In the Name of Allah. All praise is due to Allah, and may Allah’s Praise,  Peace and Blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, companions and his allies.

This booklet is entitled: " Islam and Atheism face to face"

It offers an explanation of the meaning of atheism, its problematic aspects and how it contradicts  unquestionable facts of reason and disposition,

and presents some pieces of evidence that prove the existence of the Creator, may He be exalted.

As a matter of fact, we know Allah Almighty through reason. Allah says: Were they created by nothing, or were they the creators [of themselves]? [Surat at-Tur: 35]

Using reason there can only be three possibilities (without a  possibility of a fourth)

First: People are created without a creator (Were they created by nothing), which is impossible, for how can there be a creation without a creator?

Second: That people created themselves (or were they the creators [of themselves]?), and this is impossible as well, for how can one create himself before he was created?

Thus, there only remains the third possibility, which the noble verse did not mention, given that it is self-evident, namely, there is a creator who created us.

So, we know about Allah through reason,

and through natural disposition as well.

We innately know that idols and nature are unable to create the universe or bring to life bacteria and humans into existence or adjust the functions of the human body in such a form, or efficiently bring into existence such a creation starting from atom to galaxy.

The idols that the disbelievers worship, and nature that atheists believe in both need a creator to create them.

They do not have control over their own affairs, neither can they regulate the hormones inside their body in such grear measure. They are unable to supply every living cell with a genetic code, which contains sets of millions of pieces of information. They cannot bring anything into existence, even themselves.

The creator of this world with all its wonders is a great creator who is All-Knowing, All-Powerful, and All-Wise, may He be Exalted.

This booklet further discusses the malicious allegations used by atheists, and their attempts to turn  logical and natural proofs of the creator’s existence into fallaies.

The most famous of such attempts is their claim that the universe emerged by means of coincidence. This is due to their lack of understanding or ignoring the basic principles of probability. That is because coincidence has two essential conditions.

namely, time and place.

Time is a condition for coincidence to bring forth its effects.

It also needs a material medium where it can produce its impact.

How could it be claimed that coincidence has a role in bringing the universe into existence, whereas the universe has emerged from where there was neither time nor place, and consequently the concept of coincidence can be ruled out.

Afterwards, the booklet presents some intellectual proofs on the necessity of  religion, the meaning of religion and the necessity of submitting and surrendering to the Lord of the Worlds. In fact, submitting to Allah and surrendering to Him through obedience is the essence of the religion.

You show submission to Allah, and worship your Creator, Provider and the Bestower of all blessings, favor and guidance.

Worship is the right due to Allah upon His slaves, since He is the one who created us out of nothing, gave us life and provision, guided us and sent His messengers to us in order to test us as to who among us is best indeed. So, worship is the right due to Allah upon us. {[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best indeed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving -} [Surat al-Mulk: 2]

Moving forward, the booklet will provide some proof for the validity of Islam, and highlight the fact that Allah accepts no religion other than Islam from mankind. Allah says: {Anyone who seeks a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted from him; and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers.} [Surat ?l ‘Imrān: 85]

Islam is the religion with which that Allah sent all the prophets and messengers.

Its main feature is that it includes the meaning of submitting to Allah and worshiping Him alone.

In addition, Islam is the most perfect law that urges submission to Allah,

and it is the only religion that calls to the oneness of Allah that was preached by all the prophets.

All prophets embraced the monotheistic belief, even though their laws were different.

Allah Almighty said: {We never sent before you [O Prophet] any messenger without revealing to him that none has the right to be worshiped except Me, so worship Me.} [25] [Surat Al-Anbiyā?’: 25]

There is no religion now on earth that still maintains this monotheistic belief except Islam, whereas all the followers of other religions have fallen into polytheism in variable degrees. After the demise of prophets who had left their people on the monotheistic belief,  they eventually started to fall into polytheism. Nowadays, Islam is the only religion that retains the pure monotheistic belief which the prophets preached.

Then the booklet finally gives an account on how one becomes a Muslim, with an explanation of the meaning of Islam and mankind’s essential need to it.

In fact, Islam has answered all the existential questions that every human has in his mind, like: where we came from, why are we here in this world, and where are we going?

Islam answers all these questions in just one verse in the Noble Quran where Allah Almighty said: {Why should I not worship the One Who created me and to Whom you will all be brought back?} [Surat Yāsīn: 22]

Where did I come from? Allah created me {the One Who created me}.

Where am I going to? I will go to Allah to be reckoned (judged) for my deeds. {and to Whom you will all be brought back?}

Why did I come to this world? To worship Allah and be tested.

Why do I worship Allah? It is natural to worship Allah who created me out of nothing, this is the nature of how the relationship between the slave and his Lord should be, i.e., to worship his Lord and his Creator. {Why should I not worship the One Who created me}

This is only one verse that answers all three questions, which confuse mankind. {Why should I not worship the One Who created me and to Whom you will all be brought back?} [Surat Yāsīn: 22]

Islam is Allah’s law to the world.

It means submission to Allah and surrendering to Him through worship; the slave should yield to his Creator and Guardian.

Allah Almighty said: {Whoever submits himself to Allah and does good, he has certainly grasped the firmest handhold.} [Surat Luqmān: 22]

Hence, Islam means servitude to Allah in all major and minor life affairs. Allah Almighty said: {Say, آ“indeed, my prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying are all for Allah, Lord of the worlds.} He has no partner. This is what I have been commanded, and I am the first to submit to Allah.آ” [Surat An’ām: 162-163]

My prayer, may sacrifice, my living and my dying are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds. All what I do is for Allah. I pray to Allah, obey my parents for Allah, study and learn in order to benefit the people for the sake of Allah, sleep at night so that I wake up energetic enough to do what Allah commanded me to do.

It is servitude to Allah in every deed, which is one of the most significant signs and manifestations of surrendering to Allah.

Nothing but Islam can satiate our hunger for knowledge about the things that concern us the most.

Whereas atheism provides inadequate knowledge for someone who knows only that he was born to die.

This booklet represents a brunch of knowledge and an intellectual discussion addressing the problematic aspects of atheism and displaying some proofs of the validity of Islam.

It is in a question-and-answer format,

so let us commence, with the blessing of Allah.

 1-What is the meaning of atheism?

Answer: Atheism is to reject belief in any unseen powers.

An atheist denies the existence of a Creator, prophethood and resurrection (after death).

 2-What do you criticize atheism for?

Answer: Atheism requires a high level of faith that drastically exceeds religious faith.

Rather, it is a faith that is based upon delusional premises and erroneous imaginations, unlike religious faith that is based upon intuitive self- evident and unquestionable facts that we see with our own eyes, as well as intellectual axioms and legal proofs.

So, to be an atheist, you have to imagine the following: A-The universe was a product of a combination of nothingness which ended up to becoming a wonderful, marvelous universe that matches the most accurate measures and subtle limits. B-Coincidence produced the subtle limits and physical constants in which the universe was formed. This contradicts the fact that there are two conditions for coincidence to occur: place and time. But they claim that the universe emerged out of nowhere and no time, which negates the concept of coincidence. C-Randomness along with the primary environment of the earth produced life, bacteria and man, even though the human mind with its full might now is still unable to produce the simplest forms of life. D-All the ethical values, which we deem valid, mostly run counter to materialism, since genuine ethics represent a material burden and loss on the level of worldly interest; these are the given facts and the outcome of the material. You have to believe in all such intellectual impossibilities so that you start of as an atheist.

E-In atheism, there is no intellectual or material authority that prevents the annihilation of all humans on earth.

In fact, the material world does not acknowledge right and wrong,

then, it makes no difference to keep alive all humans on earth, or exterminate them, in the view of atheism,

which is also founded upon faith; however, without any remnant of knowledge, textual or intellect proof or ethics.

 3-What is the proof of the existence of the Creator?

Answer: There are numerous proofs, yet we will present only two thereof:

1-The proof of bringing into existence.

2-The proof of providence and perfection.

 3-What does the proof of bringing into existence mean?

Answer: It means that

everything that came into being after it had been nonexistent must have an entity that caused it to exist and come into being.

In this way, we have unlimited number of proofs of the existence of the Creator, Exalted be He.

Every atom in the universe proves the creation since every created thing that came into being is in itself a proof of the Creator.

When you ponder over  the existence, you find that it is temporal and liable to change; it is not permanent or eternal. Thus, it cannot be self-sufficient. This should make you decisively believe in your mind that it has a creator; so, as soon as you look into the universe, your mind goes to the one who brought it into existence.

For that reason, there are numerous verses in the Quran that draw our attention to the universe and the things that exist around us. Allah Almighty said: {Say, آ“look at what is in the heavens and earth.آ” But the signs and warnings are of no avail to those who do not believe.} [Surat Yإ«nus: 101] Allah also said: {Do they not reflect on themselves? Allah did not create the heavens and earth and all that is between them except for a true purpose and for an appointed term, but most people deny the meeting with their Lord.} [Surat-ar-Rm: 8]

Allah also said: {Have they not observed the dominions of the heavens and earth and all that Allah has created} [Surah Al-A’rāf: 185]

Every created thing is a direct evidence on the creator.

 5-What does the proof of providence and perfection mean?

Answer: It means:

Everything in the existence, starting from quarks - the smallest detected subatomic particle forming matter - up to galaxies, carries a degree of functional complexity.

In other words, it performs a specific and certain task.

Every functional complexity in nature is a status that exceeds mere existence.

To explain, existence is a degree,

and the complexity in the existent thing is a degree that exceeds mere existence.

Everything around you is specifically designed to do a specific function.

This means that everything around you carries a functional complexity,

which is an evidence of creation and bringing things into existence.

So, there must be an originator who brought them into existence.

Example of this is the electric lamp; it represents functional complexity,

as it consists of:

1-Filament.

2-A lead wire that conducts the electricity to the filament.

3-Inert gas that protects the filament without interacting with it or with electricity.

4-Glass bulb that prevents the air to enter and the inert gas escaping the lamp or else the filament will burn.

5-Lamp base: it connects the lamp to the holder and forms a pathway for the electric current.

It is a system of complexity that cannot be simplified, and so it has an obvious intellectual connotation that denotes perfection of making.

The one who negates the existence of the perfect creation of the electric lamp or claims that it came to being by mere coincidence is the one who has to present the proof for this claim!

The maker of the lamp knows well what electricity is, its pathways, the benefits of the lamp and the sensitivity of the filament. Therefore, the existence of the lamp directly indicates that it has a proficient maker, and that it did not appear randomly, simply because there are other lamps that look completely different.

Using the same intellectual inference, we find that something that is functionally complex like a human being must have an originator that created him.

Whereas the electric lamp consists of five components,

a human being consists of four billion components in every cell of his body.

Four billion components make up the functions of the organism, which are called: the genetic code, the genome, or DNA, and are located in the nucleus of each of your cells.

So, if you are to believe that the five components forming the electric lamp have a creator while you do not have a creator, then this would be problematic for yourself.

{Were they created by none, or were they the creators [of themselves]?} [Surah At-Tur: 35]

There is complexity in everything around you. There is nothing in nature; even in the atom, orbits, or in your own body, but it has some kind of functional complexity.

That functional complexity of every atom and particle exist in everything in the universe.

Allah Almighty said: {Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and earth; the alternation of the night and day; the sailing of the ships in the sea for the benefit of people; the sending down of rain from the sky by Allah, reviving thereby the earth after its death; the spreading of all kinds of creatures therein; the directing of the winds and clouds between the sky and earth in all these, there are signs for people of understanding.} [Surat al-Baqarah: 164] There are a lot of verses in this regard.

however, only those who apply their reason do take heed. {None will take heed except people of understanding.} [Surat al Imrān: 7]

When one employs his mind and looks into the existence (the evidence of bringing into existence) and contemplates the accuracy and functions of the created beings (evidence of providence and perfection) will certainly acknowledge the existence of the creator through reason.

 6-Why could it not be that man and other organisms are generated from extremely simple and primitive one-celled beings?

There are two problems here:

The first problem: There is not a single piece of evidence that proves the transformation of one type of organism into another type, let alone such a shocking presumptive leap that man is originated from primitive one-celled beings.

So, how can an atheist believe in such an assumption which lacks any type of direct proof, and blame us for using religious intellectual inference?

Second problem: According to the Minimum Gene Set Concept, it is not possible for any organism, no matter how simple it is, to be below two hundred genes.

The minimum set of genes is the least number of genes by which an organism can live.

That is, if this minimum set misses only one gene, then the organism would not be able to live.

A gene is a tape of information that contains a large number of genetic codes that encrypt information.

There is a minimum number of genes that are essential for an organism to live: some genes are encrypted for energy - actually an organism cannot live without energy - while other genes are encrypted for nutrition, others for reproduction, others for the basic functions of life, and so on.

Scientists have calculated the minimum number of genes that are essential for life and decided that they cannot be less than two hundred.

Craig Venter Institute concluded that the minimum number of genes cannot be less than three hundred and eighty-two genes. [1]

Scientists found out that Mycoplasma, which is the tiniest organism on earth, has 468 genes.

If the whole issue is about matter, and the world is just a physical system, then we need to start from the zero gene, if we want to go from hydrogen to man!

However, science tells us that there is nothing called the zero gene, one gene, or even a hundred genes. Rather, science says: We need a gigantic set of information at minimum range, otherwise the living organism would not have appeared in the first place.

In nature, there is nothing primitive, but every system began with independent glamour!

The glamour in the information system, which encrypts the beings before they appear, will always remain a stumbling block in facing atheism, and for those who deny the divine creation!

You have four billion specialized pieces of information - the information within the nucleus of each one of your cells - to produce accurate biological functions.

The atheist used to spectulate that there were living beings that started from the zero gene, but the theory of minimal genes came and eliminated this fantasy.

In fact, organisms appeared functionally complex from the very first moment, otherwise, they would not have appeared in the first place.

 7-What are some examples on the proof of providence and perfection?

Answer: The examples are countless,

and too many to be collected.

{If all the trees on earth were pens and the ocean [were ink], replenished by seven more oceans, the Words of Allah would not be exhausted. Indeed, Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.} [Surat Luqmān: 27]

Every atom in the universe is an indication of the divine providence, a fact that we are going to know either today or tomorrow.

A-Insulin - the glucose-digesting hormone - is secreted by the pancreas with the same amount according to your intake of sugar.

B-The heart's pumping force of blood is equivalent to the energy needed by the muscles in accordance with the exerted effort.

C-There are valves in your stomach preventing food from going back to your mouth that would harm you.

D-Excretion valves so that your clothes do not get soiled at every moment.

E-The bones of your skull do not fuse until you come out of your mother’s womb easily, because if they were fused, they would not come out of your mother’s womb until they were broken. Also, these bones are not fully grown until your brain is fully grown.

F-All axons of your nerves that transmit electrical signals are coated with an insulating layer - as we do now with electrical wires - so that the electrical signal does not stray, be lost, or cause disturbance to you.

G-The electron revolves around the nucleus at a speed of one thousand kilometers per second, otherwise it would fall inside the nucleus due to the force of attraction with the positive nucleus, and the universe would have collapsed before it began, and it is the ideal speed for the formation of the atom.

H-When two hydrogen atoms fuse, 0.007% of the mass of hydrogen is converted into energy, and if the mass were 0.006% instead of 0.007%, the proton would not fuse with the neutron, and the whole universe would only remain as hydrogen, and the rest of the elements would not appear. If the converted mass into energy was 0.008% instead of 0.007%, the coalescence would be too fast, which would lead to the immediate disappearance of hydrogen from the universe, making life impossible. Thus, the number must be between 0.006% and 0.008%.

I-The electron mass represents 0.2% of the neutron mass, and this is the standard mass for the formation of an atom.

J-After germination, the sprouts head directly toward the light source and the roots go downwards, where the sprouts are extremely sensitive to light, and all the information they need to do their job is encoded inside the seed. There are hormones that control the upper and lateral growth of the plant and towards the roots. All these hormones are also encoded inside the seed.

K-As you eat a delicious piece of fruit, and then throw the dry and tasteless seed away, you are allowing that fruit to pass on its genes. Such fruit gives you a delicious taste, while hiding its genes - the origin of its life - inside the dry, smooth seed that does not appeal to you. Once you throw this seed onto the earth, and after the suitable conditions are available, it begins to form a fruit tree with its branches, twigs and roots. All this happens in plants that have no perception of anything.

L-Who set the information for that inarticulate, deaf fruit and adjusted the amount of sugar in it so that it becomes appealing to you?

Who made the seed unacceptable and unpalatable, so that you would have no interest in it and throw it away?

Who loaded the seed with enough genetic information to create a new plant with all its details and functions?

M-We recently came to realize that: the inertia in whose bliss we live in is the product of the mass of the universe as a whole.

What does inertia mean?

What happens when to you when you are riding in a car, and it suddenly stops?

You are pushed forward! Is not that true?

This is what inertia means.

If the inertia of our world were less than it is now, the simplest breeze of air could move rocks, and in a world like this, we would constantly be smashed by all kinds of things!

On the other hand, if it were greater than it is now, we would be unable to move even our fingers. [2]

The inertial force depends on the mass.

The thing that surprised physicists is that the mass of the Milky Way, the galaxy that contains our solar system, participates in controlling the inertia by only 0.1 million, while the mass of the Earth controls the inertia only by 0.001 million.

Thus, the ideal inertia upon whose good consequences we live, and through which we practice all our activities is the product of the total energy of the universe as a whole.

{We have not created the heavens and earth and all that is between them in vain. That is the assumption of those who disbelieve. So woe to the disbelievers from the Fire!} [Surat Sad: 27]

The more science expands, the more wonders of wisdom and the subtleties of creation appear! [3]

N-Then let us move to the eye,

that priceless blessing.{Have We not given him two eyes,}[Surat al-Balad:8]

The eye’s resolution is equivalent to five hundred and seventy-six mega-pixels.

The eye has the purest lens in the world.

The size of the photo receptor in the retina does not exceed half a square millimeter, and it distinguishes between ten million color shades of different dimensions. It is indeed a miraculous and dazzling divine creation.

When you look at something in front of you, and the light falls on the retina, at that very moment several complex chemical processes take place and eventually generate an electric current. This current is transmitted from the retina of your eye to your brain through nerve wires. The brain here interprets the frequency of this electric current as eyesight, as if the brain has an integrated pre-set dictionary that converts the electric current that has reached it into the act of seeing what is in front of you.

That is amazing if you just think about it!

Imagine; this brain dwells inside a dark box of bones, which is the skull.

Nothing reaches it except electric currents.

So, how can the brain interpret such currents as seeing?

How does it give you the ability to see?

This miracle happens once you open your eyes and see!

The same goes for hearing:

As sound waves enter your eardrum, it converts them from waves into a mechanical movement. This mechanical movement is then transmitted through three tiny bones in the middle ear to the inner ear, which converts it into an electrical current.

This electric current is transmitted at this point from the inner ear to the brain, which starts to define this electric current as sounds, so you hear the sound.

All this take place in less than a split second {Allah brought you out from your mothers’ wombs not knowing anything, and He gave you hearing, sight and intellect, so that you may be grateful.} [Surat an-Nahl: 78]

Try to imagine that, at every moment, the thousands of electrical signals that reach the brain from the eye, ear, touching, tasting, smelling and  other different parts of the body to distinguish between all these signals in an astounding accuracy. {This is Allah’s creation. So show Me what others beside Him have created. In fact, the wrongdoers are clearly misguided.} [Surat Luqmān: 11]

{such is the design of Allah, who has perfected everything. Indeed, He is All-Aware of what you do.} [Surat an-Naml: 88]

Who is that who can fully perceive even only one blessing out of Allah’s blessings?

Ponder on every joint and bone in your body that allow you to move exactly as needed.

Think of the smooth joints that allow you to move without friction between the bones or erosion, Allah has deposited in these joints a liquid like lubricant that is placed in the joints of machines!

Think of the blessings of Allah with contemplation and be thankful to Him for them.

Allah’s blessings are countless! {Do you not see that Allah has made subservient to you all that is in the heavens and on earth, and has abundantly bestowed upon you His favors, both apparent and hidden? Yet there are some people who dispute concerning Allah without knowledge, or guidance, or an enlightening scripture.} [Surat Luqmān: 20]

 8-Some atheists criticize the evidence of providence, claiming that there are some imperfections like diseases and earthquakes.

Answer: The absence of perfect things in the universe, in the words of an atheist, does not negate the existence of perfection.

By saying this, however, he actually confirms that there is perfection in the universe.

If there were no perfection in the first place, a theist would not be able to realize the existence of imperfection.

How could one speak of a defect in a design, in a world that lacks design?

As for what they describe as imperfect, this is indeed lack of knowledge or failure to perceive the wisdom of things.

The believers do not claim that the universe is too perfect to have disastrous events, but they say that the universe is perfectly created, so that nothing occurs in it without a purpose.

The attitude of an atheist is similar to those who deny mastery of the spacecraft because there is a huge amount of petroleum elements in it, which may cause the vehicle to explode at any moment! [4]

The world was not designed to be everlasting or eternal, neither were we designed to be gods.

We are designed to be tested with good and evil. {We test you with bad and good as a trial, then to Us you will all be returned.} [Surat Al-Anbiyā : 35]

Good, evil and all trials revolve within the framework of wisdom and divine will.

 9- What prevents the existence of a material cause that created the universe, such as another civilization or something else? Why does there have to be an eternal God specifically?

Answer: There is a rule established by Islamic scholars more than a thousand years ago, this rule says that: The sequence of the actors necessarily leads to the non-occurrence of actions. [5]

The sequence of actors means that there are more than one creator. The question in hand mentions 'another civilization' that is preceded by a civilization that produced it, and a civilization that preceded and produced both of them, etc. This represents sequence in creators,

which is necessarily conducive to the non-occurrence of actions,

i.e., the non-emergence of created beings like the universe, man and others.

The sequence of actors results in the non-emergence of the universe and the existence.

If a civilization depends on the existence of another civilization to have created it, and the other civilization depends on another civilization that preceded it and created it, and so on to infinity, then neither this civilization nor the one that precedes it nor the one that precedes them both will appear, and neither existence nor anything will appear.

Because if every civilization depends on a civilization that preceded it, and so on; there would therefore appear no civilization and nothing would ever come into existence.

So, there must be a first eternal Creator who created everything!

If there is an infinite sequence and every link in the chain depends on the one before it, then there would be no creatures, no creation, no beings, because the agent would depend on an agent that precedes it, and then its predecessor would depend on a previous one, and so on; therefore, there would be nothing.

So, then sequence must stop at some point.

Here, we become certain about the first creator who is not preceded by anything else!

 10-We know about the laws that govern the universe, and know well about the cause of earthquakes, so why do we need a creator, as long as we know the laws?

Answer: An atheist assumes that laws are sufficient to create the universe and cause it to appear. Some atheists have relied on the idea of ??the law of gravity and that it is sufficient for the emergence of the universe, regardless of the collapse of this claim by just thinking about the source of the law of gravity, or who codified it or who gave it the property of interference and showing the effect,

regardless of these self-evident intuitions, the law of gravity does not cause the billiard ball to roll!

Law alone is unable to cause anything without the appearance of that thing.

The law of gravity cannot produce a billiard ball, it just causes it to move if it appears and gets hit by a billiard stick.

In fact, the law of gravity is not independent, but it is a description to a natural occurrence.

Moreover, the law of gravity will not move the billiard ball without a force pressing on the billiard stick and moving it. Only at this moment, the billiard ball moves and the effect of the law of gravity appears.

Nonetheless, an atheist assumes that the law of gravity is sufficient to create a billiard ball, billiard stick and roll the ball!

Which one is closer to good reason and logic regarding the cause of the appearance of the universe: the Creator or the law?

Similarly, the internal combustion laws of a car engine cannot create a car engine

If we add the laws of internal combustion to the car engine, it will not work either. There must be petrol, which gives energy, and there must be a spark for combustion, and before that there must be an engine, and only then the laws of internal combustion appear and the engine works!

It is not reasonable to assume that the laws of internal combustion are sufficient to create the engine, the spark of combustion, petrol, the driver and the road.

In fact, the idea that a law is sufficient to explain the emergence of the universe is an idea that is completely alien to reason.

In addition, if we suppose the idea, that it will lead us to the sequence of actors that we explained in the answer to the previous question, for who created this law and who brought it into existence? If they claim that it is another law, we will get into the sequence of actors that entails the non-emergence of any law or any beings.

 11- Why can't a coincidence be the source of the universe?

Answer: Adopting the idea of coincidence is ignorance of the fundamentals of possibilities, given the fact that coincidence has two indispensable conditions,

namely: time and place.

Coincidence stipulates a time where it makes its effect,

and stipulates the existence of a material place where it produces its influence.

Then, how can we say that coincidence played a role in creating the universe, even though our universe came out of no time and no place?

How can the effect of coincidence appear without the appearance of the coincidence itself?

How can coincidence provide an effect before its own existence or the existence of time and place that are the two essential conditions for coincidence?

 12-How can we answer an atheist who claims that the universe is eternal (has no beginning)?

Answer: According to the Second Law of Thermodynamic: it is impossible that the universe is eternal.

Here is an example to simplify this law: If you have a cup of hot water in the room, heat is transferred from the hot water to the room until the room’s temperature equals the temperature of the cup. This is the second law of thermodynamics, where energy flows from high levels to low levels over time.

This law takes place in everything in the universe at every moment since the emergence of the universe, until the temperature of everything in the universe becomes equal, and when this happens, what is known as the thermal death of the universe will occur. If the universe were eternal, it would have been suspended now - thermally dead -; however, the universe is now actually in a state less than maximum entropy and has not yet reached thermal death. Thus, it is not eternal, rather, it has a fixed beginning during which time and space had appeared.

It has been proven according to the same law that the universe began at a minimum of entropy, which means that its occurrence was without a precedent example - it was created out of nothing -.

This is a scientific law on one side, whereas atheism is completely on the other side.

 13-Why does the law of causality not apply to the Creator? Or in other words: Who created the Creator?

Answer: First: The laws of the created beings do not apply to the Creator; this is a self-evident fact.

otherwise, we could also say: Who cooked the cook?

Who painted the painter?

It is self-evident that the Creator is the one who brought time and place into existence. So, it is inconceivable to say that the laws He created out of nothing should apply to Him, Glory be to Him!

Second: It is true that every created being should have a creator; however, in the case of the Creator: {There is nothing like unto Him} [Surat Ash-Shūra: 11]

Third: The Creator is not created, rather, He is eternal. So, how can we ask: who created Him?

The Creator must be eternal and necessary to exist. Otherwise, we would get into the problem of  'the sequence of the actors' that necessarily leads to the non-occurrence of actions.” As we just explained in detail. So, the Creator must be necessarily existent and eternal, Glory be to Him.

 14-The Universe is huge. How can we, with our small size, be a center in this gigantic universe?

Answer: The atheist makes a pointless assumption, saying: Since the universe is huge, then man is not a center in this universe!

This assumption is based on the premise: Since the farms are vast and its owner is too small comparing to them, then: He is not their owner!

In fact, it has nothing to do with the size at all.

Morals that have no material size are the greatest criterion for considering people as the most noble or the most despicable people.

In fact, people are weighed according to their morals.

therefore, the issue of size is not a criterion!

Let us give this example: If there is a king who made some laws and gave advice to his son and wrote a book to him regarding that. Would it be possible that someone may object and say: How can a king who owns millions of vast and countless acres of lands take care of his son whose size and weight is even less than one part out of a million of what this king owns of land and acres?

And for Allah is the highest example.

Can such an objection be reasonable in the first place?

It is not a matter of weight or size.

Furthermore, was not this universe generated out of a point smaller than the tip of a pin by billions of times , as all physicists in the world acknowledge?

Hence, size is relative.

Furthermore, what would bother an atheist that Allah creates whatever He wills in the way He wills?

Does God lack resources so that He should spend thriftily?

Exalted is He above that!

However, is it true that we really represent a center in this universe?

Yes, human is the center of this universe, as per divine assignment.

This divine assignment is religion.

Religion is the trust that man bears, which is the greatest test one has to go through.

You are required to be a servant of Allah Almighty, whereby you are a center in this universe, not for your size, power, or capabilities, but by divine assignment.

You are capable of doing what is good and giving up what is evil, you are capable of being a believer or a disbeliever.

We all know that we are charged with religious assignments, willingly or unwillingly!

Everyone knows including an atheist, believer, agnostic, and everyone  that he is under religious assignment. He perceives this divine assignment and suffers the tingling of a moral conscience. He knows that there is something within himself telling him: Do such-and-such, and do not do such-and-such. Do good and do not do evil.” Every one of us knows from the reality of himself that he is required to comply!

We are at the center of this universe by religious assignment.

Also, we are at the center of this universe perceptually and cognitively. We perceive, realize, understand and know the reality of our existence, and the reality of the universe around us, and grasp the meaning of our existence well.

We are the ones who are liable for duties, responsibilities, assignments and reckoning.

We are the a that is aware of the splendor of  careful formulation. We are a being that is aware of the laws of perfection, and we are a being that is able to carry out their assignments or to reject to do so. We are fully capable of choosing, and we are capable of being believers or disbelievers.

We are at the center of this universe. {Indeed, we offered the Trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, yet they refused to bear it and were afraid of it. But man assumed it; he is indeed wrongful and ignorant.} [Surat Al Ahzāb: 72]

 15-Some atheists say: There are so many planets; so, based on the theory of possibilities, it would be correct to assume that one of these planets would be suitable for life...Would this be a valid inference?

Answer: What is the relation between the existence of many planets and discrediting perfection as proof ?

It is not a matter of raw materials.

Being in a forest full of all vegetables and fruits and animals does not mean that, there must suddenly appear before me in the middle of the forest, a dish of delicious, cooked food; The issue is not about the raw materials!

Likewise, the existence of sand in the deserts of the world does not mean that I can find digital processors and electronic chips that are made of sand all around me in the desert!

The case is not raw materials; rather, it is a case of creation and perfection (Know how).

The mere existence of a group of planets is not sufficient to have among them a planet that is so perfectly created like the Earth.

It is a case of perfection, creation, and making. {such is the design of Allah, who has perfected everything.} [Surat an-Naml: 88]

The presence of many other planets does not at all justify that there is life on Earth.

Neither does it justify the existence of the genetic code inside of you, consisting of four billion letters that impressively controls all your functions, organs and hormones, even before you came into existence!

Life is information, not matter

If I and an atheist would ascend to a planet and discover a complex device that works with impressive precision, even if we cannot yet, understand its function, can the maker of this device be denied just because of the huge size of the planet we are on?

Mental intuition prompts me and the atheist, when we see this device, to admit the existence of the Capable Creator.

The one who denies this logical intuition, who denies the existence of the Creator is actually the one who is required to present the evidence, not the one who affirms His existence!

The atheist in this dazzling elegant universe is the one who is required to provide the evidence, not the believer!

The agnostic atheist Carl Sagan once wrote a novel called "Contact", in which he recounts how the scientists are looking for extraterrestrial intelligence.

In this fictional novel, scientists discovered a long series of prime numbers coming from outer space. Since this initial sequence implies a specific mathematical value, a value that indicates a kind of precision, this was enough mental evidence to conclude that this message was coming from another civilization trying to communicate with us!

What is funny is that Carl Sagan is a famous Agnostic himself, yet his mind accepts the fact that the complexity and organization of a small message is proof of creation and perfection!

A mere series of prime numbers would definitely prove the presence of a giant civilization; so how do you ascribe the four billion letters inside each cell of your body, of which if one letter were missing, a catastrophe would occur, how do you ascribe all this perfection to the illogical atheistic oddities?

It is not reasonable to resort to quirks (oddities) in order to prevent the interpretation of the phenomenon in its framework as an indication of the existence of the Creator {Say, “look at what is in the heavens and earth.” But the signs and warnings are of no avail to those who do not believe.} [Surat Yūnus: 101]

 16-Why can't there be more than one uncreated Creator?

Allah Almighty said: {If there had been gods besides Allah in the heavens and earth, both realms would have fallen in disorder.} [Surat al-Anbiyā: 22]

The existence of a god along with Allah entails multiplicity, and multiplicity entails insufficiency.

Insufficiency of the Creator, Exalted be He above that, necessitates the insecurity and vulnerability of the universe, it even entails corruption of the universe.

There is no guarantee that the universe will survive with a deficient God!

{If there had been gods besides Allah in the heavens and earth, both realms would have fallen in disorder. Glory be to Allah  Lord of the Throne  far above what they ascribe [to Him]} [Surat al-Anbiyā: 22]

Exalted is the Creator above need and insufficiency. He is the Self-Sufficient, the Sustainer of everything.

Adding to what was aforementioned: If there were two or more gods in the heavens and earth, then the possibility of conflict would be closer to reason than being in harmony, because multiple gods would mean a multitude of wills and the multiplicity of wills would cause the insufficiency of each one of them, which would then entail the corruption of the heavens and earth.

Man’s natural disposition definitely affirms that Allah is one. Were a physicist or otherwise, to look into this universe, they would only perceive that it has one creator, for this is a natural disposition.

 Why religion?

Answer: Even the staunchest atheist would believe that being truthful is better than lying, correct?

He would believe that honesty is better than dishonesty, right?

These are terms that are irrelevant to this world, and there is nothing in the material world that justifies their meaning or implication.

What is the meaning of truthfulness?

What is the meaning of honesty?

If we conduct a deep analysis of the atom, will we detect some meanings like truthfulness and lying?

If we observe the physics of galaxies or the chemistry of hormones, will we observe: honesty or dishonesty/betrayal?

Such terms do not belong to this material world.

However, they are real terms,

and are from the most significant matters.

In fact, the value of a human is based on his morals, not his physical size, the number of his atoms, or the energy level of his cells.

His value is measured by his inner commitment to the divine assignments.

Nothing of the material world shares this value with human.

There could be a good man and a bad one.

however, there is no good mountain and a bad one.

We do not detect an honest planet and another unfaithful one.

Only man is concerned  with values, purpose of life, and is concerned with the existence.

Only humans and jinn grasp (the fact) that they are under religious assignment.

Perceiving the meaning of morals is nothing but part of our inner instinctual sense of divine assignment.

Therefore, religion is essential for man to understand.

Religion is the only thing that justifies the meaning of morality, why it exists, and why we feel the need to adhere to it.

It is the only thing that gives morality its distinctive feature,

for it can only be understood in the parameters of divine assignment.

It can only be known through religion that morality is innate in the human race

And through religion, we recognize the purpose of existence, and know that the morals that we feel the need to adhere to, even if we do not actually do, are part of the divine assignment.

So, religion is a human necessity.

Also, it is through religion that we know why we are here,

and (answers the question), what comes after death?

And know the meaning of existence.

And (answers the question) what is required from us in this life?

Thus, religion is a must for knowing about the most important things that concern man.

Therefore, without religion the entire world would turn into complete blindness and nothingness.

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy upon him) said: “There is no way to happiness and success, neither in this world nor in the Hereafter, except through the Messengers. There is no way to know good and bad in detail, except through them, neither will the pleasure of Allah be ever attained, except through them. [6]

The world is dark and cursed, except for what the sun of religion and the sun of the Message has risen upon, as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy upon him) says. [7]

Without religion, the purpose of existence, the meaning and value of good, is not known.

And without the divine Messages, the world turns into a scary absurdity.

When religion disappears and people deny prophethood, man will turn into star waste, as Carl Sagan says, and into an insect, as Sartre says. [8]

Then man actually becomes chemical waste, or, more precisely, chemical scum, as Stephen Hawking says.[9]

Prophethood is the only pulse of existence, and without prophethood, the most wonderful inventions and the most enjoyable desires turn into horror!

Without religion, the world with all its beauty transfers into a frightful ghost.

If you ask any atheist any existential question, such as: Why are we here in this world or what comes after death?

He will either turn your question into sophistry, or he will just stay mute.

Therefore, religion is a natural requirement for human understanding and for comprehending the necessity of moral values. Also, religion is essential for knowing the meaning and purpose of existence and for the fulfillment of servitude to Allah through which salvation is attained.

 18-Why is it not possible that such morals are the product of a brain or society?

Answer: The brain consists of exactly the same material components as in the material world!...

No matter how complicated the brain or the material compositions are, eventually the result of a sum of zeros will be nothing but zero

Thus, if matter knows neither well or evil, then the same applies to the brain.

Here, we ask the atheist: How did the concept of good and evil appear when the whole material world is morally neutral and knows neither good nor evil?

The second question: According to the brain, what prevents the extermination of all the people on earth?

What prevents placing the inferior human races into animal cages?

What prevents the annihilation of the sick, disabled, handicapped, and inferior races as what took place in the natural selection project carried out by the Nazi - Action T4 Project -?[10]

The brain, in its material form is not able to answer such questions by deeming them wrong or by deeming them right.

The brain is fully neutral when it comes to morality, as it is composed of the same atoms of the earth.

Actually, the brain and morality are absolutely not related.

As for the idea that society is the originator of morals, then this would be strange, as it concerns man as a man,  and not society as a whole.

Furthermore, society consists of the same components of matter, and therefore the sum of zeros again will only produce zero, so how did society come up with morals, which do not belong to the material world in the first place?

Then, if this supposedly true, and we consider morals a product of society, then the Nazi will be right in exterminating others because society would believe this to be moral.

When the world decided to prosecute the Nazis, this decision was based on the fact that morals are absolute and not the product of society. Otherwise, they would not have been able to prosecute the Nazis and would not have realized that they had made a mistake in the first place.

In fact, morals are independent from society, right is right in both  good societies and bad ones.

Likewise, wrong is wrong in both good societies and bad ones.

Morals have a meaning that extends beyond the brain and community.

 19-There is more than one God in the cultures of the earth, so why believe in Allah specifically?

There is no worshiped god in all the religions on the earth except Allah.

Our disagreement with all the ther world religions is that they have worshiped with Allah other gods such as Jesus and the Holy Spirit in Christianity, Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma in Hinduism...etc.

All religions believe in Allah the One and Only God, and they deem Him the Creator of the existence.

But they just worship alongside Allah other gods.

Even the idols of the polytheists were not worshiped as deities for their own selves, for they acknowledged that Allah is the Creator, but they make them intermediaries to Allah. {If you ask them who created the heavens and earth and subjected the sun and moon, they will surely say, “Allah.” How are they then deluded?} [Surat al-‘Ankabūt: 61]

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy upon him) said: “And whoever thinks that the idols worshipers believed that idols create the world or that they send down rain, grow plants, or create animals or otherwise, then he is ignorant about them. Rather, they worshiped these idols for the same reason the polytheists worshiped the graves.” [11]

Will Durant says that the origin of pagan Hinduism ultimately goes back to the belief in the One God. He says about the Hindu gods: “These thousands of gods represents the same model of the Christian churches that hold thousands of figures as saints. A Hindu never thinks, even for a single moment, that such uncountable gods have supreme sovereignty.” [12]

A report submitted to the British government in India during the British occupation of India stated: “The general conclusion reached by the committee from the research is that the overwhelming majority of Indians hold a firm belief in one Supreme God.”[13]

Allah is One in all religions of the earth. {and our God and your God is One,} [Surat al-Ankabūt: 46]

Idols and human gods are nothing but intermediaries to Allah that are heresy. {As for those who take others as guardians besides Him, [saying], We only worship them so that they may bring us closer to Allah.} [Surat az-Zumar:3]

 20- If a person does something that he does not need, it is absurd! God does not need us, so why did He create us?

Answer: It is silly to think that need is matched by absurdity!

In fact, need is matched by wisdom, not absurdity.

A rich and reputable doctor may treat people without needing anything from them but treats them for their own benefit. Here we do not describe his action as absurd!

Wisdom and a great intent behind the act do not revolve around the need/absurdity cycle!

Moreover, a swimmer may rescue a child out of mercy, then leave him and go without waiting for the child’s parents to thank him. Here, his action is not classified as a need or absurdity, rather, this is a generous act, a noble purpose, and of good character!

So, need and absurdity are not necessarily correlated. [14]

According to Sahīh Muslim, Allah Almighty said in a Qudsi Hadīth: O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of one of you, it would not increase in My dominion anything. O My servants were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of one of you, it would not decrease from My dominion anything. It is but your deeds that I count for you and then recompense you for them. So, whoever finds good, let him praise Allah, and whoever finds other than that, let him blame none but himself.”

Allah is free from need of the worlds.

Our endeavor, effort, and work are only for ourselves. {Whoever strives, he only strives for his own good. Indeed, Allah is in no need of the worlds. } [Surat al-Ankabūt: 6]

We know that Allah has wisdom in all of His creation, even if we are ignorant of it, and the patient’s ignorance of the doctor’s wisdom does not mean that the doctor’s decisions are absurd.

Knowledge of divine wisdom does not require understanding all dimensions of wisdom, but it is sufficient to understand some of them!

It is sufficient for us to know that we are charged with worshiping Allah and know that there is a divine wisdom. This is sufficient for us in general; otherwise, we are like those who disbelieve in all that they do not understand {But they rejected that which they did not comprehend, and its warning has not yet been fulfilled against them.} [Surat Yūnus: 39]

Allah is Wise and He created us for a wise purpose, may He be Exalted.

He alone is the one truly worthy of worship,

no one else deserves to be worshiped except Allah; the Creator who brought us into existence out of nothingness. He said: {O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, so that you may become righteous;} [Surat al-Baqarah: 21]

He is the One who guided us, the One who legislated, decreed, commanded and prohibited. {His is the creation and the command}   [Surat Al-A’rāf: 54]

It is not just the creation that belongs to Allah, but the command as well belongs to Him. We obey His commands; glory be to Him.

Worship is the right of Allah due upon the slaves. He, The Almighty created us, gave us life, gave us sustenance, guided us and sent His messengers to us so as to test us as to which of us is the best in deeds. So, worship is Allah’s right due upon us. {He is the One Who created death and life to test you as to which of you is best in deeds, and He is the All-Mighty, the Most Forgiving.} [Surat al-Mulk: 2]

Our worldly life and that of the Hereafter will not be set aright except with worship, nor will our morals be reformed except with it; for worship prevents immorality and evildoing, and with it the worldly life will be reformed. Our Lord, the Almighty said: {Recite [O Prophet] what is revealed to you of the Book, and establish prayer, for indeed prayer restrains one from immoral acts and wickedness.} [Surat al-Ankabūt: 45]

We will attain Paradise only through worship, as it is salvation in the Hereafter and bliss in the worldly life.

Worship is for us and for our own good, and it is obligatory upon us towards Allah Almighty because He is our Creator, and its benefit returns to us only, and negligence affects us only.

Paradise is expensive, so whoever desires Paradise should work for it. We need Allah Almighty...We need to worship Him, whereas He is Free of need for us and for all His creation.

 21-How do we know Allah?

Answer: We know Allah by numerous ways, out of which we mention here only four:

First way: We know Allah through the sound natural disposition.

Man is disposed to know that he has a creator. You know by nature that you have a creator who created you in this form, with such organs, fashion and amazing perfection.

Also, man by his nature knows that he is required to resort to his Creator through worship, and also knows that he needs his Creator, Glory be to Him, at all times, and this feeling of need for Allah increases in adversity.

All mankind is disposed to know Allah by nature, Allah Almighty said: {Adhere sincerely to the true religion in all uprightness. This is the natural disposition with which Allah has created mankind. There is no change in Allah’s creation. This is the straight religion, but most people do not know.}

[Surat ar-Rum: 30]

He also said: {And [remember] when your Lord brought forth from the loins of the children of Adam their offspring and made them testify about themselves [asking], Am I not your Lord? They said, yes; indeed, we testify. [We did so] lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, “we were unaware of this,} [Surat Al-A’rāf: 172]

Before we were created, we were naturally disposed to know Allah and be His slaves. {and He made them testify about themselves [asking], “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “yes; indeed, we testify.”}

The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) further said in Hadīth whose authenticity is acknowledged by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim: 'There is no child born except that he is born with a sound natural disposition.' [15]

We are all born on that natural disposition, which is sufficient for every person who seeks the truth to guide him to the truth, and that he should submit to that truth once he finds it.

This disposition cannot be denied even by the staunchest people in terms of disbelief, especially in difficult times. In fact, all people resort to Allah in hardships and forget about all what they associate with Him in worship. {When hardship strikes you at sea, you forget all those whom you invoke besides Him. Then when He brings you safe to the land, you turn away. Mankind is ever ungrateful.} [Surat al-Isrā: 67]

When a person is in severe distress and feels that destruction is imminent, he invokes no one but Allah and forgets about all his polytheistic beliefs. This sincere invocation to all in adversity is prompted by the sound natural disposition every person has within him.

Eisenhower - one of the American presidents - who was a commander of American forces in World War II, said after witnessing how the forces return to the natural disposition at the time of great danger: “There are no atheists in the trenches. [16]

In the trench during war, there is no one who denies Allah, they all return to Him. This is the true natural disposition that all mankind admit in times of adversity.

The second way to know Allah is reason: We know Allah by reason.

Allah Almighty said: {Were they created by none, or were they the creators [of themselves]?} [Surat at-Tur: 35]

According to reason, there are three possibilities that have no fourth:

The first possibility: We are created without a creator {Were they created by none} which is impossible, for how can we be created without a creator?

The second possibility: We created ourselves {or were they the creators [of themselves]}, which is impossible as well, for how can I create myself before I am created?

Then, according to reason, there remains the third possibility, and it is the one that the noble verse did not mention as it is self-evident. It is that we have a creator that created us.

So, we know Allah by reason.

The third way to know Allah is to reflect on His creation:

Contemplating the creation of Allah puts us in front of the greatness of Allah, the Exalted. {Say, look at what is in the heavens and earth.} [Surat Yūnus: 101]

The more we ponder on the subtle creation of Allah and the amazing perfection, the more our knowledge of Him increases.

This is what we have previously mentioned in the context of the proof of bringing into existence and the proof of providence and perfection.

The fourth way to know Allah is through the messengers:

This is the best way through which we know Allah, the Exalted. It is to know Him through His messengers and prophets. The messengers told us about Allah and about His attributes and essence. Through the prophets we get to know Allah with His names and attributes and know how to worship Him and draw close to Him. We know how to be saved from the punishment of Allah on the Day of Reckoning. Messengers called people to worship Allah, in other words, they called them to return to their natural disposition on which they were created, and to worship Allah as He commanded.

Messengers guided the people to the way of truth and salvation: {These messengers were sent as bearers of glad tidings and as warners, so that the people may have no excuse before Allah after [the coming of] the messengers. For Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.} [Surat an-Nis?: 165]

So prophets and messengers informed us about Allah and Allah’s support was given to them through miracles which leaves no one with an excuse with Allah on the Day of Resurrection.

That is because Allah, the Exalted, gave you a natural disposition with which you can know your creator, gave you reason, gave you eyesight, so that you can ponder on His creation, and sent to you messengers. Thus, there is no excuse for you before Allah.

 22-There are many religions, so why Islam?

Answer: Islam is not just a religion among other religions.

However, Islam agrees with the creed of all the prophets of the Old Testament.

Islam is a correction of the path of the religions that have deviated, and a restoration of the monotheistic belief of the prophets of the Old Testament.

Allah Almighty says: {He has prescribed for you [believers] the same religion which He enjoined upon Noah, and that which We have revealed to you [O Prophet] and that which We enjoined upon Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: You should uphold the religion and make no divisions therein. What you are calling the polytheists to is very hard for them. Allah chooses for Himself whom He wills, and guides to Himself who turns to Him.} [Surat ash-Shura: 13]

In fact, Islam is not a religion like any other religions; rather, it is the origin of all religions.

 23-What is Islam?

Answer: Islam is submission, surrendering and obedience to Allah Almighty.

Allah, may He be Exalted, said: {Who is better in religion than one who submits himself entirely to Allah, does good, and follows the religion of Abraham, exclusively devoted to Allah? For Allah did take Abraham as a close friend} [Surat an-Nis: 125]

To submit oneself to Allah means: to fully surrender to Him and be devotedly obedient to Him, may He be Exalted. These are the best of people in terms of religion.

Allah also said: {Your God is One God, so submit to Him alone, and give glad tidings to the humble,} [Surat al-Hajj: 34]

Submit to Him alone means submit to His judgment.

These verses indicate that Islam means absolute submission to Allah Almighty, surrendering to Him and compliance with His legislation and methodology with consent and acceptance. This is the essence and reality of Islam.

It is to submit to Allah in His judgment and legislation.

Islam is the religion of Allah for all mankind. He said: {The true religion with Allah is Islam.} [Surat al-Imrān: 19]

Islam is the only religion that Allah accepts out of all other religions. {Anyone who seeks a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted from him; and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers.} [Surat al-Imrān: 85]

Islam is the religion that Allah sent all the prophets and messengers to preach. The religion of all the prophets is the same, namely Islam. All of them called to monotheism (oneness of Allah), although their laws were different.

Allah Almighty said: {We never sent before you [O Prophet] any messenger without revealing to him that none has the right to be worshiped except Me, so worship Me.} [Surat al-Anbiyā: 25]

Islam is the only religion that maintained monotheism.

It is the only true monotheistic religion on the earth right now,

whereas all the followers of other laws have had a share of polytheism, whether great or small. After the death of the prophets who left the people on monotheistic belief, people eventually adopted polytheism, and today no religion maintains pure monotheism that the prophets came with except Islam.

 Can Islam answer the questions that minds have failed to find answers to, like: Where did we come from? Why are we here in this world? Where is our final destination?

Answer: Islam has answered all these questions in one verse of the Noble Qur'an, as Allah Almighty said: {Why should I not worship the One Who created me and to Whom you will all be brought back?} [Surat Yāsīn: 22]

Where did you come from? Allah created me {the One Who created me}.

Where am I going after death? To my Lord in order to be reckoned for my deeds {and to Whom you will be brought back}.

Why did you come to this world? To worship Allah and to be tested.

Why should I worship Allah? It is natural that I worship Allah Who created me, for this is the nature of the relationship between a servant and his Lord: that a servant worships his Lord and his Creator. {Why should I not worship the One Who created me}

It is a single verse that combined the answer to the three most significant questions that mankind find perplexing.{Why should I not worship the One Who created me and to Whom you will all be brought back?} [Surat Yāsīn: 22]

 25-How did you know that Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) is a Messenger sent by Allah?

Answer: The abandonment amount of miraculous evidence implies logical persistent proof and full certainty.

In fact, Aristotle is a philosopher by his whole works, not by a sentence he said or a philosophical analysis he made,

and Hippocrates is a physician because of all his medical projects, not by just a surgery he performed.

Similarly, the abandonment amount of miraculous evidence transmitted from the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) provides logical persistent proof and a complete certainty that he is a prophet.

If you ponder on his biography (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) and find him truthful as he was known for being truthful by the admission of the most hostile people to him and was not accused of lying or having immorality. He, also, informs about  unseen events that happen exactly as he foretold and, above all, his creed that he called people to from the first day accords with the creed of all the prophets. Then he is the one who gives glad tidings to the prophets of his coming (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) hundreds of years before he came. All this implies logical persistent proof and complete certainty of the validity of his Message.

Then, what about the greatest miracle he brought, which is the Noble Quran?

The Quran by which Allah challenged the people of rhetoric to come up with the like of it, or even the like of one of its chapters; so, what did they do?

Allah, the Exalted said: {But if you did not do it, and you can never do it} [Surat al-Baqarah: 24]

They neither did it, nor could they do it.

The challenge of the Noble Quran is still stands to the people of rhetoric from among the polytheists as well as the people of eloquence; and in spite of this, they are incapable of conquering the challenge, and have failed to bring the like of it.

Dr. Abdullah Diraz (may Allah have mercy upon him) says: ''Did the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) not fear that this challenge would provoke their literary fervor?

So, they would rise up to compete it, as they are all on high alert; and what would he do if a group of their rhetoricians committed themselves to produce a word that would match it, even in some aspects!

Then, if his self-persuaded him to pass this ruling on the people of his time, how would he pass it on future generations?

Indeed, this is an adventure that a man who knows his own worth would not dare to make, unless he actually has full trust in the ways the divine decree handles the matters, and in the information he receives from the heaven, and thus he threw the challenge to the whole world, so it was a determined decision; since everyone who attempted to imitate it showed total inability and incurred flagrant failure throughout the ages and times.'' [17]

These polytheists believed that the assembling of armies and forming of parties to fight the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him ) was easier than imitating the Quran and accepting the challenge. This was the last thing they could do. {Those who disbelieve say, “do not listen to this Quran, but make noise [when it is recited], so that you may prevail. [Surat Fussilat: 26]

Neither all of the Arabs, nor other nations to which the challenge was conveyed, came up with something in this regard that could comfort the atheists or a means by which they could comfort others.

Al-Al?si (may Allah have mercy upon him) says: ''None of them has uttered a word, up to this day, or mentioned a description or something described.''

Jubayr ibn Mut’im, who was not yet a Muslim then, said: "I heard the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) recite Surat at-Tur in Maghrib Prayer, when he reached this verse: {Were they created by none, or were they the creators [of themselves]?} {Or did they create the heavens and earth? Rather, they are not certain in faith.} {Or do they possess the treasures of your Lord, or do they have full control [of everything]?} [Surat at-Tur: 35-37]

He said: 'my heart was about to fly'.'' [18]

The Quran has amazing secrets that can reach the human soul.

Just reflect on how the polytheist women crowded around the house of Abu Bakr when he recited the Quran due to being excessively fascinated and impressed by it, so much so that the men of Quraysh panicked because of that. [19]

Therefore, the Arab delegations agreed that they would not listen to the Quran and not let their families listen to it, as this is the only way to retain their disbelief.

From the inexhaustible wonders of the Noble Quran, is what Dr. Abdullah Dir?z (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned regarding the revelation of the verses of the Quran at variant times, then the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) points out how some verses are placed in specific places in chapters while other verses are placed in other ones, then finally, each chapter appears as an independent structure. He (may Allah have mercy upon him) says: "At the time of the revelation of the Quran, some topics in the Quran were increasingly apart from other topics, and gradually forming independent units after other verses were revealed after them. Some of them were added to some chapter, and others overlapped with others in another chapter, according to the command of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), which he in turn received from the Holy Spirit.

If we take into account the innumerable dates - the dates of the revelation of the verses of the Noble Quran - and we notice that this revelation was generally related to special circumstances and occasions, this leads us to ask about the time when the process of organizing each chapter into an independent unit took place.

Its seems as if the Quran were separate and numbered pieces of an ancient building, which was intended to be rebuilt elsewhere in the same form as before; otherwise, how can this immediate and systematic arrangement at the same time be explained in relation to many of the chapters?

However, what historical guarantee can a person obtain when developing such a plan regarding future events, their legislative requirements, and the desired solutions for them, not to mention the linguistic form in which these solutions must be presented, and their stylistic compatibility with a specific chapter apart from the other?

Do we not conclude that the completion of this plan and its realization in the desired form requires the intervention of a great Creator, who has the ability to establish this desired coordination? [20]

In fact, the Quran is an independent miracle proving the truthfulness of his prophethood (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him).

His miracles (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) that took place at his hands are numerous, exceeding one thousand by far. They have occurred not too far from now, and their transmitters are the most truthful and the most righteous people.

Those narrators who transmitted these miracles to us did not used to lie even in the simplest issues, let alone lying against the Prophet when they knew that whoever lies against him intentionally, would occupy a seat in the Fire, as he (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) warned.

Some of his miracles (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) were witnessed by thousands of the Companions, and reported by tens of them, so how could they collaborate in lying about all these?

Example of his miracles that were witnessed by multitudes of people is the Hadīth of the moaning of the tree trunk, which is a well-known Mutawātir Hadīth. It reports the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) as delivering a sermon while standing on a tree trunk. When a pulpit was made for him, he mounted it and delivered the sermon, whereupon the tree trunk moaned like a small child. It continued to moan until the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) embraced it, so it calmed down and stopped moaning.

This Hadīth was narrated by a group of the Companions: Anas ibn Mālik, Jābir ibn Abdullah, Abdullah ibn Abbās, Abdullah ibn Umar, Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, Abu Sa‘?d, Sahl ibn Said, ‘?’ishah bint Abu Bakr and Umm Salamah.

Would such a number of the Companions collectively lie in transmitting a report like that one?

Actually, some of his miracles were witnessed by thousands of the Companions, like the incident where water sprang out from between his noble fingers, until one thousand and five hundreds of the Companions made ablution and drank from it, as reported in a Mutawātir Hadīth narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim.

Another incident was that he increased a small amount of food to feed his huge army, which is also reported in multiple narrations of the Companions. Al-Bukhāri alone cited the miracle of increasing the food at the hand of the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) in five places in his book of sahih. [21]

When the proofs of truthfulness are established, and the miracles confirming his prophethood are abundant (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), then how can a sane person belie all of this?

Here are other few examples of his miracles (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him):

He (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) told the Muslims during one night that a strong wind was going to blow, and he forbade  people from standing up. However, a man stood up and was carried by the wind that cast him at a faraway place. [22]

He (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) also informed them about the death of Negus on the same day he actually died. He offered funeral prayer for him, as he made Takbīr four times. [23]

Moreover, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) told about the martyrdom of Umar, Uthmān, Ali, Talhah and Az-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them) and that they would not die on their beds like the people do.

One day, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) ascended the mount along with Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān, ‘Ali, Talhah and Az-Zubayr, so a boulder started to shake, so the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said to a mountain: "Calm down, there is none upon you except a prophet, an affirmer of the truth, or a martyr." [24]

He confirmed that he was a prophet, that Abu Bakr was an affirmer of the truth, and that the rest would be martyrs. All what he (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) informed of did actually occur.

Furthermore, there are 150 Hadīths where the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated to his Lord and was responded to immediately while the people were witnessing! [25]

And when the people of Makkah asked the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) to show them a miracle, he showed them the moon split into two halves, until they saw Hir?’ Mount between them. This Hadīth is Mutawātir, meaning that it is of the highest degree of authenticity.

The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite Surat al-Qamar, which contains the miracle of splitting the moon, in major gatherings such as Fridays and Eids, so that the people could hear what it contained of his miracles, and he (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) used it as evidence of the truthfulness of his prophethood.

Also, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) informed that Adam was the last created living things: "And He created Adam after ‘Asr time (afternoon) on Friday as the last creation." [26]

This scientific fact has now become established, so how did he (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) know that Adam (peace be upon him) was the last created being to appear on earth after the appearance of plants and animals?

Consider the saying of Allah Almighty: {We have made the day and night as two signs. We darkened the night and made the day bright} [Surat Al-Isrā: 12]

The verse states that the moon, which is the sign of the night used to be shiny, then its light was effaced.

This is actually the explanation the Companions gave to that noble verse. Imam Ibn Kathīr reported in his Tafsīr that Abdullah ibn Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The moon used to shine like the sun, and being the sign of the night, it was darkened."

It is amazing that this is the exact conclusion science has reached now as NASA has published on its official website and official channel: "The first era of the moon's life, as it was shiny and luminous.[27]

It has been proven by uninterrupted transmission that it is only through the hands of this man (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) that all the signs have occurred, and news of the unseen as well as countless minute secrets of the earth and the heavens were revealed. The Quran was sent down to him, and he came with what the prophets before him came with, and he was supported by Allah and did not die until the Sharia was completed and perfected.

Therefore, acknowledgement with certitude that he was a prophet is quite rational.

His miracles related to the unseen are more than one thousand,

and those who reported his miracles are his Companions: the most truthful and righteous of the people after him.

What is really amazing is that the senior Companions had embraced Islam before seeing his miracles; they knew that Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) was truthful and that he never lied.

This attitude of the senior Companions is a wise logical attitude. The truthfulness of the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) is sufficient and is an independent evidence to prove the validity of his prophethood... This is because: The person who claims prophethood is either: the most truthful of people, for being a prophet... since a prophet is the most truthful of people.

Or he could be the worst liar among the people because he fabricates lies about the most serious and important matters.

Only the most ignorant of people are unable to distinguish between the most truthful of people from the worst liar. [28]

How easy it is for a wise person to distinguish between the most truthful of people and the worst liar.

Since the first day of his mission (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) the polytheists have admitted that he never lied, as they said to him: "We have never found you lying." [29]

When Heraclius asked Abu Sufyān before he embraced Islam: "Did you accuse him of lying before he said what he said?"

Abu Sufyān said: "No."

Heraclius said: "He would not have given up lying to people then lie about Allah."

Then Heraclius continued his famous saying: "If I were with him, I would wash his feet."[30]

The disbelievers were unable to prove even a single incident of lying during his entire life (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) and that is why the Quran criticized them for their disbelief despite their knowledge of his state before his mission. Our Lord, Glory be to Him, said {Or is it that they do not recognize their Messenger, so they deny him?} [Surat al-Mu’minūn: 69]

The character of the Prophet and his conduct are independent proof that he is a prophet

(May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him).

When the reasons for truthfulness in general are mutually supportive of his prophethood (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), then how can a rational person deny all this?

 26- How do I know that I am required to believe in Allah?

Answer: Look within yourself. You will know that you are tested. Do you not have a feeling inside you telling you to do what is right and not to do what is wrong?

If there is money in front of you and its owner is not paying attention to it, then you may get the feeling of taking this money and benefiting from it, as well as opposite feeling, telling you: Do not do that, for this is forbidden and a crime.

You are tested in every situation of your life.

You have this - do and do not do - feeling within yourself because you are really tested and not left in vain. You are not something worthless.

Allah Almighty said: {Indeed, we showed him the way, whether he is grateful or ungrateful.} [Surat Al-Insān: 3]

Having this feeling of 'do and do not do' means that a human will either be grateful or ungrateful in every aspect of his life.

Rather, in every step of his life, he can either do good or not, i.e. either he can go to the mosque or engage in amusement.

For this reason, Allah, Exalted be He, said: {I have not created the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.} [Surat adh-Dhāriyāt: 56]

In every step, you find a form of servitude to Allah, or disobedience of Him.

So, whoever is guided to do what Allah has commanded has been saved, and whoever disobeys His commands has erred.

This ability to choose entails that man will be accounted for all his deeds.

The purpose for which we are created is to be tested and to be put to trial, it is the purpose for which Allah sent the messengers and revealed the scriptures: {Indeed, we sent to every community a messenger, [saying], “Worship Allah and shun false gods.} [Surat an-Nahl: 36]

And after the test ends by death, we return to Allah {and to Whom you will all be brought back?} [Surat Yāsīn: 22]

{and that to your Lord is the final return,} [Surat an-Najm: 42]

{Indeed, to your Lord is the return.} [Surat al-Alaq]

We shall return to Allah to be reckoned for what we have done. {and that his efforts will be examined, then he will be recompensed in full,}

  [Surat an-Najm: 40-41]

You shall see the deeds you have done and will be reckoned for them. {o whoever does an atoms weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atoms weight of evil will see it.} [Surat az-Zalzalah: 7-8]

 27-Is it enough to believe in Allah, while disbelieving in the prophets?

Answer: No.

Believing in the existence of Allah while not believing in the prophets is not enough for a person to be a Muslim. What does it mean to believe that Allah is the Creator, the Provider, the Manager of affairs, and then disbelieve in His revelation and deny His Messengers?

This is major disbelief.

In fact, there is no greater crime than rejecting Allah’s revelation, Allah Almighty said: {Those who disbelieve in Allah and His messengers and wish to make a distinction between Allah and His messengers, and they say, we believe in some and disbelieve in others, wishing to adopt a way in between. It is they who are true disbelievers, and We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment.} [Surat an-Nis: 151]

So, the one who believes in Allah and disbelieves in the prophets is definitely a disbeliever.

Anyone who disbelieves in one of the prophets is in fact, a disbeliever in Allah because he denied the revelation of Allah. Therefore, the People of the Book were disbelievers because they disbelieved in the prophethood of Muhammad ibn Abdullah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him). i {Those who disbelieve from the People of the Book and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, abiding therein forever. It is they who are the worst of creatures.} [Surat al-Bayyinah: 6]

Allah’s threaten that they will enter the Fire is true {so My warning was fulfilled.} [Surat Qāf: 14]

Neither would Islam be valid, or salvation be attained by mere acknowledging that Allah is the Creator, the Provider, the One Who gives life and the causes death; rather, it is essential to believe in His Messengers.

Therefore, belief in the existence of Allah and disbelief in the prophets is not sufficient and does not benefit the servant with Allah on the Day of Resurrection, as he must worship Allah and have faith in all his messengers.

If belief in the existence of Allah was sufficient, Allah would not have sent His messengers, nor would He have revealed His Books, because all human beings know Allah by natural disposition.

Allah, who created you, guided you, and provided you with sustenance, is the only one who deserves to be worshiped as He legislated through His messengers and prophets.

 28-Does the disbeliever receive reward from Allah for his good deeds?

Answer: Doing good deeds is a disposition upon which Allah has created people. Therefore, any person may do righteous deeds, even if he is a disbeliever or a polytheist. All people do good deeds due to the disposition they were created upon.

However, the condition for accepting a righteous deed is that it has to be done for the sake of Allah, i.e., for earning its reward from Allah.

For that reason, the one who disbelieves in Allah and worships other gods with Him, we say to him: Go to those to whom you set as partners with Allah in your good deeds and get your reward from them, for you did not seek by your good deeds to please Allah alone.

Imagine a person whose family raised him and spent on him until he became a strong young man, then he went to others to serve them. Does he have the right to go back to his family to say to them: Give me my wage for serving others?

Let him go to those whom he served and get his wage from them.

And for Allah is the highest example.

It is Allah Who created you, gave you provision, and bestowed upon you all your blessings, then you leave his worship and want to receive from him the reward for your deeds? How is that possible?

That is why Allah said: {We will turn to whatever deeds they did and turn them into scattered dust.} [Surat Al-Furqan: 23]

And He said: {As for those who disbelieve, their deeds are like a mirage in a plain desert, which a thirsty person deems to be water, until when he reaches it, he finds nothing} [Surat an-Nur: 39]

Those who disbelieve do not deserve reward for their deeds, even if they are righteous, because they are disbelievers who did not intend by their righteous deeds to obtain the reward of their Lord, nor did they seek the pleasure of their Creator.

So, it is not just the good deed that counts, for we are all naturally made to do many good deeds. However, the issue is why do you do this good deed and for whom do you do it? Do you do it for your own interest, or you do it out of ostentation, or you do it for someone other than Allah?

All this is not done for the sake of Allah; so, no reward is expected from these good deeds, which is expected from good deeds that are done for the sake of Allah.

 29-If Islam is the true religion, then why are there misconceptions?

Answer: A misconception is an issue of the religion that a Muslim does not understand, it may cause him confusion until he finds an answer to it.

Allah Almighty has willed that there be some ambiguous matters in some secondary issues of Islam, so that the people of falsehood would refrain from obeying their Lord on account of such matters.

Allah Almighty said: {It is He Who has sent down to you the Book. In it are definite verses, which are the foundation of the Book, while others are ambiguous. Those with deviant hearts follow the ambiguous verses, seeking discord and seeking their [false] interpretation. But no one knows their [true] interpretation except Allah. And those who are well-grounded in knowledge say, “we believe in it. It is all from our Lord. None will take heed except people of understanding.} [Surat Al Imran: 7]

Those with deviant hearts will follow such misconceptions seeking thereby Fitnah and to be away from Allah.

Allah, by His wisdom, has willed that there should be belief and disbelief among people. {some of you are disbelievers and some of you are believers} [Surat Taghābun: 2]

Those who desire disbelief become attached to these misconceptions and become preoccupied by them away from their religion, their prayers, and their faith.

As for the believer, he follows the definite evidence which is (the mother of the Book) on the validity of the religion and the validity of the message. If he finds something that he does not understand, he asks about it, but would never be distracted from his religion or prayer by what he does not understand.

Only those with sickness in their hearts are distracted from their religion by what they do not understand. {and so that those [hypocrites] in whose hearts is sickness and the disbelievers may say, what does Allah mean by this number? Thus Allah causes to stray whom He wills and guides whom He wills} [Surat al-Muddathir: 31]

The wisdom of the existence of such misconceptions is also highlighted in the fact that due to these unclear matters, the people of knowledge and insight are of variant positions, that is, the one who has knowledge knows the answer to such unclear matters and is distinguished because of this from a common person who has no profound knowledge of the religion, nor has he studied it. So, Allah will raise in degrees those who have knowledge.

The truth is crystal clear, yet misconceptions are essential, through which the faith of the believers is verified.

The established norm of Allah in His creation is assignment, and His norm in the assignment is the concealment of some wisdom. The person who is successful is the one who uses what he knows to infer what is hidden and subtle, and the unsuccessful is the one who takes his ignorance as a veil that deprives him of making his knowledge a way to infer what he does not know.

 30- Why did Allah create evil? Or in other words: How does a Muslim respond to the dilemma of evil?

The paradox of evil is roughly the major cause for atheism throughout history.

{There are some people who worship Allah on the edge [of faith]: if something good comes to them, they are content; but if they are afflicted with a trial, they turn back, thus losing both this world and the Hereafter. That is the evident loss.} [Surat al-Hajj: 11]

There are those who disbelieve in Allah due to a trial, affliction or a calamity that befalls them.

Here, an atheist may ask: Why does evil exist in the first place?

Simply, the answer is: Because we are under religious assignment.

Because we are in a world of tests.

Our Lord, the Exalted, said: {We test you with bad and good as a trial} [Surat al-Anbiyā: 35]

Good and evil exist because you are bound to religious assignment, which is the purpose of your existence.

Allah Almighty said: {He Who created death and life to test you as to which of you is best in deeds, and He is the All-Mighty, the Most Forgiving.} [Surat al-Mulk: 2]

The existence of evil, trials and calamities, is in itself the greatest evidence of the validity of the issue of religion and the error of atheism.

If we were the children of the material world, we would not comprehend neither good nor evil.

If the entire universe were meaningless, we would not  perceive at all that it is meaningless.[31] Because according to the atheistic view, we follow strict material imperatives, and the laws of nature apply to us, and in this context we will not comprehend the essence of evil nor the meaning of the word 'evil'.

So, do the most sophisticated animals perceive the paradox of evil?

In fact, understanding evil means that we are not children of this materialistic world, and that we derive our understanding of the existence of evil from a premise other than the Darwinian materialist premise of existence.

Instead, we belong to a divine premise, not to a materialistic, earthly atheistic model, and this is the only explanation why we comprehend evil.

As long as we are charged with religious assignment, it is natural that there are trials and affliction, and it is natural for us to perceive the meaning of evil.

Evil, some pain, and the ability to commit disobedience is the natural requirement and self-evidence outcome of free will and divine assignment.

The existence of evil, affliction, calamities, and desires disclose the best of a good person and the worst of a corrupt person.

It is astonishing that atheists deny the existence of the Creator because there is evil; they use the following analysis:

1-If the father is benevolent and likes good for his son, then why did he allow him to be given a painful injection against microbes?

2-Does the son suffer pain as a result of the injection?

3-Then, the father does not exist. [32]

So, is this a logical analysis?

Moreover, it is natural that we do not understand all the subtleties of divine wisdom in good and evil.

Allah has disclosed the wisdom of Al-Khadirs actions with Moses (peace be upon him), even though they are actions that are apparently disapproved and rejected, but they involve abundant good. Also, the story of Moses and Al-Khadir was not mentioned in the Quran as a form of narrative or storytelling, but as a matter of reflection and acknowledgment of the deficiency of the human soul and its hasty judgment.

What is even more astonishing about the issue of evil is that: If there were no evil in the world, you would not have left the place where you were born!

No civilization would have existed, nor cities, factories, or homes would be built, nor would people need work, nor would people think of resisting a disease, solving a problem, or inventing an idea to bring about convenience!

Nor would a person need to move from his place of birth in the first place.

For there is no evil, no trouble, no affliction, no fatigue, and no problems for which we should look for solutions!

So why toil, stay up late, think, and work?

Evil is an imperative necessity in this world!

Reflect on this!

And be conscience of Allah, for you have been given an assignment.

Many people go through affliction and evil, then they return to Allah and become righteous. Glory be to Allah, the Greatest, and praise be to Him.

There is a wisdom and good in all Allah’s predestinations.

A Muslim must believe in all Allah’s predestinations. The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If you had as much gold as equivalent to Mount ’Uhud which you spent in the cause of Allah, that would not be accepted from you until you believe in the Divine Decree and you know that whatever has befallen you, could not have missed you; and whatever didn't happen to you, could not have befallen you; and that if you were to die believing anything other than this, you would enter Hell." [33]

A Muslim is required to accept the predestination of Allah, with its good and evil aspects.

In fact, all of Allah's predestination is good, even if some of it seems outwardly to be evil, distressful, or harmful, but in the end they include great good and extensive divine wisdom.

 31- Was religion the cause of all the religious wars that dominated the world at some time in the past?

Answer: Humanity has lived with the laws of monotheism for thousands of years, and with the three great Abrahamic laws for four thousand years, and religion did not represent a direct threat to the human race, rather, it presented to humanity supreme moral values ??that both the believer and atheist agree upon, and further established genuine civilizations. We may argue that all good that exists on earth is one of the effects of those prophethoods! Religion has relieved the courts of thousands of cases, and above all that religion laid the foundation of knowledge, behavior and values ??for the purpose of human existence on earth! The countries that embraced monotheistic laws still have cultural diversity that retained the opponents and provided them with a roof of protection under the monotheistic laws themselves. On the other hand, as soon as some countries approached atheism, all humanity was on the verge of destruction within just one century! now come the atheists who talk to us about the danger of religion to humanity! Human history has not yet known a more dangerous methodology than atheism. The Gulag Massacres in the former Soviet Union by the atheist Lenin, the extermination of ethnic minorities in Nazi Germany, the emptying of a quarter of the Cambodian population by the atheist Pol Pot, the murder of 52 million Chinese in the Great Cultural Revolution At the hands of the atheist Mao Zedong, and the emergence of the League of Militant Atheists in Europe, which officially closed 42 thousand religious institutions - churches and mosques -, and killed tens of thousands of religious people, all this was the natural consequences and results of the emergence of atheism.[34] Rather, the first and second world wars were atheistic wars governed by atheistic perceptions of human races and ideas of striving for racial purity. The result was the extermination of about 5% of the world's population. World wars caused the deterioration of both the victorious and the defeated a third of a century back, and philosophers put a urinal in the middle of Paris as a metaphor for the end of civilization. Atheistic battles have left arsenals of nuclear weapons sufficient to exterminate the entire human race multiple times over. Actually, a simple reading of the wars of the twentieth century shows how miserable atheism is. Atheism has left behind a concept that the extinction of the human race in any future battle is a valid idea, and such is the expected atheistic output.

 32-Why have the Muslims been afflicted with backwardness despite their monotheistic religion while the West is so advanced?

Answer: This is a question of civilization!

The prophets have suffered a lot in the face of this question,

and it caused many followers to abandon them.

The question of civilization is the origin of the nations' disbelief throughout the ages.

Allah Almighty said: {When Our verses are recited to them in all their clarity, the disbelievers say to the believers, "Which of the two parties is better in terms of dwellings and superior in social gatherings?"} [Surat Maryam: 73]

When the verses that include proofs and evidence of the correctness of the religion were recited, the disbelievers used the advancement of the disbelieving nations as argument to oppose such verses. { "Which of the two parties is better in terms of dwellings and superior in social gatherings?"

Researcher Ibrāhim as-Sakr?n (may Allah preserve him) says: "This is historically true and a norm. It does not cease to amaze how it continues throughout the eras. The majority of those who were informed of  Allah since the dawn of the prophethood up until today. Islamic preaching always faces "material forces" that seek to surpass them and tempt people from following the revelation they came with.

Look at the experiences of the prophets, you will find that almost all of them represent a story that speaks about the conflict between the caller to  "divine revelation" and the temptation of "material forces." You will find that all those who work for the religion suffer great hardships due to people's infatuation with material manifestations. The people of the first prophet, Noah (peace be upon him) told him with all material frankness: {and we do not see those who follow you except the lowest among us}

[Surat Hud: 27]

Then, as soon as the Prophet of Allah, Moses, appeared, a series of tyranny and arrogance from the civil power was orchestrated against the revelation. {Moses said, "Our Lord, you have given Pharaoh and his chiefs splendor and wealth in the life of this world. Our Lord, they may lead people astray from Your way."} [Surat Yūnus: 88]

The situation was nothing new for our Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), as those who rejected his prophethood and the revelation, were trying to justify his material weakness as a pretext to turn away from him. {And they said, "Why was this Qur'an not sent down to a great man from one of the two towns?"}

[Surat az-Zukhruf: 31]"

End of the words of Ibrāhim as-Sakran?.

Throughout the ages and history of prophethood, humanity has not been afflicted with an affliction greater than the fascination by the material power of the disbelievers,

although there is no relationship between progress and the truth in the first place.

In fact, material progress and backwardness have nothing to do with who is right and who is wrong.

For a person to be virtuous and righteous, he does not necessarily have to be civilized.

A person could be a devout Muslim, yet poor and simple, and it could be the other way around.

Many are those nations that were advanced in civilization, but they were the most distant people from Allah's law, religion, and revelation. {Have they not traveled through the land to see how was the end of those who came before them? They were more powerful than them, and they tilled the land and built it more than these people have ever built.} [Surat Ar-Rum: 9]

Material progress and financial wealth are not a criterion for defining who adheres to the truth. {When their messengers came to them with clear proofs, they exulted in whatever knowledge they had, and they were overwhelmed by what they used to ridicule.} [Surat Ghāfir: 83]

So, material progress is not praised in itself, nor is it dispraised. Rather, it is praised in as much as it is credited by the divine revelation, and according to the extent to which religion is applied in it, and how you benefit from it in your religion, and how you use it to benefit people and improve their conditions for the sake of Allah.

This is the required progress.

The true criterion for excellence between human beings is not in their material progress, but in their variant degrees of piety and righteous deeds. Material progress comes as a means and not as an end... It comes as a means of serving and benefiting people for the sake of Allah.

Thus, it is the only required material progress, for it is praised by divine revelation.

This is the real succession on earth: succession that is based on servitude to Allah, and the succession of faith-related purification of all aspects of life. {It is those who, if We give them power in the land, they establish prayer and give Zakah, and enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. And to Allah belongs the outcome of all matters.} [Surat al-Hajj: 41]

And know that if a Muslim does what he is required to do, Allah will facilitate for him means to all good, happiness, progress in this world, salvation and an elevation of degree in the Hereafter. {Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will make them successors in the land, as He made those who came before them, and He will surely establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them, and He will surely change their state of fear into security; that they worship Me, not associating anything with Me.} [Surat an-Nur: 55]

When the Muslims used to apply their religion, they were leaders in religious and worldly affairs.

By their hands Islam as a civilization  spanned 1200 years, the longest civilization that continued without interruption or cessation for all this period.

Islam was the founder of the Islamic civilization.

Thus, it is the only religion that established a civilization,

whereas other religions were embraced  by civilizations.

For instance, western civilization embraced Christianity and the Indian civilization embraced Hinduism.

However, the only religion that established a civilization is: Islam.

When Muslims were aware of what they are required to do regarding their religion, they led the world materially and spiritually.

When Islam entered Constantinople in 1453 AD, the Dark Middle Ages of Europe came to an end.

Actually, the date of the end of the Dark Ages is 1453 AD, the same year that Islam entered Europe.

As soon as Islam entered the heart of Europe, the light of knowledge shone in it.

In the Library of Congress, circles on the ceiling of the main hall of the library are engraved indicating the sources of the progress of Western civilization, and Islam is the only religion mentioned in the seven circles.

Islam is the only religion mentioned, as related to natural sciences.

ISLAM: PHYSICS

While the rest of the circles mention names of countries, and what these countries have contributed are literary, artistic, or linguistic progress!

However, Islam introduced science, and for seven hundred years the international language of science in the world was: Arabic.[35]

If Muslims set right their religion, their worldly life will be set right (as well).

 33-What are the benefits of worshiping Allah, the Almighty and Exalted?

Answer: Man, by nature, cannot recognize his own self, relish peacefulness of the soul nor can his heart be reassured except by worshiping Allah. {those who believe and whose hearts find tranquility in the remembrance of Allah, for indeed in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find tranquility.} [Surat ar-Ra’d: 28]

Worship gives tranquility to the soul: {We know that you are distressed by what they say. Glorify your Lord with praise and be among those who prostrate [to Him], and worship your Lord} [Surat al-Hijr: 97-98]

Worship your Lord so that your heart is reassured.

That is why offering two rak’ahs with devotion and submissiveness do to the human soul what hours of psychological calming sessions fail to do.

Verily, worship inspires tranquility to the human soul, and anyone who is distant from the remembrance of Allah, suffers restlessness; you will find him always longing for worldly gains, yet he is neither satiated nor reassured. {But whoever turns away from My Reminder will have a miserable life} [Surat Taha: 124]

No matter how well-off a person may be; without faith, he will have a life of distress, and he will engage in an unending frantic race with the unknown, so you will always see him anxious.

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever is focused only on the worldly life, Allah will confound his affairs and make him fear poverty constantly, and he will not get anything of this world except that which has been decreed for him. But whoever is focused on the Hereafter, Allah will settle his affairs for him and make his heart rich and worldly gains will come to him in subjection." [36]

Worship liberates a Muslim from submission to the worldly life and makes him free.

Therefore, a Muslim who truly worships Allah is a person who understands the meaning of life, the value of this world, the purpose of his existence in this world, and understands that he is in this world to be tested and to worship his Lord as due, and not to live in anxiety uselessly. Our Lord, the Almighty, said: {It is He Who created death and life to test you as to which of you is best in deeds} [Surat al-Mulk: 2]

 34-What are the manifestations of submission to Allah Almighty? Or in other words: How do you know that you are completely submitting to Allah?

Answer: There are four signs for submission to Allah Almighty:

First: Showing servitude to Allah in every small or big matter in your life. Allah Almighty said: {Say, "Indeed, my prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying are all for Allah, Lord of the worlds. He has no partner. This is what I have been commanded, and I am the first to submit to Allah.}

 [Surat Al-An’ām: 162-163]

My prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying are all for Allah: All what I do is for Allah; I pray to Allah, obey my parents for Allah, study and learn in order to benefit people for Allah. I sleep so that  I have energy in the morning to do what Allah has commanded me to do.

It is servitude to Allah represented in every deed. This is the first manifestation and sign of submission to Allah.

The second sign: For you to be fully submissive to Allah, you have to comply with what Allah has commanded and avoid what He has forbidden. Our Lord, the Exalted, said: {O you who believe, obey Allah and His Messenger, and do not turn away from him after hearing [his command]. [Surat al-Anfal: 20]

Allah Almighty also said: {O you who believe, enter into Islam completely} [Surat al-Baqarah: 208]

Enter into Islam completely:

Comply with all what Allah has commanded and refrain from what he has forbidden.

When Allah commands me to do something, I should do it, when He forbids me from doing something, I refrain. This is a complete submission and surrender to Allah.

The third sign of submission to Allah is to refer the judgment to the law of Allah with willingness and acceptance.

We accept all divine legislation and do not deny, for example, the punishments that Allah has legislated. Rather, we must be pleased with Allah's law, because Allah knows what sets right his creation, and knows that these punishments purify the society {Does He not know His Own creation, when He is the Most Subtle, the All-Aware?}

Allah Almighty also said: {Who could be better than Allah in judgment} [Surah Al-Mā’idah 50]

Allah is the One who knows what works best for people in their worldly life and in the Hereafter.

The application of Allah's law purifies the people and makes them live in peace.

A man claiming to be a believer in Allah and in what was revealed to the Prophet (may Allah's  peace and blessings be upon him) went to a Jew called, Ka’b ibn al-Ashraf, to judge for him in one of in a particular case instead of going to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) for fear that the Messenger of Allah may issue a ruling that is not in his favor. So he went to the Jew, hoping for a ruling he wished, so Allah Almighty revealed: {Have you not seen [O Prophet] those who claim that they believe in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down before you, yet they seek the judgment of T?ghoot [false judges], even though they were commanded to reject them? Satan wants to lead them far astray.} [Surat an-Nis: 60]

If you are a Muslim who submits to Allah, then you must abide by Allah's law, and accept Allah's judgment with full conviction, even if Allah's judgment is against your wishes, not to leave Allah's law and go to a Jew to rule for you in your case in order to please you.

Allah Almighty said:

{We did not send any Messenger but to be obeyed by Allah's permission.}  [Surat an-Nis: 64]

Allah did not send the messengers so that we leave them and seek the judgment of others than them.

Then Allah Almighty concludes the lesson from this incident and it is like with an important verse that shows the necessity of submitting to the law of Allah, our Lord Almighty said: {But no, by your Lord, they will not believe until they accept you [O Prophet] as judge in their disputes and find no discomfort within their hearts about your judgments but accept them wholeheartedly.} [Surat an-Nis: 65] It is a must to submit to the law of Allah since it is a sign of complying with Islam.

As for the fourth sign of submitting to Allah Almighty, it is: submission to Allah's predestination, for everything is predestined by Allah Almighty with His wisdom, and therefore a Muslim submits to Allah in all His decrees… in good and evil.

When good things happen to a Muslim, he is grateful to his Lord, and when distress befalls him, he is patient.

If Allah provides you with food, good sustenance, nice house, success in study, a healthy body, or a kind family, you should thank Allah.

On the other hand, if a Muslim is afflicted with illness, poverty, fear, trial, or grief, he should show patience for this distress and seek the help of Allah. Such is the attitude of a Muslim who is submissive to his Lord, the Exalted.

Everything takes place by the predestination of Allah, the Exalted: health, illness, richness and poverty...everything happens by His predestination and wisdom. A Muslim has to be pleased with the decrees because Allah is the one who decrees them.

Allah Almighty said: {Indeed, we have created everything according to a determined measure.} [Surat al-Qamar: 49]

He also said: {Say, nothing will ever befall us except that which Allah has decreed for us} [Surat at-Tawbah: 51]

Only what Allah has decreed for us will happen to us.

He, Exalted be He, said: {No soul can die except with Allah’s permission at a destined time.} [Surat Al-Imran: 145]

Allah has destined the lifespans (we live).

Everything in the universe, and every atom that moves in the world, all that happens therein actually happens according to the knowledge and the will of Allah, and by Allah's wisdom and predestination.

Our Lord, the Exalted, said: {He has created everything and measured it precisely.} [Surat Al-Furqan: 2]

Allah Almighty created all things and predestined everything. Whatever He has willed did happen, and whatever He has not willed never happened.

Being a Muslim, I am required to willingly accept all that is decreed by Allah Almighty.

In this way, one becomes a Muslim submitting to Allah.

 Finally, how can I embrace Islam?

Islam is the religion of Allah for all mankind. Allah Almighty said: {The true religion with Allah is Islam.} [Surat Al Imran: 19]

Islam is the only religion that Allah accepts out of all other religions. {Anyone who seeks a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted from him; and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers.} [Surat Al Imran: 85]

Therefore, every person must embrace Islam.

In Islam, there is salvation from the Fire and the attainment of Allah's pleasure and Paradise.

Entering into Islam is one of the greatest blessings; rather, it is the greatest and most significant matter in your existence.

In its essence, Islam is a return to natural disposition and reason.

Entering Islam is easy and does not require rituals or official matters, only a person must utter the Two Testimonies of Faith, by saying: I bear witness that there is no god, but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

By saying this, he becomes a Muslim,

and has to start practicing Islam.

I recommend following Islam House website, each according to his language, so that the new Muslim learns how to practice Islam.

Website link: https://islamhouse.com/