Diverse Problems for Islam

Hello! I am a new poster here. I am a Ph.D. student in philosophy, and I tend to spend most of my time with medieval Christian and ancient Greek philosophy. I only have a superficial knowledge of Islam (though I have read Avicenna's Metaphysics of the Healing), and I was hoping that you guys could provide an Islamic perspective on certain problems that I raise. So, I'll give you what I think are very potent proofs for Islam's falsity, and I am hoping that you, if you are able, will be able to show me why these proofs don't work.

1. From what I understand, you guys believe that angels have bodies made of light, and that these things called "djinn" have bodies made of fire. But they're invisible. Fire and light are per se (essentially) visible. Isn't it a flat out contradiction to believe in invisible fire people?

2. Granted that it's not a contradiction to believe in invisible fire people, I have a further question about their bodies. I am assuming that, since they have bodies, they are therefore animals (body-soul composites). Are their bodies complex (made up of a diversity of organs), or are they relatively simple (for example, in the sense that a camp-fire is relatively simple...that is, not made up of individual "parts," so to speak, but is just one fire)? If they are complex, then how on earth does that work? What would it mean to have an eye or an ear made of light or fire? If their bodies are simple, then how are they able to see, hear, etc? The senses require complex bodily organs. If they don't sense, then what's the point of their having bodies?

3. From what I understand, you guys believe that martyrs enjoy bliss in a bodily paradise, where they shall indulge their carnal appetites for food, drink and sexual intercourse...without their bodies? How do you suppose that is supposed to work? Avicenna's answer is that good philosophers bypass these carnal delights altogether and partake of intelligible delights, whereas the ordinary, run of the mill Muslims who, nonetheless, lived good lives will enjoy these carnal delights...by imagining them. But this is, of course, false. Imagination requires bodily organs, and your martyrs are not currently united to their bodies. We can be quite sure of this. If you doubt this, go and check. I assure you, their bodies are still in (or on) the ground and, even if intact, are quite lifeless. So, in short, how are your martyrs supposed to eat the heavenly super fruit when they have neither mouth, tongue, throat nor stomach? How are they supposed to enjoy their 72 virgins when they have no reproductive organs?

4. Related to 3, granted that your bodily paradise actually existed, why on earth would that be the goal of Muslim striving? Why would your martyrs want that? We eat in order to keep ourselves alive as individuals, and sexual relations are to keep the species alive. Why should someone desire food or sexual intercourse when he has achieved immortality?

5. Supposing that your martyrs desired such a reward, wouldn't they rather deserve Hell? This would mean that they prefer carnal delights to God, who alone is to be loved and adored as a final end, and who alone is the ultimate "goal" of the rational creature.

6. And speaking of Heaven and Hell, how do Muslims propose to escape the fires of Hell? Even a single serious sin turns us away from God, makes us enemies of God, and merits everlasting punishment. You'll presumably tell me that God is merciful, but I'll reply that He is Justice Itself. Pray as much as you want, but if there is nothing to counterbalance the infinite debt of punishment that you have merited through your sins, then you have no escape from His righteous indignation.

7. Is it true that Mohommed says that it's sometimes OK to tell a lie? If so, he knew that telling a lie is always wrong, right?

Thanks in advance.