Muslims: What are your reasons for god-belief?

[hatsoff]

Hi, all.

I'd like to ask the Muslims out there, why do you, personally, believe in God, and in the Qur'an? Were you just raised to believe it--indoctrinated from an early age--? Were you won over by a philosophical argument (e.g. cosmological/teleological/transcendental/etc.)? Or did you have some kind of special revelation from God?

As for me, I do not believe in any god. In fact, I'd like to ask challenging follow-up questions to my respondents, since I find the idea of a supernatural creator-deity who dictated a holy book while humans wrote it down (or memorized it) utterly ridiculous.

I look forward to reading your posts.

 

[Dawud_uk]

Hi, all.

I'd like to ask the Muslims out there, why do you, personally, believe in God, and in the Qur'an? Were you just raised to believe it--indoctrinated from an early age--? Were you won over by a philosophical argument (e.g. cosmological/teleological/transcendental/etc.)? Or did you have some kind of special revelation from God?

As for me, I do not believe in any god. In fact, I'd like to ask challenging follow-up questions to my respondents, since I find the idea of a supernatural creator-deity who dictated a holy book while humans wrote it down (or memorized it) utterly ridiculous.

I look forward to reading your posts.

i was actually raised as an atheist, it was my looking at science and the universe around me that made me think, question my atheism before i finally i rationally came to a conclusion in a creator.

it was only much later i become a believer in islam.

but to me it wasnt possible to look at the stars and the planets, or into a mircroscope and see cells without beginning to wonder about the beauty of it and why it all was.

but it was also my one simple question to a lecturer about the theory of evolution being a theory where i was mocked and ridiculed infront of all my fellow students that made me realise atheism and science has its orthodoxies and priests and that questioning their authority leads to attacks.

after that i lost my faith in the almost infallable nature of science and the atheist scientists that most people are indoctrinated in at school in the uk from an early age.

 

[hatsoff]

i was actually raised as an atheist, it was my looking at science and the universe around me that made me think, question my atheism before i finally i rationally came to a conclusion in a creator.

it was only much later i become a believer in islam.

but to me it wasnt possible to look at the stars and the planets, or into a mircroscope and see cells without beginning to wonder about the beauty of it and why it all was.

Thanks for the response.

How did you get from observing that reality includes beauty to god-belief? Was it just that you needed an answer, and Islam offered you something you could understand?

but it was also my one simple question to a lecturer about the theory of evolution being a theory where i was mocked and ridiculed infront of all my fellow students that made me realise atheism and science has its orthodoxies and priests and that questioning their authority leads to attacks.

after that i lost my faith in the almost infallable nature of science and the atheist scientists that most people are indoctrinated in at school in the uk from an early age.

This sounds strange. Why did you have "faith" in science? And what exactly was your question, over which you claim to have been mocked by your professor?

 

[Dawud_uk]

Thanks for the response.

How did you get from observing that reality includes beauty to god-belief? Was it just that you needed an answer, and Islam offered you something you could understand?

no, i didnt except islam until a few years after this and to be honest i looked at just about every religious before islam!

what happened was when i looked at the beauty of the creation i saw the hand of the creator.

or as it was put by the early muslims, i become a believer in the caravan as i saw the tracks of the camals.

This sounds strange. Why did you have "faith" in science? And what exactly was your question, over which you claim to have been mocked by your professor?

atheism / science has today become a belief system where the vast majority of people have faith in a set understanding of the world with no idea how such concepts came about.

they have beliefs, they have othodoxies, they even have their false prophets such as genocide-lover Darwin, and they put their trust in scientists as they used to put their trust in priests and vicars in the past to supply them with answers.

 

[hatsoff]

no, i didnt except islam until a few years after this and to be honest i looked at just about every religious before islam!

what happened was when i looked at the beauty of the creation i saw the hand of the creator.

or as it was put by the early muslims, i become a believer in the caravan as i saw the tracks of the camals.

This sounds strange. Why did you have "faith" in science? And what exactly was your question, over which you claim to have been mocked by your professor?

atheism / science has today become a belief system where the vast majority of people have faith in a set understanding of the world with no idea how such concepts came about.

they have beliefs, they have othodoxies, they even have their false prophets such as genocide-lover Darwin, and they put their trust in scientists as they used to put their trust in priests and vicars in the past to supply them with answers.

I appreciate you taking the time to respond, but you have not answered any of my questions. I want to know why you hold the metaphysical beliefs you do. Namely, how do you get from observing beauty in the world to concluding that a supernatural disembodied mind created the universe?

 

[Dawud_uk]

I appreciate you taking the time to respond, but you have not answered any of my questions. I want to know why you hold the metaphysical beliefs you do. Namely, how do you get from observing beauty in the world to concluding that a supernatural disembodied mind created the universe?

look around you, look at the world, its complexity, its beauty and majesty, if you open your eyes you will see the tracks of the caravan all around you. you dont need to see the caravan itself to know it has been there, the tracks are evidence enough.

 

[Snowflake]

Don't think about God. Think about His Signs.

 

[AntiKarateKid]

In my view, athiests and theists are both operating on faith.

If was to ask you, an athiest, where the universe came from you would say the big bang. But then what came before that? Where did the cosmic laws that the big bang follows come from? Why is reality itself even here? Where did matter or the ability to produce it come from?

I hate infinite regression so Allah as the uncreated beginning suits me perfectly.

Besides, Allah is the great equalizer. The message that our acts are immortal, that nothing is forgotten and everything is judged makes me want to be a good person. I would not be a kind athiest because... I dont see the point?


Pssst. Looks for the signs in the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad pbuh. To me they all ADD up to something amazing.

 

[AntiKarateKid]

Hi, all.

I'd like to ask the Muslims out there, why do you, personally, believe in God, and in the Qur'an? Were you just raised to believe it--indoctrinated from an early age--? Were you won over by a philosophical argument (e.g. cosmological/teleological/transcendental/etc.)? Or did you have some kind of special revelation from God?

As for me, I do not believe in any god. In fact, I'd like to ask challenging follow-up questions to my respondents, since I find the idea of a supernatural creator-deity who dictated a holy book while humans wrote it down (or memorized it) utterly ridiculous.

I look forward to reading your posts.

Hey if you read the hadiths about the Prophet pbuh and his biography, you will see that unlike Biblical narrations, the hadiths have been cross confirmed and testified to by thousands of contemporaries and enemies. The miracles all are historical.

 

[coddles76]

Hi, all.

I'd like to ask the Muslims out there, why do you, personally, believe in God, and in the Qur'an? Were you just raised to believe it--indoctrinated from an early age--? Were you won over by a philosophical argument (e.g. cosmological/teleological/transcendental/etc.)? Or did you have some kind of special revelation from God?

As for me, I do not believe in any god. In fact, I'd like to ask challenging follow-up questions to my respondents, since I find the idea of a supernatural creator-deity who dictated a holy book while humans wrote it down (or memorized it) utterly ridiculous.

I look forward to reading your posts.

Being a Muslim I'd be more interested in why you believe There ISN'T a creator, that way we'll save all the hassle and get straight to your arguments. Please explain to us with logical EVIDENCE why you believe there is NO creator?
Thankyou

 

[Silver]

Even though my parents are born muslims, I was not raised as a muslim. Religion was not something we talked about at home.
But I was always convinced that there was a God, since I was little but i was never a practicing muslim. (i only fasted in ramadan)
After I came to med school, I once denied the existence of God and I thoght that even if he did exist he is not fair & doesn't like me cos he never helps me when I need Him...and on that same day I was ran over by a speeding car and didn't really get hurt so I thought of it as a sign from God.
Before I practiced Islam I was happy in my life then when I started praying I was still happy then I stopped and it was the worst time of my life...
Then when we started learning about the different body systems, my belief in God grew stronger again. The complex way the body works has to be the work of a higher being...so now my belief in God is stronger than it ever was.

 

[hatsoff]

In my view, athiests and theists are both operating on faith.

How do you define faith, such that you think atheists embrace it?

If was to ask you, an athiest, where the universe came from you would say the big bang. But then what came before that? Where did the cosmic laws that the big bang follows come from? Why is reality itself even here? Where did matter or the ability to produce it come from?

I hate infinite regression so Allah as the uncreated beginning suits me perfectly.

Besides, Allah is the great equalizer. The message that our acts are immortal, that nothing is forgotten and everything is judged makes me want to be a good person. I would not be a kind athiest because... I dont see the point?

Pssst. Looks for the signs in the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad pbuh. To me they all ADD up to something amazing.

I see. This seems to be the majority position. Of course, without evidence, I find all such claims to supernatural beings entirely baseless. It is perfectly acceptable to simply acknowledge our ignorance.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[hatsoff]

Hey if you read the hadiths about the Prophet pbuh and his biography, you will see that unlike Biblical narrations, the hadiths have been cross confirmed and testified to by thousands of contemporaries and enemies. The miracles all are historical.

Curious. This is exactly the sort of thing Christians say about their own traditions. However, I have found this to be a peripheral issue, which although it may strengthen confidence in religious dogma, does not actually constitute a core reason for belief. Please correct me if I am mistaken in that assumption.

As for the argument, I have never seen a miracle demonstrated using historical methods, nor can I imagine how it would even be possible to do so. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and the only evidence we have from antiquity is, for the most part, written documents. But written reports, no matter how numerous, make for evidence too weak to stand up to the inherent improbability of miracle claims.

 

[hatsoff]

Being a Muslim I'd be more interested in why you believe There ISN'T a creator, that way we'll save all the hassle and get straight to your arguments. Please explain to us with logical EVIDENCE why you believe there is NO creator?
Thankyou

I have found no god hypothesis which is neither superfluous nor demonstrably false. In the case of the former, Occam's razor does away with them. In the case of the latter, the evidence depends on the particular set of claims in question. For example, many god hypotheses involve him creating all modern species more or less in their present state at or near the beginning of time; these are contradicted by the body of evidence supporting common descent of biodiversity.

 

[hatsoff]

Even though my parents are born muslims, I was not raised as a muslim. Religion was not something we talked about at home.
But I was always convinced that there was a God, since I was little but i was never a practicing muslim. (i only fasted in ramadan)
After I came to med school, I once denied the existence of God and I thoght that even if he did exist he is not fair & doesn't like me cos he never helps me when I need Him...and on that same day I was ran over by a speeding car and didn't really get hurt so I thought of it as a sign from God.
Before I practiced Islam I was happy in my life then when I started praying I was still happy then I stopped and it was the worst time of my life...
Then when we started learning about the different body systems, my belief in God grew stronger again. The complex way the body works has to be the work of a higher being...so now my belief in God is stronger than it ever was.

Your approach also seems to be quite common. You see God's hand at work in certain events of your life, as do countless others, and, if I understand you correctly, this is how you maintain your belief. Although I can see how this happens, I can't relate to it at all. I have no problems accepting chance and mystery as playing a significant role in the world.

Oh, well. To each his own. Thanks for your response.

 

[aamirsaab]

....
As for the argument, I have never seen a miracle demonstrated using historical methods, nor can I imagine how it would even be possible to do so. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and the only evidence we have from antiquity is, for the most part, written documents. But written reports, no matter how numerous, make for evidence too weak to stand up to the inherent improbability of miracle claims.

Sorry to interupt, but look what I found!

Touch me

As for the topic:
Well, personally I think there has to be some sort of overall reason for our existance. I don't particularly like the idea of being a mathematical anomoly or statistic. Prescribing to a religion and a deity figure gives us some sort of answer as to our existence. At the very least it (religion and/or belief in God) is a security blanket/crutch. At the most, it is a way of life that people have been following and doing fine with for a very long time.

Also, if you look at the different cultures throughout time, God or a deity figure has always been around. In fact, go into any country on this planet and you will find people who believe in a higher power/deity figure. Not enough to convince you? Take a look at the amount deity followers already in existence and compare them to those who don't believe in God. You're looking at around 80% of the global population believing in a higher power.

Even those who don't subscribe to the belief in a deity, do have belief in the supernatural. All these things combined only reinforce my belief that God (Allah) does indeed exist.

 

[AntiKarateKid]

Curious. This is exactly the sort of thing Christians say about their own traditions. However, I have found this to be a peripheral issue, which although it may strengthen confidence in religious dogma, does not actually constitute a core reason for belief. Please correct me if I am mistaken in that assumption.

As for the argument, I have never seen a miracle demonstrated using historical methods, nor can I imagine how it would even be possible to do so. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and the only evidence we have from antiquity is, for the most part, written documents. But written reports, no matter how numerous, make for evidence too weak to stand up to the inherent improbability of miracle claims.

Saying and having proof are 2 different things. The science of hadith is dedicated to authenticating the narrations. There is no Christian equivalent.


Sir, you need to know this before talking more about Islam.





It is a different entity than CHristianity. Many of the strong theological arguments against Christianity do not work against Islam. My atheist philosophy professor made himself look foolish when he tried this.

 

[hatsoff]

Saying and having proof are 2 different things.

Indeed.

The science of hadith is dedicated to authenticating the narrations. There is no Christian equivalent.

Sir, you need to know this before talking more about Islam.

It is a different entity than CHristianity. Many of the strong theological arguments against Christianity do not work against Islam. My atheist philosophy professor made himself look foolish when he tried this.

I'm not sure what you think I'm "trying." I have not, nor do I intend to equate Christianity with Islam. Rather, I observe that Christians and Muslims make similar claims about their own histories. This observation is not an argument against either religion; I simply find it interesting.

Interesting or not, though, citing ancient texts to support the occurrence of miracles throughout history is entirely unconvincing to me. Like I said before, that kind of evidence is far too weak to demonstrate the occurrence of such extremely improbable events as miracles.

 

[AntiKarateKid]

Fact is stranger than fiction my friend.

 

[Thinker]

Why do people believe in God?

We know that all peoples of the earth developing separately asked themselves question like, “where did people come from” and “who/how was the land created?” Knowing that it is the nature of humans to be curious, it seems reasonable that these questions came to them naturally. They all came up with answers many of them including a God like figure as the creator. They also asked a lot of other questions like why they had phenomena like thunder and eclipse of the sun and attributed that to God and in some cases went further in attributing some phenomena to God’s anger. We now know the true answers to many of those questions and know that they are not God’s anger etc., and there are many other questions we don’t have answers for or answers we can prove and some people like to believe that this is the work of God and others are happy to say we don’t know yet but proven answers will come as they always have done.

Once people accepted that there is an entity such as a God, the next questions that follow is how do I please God and what angers God. Someone then steps forward saying the had a dream or God revealed himself with the answers to those questions and that’s how a religion is formed. That happened in every place of human development and as each religion developed separately they are all different (and of course all claim to be the ‘true’ religion). Of course there are some similarities in that most religions have a place were good people and bad people go after death and a lot of the things that please God and displease God are similar but the similarities are mainly confined to keeping order e.g. don’t kill other people and don’t steal other peoples property.

Now we could say that because all these different peoples developed the concept of a God and a religion then there must be a God. The problem with that idea is that it is unlikely that a God would have revealed himself to each of these groups with a different set of answers.

So the evidence that there is a God really comes down to the fact that we don’t have proven answers for big questions like, “where did the universe come from”. Is that really a good reason to believe in God?

Clearly some people find great comfort in having a God who will take care of those who please him and simply WANT to believe because it comforts them Then there are those that believe in God for reasons given by the French philosopher Blaise Pascal in what has become known as Pascal’s Wager which basically comes down to there’s nothing to lose by believeing in God.

So that, IMHO is why people believe in God and I’m with Pascal. The interesting question is how and why people stretch the belief in God to believing that one religion out of the hundreds of others is the ‘true’ religion. Again, I believe that comes down to the natural inclination of people. It is without doubt a fact that 99.9% of people who follow a particular religion do so because they were born into it and it is a natural trait within people to defend their clan, tribe, race, team, religion, etc. There are other traits within us that expalin why certain people who were not born to a particlar religion choose a particular religion and again that is because of a trait within the individual not because the individual has discovered the ‘truth’ or found the ‘proof.’

Well, that’s my opinion which I am sure is not shared by the majority of the members here otherwise this would be a forum for agnostics.