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PROVING THE EXISTENCE OF ALLAH (SWT) TO AN ATHEIST
by Dr. Zakir Naik
CONGRATULATING AN ATHEIST
Normally, when I meet an atheist, the first thing I like to do
is to congratulate him and say, " My special congratulations
to you", because most of the people who believe in God are
doing blind belief - he is a Christian, because his father is a
Christian; he is a Hindu, because his father is a Hindu; the
majority of the people in the world are blindly following the
religion of their fathers. An atheist, on the other hand, even
though he may belong to a religious family, uses his
intellect to deny the existence of God; what ever concept or
qualities of God he may have learnt in his religion may not
seem to be logical to him.
My Muslim brothers may question me, "Zakir, why are you
congratulating an atheist?" The reason that I am
congratulating an atheist is because he agrees with the first
part of the Shahada i.e. the Islamic Creed, ‘La ilaaha’ -
meaning ‘there is no God’.
So half my job is already done; now the only part left is ‘il
lallah’ i.e. ‘BUT ALLAH’ which I shall do Insha Allah. With
others (who are not atheists) I have to first remove from
their minds the wrong concept of God they may have and
then put the correct concept of one true God.
LOGICAL CONCEPT OF GOD
My first question to the atheist will be: "What is the
definition of God?" For a person to say there is no God, he
should know what is the meaning of God. If I hold a book
and say that ‘this is a pen’, for the opposite person to say,
‘it is not a pen’, he should know what is the definition of a
pen, even if he does not know nor is able to recognise or
identify the object I am holding in my hand. For him to say
this is not a pen, he should at least know what a pen
means. Similarly for an atheist to say ‘there is no God’, he
should at least know the concept of God. His concept of
God would be derived from the surroundings in which he
lives. The god that a large number of people worship has
got human qualities - therefore he does not believe in such
a god. Similarly a Muslim too does not and should not
believe in such false gods.
If a non-Muslim believes that Islam is a merciless religion
with something to do with terrorism; a religion which does
not give rights to women; a religion which contradicts
science; in his limited sense that non-Muslim is correct to
reject such Islam. The problem is he has a wrong picture of
Islam. Even I reject such a false picture of Islam, but at the
same time, it becomes my duty as a Muslim to present the
correct picture of Islam to that non-Muslim i.e. Islam is a
merciful religion, it gives equal rights to the women, it is not
incompatible with logic, reason and science; if I present the
correct facts about Islam, that non-Muslim may Inshallah
accept Islam.
Similarly the atheist rejects the false gods and the duty of
every Muslim is to present the correct concept of God which
he shall Insha Allah not refuse.
(You may refer to my article, ‘Concept of God in Islam’, for
more details)
QUR’AN AND MODERN SCIENCE
The methods of proving the existence of God with usage of
the material provided in the ‘Concept of God in Islam’ to an
atheist may satisfy some but not all.
Many atheists demand a scientific proof for the existence of
God. I agree that today is the age of science and
technology. Let us use scientific knowledge to kill two birds
with one stone, i.e. to prove the existence of God and
simultaneously prove that the Qur’an is a revelation of God.
If a new object or a machine, which no one in the world has
ever seen or heard of before, is shown to an atheist or any
person and then a question is asked, " Who is the first
person who will be able to provide details of the mechanism
of this unknown object? After little bit of thinking, he will
reply, ‘the creator of that object.’ Some may say ‘the
producer’ while others may say ‘the manufacturer.’ What
ever answer the person gives, keep it in your mind, the
answer will always either the creator of that object.’ Some may say ‘the
producer’ while others may say ‘the manufacturer.’ What
ever answer the person gives, keep it in your mind, the
answer will always be either the creator, the producer, the
manufacturer or some what of the same meaning, i.e. the
person who has made it or created it. Don’t grapple with
words, whatever answer he gives, the meaning will be
same, therefore accept it.
SCIENTIFIC FACTS MENTIONED IN THE QUR’AN: for details
on this subject please refer to my book, ‘THE QUR’AN AND
MODERN SCIENCE – COMPATIBLE OR INCOMPATIBLE?
THEORY OF PROBABILITY
In mathematics there is a theory known as ‘Theory of
Probability’. If you have two options, out of which one is
right, and one is wrong, the chances that you will chose the
right one is half, i.e. one out of the two will be correct. You
have 50% chances of being correct. Similarly if you toss a
coin the chances that your guess will be correct is 50% (1
out of 2) i.e. 1/2. If you toss a coin the second time, the
chances that you will be correct in the second toss is again
50% i.e. half. But the chances that you will be correct in
both the tosses is half multiplied by half (1/2 x 1/2) which
is equal to 1/4 i.e. 50% of 50% which is equal to 25%. If you
toss a coin the third time, chances that you will be correct
all three times is (1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2) that is 1/8 or 50% of 50%
of 50% that is 12½%.
A dice has got six sides. If you throw a dice and guess any
number between 1 to 6, the chances that your guess will be
correct is 1/6. If you throw the dice the second time, the
chances that your guess will be correct in both the throws is
(1/6 x 1/6) which is equal to 1/36. If you throw the dice the
third time, the chances that all your three guesses are
correct is (1/6 x 1/6 x 1/6) is equal to 1/216 that is less
than 0.5 %.
Let us apply this theory of probability to the Qur’an, and
assume that a person has guessed all the information that
is mentioned in the Qur’an which was unknown at that time.
Let us discuss the probability of all the guesses being
simultaneously correct.
At the time when the Qur’an was revealed, people thought
the world was flat, there are several other options for the
shape of the earth. It could be triangular, it could be
quadrangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, heptagonal,
octagonal, spherical, etc. Lets assume there are about 30
different options for the shape of the earth. The Qur’an
rightly says it is spherical, if it was a guess the chances of
the guess being correct is 1/30.
The light of the moon can be its own light or a reflected
light. The Qur’an rightly says it is a reflected light. If it is a
guess, the chances that it will be correct is 1/2 and the
probability that both the guesses i.e the earth is spherical
and the light of the moon is reflected light is 1/30 x 1/2 =
1/60.
Further, the Qur’an also mentions every living thing is made
of water. Every living thing can be made up of either wood,
stone, copper, aluminum, steel, silver, gold, oxygen,
nitrogen, hydrogen, oil, water, cement, concrete, etc. The
options are say about 10,000. The Qur’an rightly says that
everything is made up of water. If it is a guess, the chances
that it will be correct is 1/10,000 and the probability of all
the three guesses i.e. the earth is spherical, light of moon is
reflected light and everything is created from water being
correct is 1/30 x 1/2 x 1/10,000 = 1/60,000 which is equal
to about .0017%.
The Qur’an speaks about hundreds of things that were not
known to men at the time of its revelation. Only in three
options the result is .0017%. I leave it upto you, to work out
the probability if all the hundreds of the unknown facts were
guesses, the chances of all of them being correct guesses
simultaneously and there being not a single wrong guess. It
is beyond human capacity to make all correct guesses
without a single mistake, which itself is sufficient to prove
to a logical person that the origin of the Qur’an is Divine.
CREATOR IS THE AUTHOR OF THE QUR’AN
The only logical answer to the question as to who could
have mentioned all these scientific facts 1400 years ago
before they were discovered, is exactly the same answer
initially given by the atheist or any person, to the question
who will be the first person who will be able to tell the
mechanism of the unknown object. It is the ‘CREATOR’, the
producer, the Manufacturer of the whole universe and its
contents. In the English language He is ‘God’, or more
appropriate in the Arabic language, ‘ALLAH’.
QUR’AN IS A BOOK OF SIGNS AND NOT SCIENCE
Let me remind you that the Qur’an is not a book of Science,
‘S-C-I-E-N-C-E’ but a book of Signs ‘S-I-G-N-S’ i.e. a
book of ayaats. The Qur’an contains more than 6,000
ayaats, i.e. ‘signs’, out of which more than a thousand
speak about Science. I am not trying to prove that the
Qur’an is the word of God using scientific knowledge as a
yard stick because any yardstick is supposed to be more
superior than what is being checked or verified. For us
Muslims the Qur’an is the Furqan i.e. criteria to judge right
from wrong and the ultimate yardstick which is more
superior to scientific knowledge.
But for an educated man who is an atheist, scientific
knowledge is the ultimate test which he believes in. We do
know that science many a times takes ‘U’ turns, therefore I
have restricted the examples only to scientific facts which
have sufficient proof and evidence and not scientific
theories based on assumptions. Using the ultimate
yardstick of the atheist, I am trying to prove to him that the
Qur’an is the word of God and it contains the scientific
knowledge which is his yardstick which was discovered
recently, while the Qur’an was revealed 1400 year ago. At
the end of the discussion, we both come to the same
conclusion that God though superior to science, is not
incompatible with it.
SCIENCE IS ELIMINATING MODELS OF GOD BUT NOT GOD
Francis Bacon, the famous philosopher, has rightly said that
a little knowledge of science makes man an atheist, but an
in-depth study of science makes him a believer in God.
Scientists today are eliminating models of God, but they are
not eliminating God. If you translate this into Arabic, it is La
illaha illal la, There is no god, (god with a small ‘g’ that is
fake god) but God (with a capital ‘G’).
Surah Fussilat:
"Soon We will show them our signs in the (farthest) regions
(of the earth), and in their own souls, until it becomes
manifest to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that
thy Lord doth witness all things?"
[Al-Quran 41:53]
by Dr. Zakir Naik
CONGRATULATING AN ATHEIST
Normally, when I meet an atheist, the first thing I like to do
is to congratulate him and say, " My special congratulations
to you", because most of the people who believe in God are
doing blind belief - he is a Christian, because his father is a
Christian; he is a Hindu, because his father is a Hindu; the
majority of the people in the world are blindly following the
religion of their fathers. An atheist, on the other hand, even
though he may belong to a religious family, uses his
intellect to deny the existence of God; what ever concept or
qualities of God he may have learnt in his religion may not
seem to be logical to him.
My Muslim brothers may question me, "Zakir, why are you
congratulating an atheist?" The reason that I am
congratulating an atheist is because he agrees with the first
part of the Shahada i.e. the Islamic Creed, ‘La ilaaha’ -
meaning ‘there is no God’.
So half my job is already done; now the only part left is ‘il
lallah’ i.e. ‘BUT ALLAH’ which I shall do Insha Allah. With
others (who are not atheists) I have to first remove from
their minds the wrong concept of God they may have and
then put the correct concept of one true God.
LOGICAL CONCEPT OF GOD
My first question to the atheist will be: "What is the
definition of God?" For a person to say there is no God, he
should know what is the meaning of God. If I hold a book
and say that ‘this is a pen’, for the opposite person to say,
‘it is not a pen’, he should know what is the definition of a
pen, even if he does not know nor is able to recognise or
identify the object I am holding in my hand. For him to say
this is not a pen, he should at least know what a pen
means. Similarly for an atheist to say ‘there is no God’, he
should at least know the concept of God. His concept of
God would be derived from the surroundings in which he
lives. The god that a large number of people worship has
got human qualities - therefore he does not believe in such
a god. Similarly a Muslim too does not and should not
believe in such false gods.
If a non-Muslim believes that Islam is a merciless religion
with something to do with terrorism; a religion which does
not give rights to women; a religion which contradicts
science; in his limited sense that non-Muslim is correct to
reject such Islam. The problem is he has a wrong picture of
Islam. Even I reject such a false picture of Islam, but at the
same time, it becomes my duty as a Muslim to present the
correct picture of Islam to that non-Muslim i.e. Islam is a
merciful religion, it gives equal rights to the women, it is not
incompatible with logic, reason and science; if I present the
correct facts about Islam, that non-Muslim may Inshallah
accept Islam.
Similarly the atheist rejects the false gods and the duty of
every Muslim is to present the correct concept of God which
he shall Insha Allah not refuse.
(You may refer to my article, ‘Concept of God in Islam’, for
more details)
QUR’AN AND MODERN SCIENCE
The methods of proving the existence of God with usage of
the material provided in the ‘Concept of God in Islam’ to an
atheist may satisfy some but not all.
Many atheists demand a scientific proof for the existence of
God. I agree that today is the age of science and
technology. Let us use scientific knowledge to kill two birds
with one stone, i.e. to prove the existence of God and
simultaneously prove that the Qur’an is a revelation of God.
If a new object or a machine, which no one in the world has
ever seen or heard of before, is shown to an atheist or any
person and then a question is asked, " Who is the first
person who will be able to provide details of the mechanism
of this unknown object? After little bit of thinking, he will
reply, ‘the creator of that object.’ Some may say ‘the
producer’ while others may say ‘the manufacturer.’ What
ever answer the person gives, keep it in your mind, the
answer will always either the creator of that object.’ Some may say ‘the
producer’ while others may say ‘the manufacturer.’ What
ever answer the person gives, keep it in your mind, the
answer will always be either the creator, the producer, the
manufacturer or some what of the same meaning, i.e. the
person who has made it or created it. Don’t grapple with
words, whatever answer he gives, the meaning will be
same, therefore accept it.
SCIENTIFIC FACTS MENTIONED IN THE QUR’AN: for details
on this subject please refer to my book, ‘THE QUR’AN AND
MODERN SCIENCE – COMPATIBLE OR INCOMPATIBLE?
THEORY OF PROBABILITY
In mathematics there is a theory known as ‘Theory of
Probability’. If you have two options, out of which one is
right, and one is wrong, the chances that you will chose the
right one is half, i.e. one out of the two will be correct. You
have 50% chances of being correct. Similarly if you toss a
coin the chances that your guess will be correct is 50% (1
out of 2) i.e. 1/2. If you toss a coin the second time, the
chances that you will be correct in the second toss is again
50% i.e. half. But the chances that you will be correct in
both the tosses is half multiplied by half (1/2 x 1/2) which
is equal to 1/4 i.e. 50% of 50% which is equal to 25%. If you
toss a coin the third time, chances that you will be correct
all three times is (1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2) that is 1/8 or 50% of 50%
of 50% that is 12½%.
A dice has got six sides. If you throw a dice and guess any
number between 1 to 6, the chances that your guess will be
correct is 1/6. If you throw the dice the second time, the
chances that your guess will be correct in both the throws is
(1/6 x 1/6) which is equal to 1/36. If you throw the dice the
third time, the chances that all your three guesses are
correct is (1/6 x 1/6 x 1/6) is equal to 1/216 that is less
than 0.5 %.
Let us apply this theory of probability to the Qur’an, and
assume that a person has guessed all the information that
is mentioned in the Qur’an which was unknown at that time.
Let us discuss the probability of all the guesses being
simultaneously correct.
At the time when the Qur’an was revealed, people thought
the world was flat, there are several other options for the
shape of the earth. It could be triangular, it could be
quadrangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, heptagonal,
octagonal, spherical, etc. Lets assume there are about 30
different options for the shape of the earth. The Qur’an
rightly says it is spherical, if it was a guess the chances of
the guess being correct is 1/30.
The light of the moon can be its own light or a reflected
light. The Qur’an rightly says it is a reflected light. If it is a
guess, the chances that it will be correct is 1/2 and the
probability that both the guesses i.e the earth is spherical
and the light of the moon is reflected light is 1/30 x 1/2 =
1/60.
Further, the Qur’an also mentions every living thing is made
of water. Every living thing can be made up of either wood,
stone, copper, aluminum, steel, silver, gold, oxygen,
nitrogen, hydrogen, oil, water, cement, concrete, etc. The
options are say about 10,000. The Qur’an rightly says that
everything is made up of water. If it is a guess, the chances
that it will be correct is 1/10,000 and the probability of all
the three guesses i.e. the earth is spherical, light of moon is
reflected light and everything is created from water being
correct is 1/30 x 1/2 x 1/10,000 = 1/60,000 which is equal
to about .0017%.
The Qur’an speaks about hundreds of things that were not
known to men at the time of its revelation. Only in three
options the result is .0017%. I leave it upto you, to work out
the probability if all the hundreds of the unknown facts were
guesses, the chances of all of them being correct guesses
simultaneously and there being not a single wrong guess. It
is beyond human capacity to make all correct guesses
without a single mistake, which itself is sufficient to prove
to a logical person that the origin of the Qur’an is Divine.
CREATOR IS THE AUTHOR OF THE QUR’AN
The only logical answer to the question as to who could
have mentioned all these scientific facts 1400 years ago
before they were discovered, is exactly the same answer
initially given by the atheist or any person, to the question
who will be the first person who will be able to tell the
mechanism of the unknown object. It is the ‘CREATOR’, the
producer, the Manufacturer of the whole universe and its
contents. In the English language He is ‘God’, or more
appropriate in the Arabic language, ‘ALLAH’.
QUR’AN IS A BOOK OF SIGNS AND NOT SCIENCE
Let me remind you that the Qur’an is not a book of Science,
‘S-C-I-E-N-C-E’ but a book of Signs ‘S-I-G-N-S’ i.e. a
book of ayaats. The Qur’an contains more than 6,000
ayaats, i.e. ‘signs’, out of which more than a thousand
speak about Science. I am not trying to prove that the
Qur’an is the word of God using scientific knowledge as a
yard stick because any yardstick is supposed to be more
superior than what is being checked or verified. For us
Muslims the Qur’an is the Furqan i.e. criteria to judge right
from wrong and the ultimate yardstick which is more
superior to scientific knowledge.
But for an educated man who is an atheist, scientific
knowledge is the ultimate test which he believes in. We do
know that science many a times takes ‘U’ turns, therefore I
have restricted the examples only to scientific facts which
have sufficient proof and evidence and not scientific
theories based on assumptions. Using the ultimate
yardstick of the atheist, I am trying to prove to him that the
Qur’an is the word of God and it contains the scientific
knowledge which is his yardstick which was discovered
recently, while the Qur’an was revealed 1400 year ago. At
the end of the discussion, we both come to the same
conclusion that God though superior to science, is not
incompatible with it.
SCIENCE IS ELIMINATING MODELS OF GOD BUT NOT GOD
Francis Bacon, the famous philosopher, has rightly said that
a little knowledge of science makes man an atheist, but an
in-depth study of science makes him a believer in God.
Scientists today are eliminating models of God, but they are
not eliminating God. If you translate this into Arabic, it is La
illaha illal la, There is no god, (god with a small ‘g’ that is
fake god) but God (with a capital ‘G’).
Surah Fussilat:
"Soon We will show them our signs in the (farthest) regions
(of the earth), and in their own souls, until it becomes
manifest to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that
thy Lord doth witness all things?"
[Al-Quran 41:53]
