejected religions because of their frustrations with Christianity. When theMuslim world was developing science and medicine and chemistry, Europe was believing in ghosts andmagic and witchcraft. They denounce science and accused science of going against God. But science wasGod s creation so how can science be against God?

Their rejection of religion did not stop at Christianity. They denounce all religions; especially Islam. Theyaccused Islam of using swords to further their aspirations without for a moment to sit back and reflect thetruth of their accusations. They never endeavour to want to understand why in the early part of Islamicexpansions, Muslims were studying chemistry and medicine and astronomy and Muslims were developingscientific equipments, which later were used by Europeans after they had subdued the Church.

Unfortunately atheists today were far off track. When their slogan read Probably there is no God, Nowstop worrying and enjoy life , seems to indicate that they do not want to believe in God for the simplereason that they wanted to absolved themselves of all responsibilities in their life. They wanted to live likeanimals. They just eat, sleep, mate and have off-springs and when they die, that is the end of history. This iswill be a very sad end to the history of man. Man s life cannot just end with death. There must be life afterdeath so that man can be rewarded for his good deeds on the earth and to be punished for his bad deeds.This final reward and punishment will be the ultimate of all moral actions.

The Atheists MovementI have been reading articles regarding atheism which is now coming forward to convince the religious

world that God probably does not exists. I wouldn t say it is a new phenomena but it is now bravelycoming into the open to challenged religion. Communism too rejected God. They accused religion asdrugs, which make people ideal and unproductive.

I find that most of the statements were rather agnostic, that good and bad has got nothing to do withGod, that the idea of punishment and reward is something unacceptable. Despite their rejection, I find that

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they could not substantiate their statements other then quoting scientific discoveries, which like allsciences, were not conclusive. The rest of their argument was that they could not comprehend what theirsenses could not absorb. Depending on the senses alone when dealing with God is faulty. This is becauseGod is outside human senses. He is outside of time and He is over and above His creations. He is notaffected by His creations.

Where Did This Concept Originated?

Europeans received their idea of God thru Christianity. But Christianity was flawed. Those who claim touphold the Christian faith corrupted the teachings of Jesus. They added into Christianity what was nottaught by Jesus to such and extend that they deified Jesus and lifted him to the status of God. As a resultatheists reject God and religion. Instead, atheists turn to science as a new faith. They believed all thatscience says as the truth. In actuality they do not reject religion, but they shifted from their belief in Godto a belief in no God . It is still a belief system and therefore it is religion. Unfortunately this belief is alsoflawed. Science has no answer to things that are beyond the senses. And God is beyond human senses; . .

but there is nothing unto like Him (Qur'an 42:11) and in another verse the Qur'an said; And there is nonelike unto Him. (Qur'an 112:1-4). Thus, man cannot describe what his eyes have not seen and what his earshave not heard. But man can know the existence of God through His signs , for man to see and perceivedHis existence.

People that do not believe in God were mostly those who were frustrated by religion. The mainargument, as the history of secularism in the West has presented it, is that religion is a vested interest of one section of society, the Church, over all others. Since the internal structure and the decision-makingprocess of the Church are authoritarian, and since society is not therein represented, determination of public affairs by the Church is tantamount to tyranny, a form of exploitation and suppression of the nationby one group. This argument is certainly true of the West where the Catholic Church represented a part of

the population, and where religion, namely, Catholic Christianity, established itself as authoritarian, anddeveloped vested interests in competition with the people. Because the Catholic Church was for manylong centuries the wielder of the greatest political and economic power in Europe, it was natural for anymovement of social, political and economic liberation to assume the form of a struggle against the Church.(Ismail Faruqi, Al-Tawhid: Its Implications for Thought and Life, p.90, 1992)

In medieval Europe, the states were theocratic. Religion controlled the life of the community. Thewords of priests and rabbis were God s word and therefore cannot be challenged. But as new knowledgein science and medicine from the Islamic world began to enter Europe, it began to attract the attentions of some very creative minds. They began to experiment with this new knowledge. The result was sciencebegan to emerge into a new field of study. Unfortunately medieval Europe was living in the world of

sorcery, magic and witchcraft and was not ready for science. Therefore science was looked upon as part of sorcery and witchcraft. Many scientists were tortured and killed. The authorities of the priests and rabbiswere unchallengeable. Science was regarded as ungodly and a challenged against God. For hundreds of years the situations remain unchanged until scientists could not tolerate any more persecutions andrevolted against the theocratic states. Science won and religion was relegated to the personal life of European. With religion out of the way, Europe began to developed and prospered into a progressivestates to finally became a world empire. Europeans of the Renaissance Era were so euphoric of their new

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technology and progress that they left the church to the priests and rabbis while they concentrated upontheir materialistic life.

With the development of science, many scientific theories emerged and some began to challenge thereligious beliefs. They began to question the concept of Creation and the idea of God as the Creator. Slowlysmall groups of those who do not believe in the idea of Creation began to emerge, challenging theauthority of the church. But in those days, such topics were only discussed within the confine of institutions. The idea was not accepted by the masses. But with the development of logical sciences,rejection of religion became more convincing and able to penetrate the universities, especially thosefrustrated by religion. Then came men like Darwin and latter Einstein with their hypothesis and theories of the origin of men and physics. For a while, the religious rejectionists accepted with enthusiasm these newsuppositions. Despite all that Darwin proposed, yet many remain skeptical including those amongst thescientists. There were too many questions, which were not addressed, and too many complexities thatrefuse to ignore God. Today much of what was put forward by Darwin has not been proven.

As religion was left to the life of the individual, many European neglected it. Church attendance began

to dwindle and today many westerners could not comprehend the Bible. Not that they wereincomprehensible, but rather they were too illogical to the Westerners, now exposed to science and logic.The concept of three god in one, of God having a son, and that god had to sacrifice himself in order to savemankind, that all humans were born guilty; these were several of the Christian teachings that do not attractthe young western mind. They also saw in the earlier history that there were religious wars. So without anyacademic research and with their hatred for religion, they made assumptions that religion kill people in thename of God.

Let me quote some of the statements made by the modern day atheists. Atheists have felt threatenedand bullied by religious fundamentalists for far too long. It has almost become dangerous for those whowish to preserve free speech and liberty. We are fighting back . . . . . Other statements reflected this

rebellious attitude against religion; Why is religion given such a special status in government, culture andthe media? Why is belief in a higher power an indication of greater moral fortitude, character and acumen?No opinion should be protected from criticism simply by virtue of being religiously held . To me thesestatements reflected their frustrations of religion.

Recent development, reflected that secularise society has presented as its opposition to religiousvalues in determining public affairs, as untrustworthy, irrational, superstitious and dogmatic. But to applysuch opposition towards all religion is most unfortunate. It may be true of Christianity and other religionwhich based its doctrine on dogma or against other religion in certain decaying periods of their history.The same cannot be said of those religions endowed with a natural, rational, theology which acknowledgesthe universal validity of the criteria of reason and rational appeal to premises which they presentedcritically, as embodying real humanistic values. Unfortunately, secularism or atheism only pursued uponsuperficial ground but nonetheless claimed to be indentified with the age of science, realism and progresswhile at the same time accused religion of pursuing the opposite direction. Of course such claims werenever conclusively proven rather they were hypothetical since no society can claim determination of itsaffairs by no values at all, or by values totally not derived from its own religious legacy.

Unfortunately the western mind, while they were analytical and conscientious in some aspects of life,they were very simplistic when it comes to religion. They just brush aside any religious facts as mumbo-

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jumbo and fairytale only fit for kids. I quote; circulate fraudulent claims about contraception and scientificresearch and create laws that protect them from criticism . This is the level of hatred of religion existing inthe western society. While atheists claimed that their disbelief in the existence of God is based onscientific research, yet they brush aside religious claims of scientific research that God do exists.

Since the west have been looked upon by the developing countries as models of progress anddevelopment, these idea of non-God too became part of its export to these developing countries. Thuswe find that these movements begin to attract people in Muslim countries as well. Though some of themwere not so bold as to reject God, but their liberal ideas, reflected this trend.

What Is Atheism?

Atheism is the belief that God does not exist. 1 It is related to secularism and humanists ideals. Theyreject Creationism, which states that God created human beings and the universe. They believe in theevolutionary theory expound by Darwin two hundred years ago. Since they do not believe in the existenceof God, they therefore could not admit that there will be life after death. By rejecting life after death, they

regard human beings living in this world, are like any other creatures. They assume that humans only liveto eat, to bare children, and to die and that is the end of the story of man. That is why in the bus campaignin England, the slogan reads; There s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy life .

Enjoy life ; that is what the Atheists wants. By rejecting religion and God, they are free to act and dowhatever and whenever they want. By rejecting God, they absolved themselves of any responsibilities.After all what is the different between being good and being bad? What is the different of having a propermarriage and just living together? Other animals do not have marriage ceremonies, yet they bare offspring,so why should we? And since animals live by so many mates, so can we. And when we die, we will beburied like all other animals and that is the end of our life. No responsibilities.

There was a quotation by Mark Twain that reads; If Christ were here, there is one thing he would notbe: a Christian . I do agree with Mark Twain on this statement. Because in the first place, Jesus never taughtany of those concepts that Christians are claiming, i.e. the trinity, that Jesus was the Son of God, that thereis salvation. Jesus never taught these. And of course Jesus wasn t a Christian. He was a Muslim. All of God sprophets were Muslims and they preached the same message; There is only One God and that all humansmust submit themselves to God .

There seems to be similarity between these atheists proclamation that religions were stifling freedomof speech and ideas while they themselves are proclaiming to fight religious dominion. While atheistsdemand free speech, yet they are working to deny religion that same free speech to say their piece, todefend and response to atheists accusations without being called mumbo-jumbo , silly and stupid.

Someone said that atheist do not have faith . But faith is something that you have complete trust orconfident in. 2

If one who believes in the existence of God is regarded as religious than the one who do notbelieve in God is also religious. It is a belief system and therefore it is religious. While religion claims itself tooriginate from God, Atheism comes from human ideas and concepts. There was someone who says that

1 Oxford Dictionary 2 Oxford Dictionary.

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religion is a flawed concept; a human concept . But don t you think that Atheism is also a human conceptand therefore it too is flawed? Anything that comes from human mind cannot be perfect. But then religiondid not attribute its beliefs and its existence upon human ideas, only atheists says so. But atheists speaksthus so that he can reject religion. Atheists hated religion and therefore they come up with their own ideathat there is no God. And to follow upon their assumptions, they begin to search for evidence to supporttheir assumptions and whatever little that science discovered, they immediately conclude these as proof that God does not exists. Yet science itself could not be conclusive. What science claimed yesterday,science dispute today. So what science claim today science may dispute the next day. Science itself is veryunstable. It can only conclude what evidence it has at that particular time. So science can be very unreliableespecially when it comes to things that are beyond human senses and perceptions. So that makes Atheisma religion based on hypothetical belief.

O men! It is you, who stand in need of God, whereas He alone is self-sufficient, the One to whom allpraise is due (Qur'an 35:15).

The Human Senses

How do humans experience the world around him? Whatever he perceives, and understands about hisworld, comes to him through his five senses. His mind decides because of information he received throughhis senses. If he losses any one of his senses, then that much information about his environment andknowledge will be lost and he will be unable to comprehend that part that he lose. To him that part doesnot exists. Unfortunately his inability to comprehend does not necessarily mean that it does not exist, onlythat he loses the ability to comprehend. Assuming that a person loses his hearing, then to him sound doesnot exist. We may provide some proof to him, like a sound modulator but he will not be able to hearsound. We may say that to him the sound modulator is a sign , that sound do exist though he does nothear sound. If he accepts this sign as proof of the existence of sound, then his believe in the existence of

sound is faith. Physically he cannot say that sound exists; yet there are signs of its existence. If he refusedto believe in the signs presented to him, then to him sound does not exist at all. No matter how hardpeople around him, those who can hear sound, tried to convince him, he still will not believe.

Scientists study the universe through their senses. What lies beyond their senses, they will not be ableto compute. Therefore they cannot comprehend God because God is beyond human senses. Man liveswithin a time frame. Time to humans is very essentials. Man has to move along with time because timewaits for no man. But God created time and therefore He is outside of time and outside of human senses.Any attempt to analyse what is beyond our senses is futile. So how can you know what is beyond oursenses? The answer is religion and the other is to study the signs of God s existence.

Scientists cannot study God, but scientists can study His signs ; the perfection of the universe; thehuman beings; the environments. All these are signs of God s existence. Science needs to assume that thenature functions according to patterns that is an orderly system. This requirement is absolutely essentialfor science, for without it, there is the possibility that nature is arbitrary, erratic and happenstance. Undersuch a situation, no science is possible. Science rest its whole claim on the assumption that every time acause is provided, its effect will follow upon it, that is what scientists called true law of nature. This meansthat for the same causes, the same effects will appear.

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Next, from where is the source of this assumption? Some western scientists, especially of thenineteenth century, have claimed that the patterned fabric of nature is deducible from nature itself; fromempirical observations. But George Santayana called the scientists trust in cosmic orderliness a piece of animal faith . This is because such belief is utterly without foundation in empirical truth. Remember Pavlovand his dog? Each time a bell rings, the dog will find food. This conditioning made the dog accustomed tothe sound of the bell, that the dog finally believes that the ring was the source of food. Of cause the dogwas wrong. There is a human hand that is giving the food.

Muslims believe the God (Allah) is the cause of this orderliness. The cosmos is indeed a cosmos, not achaos. God implanted this orderliness in its eternal pattern. These patterns are knowable; discoverable byobservation and intellection. These are faculties that God have implanted and equipped humans to enablethem to survive in this world, to fulfill a purpose. All creatures are interdependent, and the whole creationruns because of the perfect harmony, which exists between its parts these we called The Eco-System. Andthis eco-system did not happen by chance. It was design by a perfect Designer. Can you imagine a designwith a designer?

Assumptions

Let us go back to the slogan on the bus that reads; There s probably no God. Now stop worrying andenjoy life . The word probably indicated two possibilities. One; that there is no God and second; thatthere is a God . Let us take these two assumptions with two people, one who do not believe in God andthe second person, and one who believe in God. I would like to clarify here that when we speak of believing in God, it means that believing also in that there is life after death and that there will be The FinalJudgement. The first person that claims that there is no God will not do anything to prepare him for lifeafter death. Since there is no God, there is no life after death. So this person will just enjoy the life of thisworld (like what the slogan says, Now stop worrying and enjoy life ) in whatever way he wants. On the

other hand the second person that believe in God and the life after death and the Final Judgement, willprepare himself for that Final Judgement. He will of course enjoy his life in this world in the way hebelieves. Then both of them died and buried.

Let us take the first assumption that there is no God and no life after death and no Final Judgement.Then the first person was right and the second person was wrong. But does the first person gain anythingor the second person loses anything? Definitely no! Neither of them gains nor loses. It is only the end of life.Their body will rot and becomes part of the earth. Would you say that the second person loses because hedid not enjoy himself when he was alive? No! Because he enjoyed his life, as he believes it to be, just likethe first person who enjoyed life, as he believes it. So in this instance, nobody gains and nobody loses.

Now let us take the second assumption that there is a God and there is life after death and there is TheFinal Judgement. Then the second person was right and the first person was wrong. Now what will happento the first person? He did not prepare himself for this life after death. There he is faced with the thread of God s punishment and the thread of being in Hell. He cannot escape out of the situation, even if heregretted he could not return to earth, because earth was no more. He is now in a different world. He canonly regret and suffered in Hell. God will not forgive him because he never believed in God s existence, butwhat about the second person? He is safe; he had already prepared himself for such an eventuality. He willface his Creator with confidant that he will be rewarded for his belief. With God s blessings he will be in

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Heaven.

Conclusion; a person believing in God will not lose in any of the two situations but on the other hand, aperson not believing in God posses a great potential to lose. And the lost is no small matter. Imagine beingin Hell for eternity.

Some atheists may say all this is rubbish or mambo-jumbo. But the possibilities are there. Only thosewho could not gather enough courage to admit such a possibility will react in such a manner. This is whatwe called prejudice. Gerry Spence in his book 3

referred to prejudice as The Impenetrable Wall . When theother realises that his self-interest is at stake, no winning argument is possible. This is because the coreprejudice of any living creature, man or forest fern is for its continued existence. No matter how skillfully wemay argue, we cannot win when the other is asked to decide against his self-interest.

Design Without a Designer?

Thus for the moment the question of where did we come from? seems rather confused to an atheist.He could not accept that God created man, because to him God does not exist. Yet he could not prove forcertain that human beings come into existence by itself. The perfection of the universe and of humanssimply could not have happen by chance. Every scientist will have to agree that all scientific research mustbe planned and executed with precisions and with proper planning and documentations for the result tobe creditable. No scientific research can be acceptable if done in an ad-hoc and haphazard manner.

If we accept that the universe is a perfect piece of creation than we have to accept that it cannotcome into existence by chance. Perfection cannot derive from imperfection or from chaos. Perfection canonly derived from a more perfect entity . Can you imagine a design without a designer?

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Where Did We Come From?Before we proceed, I would like to raise these questions, which every atheist should ask and answer.

Since man can remember they have been asking three basic questions. Namely; where did we come from?What are we doing in this world? Or rather why are we in this world? And finally, where do we go after ourdeath?

If we were to assume the atheists stand that there is no God and that there is no life after death, thenwe have to assume Darwin s theory that men evolved from apes. Probably this is what atheists believe. ButDarwin or any of those who came after him could not convincingly explain why this evolution stopped.Why for millennium apes have been remaining as apes and man as man. Not only apes and man haveremained the same, even the smallest insects have not evolved to anything but itself. Why there were nomore man evolving from apes? Thus many scientists today could not accept Darwin s theory of evolution. If we deny Darwin s theory then man just appear on earth out of nothing? And if we accept Darwin s theorythen the questions that followed will be; if man were to evolve from apes, then what did apes evolvedfrom? If you were to ask these questions backwards, finally you will come to nothing. So can somethingevolve from nothing? This is even more absurd.

3 How to Argue and Win Every Time. P.86

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I think that nobody will deny that this universe is perfect. Its solar and planetary systems work inperfect motions. Its timing is so consistent that man has been able to harness its perfectness to hisadvantage. The eco-system of our planet is so well designed that it has been able to sustain us for so long isastonishing. Its perfection makes it illogical for anyone to say that it comes into existence by chance. Notonly is the eco-system of the earth; but the planetary system and the whole cosmos is so perfect.

Muslims believe in the Creation of man. Thus, the Qur'an says; It was We Who created man (Qur'an50:16) and Verily it is We Who give life and death: and to Us is the final Goal . (Qur'an 50:45). . . thySustainer said unto the angels: behold I am about to establish upon earth one who shall inherit it (Qur'an2:30). And the Qur'an, more then 1400 years ago, also question those who deny God s existence; [Or dothey deny the existence of God?] Have they themselves been created without anything [that might havecaused their creation] or were they, perchance, their own creators? And have they created the Heavensand the Earth? No, but they have no certainty of anything (Qur'an 52:35)

Why Are We Here?

Since man was created, he was created for something. He does not come into this world just to eat,sleep, have children, and then to die. His existence must have a purpose. Thus we come to the secondquestion: Why are we here in this world? The Qur'an very specifically states that God, The Al-Mighty said; Ihave not created the jinn and humankind but to serve Me (Qur'an 51:56). So man was created to serveGod, which means that he has a special function and Muslims believe that the special function is to fulfillGod s trust. God said in the Qur'an, We offered Our trust to the heavens, the earth and the mountains; butthey refused to carry it and were frightened by its burden. However, man accepted to carry it (Qur'an33:72). In philosophical terms, this is tantamount to saying that the purpose of man s existence is therealization of the highest good ; i.e. the purposefulness of human life and its denial means a cynicalassertion of meaninglessness. Such good, which is the purpose of all creation, is according to Islam, the

fulfillment of the Divine Will. Whereas this fulfillment takes place involuntarily as in the physiological andpsychic function, it is voluntary in the ethical function. The ethical function realise the moral values andthese are the higher occupants of that realm, the higher imperatives of the Divine Will. There is also thelesser order of the Divine Will such as food, shelter, comfort, sex etc. The physical need of the body shouldnot be the sole purpose of man s creations, except that it is only necessary so as to allow the ethical tofunction uninterrupted or hindered by physical weakness. Thus in Islamic terms, this physical aspect of manis placed on the lesser level to the ethical. It is only when man reversed the hierarchal order so that thephysical is place on a higher level then the ethical, than we will experience conflict. This happened toeverybody; religious or atheists. But if we maintained the hierarchical order as was decreed by the DivineWill, there will be a more harmonious environment not only between humans but also between humans

and his environment.But the fulfillment of the Divine Will cannot function within a controlled and oppressed environment. It

must function under the real possibility of man s capacity to do otherwise than he ought. This freedom toobey or not to obey, to cheat or not to cheat, to take advantage or not to take advantage against a smalldefenseless group and so on, it is in this sense that he is God s vicegerent on earth. Only man can realisethe ethical and therefore a higher value and only he can have for an objective the realisation of the wholerealm in its totality.

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Unlike Christianity, Muslims believe that man is created innocent. His life in this world begins after birthnot before. No matter whom his parents were or who his ancestors were, it will not affect his innocence atbirth. Therefore there is no original sin in Islam. Everybody will be responsible for his own action. TheQur'an states; No person is responsible for the guilt of another . . . . to every person belongs the merit ordemerit of what he has wrought (Qur'an 53:38-39) and the Qur'an continue in another verse; Therefore, toeveryone belongs the credit or discredit which he has personally earned (Qur'an 2:286). Again the Qur'anstressed that each person is responsible for his own action, his own choice; We have sent down to you[Muhammad] the Book [Qur'an] in truth. Whosoever is guided by it, is to his own credit; whoever goesastray does so to his own discredit (Qur'an 38:41).

While Christianity forces others to their religion, Islam is against coercion; There shall be no coercion inmatters of faith (Qur'an 2:256). Faith or beliefs cannot be forced upon a people. Beliefs must come from aperson in a voluntary manner. If a person is forced or threatened to be a Muslims, then God will not accepthis declaration, simply because such declaration is not genuine. So the idea that Islam was spread by thesword is in reality a Christian idea and a Christian propaganda to discredit Islam. Likewise the idea of Islamicterrorists is also a Christian and Jewish misinformation. By promoting the idea, they are able to preventEuropeans from seeing the true image of Islam. Thus, the Qur'an denied all accusations by Christians andJews; Say [O Muhammad], the truth has come from our Lord and become manifest. Whoever wishes tobelieve, let him do so; and whoever wishes to disbelieve, let him do so (Qur'an 18:29). This verse is veryexplicit about Islam s openness in its teachings. And it goes against those who accused Islam of using thesword to convert others to Islam. Islam only asked that it be given the freedom to convey its message andto open itself to intellectual assessment. Unfortunately the Christian Western democracies have denied thisdespite their so call open democratic society. Today Muslims in Western countries were painted with horrorand revulsion by their mainstream media and thereby influence the Western societies against Islam.Muslims do not retaliate when they are harassed, ridiculed or mistreated, but they will response when theirreligion and prophet is being derided, scorn, mock and so on. Christians will never find, not now not ever, asingle Muslim doing the same to any of God s prophets, including Moses and Jesus.

History have shown us that Christian missionaries moving into Muslim countries together with theircolonising armies, which painted negative images of Islam, have been going on for centuries. Today thisattack against Islam is still continuing in the west added by the mainstream media, which we all know,were controlled by Jewish interest.

What is our business here in this world?

Are we here just to eat, enjoy life, have children and then die? We see so many cheatings, killings, wars,corruptions, dictatorships, injustice and so on that is going on in this world; are all these will just disappear

when we die? We say that Saddam Hussein was dictator. He killed so many innocent people. Then cameBush and killed Saddam Hussein. But Bush in the process of killing Saddam Hussein, has kill thousands of innocent people too. Now let us assume that one day Bush also died. Between these three groups, SaddamHussein, Bush and those innocent people, are there no differences between them? If there are, what arethe differences? If the answer is no, why do we call Saddam Hussein a dictator; Bush a liar and thosewomen and children who were murdered by Saddam and Bush as innocent people?

It will be a sad thing if we assume that all these three groups after they die, nothing happens and that

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is the end of their life story. Is the death of a dictator, a liar and the death of innocence has no meaning?This is what we are assuming if we deny that there is life after death. Life in this world will be bizarre andthe laws of the jungle will prevail. We are already seeing this happening. A strong nation zooming uponweak nations with impunity and the death of thousands of innocent lives including women and children isbeing condoned by the Western world. They simply turn a blind eye against all these atrocities without fora moment feeling regret. Instead they happily defended these murderers as justifiable and necessary. Allthis is happening because their belief that there is no Final Justice . That when they die that will be theend of everything.

It is a very dangerous idea to deny the existence of life after death. To deny the existence of God as theFinal Arbiter and Judge of man s action on earth is to create a chaotic world. Religion and especially Islamdo not allow this. The Qur'an says; If anyone did a righteous deed he ensures to the benefit of his ownsoul; if he does evil it works against (his own soul). In the end you (all) will be brought back to your Lord(Qur'an 45:15). So there must be a difference between good and bad. Someone said that as long as you aregood and be good always, you do not need God. He is wrong. Good has no meaning without God.

Choice

As I have said earlier, God created man and God gave to man the ability to choose. This, God had notgive to any other creatures. At the same time, God taught man what he should do and what he shouldn tdo. Thus the Qur'an says; and shown him the two highways [of good and evil] (Qur'an 90:10). God doesnot just leave him alone to make the choice, but God in the first place show him, which way he shouldfollow and which way he should avoid. Then God leave it to him to choose. This ability to choose comeswith it responsibilities and consequences. Thus the choice that man did, becomes an act of his ownchoosing with responsibilities and consequences, which God have already prescribed; Reward of Heavensand punishment of Hell. Man will then carry the consequences of his choice that he had made in this world

to his death, and finally to the Day of Judgement, where God will reward or punish (based on theconsequences of man s choice on earth) as God had promised.

This ability to choose and act is only inherent in man. It is the process of evaluating between two ormore actions; if a person is in a position to steal, yet he chooses not to, that is morality. That is, not actingupon something, which he should not do but could do, is what makes it ethical and moral. The ethicalmoral imperatives become relevant because of the thought of the Final Judgement as consequence of hisaction. Because if his choice goes against the Divine Will that God had decreed, then man will be carryingthe consequence of his choice to his grave and then to The Final Judgement and to reward andpunishment. Here lies the difference between Saddam Hussein, Bush and all those whom we say wereinnocent people. Saddam Hussein and all his cronies will have to answer for all their murderous act andBush and Blair and all their cronies for their lies.

So man s action, whoever he is; Muslims or Christians or Jews or Atheists will carry his actions andconsequences of his choice into his grave. God does not differentiate between Muslims or non-Muslims.God do not differentiate between those who believe and fear Him and those who do not believe nor dothey fear Him. Even Muslims will go to Hell if he goes against God s Divine Will. The Qur'an says; God has

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promised the hypocrites 4

, both men and women as well as the [outright] deniers of the truth the fire of Hell (Qur'an 9:68). Today there are too many hypocrite Muslims around and only God knows them. But asfor the outright deniers of the existence of God that is very obvious. Thus Islam differentiates itself fromJews and Christians. Jews declared that only Jews will enter Heavens and that all other beings will go toHell. This racist concept gave Jews the right to steal Palestinian lands, to cheat, to kill Palestinians and otherpeople and they will still be favourable with God and they will not be punish by God. Thus the concepts of ethic and morality have no meaning to the Jews. As to the Christians they denied the Unity of God. Theyattribute three gods in one and that they say that Jesus was God s son and then he became God and thenGod had to die on the cross. All this does not reflect the definition of the One True God. Thus the Christiansattribute partnership to God and this is the grievous sin. God said; Allah does not forgive any ascription of associates to Him, but He forgives all other offenses to whomever He wills. Whoever therefore, prescribespartners to Allah has committed a sin most heinous indeed (Qur'an 4:48).

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Men s Choice

Verily never will Allah change the condition of a people until they change it themselves. (Qur'an13:11)

Thus the life in this world is a serious affair. Muslims believe that what God disposes history to be in theend is the direct consequence of his own conduct in history, on the personal, individual as well as on thecommunal level. That is why Muslims praised God; O Lord, You have not created all this in vain. To You isthe praise. Protect us from the punishment of eternal fire (Qur'an 3:191)

God s wisdom does not allow him to impose upon man what He has given to man the ability andfreedom to choose. Therefore if atheists choose to ignore God, to reject that God really exists then they didit at their own expense. For that choice is left to them. Since the right to choose also comes with its statedeffect and consequences, thus each time someone makes a choice he will have to be responsible for hischoice. As God stated; [Remember all this; for] in the end when He will call you forth from the earth (fromyour grave) with a single call lo! You will [all] emerge [for Judgement] (Qur'an 30:25). God will judge manaccording to his choice. And man will have to answer to God why he chooses a particular action.

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But Islam rejected the Christian concept of God and the Jewish racists concept of the chosen people .Islam did not claim its followers to be the chosen people, but claims that Islam is the religion of God; thatall of God s prophets were Muslims. They were Muslims because all of them submitted themselves to God sDivine Will. They carry the same God s message to all mankind. Unfortunately the followers of theseprophets later begin to deviate from their prophet s true teachings. Moses never taught the Jews that theywere God s chosen people . Neither did David nor Solomon. Jesus was sent to the Jews to correct the falsebelieve of the chosen people and to bring them out of their cocoon, but instead they tried to kill him.Unfortunately the followers of Jesus chose to deify Jesus after his death and they turn him into a god. ButMoses or David or Solomon or Jesus, they were neither Jew nor Christian. They were all Muslims. And those

4 Hypocrites are Muslims, outwardly, but Allah does not accept their actions and Allah promisedthem Hell.

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people who followed their prophets when they were alive were also Muslims. Muslims are those whofollow their prophets and obey God s Divine Will and do not attribute partners to God. If they die in thatstate, then they were all Muslims. Today s Muslims who claim to be followers of prophet Muhammad, if they deviated from the prophet s teaching and attribute partners to God, they are no more Muslims thanany non-Muslims around today.

So man is here on earth to fulfill God s Trust. For only man, have the ability to carry out The Trust.Among the uppermost of God s Trust is that man should not attribute partners to God. That man shouldsubmit himself only to The One True God. That he should only asked from The One True God and that heshould believe in The One True God. God described Himself in the Qur'an; Say: He is Allah; the One andOnly; Allah The Eternal, the Uncaused Cause of all Beings; He begets not, and neither is He begotten; andthere is nothing that could be compared with Him . (Qur'an 112:1-4). The Uncaused cause of all Being ;mean that it comprises the concepts of primary Cause and eternal, independent Being, combined with theidea that everything existing or conceivable goes back to Him as its source and is, therefore, dependent onHim for its beginning as well as for its continues existence. 5

Where Are We Going After We Die?

The Qur'an questions those who do not believe in life after death; What, when we die and becomedust (shall we live again?) This is a (sort of) return (far from our understanding) . (Qur'an 50:3).

Are they, then, not aware that God, Who has created the heavens and the earth, has the power tocreate them anew in their own likeness, having beyond any doubt, set a term for their resurrection?However, all [such] evildoers are unwilling to accept anything but blasphemy (Qur'an 17:99)

Are, then, they [who deny the truth] not aware of how God creates [life] in the first instance, and thenbring it forth anew? (Qur'an 29:19)

While Judaism and Christianity do give a comprehensive picture of life after death other then thereward of Heaven and the punishment of Hell, Islam on the other hand, gave a more complete picture fromthe moment a person die and the process that he has to undergo till the day when all human beings willbe brought back to life to face his Creator. It was conceived as a moral climax to all life on earth, which isnever to be repeated. Once this world comes to an end, only award and the execution of judgement andthen reward and punishment follows. All this happens out of space-time, a transcendent way utterlyremoved from human knowledge, except given to us by revelations.

Nay, but they [who refused to believe in resurrection] have been wont to give the lie to this truthwhenever it was proffered to them; and so they are in a state of confusion (Qur'an 50:5).

Why are they in a state of confusion? Because they reject a priori all thought of life after death. Theyare perplexed by the lack of any answer to the why and what for of man s life, and by the evident of inequality of human destinies and by what appears to them as a senseless, blind cruelty of nature:problems which can be resolved only against the background of a belief in a continuation of life afterbodily death and hence, in the existence of a purpose and a plan underlying all creation. (Muhammad

5 Message of the Quran, chapter 112:1-4, note 1

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Asad, Qur'an 50:5).

God also tells us this idea that there is no life after death is not a new idea. The people of ancienttimes also rejected the idea of life after death. [Long] before those [who now deny resurrection] did Noah speople give the lie to this truth, and [so did] the folk of Ar-Rass, and [the tribes of] Thamud and Ad, andPharaoh, and Lot s brethren, and the dwellers of the wooded dales [of Madyan], and the people of Tubba :they all give the lie to the apostles and thereupon that whereof I had warned [them] came true (Qur'an50:12-14).

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Signs of God

Say: He is Allah; the One and Only; Allah The Eternal, Absolute; He begetecth not, no is He begotten;And there is none like unto Him. (Qur'an 112:1-4)

On earth are signs for those of assured faith. As also in your own selves; will you not then see? (Qur'an51:20-21). Do not ask about God but do reflect upon His creations and you will know that God exists.

On the Day of Judgment, man will be given that other senses which was inherent in him when he wasalive in this world. The Qur'an says; (It will be said) Thou was heedless of this; now have We removed thyveil, and sharp is thy sight this day . (Qur'an 50:22). The veil that have covered their ability to perceived thetruth was the result of their stubbornness to reject God s signs; He hears the signs of Allah rehearse to him,yet is obstinate and lofty, as if he had not heard them . . . (Qur'an 45:8) and And when he learnssomething of Our signs, he takes them in jest: . . . (Qur'an 45:9). As a result of this stubbornness, a veilappears over him and he loses the ability to see beyond his five senses. God said in the Qur'an; God hassealed their hearts and their hearing and over their eyes is a veil and awesome suffering awaits them .

(Qur'an 2:6). All this happened out of their own action. They choose not to hear warning by religiouspeople. They denied what they hear with jest and therefore they closed themselves from hearing the truth.Then, when they were shown God s signs , with jest they refused to see until finally they closed their sightand mind and hearts from seeing the truth. So it is out of their own actions that God s sealing their heartsand hearing and veiling their eyes is to be understood.

But unfortunately his realizations were too late.

Fitrah Allah

And so see thy face steadfastly towards the [one ever-true] faith, turning away from all that is false, in

accordance with the natural disposition which God has instill into man: [for] not to allow any change tocorrupt what God has thus created this is the [purpose of the one] ever-true faith: but most people knownot . (Qur'an 30:30).

Such being God s way which has ever obtained in the past and never will you find any change inGod s way! (Qur'an 48:23).

And thus clearly do We spell out Our messages: and [We do it] so that the path of those who are lostin sin might be distinct [from that of the righteous] (Qur'an 6:55).

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But Satan whispered unto him, saying: O Adam! Shall I lead thee to the tree of life eternal, and [thus]to a kingdom that will never decay? (Qur'an, 20:120)

This symbolic tree is designated in the Bible as the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good andevil (Genesis ii, 9), while in the above Qur'anic account Satan speaks of it as the tree of life eternal (al-khuld = ) Seeing that Adam and Eve did not achieve immortality despite their tasting the forbiddenfruit, it is obvious that Satan s suggestion was, as it always is, deceptive. On the other hand, the Qur'an tellsus nothing about the real nature of that tree beyond pointing out that it was Satan who described it falsely as the tree of mortality : and so we may assume that the forbidden tree is simple an allegory of the limits which the Creator has set to man s desires and actions: limits beyond which he may not gowithout offending against his own, God-willed nature. Man s desire for immortality on earth implies awishful denial of death and resurrection, and thus of the ultimate reality of what the Qur'an describes asthe hereafter or the life to come (al-akhirah). This desire is intimately connected with Satan s insinuationthat it is within man s reach to become the master of a kingdom that will never decay : in other words, tobecome free of all limitations and thus, in the last resort, of the very concept of God the only conceptwhich endows humans with real meaning and purpose . 6

Creator

Because of man s limited senses, man s vision cannot encompass God. No human vision canencompass Him, whereas He encompasses all human vision: for He alone is unfathomable, All-Aware(Qur'an 6:103). This is because God is outside of human senses.

He [God] is the originator of the Heavens and Earth . . . (Qur'an 2:117)

God And Time

What men conceive of, as time has no meaning with regard to God, because He is timeless, withoutbeginning and without end, so that in relation to Him, one day and a thousand years are alike.

And with Me is all journeys end (Qur'an 22:48).

God The Final End

unto God that you shall be gathered (Qur'an 2:158)

Unto God you all must return; and He will make you truly understand all that on which you were wontto differ (Qur'an 5:48)

6 Message of the Quran, surah 20:120, note 106.

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He will assuredly gather you all together on the Day of Resurrection (Qur'an 6:12)

And [then,] the twilight of death brings with it the [full] truth that [very thing, O man] from whichthou wouldst always look away! (Qur'an 50:19)

indeed unmindful hast thou been of this [Day of Judgement]: but now We have lifted from thy veil,and sharp is thy sight today! (Qur'an 50:22).

Then they will realise their folly of rejecting God; and one part of him will say: This it is that has beenever-present with me! (Qur'an 50:23).

Their regret is of no avail, for at that time it is too late; Man s other self will say: O our Sustainer! It wasnot I that led this conscious mind into evil [nay] but it had gone far away [of its own accord]! (Qur'an50:27). But unfortunately God cannot and will not accept such excuses; [And] He will say: contend notbefore Me, [O you sinners,] for I gave you a forewarning [of this Day of Reckoning]. The judgement passedby Me shall not be altered; but never do I do the least wrong unto My creatures! (Qur'an 50:28-29).

Creation of the Universe

Look into Allah s creation once, twice and more [for any flaw or discrepancy]. You will find none. Yourquizzical sight will return to you humbled but convinced [of the perfection of Allah s creation] (Qur'an67:4).

Nay who is it that create life in the first instance, and then brings it forth anew? And who is it thatprovides you with sustenance out of heaven and earth . (Qur'an 27:64)

Verily in the creation of the heavens and of the earth, and the succession of night and day: (Qur'an2:164).

Verily in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the succession of night and day, thereindeed messages for all who are endowed with insight . (Qur'an 3:190).

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