Is it natural to question the  existence of a Divine Being , Deity or deities? All “thinking” human beings are prone to questioning anything outside of the knowledge accessible through the five physical senses, as we tend to be governed by the comfort that certainty provides.  The old adage: “believe only what you see and half of what you hear" sometimes prompts us to discard as irrational, any suggestions that may point to the existence of the paranormal or the supernatural, as we cannot prove it through our  five physical senses.  Our linear perception of time, as having a beginning, middle and end, our perception of the world as being finite and tactile, baffles the human mind when concepts such as infinity, eternity and omnipotence are juxtaposed beside  our spatial, temporal existence. Our intellect is not capable of grasping these concepts and we  must reject these on the grounds that they are intellectually untenable. In modern times of course, the Darwinian view on the “Origin of Species”. and the evolution of man, has given further credence to the view that all is possible without a Creator.  God and the belief in a Deity is a redundant view embedded in the human psyche due to feelings of insecurity. Some posit the view that matter is sentient and alive and capable of organizing itself into ever more complex forms,  culminating in  thinking human beings capable of passing moral judgments. Yet others have suggested that life emerged from single cell organisms and then evolved into more complex forms.  

Quite apart from the above scientific attempts to explain the existence of life, or that “mystery wrapped in an enigma”, there are political arguments to be made against organized religions. The Abrahamic or monotheistic faiths in particular, tend to be exclusivist in their claim to the Divine message, hence the  defense of their particular doctrine, creed or  view of God, becomes a matter of priority. Unlike Hinduism or the  Eastern Religions, which admit a plurality of gods and hence a plurality of views, the Abrahamic faiths and their belief in One Deity allows for  no such divergence of viewpoints. Why not, some would argue, eliminate the reason for wars and bloodshed and do away with religion altogether, . Religion is divisive, they say and spirituality is to be tolerated only if it remains a personal and private affair.

The idea of a First Cause who created everything is also problematic, because the First Cause must also owe its existence to something else and must have a temporal beginning. It is at this crucial juncture that a decision must be made whether belief in a First Cause, which cannot be rationally explained due to the above arguments, is nonetheless  better than belief in the view that everything emerged out of nothing.

Human suffering in the world is also a problem. Why would a Just and Benevolent God allow it?

The Argument for Belief

Whether one believes in a deity or not, spirituality helps human beings cope with the vicissitudes of life due to the promise of a “hereafter” or retribution that it carries.  This, for some, is not meant to be a perfect world, and it is only the next one which can deliver that promise.  All will be well if one is good in this life. Spirituality is what may give some people the  strength to deal with trauma, with absence, with the death of a loved one. .If there were no such promises of a future life , there would just be the realization of the misfortune one is faced with.

It is commonly accepted that religion has permeated the thought of both ancient and modern humans. It is as natural to man as breathing air. Little wonder that  ancient philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle were preoccupied with “First Causes” responsible for the existence of conscious life. For Plato the First Cause was a “Best Soul” and for Aristotle it was the “Unmoved Mover”. For them everything must have a beginning.  Plato and Aristotle were of course stalwarts in philosophical and religious thought, but even laity all across the world have over the centuries recognized, in spite of outward plurality, a Single Underlying Unity, whether they call it the “Tao”, the “Great Spirit”, Brahman, Yahweh, God the Father, Waheguru,  or Allah. Could it be that the human intellect is “wired”to recognize this single Underlying Unity, since this  notion is so pervasive in human thought, societies and cultures both ancient and modern?

Also consider the following:

1. Matter is sentient and alive and capable of organizing itself into complex intelligent organisms. Wouldn’t this still  necessitate the pre-existence of a PROCESS, allowing such a self-propelled organization to take place?  At the very least, this necessitates the belief in a  “Cosmic Intelligence”, which allows and determines the course of such intelligent groupings and regroupings of matter. 

2. Darwin’s theory of Evolution is built on a flawed premise which rests on far too  many a priori assumptions. It is for example accepted as a self-evident truth that an inorganic cell “must have” made  the transition to being a living cell millions of years ago.  How this happened is any body’s guess. Subsequently, a series of mutations “must have” occurred causing changes in species.   “Missing links”  have still not been found and the theory remains unproved still. The theory of evolution rests on the premise that  mutations in species cause them to “evolve” into more sophisticated life forms. The experience of science however has shown that mutations in species, by and large  prove to be disastrous to a species rather than producing the opposite effect. The theory of Evolution therefore is built on  assumptions which have not been examined critically.

3. Matter cannot be turned into non-matter and vice versa.  It can be reduced to infinitesimally small particles but it must continue to maintain its physical characteristics.. Thus between matter and non-matter, there exists no possibility known to man which would enable one to have emerged out of the other. Something cannot emerge out of NOTHING because NOTHING does not accommodate any possibilities and does not have the potential to produce anything. It would therefore be more reasonable to believe that the world came about with the intervention of an Intelligent powerful Creator Being, or “Cosmic Intelligence”, Who sets the process in motion.

4. It has been the experience of science that elements do not bond together based on a foreknowledge that they are making a compound., as is suggested by those who posit the “sentient matter” viewpoint. They come together by chance, based on their chemical and physical properties which enable them to bond in a specific pattern. These properties are pre-existent and the laws of chemistry cannot explain how or why they exist in that form.

5. The Theory of Evolution rests on the premise that “spontaneous generation” occurred billions of years ago, setting into motion the process by which various life forms emerged at various times and eras of the earth’s history. Again this premise must answer how, why and by what process all this occurred and why  they pre-existed in the manner that they did. Again it must be asked by whose designing such a PROCESS came into being to allow for evolution to have occurred in the manner that it did.

6. A belief in the Theory of Evolution therefore requires no less of  a “leap of faith’. It cannot be rationally explained any more than belief in a deity can be rationally explained. If there is a God, and if it is the requirement of that Creator  to have his creation believe in Him, then one is on safer grounds believing than not believing. At best both viewpoints are equally irrational.  The choice therefore to believe or disbelieve may be a result of personal experience , prejudices , emotional makeup etc as well.

I am by nature, a skeptic. I have never accepted anything on the basis of blind faith. In addition to the above negation of  the theory of evolution which provides an alternate view about our origins-- an issue central to this debate, the following more generally recognized arguments can be made for belief. The first is the Cosmological argument which suggest that the laws governing the universe must have a LAW-GIVER.  Everything functions according to a process  and for this process to have emerged on its own, before matter emerged on its own, is also a fanciful notion and no less of a  “ leap of faith.” 

The Teleological argument  points to the design in nature as a result of Intelligent intervention.

My favorite is the Moral argument. We are thinking moral beings and this intuitive knowledge of right and wrong has been planted in us  externally. The theory of Evolution only explains how we evolved physically. It does not explain why we love, hate, pass moral judgments, enjoy sex, experience orgasm,  recognize our environment, recognize certain sensations as pleasurable or uncomfortable. This heightened consciousness in human beings cannot be explained in mere physical terms, It is mysterious and intangible. The theory of Evolution is confined to explaining our origins in physical terms only.

The question now is why Islam? Islam is a generic concept and submission to the Will of God can be achieved within any faith tradition according to the various understandings of God. The Qur’anic discourse affirms experiences that are more or less universal. My understanding of Islam is that it is not exclusivist if it is viewed in this manner and there is ample support for my viewpoint in the text of the Koran. As a humanist and a universalist it was important for me to adopt a faith that would validate all religions. up to a degree. Human beings have felt God, Allah, the Tao, Brahman, Waheguru universally and the Qur’an merely affirms this, making it a faith that transcends organized religion. I have struggled with issues such as polygamy etc but these were only legitimized in a particular era, as responses to contingencies. They must be viewed within this historical context only and no longer pose a problem for me.

Emotionally I prefer to think there is a better world out there where there will be no killing, brutality, injustice etc. As one deeply affected by tragedy in the world, I prefer to hold on to this type of hope, apart from the above rational explanation of why I believe.

Guru Nanak: Founder of a Monotheistic Tradition.

The Holy Qur’an states:

“By the soul and the proportion and order given to it, and its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right”

(Qur’an 91:7,9)

From the above verse it is clear that the Qur’an alludes to man’s intuitive sense of right and wrong and his ability to recognize truth from falsehood. This ability is ingrained in the human psyche, and even in the absence of revelation, human beings are sometimes capable of  intuiting the Divine Presence, recognizing its role in Creation and its on-going functioning. Therefore the prevalent view of Islam is, that all human beings are born Muslim, or those who surrender to the will of Allah.  It is only subsequently that they become Christian, Hindu, Buddhist or other, depending on their upbringing, conditioning or environment.  However, there is also the belief that some individuals, even though they may be born into another faith, retain the pristine knowledge they are born with, and intuitively develop a philosophy or religion, that is akin in its belief system to that of Islam’s. Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh Tradition, may be one such individual.

Guru Nanak was born in a Hindu household but often consorted with Muslim scholars and saints of India. The religion he founded therefore combines elements of Bhakti Hinduism and Islam.  Although , he adopted the devotional aspects of Bhakti, it was Islam’s theology and its insistence on monotheism, that Guru Nanak cherished most.  He therefore discarded belief in the Hindu gods by declaring that God is One and Indivisible, and cannot be perceived or known through human form or other physical representations. It is believed by the Sikhs, that Guru Nanak had a mystical experience while bathing in a nearby river, where God spoke to him, conferring upon him enlightenment and a knowledge of the Truth.

After receiving enlightenment,  Guru Nanak began to preach his message of monotheism to both Hindu and Muslim followers who began to call themselves “Nanakprashtas” or followers of Nanak.  Nanak was succeeded by nine other Gurus, or mediators of God’s Grace to humanity.  They further developed the Sikh faith, and  Arjun, the fifth, Guru, compiled the Adi Garanth, the sacred text of the Sikhs, which consists of hymns and writings by the first five gurus, as well as the writings of Hindu and Muslim saints of India.

Perhaps Guru Nanak can be deemed a modern example of how the Truth asserts itself, even in the absence of revelation. Throughout the centuries, individuals from the Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and other faiths have attested to this truth of God’s Oneness and Indivisibility.   Sir Isaac Newton, for example once declared:

 “This beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets could only proceed from the counsel of and dominion of an Intelligent and powerful Being. This Being covers all things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over all, and on account of his dominion, He is want to be called Lord God, Universal Ruler.”

Other ancient prophets and men of learning too, have consistently attested to the Oneness and Indivisibility of God, whether it was the prophet Zoroaster, or Plato, who believed in the “Best Soul” or Aristotle, who spoke of a single “Unmoved Mover”. Furthermore, the Biblical prophets, including Jesus Christ, all attested to the Oneness and Indivisibility of God  Also, before the advent of Islam, in spite of rampant idolatry  in Mecca, there were those who called themselves “Haneefs”, or believers in the monotheistic faith of Abraham pbuh.

The pristine knowledge of which the Qur’an speaks of in the above verse, is an inborn human ability to recognize the existence of One God, because it is the only belief consistent with human logic. Most men of learning have arrived at this knowledge intuitively, and many even among the so called polytheistic traditions such as Hinduism, only believe in One Supreme Deity.  Modern science has made possible for human beings to explore the mysteries of nature, space and the universe, which reveal an Ecological and Cosmological balance consistent with the idea of One Creator.  Moreover, radio-telescopes have repeatedly confirmed the view that there is order in the Universe, which must necessarily  validate the Unitary Principle in theology that Islam upholds. It was this Unitary Principle, which Guru Nanak, so vehemently propagated to his companions and followers, thereby giving rise to a monotheistic religious movement in the midst of a predominantly polytheistic culture.