Why Are We Here?

Why am I here in this life? What is the purpose of my existence? Where am I going after death? These are innate teleological questions concerning the purpose for our existence: Questions that set us apart from animals that are only driven by instinct This innate component: The sense of purpose is a mercy and a torment as we will see in this episode All praise be to Allah and may the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon His Prophet The innate sense of purpose is a mercy and a torment: A mercy from the perspective of faith because it propels the human to search for answers Thus he is guided to the true religion that provides rational, soothing and convincing answers So Man connects with his Lord and draws on the pure light of Revelation; like a lost spaceship finally connecting with its station and adjusting its flight path to a preset plan for a safe landing On the other hand, this innate component is a torment for the atheist because it generates unanswered questions; which if he tries to answer, he experiences feelings of nihilism, meaninglessness, and valuelessness! In this episode, we will see examples of this torment Then we'll see how atheists fumble to evade this torture and how faith dignifies humans while atheism degrades them William Provine, Professor in the history of biology at Cornell University was an atheist Where did atheism lead him? Let's see! ''No gods, no life after death, no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning in life, and no human free will. These are all deeply connected to an evolutionary perspective. You are here today and gone tomorrow, and that's all there's to it." So, Provine says what people of old said, "And they said, 'We have only this life to live; we die and come to life again; it is (the passage of) time alone that deals us death." (Quran Translated Meaning 45:24) He acknowledges that this means the absence of any meaning or purpose in life Provine had recovered from brain cancer but expected its recurrence With such an expectation, where did his atheism lead him? Let's see! ''I'm not going to sit around like my older brother did last year, when he was dying of Lou Gehrig's disease. He wanted desperately to die, but we couldn't help him die. I don't want to die like that. I am going to shoot myself in the head, long before that." This is the consequence then! Since there is no purpose or meaning in life; I'll either live a 'beautiful' life (in the material animalistic sense); or I'm better off ending it myself! Hence we emphasize that "the purpose of life" question is a torment for the denier of the existence of Allah! Let's see examples of how atheists deal with the "purpose of life question" and its torment and how they evade this question The atheist Richard Dawkins was asked whether science answers the question, "Why are we here in this life?" What was his answer? Let's see: - "A scientist, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist - like Peter Medawar would say - that the question: Why are we here? can't be answered by science - and I don't understand how we can say with such confidence that it can." [Richard Dawkins] "Well, what I would say about the question 'Why' is Why do you think you have any right to ask it? It's not a meaningful question. If you say, however, 'Why do mountains exist?' There are some questions which simply don't deserve an answer! I mean the question 'Why do mountains exist?', you can give an answer in terms of the geological processes that give rise to mountains, but that's not what you want, is it? You want something about the purpose of mountains, 'What is the purpose of a mountain?' It is a silly question, doesn't deserve an answer." So, according to him, the question 'Why are we here?' is silly, doesn't deserve an answer, and the questioner has no right to ask it! How strange! Even children ask about the purpose of everything they see while, according to atheism it is silly to ask about the purpose of the existence of mankind, which should be the most important thing in this life! Science tries to find the function for existing things and natural phenomena but, according to atheism, you can explore and ask as you wish, but you: the explorer, have no right to ask about your own function: The purpose of your existence! When we talk about Shari'a rulings we hear this familiar objection: "Humans have explored Mars, and you are still talking about this stuff!" But, this question is for the objectors: Is it logical for Man to explore the moon and Mars and talk about galaxies that are billions of light-years away but remain ignorant about his own self and the purpose of his existence?! But Dawkins' utterly absurd answer is actually consistent with the pure materialistic atheistic perspective as random chance doesn't do anything for a purpose and science truly can't find out the purpose of life But, instead of admitting this flaw in the purely materialistic perspective atheists conclude that the question, "Why are we here?" is a silly question because their materialism doesn't answer it! Thus, don't be surprised when Dawkins says, "The universe that we observe has precisely the proprieties we should expect, if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good; nothing but pitiless indifference." This is how some atheists choose to deal with the sense of purpose: by ridiculing this innate feeling Others say, "Yes, in theory, life has no true purpose nor meaning. But we can't live with this theoretical view. Therefore, we have to improvise a meaning: Delude ourselves that there is a purpose, so we can live." You can find a similar concept in the philosophical school of "Existential Nihilism" One may temporarily deceive himself, but what's next? What did some of them choose as an alternative to this difficult task: The task of deluding themselves that life has a purpose while denying what comes after death A renowned American director, the atheist Woody Allen, answers Let's see what he says! "The only way out of it, the only thing you can think of, as an artist, is to try and come up with something ...where you can explain to people why life is worth living and is a positive thing and it does have some meaning. Now, you can't really do that without conning them You know, you can't be honest because in the end, it has no meaning You're living in a random universe, you're living a meaningless life So, it's very hard to sell somebody ...that there is any good to this; Therefore, my conclusion is that the only possible way you can beat it a little bit is through distraction. You can distract people. So, that's what I do; I distract myself. And making movies is a wonderful distraction These actresses come in, and they're worried about their part, their character and how they are going to do it, and that's what they are thinking of. If they weren't doing that, they would be home or sitting on a beach or something and they'd be thinking, 'My God, what is life about? I'm gonna get old, I'm gonna die, my loved ones are gonna die, you know. Will I get Ebola? I mean what is going to happen to me?' You know, so the only thing you can do in life is distract yourself, so you will have some moments when you are not facing reality That's what happens... you have to distract yourself." Thus, he says that the media deceives people and deludes them to attach meaning to their lives; while, in reality it is meaningless And that distracting people is the best strategy; so that they don't ask themselves about the purpose of life and face the bitter truth: that life has no meaning! So, you must continue to distract yourself because —if you are left to yourself— you'll be assailed by the question: "What is my fate after death?" Remember his words as you read Allah's words, that can be translated as, "And be not like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves." (Quran 59:19) They forgot Allah, so He made them forget the purpose for which they were created! He made them forget to strive for what benefits them so they cared about everything; except their own selves! Another method to sidestep the sense of purpose was used by the atheist professor Lawrence M. Krauss In 2017, Krauss published a book called "The Greatest Story Ever Told —So Far, Why Are We Here?" What a discrepancy between the title and the content! The book aims to sugarcoat the idea of nihilism for atheists to alleviate the torment arising from the question of purpose for existence and fate after death Krauss lectured on the ideas presented in his book at Conway University After he explained how the laws which the universe follows, are amazingly fine-tuned; he called this universe —where we exist— an accident despite its exceptional design! And what did Krauss conclude at the end? Let's see! "The universe is not just an illusion, but an accident and there is no reason for our existence. It wasn't designed for our existence in any way we can see, but it may go away. And that's the beauty because it means it's so lucky that we are here and we've evolved brains that can think of this and have fun. And so instead of being disappointed about this, you should enjoy your brief moment in the sun." Thus, he says don't feel depressed because our lives lack meaning Instead, you should cherish the chance that brought you to this universe! All these are attempts to bypass this sense of purpose because it is a profound innate feeling that shrivels up the heart such that nothing can revive it except the pure fountain of Revelation! All these are just psychological tricks used by atheists to deceive themselves; even while they claim that believers in the Creator are deceiving themselves! The militant French atheist Jean-Paul Sartre couldn't bear to keep up this self-deception After years of fighting against belief in a Creator he could no longer suppress his innate sense of purpose He said, Ultimately, Sartre abandoned his atheism and acknowledged the existence of a God but unfortunately not in the Islamic way We reiterate, the sense of purpose is very pressing and fighting it is agonizing for an atheist; since a human without a purpose becomes insignificant and worthless Feelings of insignificance are tough indeed! The atheist Stephen Hawking, who said —as mentioned earlier— "The human race is just a chemical scum on a moderate-sized planet." also said, in the same context, "We are so insignificant that I can't believe the whole universe exists for our benefit." You can find similar statements on atheistic websites: "Our modern perception of cosmology tells us that we are more trivial than we imagined in the universe We are totally worthless. So, how can a universe, in which we are trivial to such an extent, be created for us?!" From the Islamic perspective we are created for a great purpose: Worshiping Allah Almighty and forming a loving bond with Him so that manifestations of His Attributes appear in us: Of His Generosity, Grace, Mercy, Forgiveness, Guidance, and Benevolence For such a great purpose it is befitting that the universe is subjected to the one entrusted with it Allah says what can be translated as, "And He has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in Earth; all is from Him" (Quran 45:13) Yet atheists tell you, "We're too insignificant for that!" and some believe that atheism respects the human! It's as if atheists are saying, "Our purpose in life is to convince people that life has no purpose!" The human, according to atheism, is chemical scum, insignificant and unworthy of a universe existing for him; as he comes from base bestial origins The credibility of his mind is questionable (as discussed before), his life is meaningless; without absolute morals or purpose, and even his questions about purpose and fate are silly! Any atheist who claims otherwise is conflicted in his atheism and with himself Yet, some believe that atheism respects Man and his mind! So all praise be to Allah, Who has honored us with the stature of worshipping Him; and didn't make us of the humiliated ones who rejected this stature and degraded themselves; willingly! "And he whom Allah humiliates; for him, there is no bestower of honor." (Quran Translated Meaning 22:18) Peace be upon you all!