‘Why are
you Muslim?’ It may sound like an obvious question, but often many of us don’t
have a clear answer to it. I remember being asked this question by my elder
brother when I was fourteen years of age, my initial answer was ‘Well, our
family is Muslim’, his reply to this made me think, he said, ‘If your family
were Hindu or Christian, would you be as well?’. I replied with a strong ‘No,
Islam is the truth’, the discussion that followed made me question the basis of
my life and changed my life for ever. He triggered me to think about how to
prove that Islam is the truth rather than just believing it emotionally or
blindly. In fact Allah (swt) has condemned people for imitating their
forefathers and adopting their belief without clear evidence.
In the
Holy Qur’an, He (swt) says:
“And
verily guess is no substitute for the truth.” [TMQ 53:28]
“They
have no (certain) knowledge. They follow nothing but conjecture. For surely;
they killed him not (‘Isa).” [TMQ 4:157]
"These
are nothing but names which you have devised, you and your fathers, for which
Allah has sent down no authority. They follow nothing but conjecture and what
their Nafs desire. Even though there has already come to them the Guidance from
their Rabb" [TMQ 53:23]
"Do
you have Ilm (knowledge) for that which you claim so that you provide us with?
You follow nothing but conjecture (Zann)." [TMQ 6:148]
The
followers of other religions have no decisive proof for their belief, therefore
they believe in their religions emotionally or through imitation. Some of them
think that you just have to have faith without clear proof. However when it
comes to normal things in life people apply a lot of thought such as buying a
car, house, choosing a University course or which bank to join, so how can it
be that when it comes to the most important questions about life; which define
the purpose of our lives that we should just have ‘faith’ without being
convinced absolutely.
It is
therefore vital for a Muslim to believe in the existence of Allah (swt) without
any doubt whatsoever and to believe in the Prophethood of Muhammad (saw) and
that the Qur’an is the final revelation sent by Allah (swt) to humanity. Islam
is unlike all the other religions as it has a decisive proof that convinces the
mind.
Proof of the existence of
God
Let us
begin by discussing the proof of the existence of Allah (swt). Although we are
taught theories regarding the origin of the Universe and origin of the Man such
as the big bang theory and the theory of evolution, we should realise that they
contradict the clear reality which everyone can sense.
The
fundamental proof that God exists is that everything that we sense around us
whether it is the mountains, the trees, the sun, the moon, the stars or animals
and fellow human beings are limited things and are not eternal. By limited we
mean that they have restrictions, a starting point and an ending point, and
they have definable attributes i.e. they are all finite. Human beings are born
and die. There is no-one alive who will not die. During their life span, they
will grow to a certain height, weight and volume.
It is
true that there are differences between the things that exist in the Universe
however all of them share the quality of being limited and finite, the earth
may be huge but it still has a certain shape, weight, volume by which it is
limited, this applies to all planets, stars, solar systems and galaxies. Even
though a galaxy may look huge to us as the earth looks huge to us and it is not
eternal. Even if all of the galaxies and elements of the Universe are added
together they do not become unlimited and therefore require an origin. No
scientist could ever prove using hard facts that the universe has no bounds. In
fact when they say that the universe arose from the Big Bang and is expanding
they inherently admit it is finite in size, otherwise it could not expand!
There is nothing in reality which is unlimited. No matter how hard we try, we
are unable to find anything unlimited around us. All we can perceive is finite
and limited.
It is a
simple principle that something cannot come from nothing, therefore, where did
the Universe come from? It cannot simply exist without having any cause as this
contradicts the clear reality which everyone can sense, for example, if we see
a car no one would ever think that it simply exists without any manufacturer,
this can be applied to anything around us. The following example demonstrates
this point well.
Imam Abu
Hanifa was once asked by an atheist, "Is there any proof that God
exists?" he replied, "Forget it! At the moment, I am busy thinking
about this ship.People tell me there is a big ship; it contains different goods
on board. There is no one to steer it, no one maintaining it. Yet, this ship
keeps going back and forth; it even traverses big waves on the oceans; it stops
at the locations that it is supposed to stop at; it continues in the direction
that it is supposed to head. This ship has no captain and no one planning its
trips." The atheist who posed the question interrupted and exclaimed,
"What kind of strange and silly thought is this? How can any intelligent
person think that some thing like this can occur?"
Imam Abu
Hanifa said, "I feel sorry about your state! You cannot imagine one ship
running without some one looking after its affairs. Yet you think that for this
whole world, which runs exactly and precisely, there is no one who looks after
it, and no one owns it."
The
attribute of everything around us is that they are all needy and dependent in
order to continue existing. They are not self-sustaining or independent. Man
has needs he has to satisfy in order to survive. He has organic needs for
example he must eat and drink if he is to survive. If he does not he will die.
We see the need and dependency in plants and animals. They depend on other
parts of the food chain for their existence. The water cycle is dependent on
the sun, which is dependent on the laws of the galaxies and of burning mass,
and so on... Nothing we can perceive is self-subsistent. So things exist, but
do not have the power of existence. They cannot control when they die or when
other bodies die. Thus what we see is that everything around us is limited and
finite. Everything that is limited and finite is dependant and everything that
is dependant is dependant upon something greater than itself. Applying this to
everything we see will bring us to a conclusion. If everything in the universe
is dependant because it has not the power of being in existence on its own
accord, and is also finite and limited, then what is everything dependant upon
for its existence? It must be an unlimited and independent creator.
Today
the various theories that exist about the origin of the Universe such as the
‘Big bang theory’, ‘Big bang – Big crunch theory’ or ‘dialectic materialism’
they contradict the simple fact of the need for an unlimited creator.
One
example that highlights this is that of the origin of life. Living things like
plants, animals and human beings are different from inanimate or dead things as
they have certain features such as independent growth, motion and reproduction.
If people believe that the Universe has existed forever or that it evolved from
single blast etc, this means that they believe that life also evolved from
inanimate or dead matter such as gases, liquids or solids. If this is the case,
then they should be able to show us one example at least of non-living things
producing life, no such example exists. In fact some of them say that this
happened by coincidence millions of years ago when certain amino acids and
chemicals mixed together to produce the first life. If this is the case, then
they should be able to reproduce this ‘coincidence’ with their billions of
dollars worth of technology. But they are unable even to produce the most basic
life form; an amoeba, which is a single celled organism. What scientists can do
is manipulate the attributes that exist within living cells such as in genetic
cloning; however this does not mean that they are creating life from dead
matter. They are simply manipulating the attributes that Allah (swt) has placed
within life, just as we manipulate metal to produce knives and cars.
Therefore,
it is a simple fact that this universe must have a creator. The question
remains is this creator like the universe i.e. limited or is the creator
unlimited and eternal. If the creator was limited like the universe then He
would also require a creator as this is the case with every limited thing. So
if the universe was caused by a big bang as they claim, what was before the big
bang? If it was something else like another universe then what was before that?
This chain would continue until there would be a beginning or origin, this
could only be caused by something which is uncaused or eternal, which we call
God or Allah (swt).
Furthermore
the amazing design of every part of the universe, man and life are testament to
the fact that Allah (swt) exists. Imam Shaa'fi explained this when he said,
"The leaves of Toot (berries) are all but one. Each leaf tastes exactly
the same. Insects, honey bees, cows, goats, and deer live off of it. After
eating these the insects produce silk; bees produce honey; deer give musk (a
special kind of scent), cows and goats deliver off-springs. Is this not clear
evidence that one kind of leaf has so many qualities, and who created these
qualities? It is the Khaliq (Creator) who we call Allah (swt)) Who is the
Inventor and the Creator."
We see
that the Qur’an draws attention to everything around us and to conclude from
this pondering the existence of Allah. There are hundreds of Qur’anic ayat
expressing this meaning. Such as,
إنَّ فِي خَلْقِ ألسَمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ وَاخْتِلافِ ألَّيْلِ وَالنَّهــارِ لأََيــاتٍ لِأُوْلـــىالْبــَابِ
"Behold!
In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alteration of night and
day, these are indeed signs for men of understanding." [TMQ Al-Imran: 190]
وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ خَلْقُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلاَفُ أَلْسِنَتِكُمْ وَأَلْوَانِكُمْ إِنَّ فِي ذلِكَ لآيَاتٍ لِّلْعَالَمِينَ
"And
of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the difference
of your languages and colours. Behold! herein indeed are signs for men of
knowledge." [TMQ Ar-Rum: 22]
أَفَلاَ يَنظُرُونَ إِلَى الإِبْلِ كَيْفَ خُلِقَتْ وَإِلَى السَّمَآءِ كَيْفَ رُفِعَتْ وَإِلَى الْجِبَالِ كَيْفَ نُصِبَتْ وَإِلَى الأَرْضِ كَيْفَ سُطِحَتْ
"Will
they not look at the camels, how they are created! And the heaven, how it is
raised! And the mountains, how they are set up! And the earth, how it is
spread!" [TMQ Al-Ghashiya: 17-20]
فَلْيَنظُرِ الإِنسَانُ مِمَّ خُلِقَ خُلِقَ مِن مَّآءٍ دَافِقٍ يَخْرُجُ مِن بَيْنِ الصُّلْبِ وَالتَّرَآئِبِ
"So
let man reflect, from what he is created. He is created fom a gushing fluid,
that is issued from between the loins and ribs." [TMQ At-Tariq: 5-7]
إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلاَفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَالْفُلْكِ الَّتِي تَجْرِي فِي الْبَحْرِ بِمَا يَنفَعُ النَّاسَ وَمَآ أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مِن مَّآءٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَآبَّةٍ وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيَاحِ وَالسَّحَابِ الْمُسَخَّرِ بَيْنَ السَّمَآءِ وَالأَرْضِ لآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ
“Behold!
in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the difference of night and
day, and the ships which run upon the sea with that which is of use to men, and
the water which Allah sends down from the sky, thereby reviving the earth after
its death, and dispersing all kinds of beasts therein, and in the ordinance of
the winds, and the clouds obedient between heaven and earth are signs (of
Allah's sovereignty) for people who have sense." [TMQ Al-Baqarah: 164]
"Were
they created of nothing, or were they themselves the creators? Or did they
create the heavens and the earth? Nay they have not firm belief." [TMQ
At-Tur 35-36]
Proof of the Qur’an
Once we
have concluded definitively that Allah (swt) exists the next obvious question
that arises is that has Allah (swt) sent a revelation for us to follow. It is
clear that we are not able to communicate with God and therefore we are unable
to know what He wants us to do, how He wants us to worship Him and how we
should solve the problems we face in life. All of these questions would remain
unresolved unless there the creator has communicated with us and given us a
guidance to follow.
As Muslims
we believe that throughout history, there have been messengers and prophets,
men sent from the Creator, bringing laws or revelation on how man should
conduct his life. They were given miracles which proved to mankind that they
had a communication with God and a revelation from Him. A miracle is something
which goes against the laws of nature which is impossible for anyone else to
do; by miracles the Prophet’s were able to prove their direct relationship with
God. For example prophet Musa (as) had a stick which parted the Red Sea,
Prophet Isa (as) had the ability to cure the sick by just touching them.
But how
do we know if these messengers existed? The miracles performed by the above
prophets were only miracles for that specific period of time. But how do we
know that they were not just legends or fables? So what miracle do we have
right now to convince us and guide us through our lives?
The
Qur’an itself is the main miracle that the Prophet (saw) brought which is
different to the physical miracles of the other Prophet’s as they were limited
to their times only. The Qur’an is an intellectual miracle that proves Islam.
It was revealed to Muhammad (saw) in the 6th Century, it exists today and has
been revealed for all times.
It is an
established fact that the Qur’an was proclaimed by Muhammad (saw) in Arabia
over fourteen hundred years ago. In order for us to prove decisively that it is
from Allah (swt), we must first consider the possible sources of the Qur’an and
then eliminate these to arrive at its true origin.
The only
possible sources for the Qur’an are:
a) The
Arabs
b)
Muhammad (saw) himself
c) Allah
(swt)
At the
time it was revealed, the pagan Arabs were deeply into poetry. It was an
indication of nobility in society. People used to go to the desert for days
just to write poetry. The Arabic language has great fluidity and depth of
expression, so it was held high in esteem by the Arabs. Allah (swt) in the
Qur’an challenged the Arabs to produce something comparable to it in language
and they failed to do so.
Initially
Allah (swt) challenged them to produce ten chapters (surah’s) similar to it:
"They
may say: He forged it (the Qur’an). Say: "Bring you then ten forged surah
(chapters) like unto it, and call whomsoever you can, other than Allah (to your
help), if you speak the truth!" [TMQ 11:13]
They
failed to do so. Allah (swt) then reduced the challenge to something that at
first glance may sound easy, He (swt) said:
“If you
are in doubt of what we have revealed to our messenger, then produce one
chapter like it. Call upon all your helpers, besides Allah, if you are
truthful” [TMQ 2:23]
The
smallest chapter in the Qur’an, Surah al-Kauthar is only three sentences long,
surely someone in history must have matched this challenge? The Arabs at the
time of Muhammad (saw) failed to do so, although they were the best in the
Arabic language. Furthermore no piece of Arabic literature before them or after
them until today has even come close to matching the language of the Qur’an.
For
non-Arabs sometimes this may be difficult to perceive as they do not appreciate
the language of the Qur’an directly. However, everyone can agree that any piece
of literature written by human beings can be matched; people can copy its style
and produce something comparable to it in quality. If we look at great English
authors like Shakespear no one would claim that they were Prophet’s and that
their works are miraculous in nature. Even though they may have been geniuses
in language, people can easily write something similar in excellence to three
sentences from their books. Despite having the Arabic language, its letters, grammar,
syntax and dictionaries available today, the Arabic linguists cannot construct
any piece of language that is comparable to the Qur’an. Therefore, it is
impossible that the Qur’an was written by any of the Arabs.
It is
also inconceivable that the Qur’an is the speech of Muhammad (saw). After all
he was one of the Arabs. Also, whatever level of genius people may assign to
him, he was still a human being and one of his tribe and nation. Since the
Arabs failed to bring the like of the Qur’an, this equally applies to Muhammad
(saw). Moreover, Muhammad (saw) has left saheeh ahaadeeth (sound narrations)
and mutawaatir ahaadeeth (definitive narrations) whose authenticity is beyond
doubt. If any of these ahaadeeth were to be compared with any verse of the Qur'an,
there would be no similarity between them in style. He (saw) used to utter the
revealed verse and say the hadeeth at the same time and yet there is a
difference between them in style. Whenever any man attempts to diversify his
speech, it will remain similar in style, because it is a part of him. Since
there is no similarity between the hadeeth and the verse in style, the Qur'an
is absolutely not Muhammad’s speech. It is important to point out that none of
the Arabs, who despised Muhammad (saw), particularly at that time, were the
most acquainted with the styles of Arabic speech yet never claimed that the
Qur’an was Muhammad’s (saw) speech, or even similar to his speech.
Since it
is proved that the Qur'an is neither the speech of the Arabs nor the speech of
Muhammad (saw), it is definitely the speech of Allah as this is the only
rational possibility we are left with.
The
Qur’anic challenge is unique because the Creator, Allah (swt), pushes man to
use his ability to undermine the authenticity of the Qur’an. It is such a
profound yet simple challenge. Imagine throughout the history of Islam, all her
enemies needed to defeat this challenge to destroy the whole basis of Islam.
Yet not one, non-Muslim Arab or non-Arab has been able to do this even though
all the tools of the Arabic language are at their disposal. The Western
government’s hatred of Islam is well known. All they have to do in order to
defeat Islam and to make over one billion Muslims apostatise from it, is not to
spend billions of dollars in invading Afghanistan, Iraq and launching a
mythical ‘war on terror’. They simply have to produce one chapter similar to
the Qur’an.
To this
day Muslim and non-Muslim scholars have not been able to find any contradiction
or mistake in the Qur’an. Moreover, if one was to compare word by word a copy
of the Qur’an published today to one of the first copies of the Qur’an
available then one would find that not a single word has been omitted or added.
Copies of the Qur’an dating back to the first century of Islam can be found in
Istanbul and Tashkent. Allah (swt) says:
"Do
they not ponder about the Qur’an? If it had come from other than God they would
surely have found therein much contradictions." [T.M.Q 4:82]
There
are many texts available today claiming divine status from God, like the Bible
of the Christians and the Torah of the Jews etc. However, they have no proof
that they have been revealed by God, if they are not miraculous in nature then
there is no reason to believe in them.
As
Muslims we believe that Allah (swt) revealed different books through history
such as the original Injeel (Bible) and Torah, Allah (swt) informed us of this
in the Qur’an this is why we believe these. However, we have also been informed
that these books have been altered and therefore the versions that exist today
are not that which was revealed by Allah (swt). Besides this, the Qur’an is the
final revelation from Allah (swt) which abrogates all others.
Allah
(swt) says, "Say ye: "We believe in Allah, and the revelation given
to us, and to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to
Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) Prophets from their Lord: we make no
difference between one and another of them: and we bow to Allah (in
Islam)." [TMQ Al-Baqarah:136]
Once we
have established through rational proof that Allah (Swt) exists and that the
Qur’an is the Word of Allah, we must believe in everything that the Qur’an
informs us of and commands us with, whether we can perceive them or not.
Therefore, we must have Iman (belief) in the Day of Resurrection, in paradise
(jannah) and hell, in reckoning and punishment, in angels, in jinn, in
Shayaateen and all others that the Qur'an or hadeeth mutawaatir (definitive
narrations) have mentioned. To believe in these things is therefore not
irrational just because we cannot see them or sense them physically as we have
conclusively proved the Qur’an being from Allah (swt) which informs us about
all of these.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ آمِنُواْ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَابِ الَّذِي نَزَّلَ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَابِ الَّذِي أَنَزلَ مِن قَبْلُ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلآئِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلاَلاً بَعِيداً
"O
you who believe! Believe in Allah and His messenger, and the Book which He sent
to His Messenger and the Book which He sent to those before (him). Any who
denies Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Day of Judgement,
has gone far, far astray." [An-Nisa: 136]
Once the
Iman in Allah, His Messenger and the Qur’an has been proven, every Muslim is
obliged to believe in the Islamic Shari’ah as a whole. We cannot pick and
choose as we like. As the Shariah was revealed in the glorious Qur'an, and the
Messenger (saw) conveyed it. If someone disbelieves in this he would be a
(disbeliever) Kafir. Therefore, it is disbelief (Kufr) to deny the shariah
rules as a whole, or any definite detailed rule amongst them. This is the case
whether these ahkam (rules) are connected with worships (ibadaat), transactions
(mu'amalaat), punishments (uqoobat), food, etc. So the rejection of the verse:
وَأَقِيمُواْ الصَّلاَةَ
"So
establish regular prayer" [Al-Baqarah: 43]
Is the
same as rejecting the following verses:
وَأَحَلَّ اللَّهُ الْبَيْعَ وَحَرَّمَ الرِّبَا
"But
Allah has permitted trade and forbidden usury," [Al-Baqarah: 275]
وَالسَّارِقُ وَالسَّارِقَةُ فَاقْطَعُواْ أَيْدِيَهُمَا
"As
to the thief, male or female, cut off his or her hands," [Al-Ma’idah: 38]
حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ وَالْدَّمُ وَلَحْمُ الْخِنْزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ بِهِ
"Forbidden
to you (for food) are dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which
has been invoked the name of any other than Allah." [Al-Ma’idah: 3]
We must
completely surrender to all the rules revealed by Allah (swt) whether we see
rational reasons for them or not.
فَلاَ وَرَبِّكَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّى يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لاَ يَجِدُواْ فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجاً مِّمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُواْ تَسْلِيماً
"But
no, by your Lord, they can have no (real) faith, until they make you judge in
all the disputes between them, and find in their souls no resistance against
your decisions, but accept them with the fullest submission." [An-Nisa:
65]
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