How Atheism Contradicts Mind and Science: Part 2
(Does atheism respect
or discredit the mind?)
So, we say to the atheist,
"If mental necessities do not exist
how do you explain the fact that
all humans are convinced of them?"
This proves that they are ingrained
mental components within humans
Everyone, including you
applies them in reality
The atheistic perspective answers,
"Since man came through
Darwinian evolution
whose driving forces are
natural selection and random mutations
which serve the survival of a species;
what guarantees that these mutations
have developed minds for us
that are capable of reaching the truth?
Indeed, these minds can mislead us
into believing that
some things are mental axioms
when in reality
they are mere illusions
Our minds are deceiving us
to ensure our survival!"
Hence, atheism leads its follower
far beyond the denial of mental axioms
to doubting the credibility
of the human mind itself!
We tell the atheist,
"Then, your atheism admits
that your mind may mislead you
and may not discover the truth,
so how can you trust your mind then?
You insist that your atheism
is based on the mind
while your atheism itself
refutes the credibility of the mind!
It is as if you are saying:
I believe my mind because my
discredited mind tells me to believe it!"
This profound dilemma about
the mind's credibility
was present even with Darwin himself
who expressed his confusion and
irritation regarding this issue
He said, "...then with me
the horrid doubt always arises
whether the convictions of man’s mind,
which has been developed from
the mind of the lower animals,
are of any value or at all trustworthy."
So, it is very strange for atheists to
claim that they respect the mind
and accuse believers of devaluing it;
when, in fact, atheism eventually
destroys the credibility of the mind!
The atheist criticizes us for
our belief in the Prophet
Peace & Blessings be upon him
who was well-known for his honesty
even though
we don't base our belief solely
on his claim that he is
the Messenger of Allah, but also
on external evidence of his
honesty and prophethood
While the atheist
believes his discredited mind
and its capability to indicate the truth
just because his mind tells him,
"Believe me!"
(No one owns the absolute truth)
How did atheism escape this dilemma:
The dilemma of relying on a mind
which can misguide away from the truth?
Atheism answered: "Who says that things
have absolute truths in the first place,
for our minds to
mislead us away from them?"
What else then!?
"There is no such thing
as 'the truth of things.'
It is just
a subjective human observation.
As if things are colorless
and each person can view them
in his own subjective color.
No one can fault the other
because no one can claim that
the other contradicts the 'truth'
Everything called 'truth' is simply
a product of the human mind
and has no absolute value
independent of us
To grasp the difference between
absolute and relative truth:
Absolute means it's not relative
or it is so, by its very self
Meaning: we don't need to say,
"It is so according to somebody!"
For example, when we draw a line
like the one on the screen
and someone says,
"These are 2 lines."
We tell him, "You are wrong.
You have contradicted an absolute truth,
which is that it is one line."
Whereas when we say,
"Is this script (behind me)
comprehensible?"
The answer is,
"Its comprehensibility is not absolute.
It is understood by the Japanese,
and not by others."
The sequence triggered
by denying Allah's existence
ended with considering
everything as relative;
which provided the fertile
environment for statements like:
No one owns the truth,
There is no absolute truth,
The truth is relative... etc.
It is relative for them because
saying that truth is absolute
and that things have a truth value
necessarily entails
that laws and a Law-Giver exist
and that there are mental
axioms that Someone
"programmed" humans to accept!
But they do not want
to admit to all that!
Unfortunately, some people in Muslim
communities often use phrases
which imply the relativity of truth
to show "open-mindedness and rationality";
unaware of their basis and consequences!
We say to whoever repeats the phrase:
"Nobody possesses the absolute truth."
"Is your statement a fact?" If he says,
"Yes."
then he has admitted
there are absolute truths!
If he says,
"No. It is truth from my perspective."
Then, we tell him,
"I do not see it as such.
So, why do you renounce those
who disagree with you
and hold on to absolute truths?
Why do you consider it as rigidity?"
This fluidity, dear viewers;
this nihilism and absurdity
created the right medium
for the idea of "open text";
which means treating Revelation as
open text that does not
have one face of truth
which a Muslim must understand and apply
Rather, understanding is relative
and no one can say the other is wrong
(Are things evidence of Allah, or
is Allah the evidence for everything?)
This, dear viewers
reveals the consequences of atheism;
when it denies each of the nine key
phrases in the faith-based premise:
"Allah created
the heavens and earth in truth,
imposed —by His wisdom—
fixed laws,
and created Man with
an innate nature that
enables him to recognize
the necessary mental axioms,
which allow his mind to
discover the truth of things."
For an atheist, there is:
No Allah, no creation, no wisdom,
no fixed laws, no innate nature,
no mental axioms,
no trustworthy human mind,
no truth, no absolute facts,
no reproducible scientific results
to make inductions and formulate laws, and
no common logical
means for communication!
Thus, everything falls apart!
"And do not obey one whose heart
We have made heedless
of Our remembrance,
who follows only his desires
and whose state is total loss."
(Quran Translated Meaning 18:28)
All of this follows necessarily
from the denial of Allah!
Those who stop and pause
during this downward spiral
do so only by denying their atheism
and contradicting their beliefs
Therefore, dear viewers
it turns out that there is no truth
without the belief in
the existence of Allah Almighty
Who has Absolute Perfection
Who endowed Man with absolute truths
that he cannot reach on his own
Thus, we understand
the profound statement of the scholars,
"Knowing Allah is
the source of all knowledge."
because whoever doesn't realize
the existence of Allah Almighty
cannot evidentially formulate
a coherent theory of knowledge
This is the meaning of Ibnul-Qayyim's
statement —in brief,
"Denying the universe-Maker
in the minds and innate natures,
is like dismissing and denying knowledge;
there is no difference.
Actually, for pure and bright minds
and pristine innate natures,
the Creator as evidence of His creation,
is more obvious than the opposite."
He meant that
the Creator as evidence for creation
is clearer than using creation
as evidence for the Creator
Then, Ibnul-Qayyim said,
"And I heard the high-ranking scholar
Taqeyul-Din Ibn Taymiyyah, say,
'How do you ask for evidence of Him,
Who is the evidence of everything?'
He often gave this poem line,
as an example:
'Nothing in the intellect is right,
if we need evidence for daylight.'"
Today's episode also helps us answer
the question of the previous episode
We have proven that Man has
an innate acknowledgment of the Creator
But does this acknowledgment
necessarily mean that the Creator exists?
In today's episode, we have shown the
ramifications of denying the innate truths
that Man necessarily finds in himself
You also realize why the absolute
value in Islam is the truth;
without which the heavens and
earth would not exist or endure!
By that, as well, you profoundly grasp
the meaning of Allah's words,
which can be translated as,
"Have you not regarded those who dispute
the signs of Allah, where they are
being led away." (Quran 40:69)
It is as if Allah wants us to see the fate
of those who arrogantly deny
Allah's cosmic and Quranic signs;
what fate they will meet
and how they get lost
in mazes of confusion and delusion!
This was a discussion of how
the innate programming of
mental axioms proves
the existence of Allah Almighty.
In the coming episodes, we will discuss
other evidence from innate nature
Allah willing
May the peace and mercy of Allah
be upon you