Proof of God

Critic:-

All arguments about the existence of God fail.

The Cosmological Argument fails because today we have a very different cosmology. The Big Bang theory has it that time began with the Big Bang, so you cannot talk of something causing the beginning of the universe, as a cause is supposed to precede its effect.

Comment:-

What if you do not believe that the cause "precedes" the effect, but that the effect is a manifestation of the cause? Then your argument fails.

Critic:-

The Teleological Argument fails because today the theory of evolution lets us to explain to diversity of the species on earth without positing a supernatural Designer.

Comment:-

The Theory of Evolution does not tell us anything about the causes of the natural laws by which things arise.

Critic:-

The Ontological Argument fails because existence is not a predicate.

Comment:-

We believe that Allah is the Original fundamental Reality, the origin of all other things. He is not a predicate.

Critic:-

There is no proof of God. But even if there was, that would not prove Islam.

Comment:-

As Allah is the origin of all things, the existence of the Universe, the existence of consciousness and the coming of Messengers are proof of God.

Islam goes beyond the need to "prove" the existence of God. It requires surrender to God. That is the meaning of the word "Islam".

We do not accept that idea that proof consists of formal verbal logical arguments. Proof for anyone depends on their capability to experience and understanding things. If you cannot see or accept this then it is a failure of your capacity for perception. Or it may be a defect of appropriate motives or of correct efforts. There is nothing anyone else can do about that.

We say: "A is." You say: "A is not." End of discussion.

We already know that you cannot accept or understand Islam so why do you keep demonstrating it? You know what Muslim ideas are and know very well that Muslims reject your opinions so what is the point continuing so desperately to try to convince yourself or us otherwise? The way you see the Quran is not the way Muslims see it. As the Quran says, those who read it with the right reading accept and understand it.

As pointed out it is not a verbal argument that establishes a truth. Truth exists independently of human acceptance and has importance for human beings even apart from their acceptance because it is something that affects their adjustment to reality and, therefore, to their welfare and development. And through their behaviour it also affects the development of the environment. It is perception and understanding that determines acceptance. Some of us are, therefore, convinced by arguments such as the following:-

(1) It is a fundamental assumption that Reality exists. This Reality contains matter, energy, order, life, intelligence and consciousness.

(2) Human beings seek knowledge. But Knowledge is always Relative because it is concerned with multiple elements that must be compared and related to make sense. But the Relativity itself must be relative to something. It is relative to the Absolute we call God.

(3) We seek explanation for things and this consists of relating what is unknown to what is known. Ultimately we must come to something fundamental by which all things are explained but which is not explicable by anything else.

(4) We see that there are motions and changes in the world. We can only understand and compare these with respect to something that is stable and constant. For instance, if we throw a ball, we understand its motion with respect to the earth which is taken as stationary. We see a train moving with respect to a railway station which does not change or move. However, the station does change gradually and does move with the earth which moves with respect to the sun which also moves with respect to the galaxy. And so on. Underneath all changes there is the Law of the Conservation of Energy. But that is only one aspect of existence. Ultimately and fundamentally there is something that is self-existent and the source of all other things.

A Muslim:-

According to the Quran the order in the heavens and earth as signs of God. According to Logicians, such as Philosophers and some scientists the existence of design is not proof of a Designer. How is this contradiction to be resolved?

Answer:-

You are referring to the "Argument from Design" as put forward by William Paley. According to him if one were, during a walk on a heath, to come across a watch, one would conclude that it could not have arisen by chance, but that it was made by a Designer. In the same way if we see order in nature we can conclude that there is a Designer.

The counter argument is that we already know from experience that watches are made by watchmakers, so if we see a watch we attribute it to a watch maker. We do not know any such thing about the designs in nature. The argument is based on an unjustified analogy. If we see a flower and suppose it was grown by a nurseryman we can be wrong because it may have arisen in the wild. In general, if some system "S1" is associated with factors a, b, c, d and some other system "S2" is associated with d, e, f then the fact that they share d does not make them similar. We cannot deduce that the other factors are also associated with them. This a very common error that can be found in arguments everywhere.

Both the argument above and the counter argument appear to be based on an anthropomorphic view of God. It is not the Islamic argument.

Firstly, the Quran does not speak of "proof" but of "signs" for those who have understanding. (2:164, 3:190 etc.).

The argument could be put as follows:- There is order in the Universe. Order means that the parts in it are not arranged in a random manner, but there is Information or Truth in it. Information is proportional to improbability of things arising by chance. The existence of Order requires a cause for its existence. That is, Order is not its own cause.

It is supposed by some critics that the process of evolution by natural selection is sufficient cause for the arising of order. This is because, even if the end result is highly improbable by chance alone, evolution happens by an accumulation of small steps each of which has a high probability of happening. But this argument can be dismissed because even in the case of human designs, say building a house, the process takes place by small steps, brick by brick. The fact is that whatever arises by chance is also undone by chance. The whole sequence that leads to the final result needs to be explained. The Universe is so constructed that order arises in it. There is something behind it that causes it to be so - that makes it conform to the laws and processes which describe it.

A Christian:-

What is the origin of Love?--Allah?  How does Allah know about love if He is/was only one?  Some Muslims like to say that we are all the same.  They say that our blood is of one colour and so we are all the same;  of the same origin;  sharing the same humanity etc.  Is love of fellow humans, in the eyes of Islam, above any & all religion?  Does or should love transcend all religion and differences?

Comment:-

The Quran tells us in many places that Allah is One and that He is Compassionate. We are also told that mankind are one and their religion is one. See Quran 2:213, 39:6, 4:1, 49:13, 10:20, 41:34, 49:11, 3:28 and 60:1, 3:103-104, 60:7-9.

Allah is One and undivided. Islam is surrender to Allah. This also means to become one with Allah.

Love requires three things:- the lover, the object of love and the connecting force of love. Love, therefore, refers to Relativity and arises when there is a distinction. The fundamental distinction is between the Creator and the Creature. The love of God refers to the relationship between these two.

The love of the creature for God arises from the love of God for the creature. And the love of the creatures for each other also arises from the same.

It would follow that if there is no love of the creature for God then there is also no love of the creature for each other. And if there is a distinction between creatures who love God and those who do not, then there must also be a difference of love between them.

Your question seems to imply that the notion of Trinity is necessary to explain Love. But this trinity does not refer to God, who is Absolute. It refers to the distinction after creation and yes, it is required to re-establish the Unity with the Creator, a means to surrender. That is why we read:-

"Say: If you love Allah then follow me, and Allah will love you and forgive you your sins, for Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." 3:31

"Yet are there some amongst mankind who take to themselves (for worship) peers other than Allah; they love them as they should love Allah. But those who have faith are overflowing with love for Allah. O that those who are unjust could only see, they would see the consequence that all power belongs to Allah, and He will strongly enforce the consequences." 2:165

Relativity of knowledge can establish several fundamental triads such as Creator-Creation-Creature, Lover-Loving-Beloved, Observer-Observation-Object, but it is only the first of these that is Allah.

However, in a sense, Creation, the Universe is also part of Allah because He surrounds all things (8:47) and is the First and the Last and the Outer and Inner (57:3). All things come from Him and will return to Him (3:83, 28:88, 55:26-27). In other words there is only Allah. He is the Absolute Transcendental Unity and the relative world, the Triad or Trinity arises from this. Note, however, that this Trinity is not the same as Christians usually conceive it to be as Father, Son and Holy Ghost, where the Son is identified as Jesus. It is, however, possible to think of the Messengers sent by Allah as representing the Created world in that it was created for a purpose and the Messenger has the mission of facilitating this purpose – to return to Allah and achieve final reunification.

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