Transcription
If I showed you this painting and told you that ink casually fell onto the canvas and made it, would you believe me? If I were you, I wouldn't, for the simple reason that you would come to the conclusion that a painter must have made it.
Now, if we think about the universe, though, don't you think that coming to the conclusion that the Universe was created by Randomness sounds completely absurd? Now, obviously, there is a chance for ink to actually fall onto a canvas and make such a painting, but it is so slim that you would never even come to such a conclusion, would you?
In the Quran, Allah challenges us with three simple questions: Were they created by nothing? Were they the creators of themselves? Or were they the creators of the heavens and the earth?
Now, if we take a look at the first question, we can both agree that something cannot come from nothing, as it doesn't logically make sense. Also, to be the creators of ourselves, we should have been born even before we were born, which also doesn't make sense, as it's impossible. And to be the Creator of the heavens and the Earth, it also implies that we were born 20 billion years ago, which also is quite impossible. So why do we think we're smart enough to come to the conclusion that there is no God?
Now that we've understood that a creation needs a Creator, who created the Creator? Such a question implies by definition that the Creator isn't God, as God cannot be created, as He's always existed and will always exist. A theory of the creation of the universe is the Multiverse Theory, which implies that a universe was created, created by another Universe, which was created by another Universe, which was created by another Universe. Such a theory is illogical because if we have an infinite regression of dependent things being dependent on each other for their existence, nothing starts and nothing ends, so nothing exists.
Well, now you could say, "Okay, I agree with you, God does exist, but how do we know that there isn't more than one God?" Let's take this example. Let's say you were in a car with your friend, and you both had a steering wheel. Only two things can happen: you either both agree on steering the wheel in the same direction, which demonstrates that you are both dependent on each other, or you both go in the opposite direction, meaning that one of you overpowers the other, meaning that the one that got overpowered cannot be God, as God is omnipotent. So we can agree that there can only be one person driving the car. And if you think about it, a proof that there is indeed only one God is that the laws of physics are the same, gravity is still the same, and the sky is always blue.
Now, we've agreed that the Universe to exist needs a Creator, and we also agree that that Creator is one. But why should I choose a religion? Why should I be restricted by a specific way of life? If you think about it, life without direction, not only is it terrifying, but it's chaotic. We can all agree that we do need direction to live, which is proven by the fact that laws exist in different countries. But the problem with human laws in most countries is that they constantly change, which proves that humans do not know what is 100% wrong or right. So how can we be sure that the laws of our country that we are following are indeed the right ones and not the wrong ones? The only way to know if what you are following is actually 100% right is if you're following that which God dictates, for the simple reason that God created the universe and life, which implies that He must know everything that is right and wrong, as God knows everything.
But now that we think about it, why should God even reveal anything to humankind? Why does He need to? Let's take this example. If you go to a car dealership and you buy a car that you really want, let's say you have no clue how to drive a car, and you try driving it on the first day that you bought it, will you drive it correctly? Obviously, you wouldn't. You'd probably go crashing after 5 m of driving it. That's is why an instructions manual exists, so that he who buys the car knows how to drive it. The same can go for life. If God creates life and doesn't instruct that which lives how to live properly, it wouldn't make any sense.
But now that we've agreed that we do need an instructions manual to be able to live correctly, how do we know if what we're following is the correct religion? There are two scenarios: scenario one is that all religions are false, and scenario two is that one out of all the religions is true. Now, to come to the conclusion that one of these religions has to be true means that you have to prove that its holy book, or at least its revelation, comes from God. And to prove that none of the religions are true, you would have to prove that none of the revelations are from God.
We believe that the Quran is the word of God for many different reasons. First of all, it's the only book that has been preserved not only in a written form but also through memory of hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world. No other religion has the preservation about their holy books that Islam has for the Quran. In fact, the earliest manuscript that we have is a Birmingham parchment, which dates around the life of the Prophet, peace be upon him. The Quran is also the best Arabic literature to date, and as Arabic is arguably the most eloquent language to ever exist, we can also come to the conclusion that the Quran is the most eloquent literature to date. The Quran also has scientific and historical miracles. More than 1,000 verses in the Quran are related to science, and not one of them is disproven by the science of today. The Quran is spiritual but also intellectual, as it constantly challenges us. The Quran also has no contradiction. So for this reason, we are justified in claiming that the Quran indeed comes from God.
Accepting Islam means that you accept that there is an afterlife. But why should there be an afterlife to begin with? If there was an African boy of 12 years old who died in his village from starvation, but there was also a 70-year-old man who died after being a drug dealer who lived in luxury all his life while causing harm to the world, would you think God is fair? Absolutely not. That is why we believe in a day of judgment. It's going to be a day in which no soul will be wronged, and justice will be served. An afterlife also brings hope and optimism in the hearts of those who are struggling around the world. In fact, the afterlife is described in extreme detail in the Quran, and the reason why He does so is so that we make the afterlife our main priority and goal in this life.
Now, to say that revelation has come to us, it implies that we need someone or something to have brought the revelation. In Islam, we believe that Allah has sent different prophets to mankind in different times and places, but we believe that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was a prophet for the whole of mankind. The reason why we think that Muhammad, peace be upon him, was a prophet for the whole of mankind is because his miracle was the Quran. The Quran is a miracle that can be proven in any time and any place, while Jesus and Moses, may peace be upon them, made miracles that cannot be proven today, so their miracles were limited to a specific time and place.
Now, you could also ask, "Was Muhammad actually a prophet?" To this question, there are three answers: he was either lying, he was mad, or he was telling the truth. First of all, Muhammad, peace be upon Him, received his first revelation at 40 years old, which makes it so that before the first ever revelation, he lived a completely normal life. In this period of his life, before the first ever revelation, he was literally nicknamed the truthful and the trustworthy. But you could also say that he lied as he wanted power. That also cannot be true, as he was offered by the most powerful leaders at the time anything he wanted just so he stopped preaching. Doesn't that show his sincerity? Also, his character was described by many different people as impeccable. In fact, everyone sought his help, both Muslim and non-Muslim. These are not the qualities of someone who is mad. Somehow, an illiterate Arab man brought forth the Quran. For these reasons, we are justified in believing that the Quran is indeed the word of God and that Muhammad, peace be upon him, was His final messenger.
And in fact, being a prophet, Muhammad, peace be upon him, also made many different prophecies which at the time made no sense. For example, he prophesied about the Arab bedouins competing with one another in building the tallest buildings. He prophesies about the two seas that touch but do not mix. He also prophesies the time and the place in which Persia defeated Rome. In history, no other person's life has been preserved like the one of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. We know so much about him that we also knew on which side he used to sleep. His greatness has been recognized in history by many different figures. For example, the astrophysicist Michael Hart, author of the book "Top 100 Influential People of All Time," he places Muhammad, peace be upon him, as number one. We also have different figures who recognize his greatness, for example, Dr. Keith, Michel, Lamartine, and Gandhi. For these reasons, I came to the conclusion that he had to have been telling the truth.
Now, if everything that I said does make sense to you and you came to the conclusion that indeed there is only one God that created the universe and that He sent different prophets and that Muhammad, peace be upon him, had to have been telling the truth, then I personally invite you to Islam. Everything you do in Islam is for the sake of Allah, which will help you obtain absolute happiness. In fact, if we think about the celebrities of today that we think look so happy, what really happens is that most of them turn to drugs and alcohol. Some even take their own lives. So the only way to achieve absolute happiness is through God.