No human being on the earth ever lived without encountering the following questions at least once in his/ her life time:
Why do we exist? Why does the universe exist? Is there any value or purpose for our existence? None of us had planned to be born in this world; so, why are we here on the earth now? What is our purpose and mission here on the earth? Why do we have difficulties, tragedies, pain and sorrow here? Why do we have thoughts? Why do we have a sense of existence, sense of purpose, intelligence, memory, ability for imagination and capacity for rational thinking? Why does evil and injustice to innocents exist here? Why do people have opportunity to hate, cheat and kill each other here? Why there is war and violence? Why there are nuclear bombs? Why innocent poor people struggle for even food for a single time in a day while rich waste it throughout the day?
Are these all the products of blind laws of physics? Did these all come into existence accidentally by blind natural processes of evolution? Are the poor and weak the victims of these blind physical laws of the universe? Did their sufferings come into existence by blind laws of nature?
For convenience, I would like to reduce all these questions to a simple one: i.e., the problem of existence.
Logically, there can be two-solutions for the problem of existence or the reasons behind why do we and the universe exist.
Solution 1: Everything i.e., Sun, earth, plants, animals, sense organs, intelligence, memory, imagination, human beings, war, violence, pain, sorrow, sufferings, nuclear bombs, smart phones, driverless cars, supersonic aircrafts, super computers, etc. came into existence accidentally by natural processes and by blind laws of physics without any kind of involvement of an intelligent designer or Creator.
Solution 2: A Being who is eternal, independent of space and time, perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness created it from nothing for a purpose in which the purpose can be comprehended by the infinite wisdom of the Creator alone where the creations can’t grasp the reasons why they are created because of their finite intelligence and knowledge.
God existence remains hidden from naked eyes because of the fact that God’s original intention is to test the whole mankind at individual level who all are denying God or who all are accepting him by provision of freedom of choice and freewill for both in equal i.e., either to accept God or deny him. If God is visible by naked eyes to mankind, then probably there won’t be any significance for divine test of life of mankind. This is the logic we realize with our limited reasoning ability and intelligence why God is behind the scenes now.
God will test us for a negligible period of average 75-100 years of life on the earth either with worldly pleasures such as wealth, power, fame, food, sex, luxuries, entertainments etc. or with tragedies, difficulties, diseases, pain, sorrow and sufferings. There will be peace of mind in this world and heaven in the hereafter whoever succeeds this test by obeying commandments of God without rejecting or cursing God and those people will live eternally in heaven with everlasting happiness and zero sorrow.
Nobody is predestined by God to become an atheist or theist. An atheist will be never forced by God to become a theist and vice versa. God has dispersed in-direct evidences such as purposeful, beautiful, intelligent, complex creations on the earth, divine revelations through God’s selected messengers such as Prophet Muhammad, Jesus Christ, Moses etc. as proofs for God’s existence and it seems direct evidence such as seeing God with naked eye will nullify the God’s intended test. Beauty and logic of this test is understood when we realize the fact that even though God know result of the test prior to the test as God is all-knowing, the individual like you and me who is undergoing the test never know the result of the test until the end of test i.e., until we die and resurrected at the Day of Judgment.
Still, neither we are not informed about is there any hidden Wisdom behind why God created us nor it remains solely with God and we can’t grasp it with our limited intelligence and knowledge even though we are informed about it.
At the end of the day, it is worth mentioning here that God is not questionable for any actions such as why God created us or created this world for testing mankind where we are questionable by God because we are just God’s creations!
So sad to mention here that the claim (i.e., solution 1) ) of my beloved atheist friends and authors that everything i.e., Sun, earth, plants, animals, sense organs, intelligence, memory, imagination, human beings, war, violence, pain, sorrow, sufferings, nuclear bombs, smart phones, driverless cars, supersonic aircrafts, super computers, etc. came into existence accidentally by natural processes without any purpose or intelligent effort of a Creator and by blind laws of physics is baseless and totally illogical and a rational, unbiased, open-minded inquirer of truth can’t accept this claim as real and rational.
According to my beloved atheist friends and authors, the idea of a Being who is eternal, independent of space and time, perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness is illogical and it is the idea of a universe or multiverse which is eternal that makes sense! ( They propagate their illogical and irrational claims at the expense of science or scientism that everything came into existence without a purpose accidentally by blind laws of physics without intelligent effort of a Creator which mainly happened because of the misconception that the existence of God is a superstition and hence anything regarding the existence of God is incompatible with science and reason, which is not true.)
In both the cases (i.e., solution 1 or solution 2), either universe or Creator is eternal. So, what is rational in inquiring who created the Creator while universe can be eternal? It does not make sense because Creator is eternal and perfection of the Creator in power, wisdom, goodness is a fact that is confirmed from credible source (The Holy Qur’an) and also it does not make any sense to doubt any source that is credible.(It is explained in the latter session of this article why the Holy Qur’an is the credible source to know about attributes of the Creator)
It seems that my beloved atheist friends and authors have been either mentally conditioned to blindly trust science for all questions of life or brainwashed by a narrow perception of reality promoted by fundamentalist fervor of scientism; i.e., an exaggerated trust in the efficacy of the methods of natural science applied to all areas of investigation (as in philosophy, the social sciences, and the humanities).
There are plenty of evidences for the existence of a Creator. A very few of them are listed below:
1. Evidence from the existence of self-awareness.
2. Evidence from the existence of the capacity for rational thinking.
3. Evidence from the existence of sense of purposeful existence of complex living beings and fine-tuned universe.
4. Evidence from the existence of sense of a definite purpose, intelligence, beauty and complexity which can be experienced anywhere in the universe.
5. Evidence from the existence of pain and suffering.
6. Evidence from the existence of thousands of men at different time periods in history who were martyred or tortured for preaching the existence of the Creator. They were either tortured to death or offered worldly pleasures such as power, wealth, beautiful women, wines, honors, fame etc. by their enemies, or both, to stop preaching about the Creator. But, still they sacrificed their precious life and remained steadfast for preaching the existence of the Creator in spite of all these sufferings or temptations. For example, Prophet Muhammad, Jesus Christ, Moses etc.
7. Finally, but not least, the evidence from the existence of the Holy Qur’an. The Holy Qur’an is the ultimate proof for the existence of the Creator, i.e., the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness.
The Holy Qur’an revealed to Prophet Muhammad by the Creator as the final message of divine guidance to the entire mankind through the angel called Gabriel in the duration of 23 years, part by part, in different contexts. He memorized and delivered this original verses of the Holy Qur’an revealed to him time to time, to his companions orally and they memorized it and later preserved it as Scripture for the future generations of the mankind. The Holy Qur’an is divinely protected by the Creator by the Will of the Creator, from making any modifications or changes to the original verses of the Holy Qur’an by any human being, even the Prophet Muhammad, as it is the final revelation and the final message of divine guidance from the Creator to the entire mankind.
Prophet Muhammad was illiterate and was an orphan. He lived in Mecca of Arabia peacefully as an ordinary man in his entire youth till 40 years old, honored and loved by all Arabian tribes of Mecca as honest and trustworthy (His nickname was Al-Ameen which means trustworthy) before his prophethood by the Creator, and once he informed his prophethood to powerful and mighty Arabian tribes of Mecca, suddenly they started perceiving him as their enemy and identified Prophet Muhammad as a threat to their authority, power, leadership and even their existence.
Being unable to stop people from listening to the Holy Qur’an because of the inimitable literary merit of the Holy Qur’an and without realizing the mission and the divine origin of the Holy Qur’an, the powerful and mighty Arabian tribes united against Prophet Muhammad and offered power, wealth, most beautiful women in Arabia of his choice, fame and other worldly pleasures to persuade him to stop preaching the message of Islam. After realizing that these temptations had zero impact on Prophet Muhammad, they tried to torture him by all means and Prophet Muhammad even survived a well-planned assassination plot sponsored by the Arabian tribes of Mecca by the Will of the Creator and finally migrated from his motherland as per the order of the Creator, with great sorrow and pain. There were several assassination attempts by enemies throughout Prophet Muhammad’s life since his prophethood , but the Prophet survived them all only because of the Divine protection from the Creator, nothing else.
Therefore, if the illiterate Prophet Muhammad had attempted to fabricate Qur’an either by himself or stealing it from Bible or Torah it could be easily caught and mercilessly destroyed and defeated at once by his educated, literate enemies, i.e., the powerful and mighty Arabian tribes (who were united against their common enemy, the Prophet Muhammad), Christians and Jews of his time . There were educated, literate people in Arabia who could produce a better work than Qur’an because Prophet Muhammad was an illiterate whereas his enemies were united, wealthy, powerful and enjoyed support of several men who all were educated, literate and were able to do all humanly possible solutions to destroy Prophet Muhammad forever. But no one in Arabia was able to produce a work similar to Qur’an or better than Qur’an.
The eternal challenge raised in the Holy Qur’an by the God to the mankind, to produce a chapter like the Qur’an, remains unchallenged even after 1400 years, even in this 21st century:
“Or do they say: “He (Prophet Muhammad) has forged it (this Quran)?” Nay! they do not believe. Then let them bring an announcement like it if they are truthful.” [ Translations of the Qur’an, Surah 52: AT-TUR (THE MOUNT,Verses 052.033, 052.034)http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/052-qmt.php ]
“And if you are in doubt as to that which We have revealed to Our servant (Prophet Muhammad), then produce a chapter like it and call on your witnesses besides Allah if you are truthful.” [ Translations of the Qur’an, Surah 2: AL-BAQARA (THE COW, Verse 002.023)http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/002-qmt.php ]
“Say: “If the whole of mankind and Jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this Qur’an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support.”” [ Translations of the Qur’an, Surah 17: AL-ISRA (ISRA’, THE NIGHT JOURNEY, CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, Verse 017.088 ) http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/017-qmt.php ]
NOTE: There are still some more verses of challenge in the Holy Qur’an which are not mentioned here for convenience. Quoting all will make this article too broad.
Also, how rational and logical it is to assume that a man who was an illiterate, honored, loved and nicknamed as Al-Ameen (trustworthy) because of his honesty by all Arabian tribes, who had never told a lie or cheated anyone for financial, material, or personal gains in his entire youth until 40 years old, before his prophethood at the age of 40, suddenly lied and made false claims about the existence of God and fabricated the Holy Qur’an , even surviving well-planned assassination plots and continuous tortures against him?
In addition, if no one in Arabia was able to produce a work similar to the Holy Qur’an or better than the Holy Qur’an, why didn’t the Prophet Muhammad take credit for the authorship of the Holy Qur’an and wasted the golden opportunity to become great like William Shakespeare or someone else?
Moreover, if Prophet Muhammad had fabricated the Holy Qur’an, how can be there a criticism of Prophet Muhammad in the Holy Qur’an? See the following verses of the Holy Qur’an in this regard:
“He (Prophet Muhammad) frowned and turned (his) back. Because there came to him (Prophet Muhammad) the blind man. And what would make you (Prophet Muhammad) know that he (the blind man) would purify himself, or become reminded so that the reminder should profit him (the blind man)?” [ Translations of the Qur’an, Surah 80: ABASA (HE FROWNED, Verses from 080.001 to 080.004) http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/080-qmt.php ]
“O Prophet! Why do you forbid (yourself) that which Allah has made lawful for you? You seek to please your wives? and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.” [ Translations of the Qur’an, Surah 66: AT-TAHRIM (BANNING, PROHIBITION, Verse 066.001) http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/066-qmt.php ]
This criticism of Prophet Muhammad by the God in the Holy Qur’an remains unaltered from 1400 years ago and it will remain unaltered until the Day of Judgment as the Holy Qur’an is divinely protected by the God and any human being even Prophet Muhammad couldn’t alter it.
This reveals the fact neither Prophet Muhammad fabricated the Holy Qur’an nor Prophet Muhammad had any influence on the original verses of the Holy Qur’an which revealed to him by the Creator.
TAILPIECE:
1. Let me ask you. “You” were not existed 100 years ago. Then why do “you” exist now? What caused it? Don’t categorize atoms or electrons of your physical body as “you”. Atoms or electrons are not “you”. They can’t produce the unique “you” and your individual consciousness or the unique feeling that “you exist right now; you aware of your surroundings; your unique feeling of pain and sorrow” etc. Atoms or electrons of your physical body have nothing to do with “You” and your consciousness. Atoms or electrons which exist now in your body are doing so, according to the same laws of physics in which those atoms or electrons used to exist earlier somewhere in the universe, before you are on the earth or after.
2. What is the logical and rational plausibility of our assumption that physical objects which are made up of atoms (it is self-evident that atoms don’t have any self-awareness!) , for example, a stone ( or any inorganic material) of certain mass (Kg), when subjected to evolutionary forces of magnitude of certain Newtons (N) for trillion, trillion, trillions of years or even infinite time , the stone will become ‘self-aware’ in such a way that now the stone is able to ‘think’, ‘aware’, and ‘reason’ about even ‘its’ own existence and ‘its’ surroundings, able to grasp the laws of physics, mathematics, able to involve in logical reasoning, able to draw logical conclusions, able to feel sense of purpose, able to feel sense of existence, able to feel pain and sorrow etc.?
1. Let me ask you. “You” were not existed 100 years ago. Then why do “you” exist now? What caused it? Don’t categorize atoms or electrons of your physical body as “you”. Atoms or electrons are not “you”. They can’t produce the unique “you” and your individual consciousness or the unique feeling that “you exist right now; you aware of your surroundings; your unique feeling of pain and sorrow” etc. Atoms or electrons of your physical body have nothing to do with “You” and your consciousness. Atoms or electrons which exist now in your body are doing so, according to the same laws of physics in which those atoms or electrons used to exist earlier somewhere in the universe, before you are on the earth or after.
2. What is the logical and rational plausibility of our assumption that physical objects which are made up of atoms (it is self-evident that atoms don’t have any self-awareness!) , for example, a stone ( or any inorganic material) of certain mass (Kg), when subjected to evolutionary forces of magnitude of certain Newtons (N) for trillion, trillion, trillions of years or even infinite time , the stone will become ‘self-aware’ in such a way that now the stone is able to ‘think’, ‘aware’, and ‘reason’ about even ‘its’ own existence and ‘its’ surroundings, able to grasp the laws of physics, mathematics, able to involve in logical reasoning, able to draw logical conclusions, able to feel sense of purpose, able to feel sense of existence, able to feel pain and sorrow etc.?
