(WARNING: Very long status!) I never liked the fact that people think Muslims are Muslims because they are born in to Islamic families. We are taught to learn and act upon knowledge throughout our lives. Even before I knew that I was curious about the what Ifs of life. What if I wasnt Muslim from the start? What would I think? What would I believe? Does what I believe now make any sense? What if Im wrong? So one of the things I started with was, Does it make sense for God to exist? Of course there are many reasons people use such as the everything is created, the signs in nature, the reasons behind events in everyones lives. But one I thought about a great deal over the years was what effect Gods existence has on our actions. I found a video earlier today with a man sharing my same question. And he answered it pretty nicely! It was almost the same answer I found myself many years ago, and which I still find unchanged. Following my routine check of whether Im on the right path or not I decided to look at some Christian Q&A sessions to see how much their stuff made sense. The first one I found didnt seem to be a Q&A, but a man relating the way children think to some philosophy. Later on in the video, a second man shares his insight into how I think he came in to Christianity. And thats where I was awestruck with his explanation! The video has some music at the very last minute, but if you still want to see it go to YouTube and add watch?v=1XXBfRKmp8o (without quotations) to the end and skip to 11:47 for part second mans talk. To those who cant see the video or do not want to see it. I transcribed the last part: As someone raised in a non-Christian home, I struggled as a teenager with the issue of meaning to life and it seemed to me that there are two fundamental prerequisites if life is to have meaning, and those two prerequisites are God and immortality. If there is no God and immortality then it seems to me that life ultimately becomes absurd, because then life ends simply in death and there is no transcendent to infuse meaning into the lives that we do have. It seems to me that life ultimately becomes without significance, without value, and without purpose. I remember the first time that my father told me as a little boy that someday I was going to die. Somehow the thought just never occurred to me, but when he told me that it filled me with terrible sadness and horror and I just cried and cried and cried. He tried to comfort me by saying that my death was a long way off, but somehow that didnt seem to matter. In time of course I grew used to the fact and managed to live with it, but reading later in life the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, I think I realized that the childs insight was the correct one. Sartre said whether its a few hours or a few years makes no difference once youve lost eternity. And I think thats very true if all we do is live to die, then ultimately our lives have no more significance than a barnyard of pigs or a swarm of mosquitoes. If we live merely to die, then our lives ultimately have no purpose. All of the achievements of mankind, all of the sacrifices, all of the great things are ultimately buried in the midst of the universe in ruins; it ultimately makes no difference. Our lives are ultimately without value. Why live as a mother Teresa rather than as a Stalin, or as a Hitler? Ultimately everyones speed is the same and the contributions that good people make ultimately make no difference to the fate of the universe. But its not just immortality that we need I think if our lives are to be significant its also God; because if we have mere immortality but without God, there is no one to say what is the absolute standard of right and wrong with good and evil. We would still be purposeless byproducts of the matter plus time plus chance with no reason for living. There still wouldnt be any ultimate significance to our lives just in virtue of its having infinite duration. But if God exists, then as in the Christian world and life view, our lives here on earth are infused with an eternal significance because our end is not death, it is eternal life to know God and enjoy Him forever. And there is an absolute standard of right and wrong and God himself in his nature and that makes the moral choices that we make in this life tremendously significant. And so basically I found in the Christian world and life view those necessary prerequisites for meaning to life; namely God and immortality. -William Lane Craig This is the first person Ive ever heard explain the same things that I was thinking, so it felt extra special and I wanted to share that with everyone! :) Of course for his ending, the Muslim world and life view also applies here. We after all worship the same God, only some old rules have been reestablished, and some new ones set in. And it was the final refinement of law and order for mankind. Im pretty sure for the average Atheist, the fact that this makes life more meaningful to a person isnt enough to establish existence, but for different people there are different situations which will lead them to believe. At least for me, THIS along with other explanations and life events is what brings me to firmly believe in One God. This is one of the first steps for someone outside any religion to take before deciding if there really is a religion to follow. All this also only makes sense for One God, thus ruling out Pagan religions. What brings me back to Islam time and time again is the fact that Islam is the only religion where I find the religious practices are true acts of devotion and worship to God; and at the same time the acts improve everything good about oneself. There is also a hadith whose narration Ive forgotten, but is one of my favorites. As much as I can remember it was about one of the Muslim enemy leaders asking his people either before or after a battle why the Muslims couldnt be defeated or why they were too strong for his army. The part of the answer I remember was something similar to they are a people who fast all day and pray all night, they enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil. How can we defeat such a people? May Allah forgive me for anything wrong I wrote and may someone correct me about it. But either way, those facts are true. The better Muslims practice Islam, the closer they get to those ideals. And anyone who knows the struggle of praying just our compulsory prayers, practicing good manners, or resisting urges for mischief know how much determination, high tolerance and will power each one takes to do properly. A nation of people who strive to strive like the Prophet (PBUH) is a nation that can do practically anything. That is why I chose Islam, love the teachings and practices of Islam and will continue to choose Islam over other ways of life even as my knowledge grows in sha Allah (If Allah Wills). I hope that this at least helps some Muslims with doubts strengthen their relation with Allah (SWT), and some people of other beliefs to at least become curious and seek out the truth with some determination and patience in sha Allah. Jazak Allah Khair (May Allah Reward You With Good) to anyone who had the patience to read all the way through! :)
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 06:40:03 +0000
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