By Muhammad Akid

أَوَلَمْ يَتَفَكَّرُوا۟ فِىٓ أَنفُسِهِم ۗ مَّا خَلَقَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَآ إِلَّا بِٱلْحَقِّ وَأَجَلٍۢ مُّسَمًّۭى ۗ وَإِنَّ كَثِيرًۭا مِّنَ ٱلنَّاسِ بِلِقَآئِ رَبِّهِمْ لَكَـٰفِرُونَ 

“Do they not think deeply (in their own selves) about themselves (how Allah created them from nothing, and similarly He will resurrect them)? Allah has created not the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, except with truth and for an appointed term. And indeed many of mankind deny the Meeting with their Lord.” 

Quran 30:8

The study of religion and Islam is usually misinterpreted with the aspects of blind submission to an all-powerful being. And sometimes there tends to be friction in our understanding of how Islam and academic sciences interact, as some believe they are mutually exclusive topics. This becomes apparent when we discuss religion with non-Muslim friends, as we sometimes fail to understand the rationale and logic behind Islam’s teachings. Hence it was refreshing to see the start of a new interactive series – “Why Islam?”, for the Friday New Muslims Circle, which was centered around learning and understanding Islam through a rational perspective.

The first class kicked off the series with 3 key topics, which will form my key takeaways:

• Learning the different worldviews of religion: Islam, Polytheism & Christianity, and Atheism

The session began with a useful sharing of what everyone understood of the word, “God”. This was an interactive and refreshing approach as we get to share what God personally means to us and learn from others. Afterwards, we learnt about the three worldviews of religion: Islam, Polytheism & Christianity, and Atheism. This allowed us to understand the fundamental beliefs of other worldviews as well as set the foundation for us to explore the attributes of Allah s.w.t. as necessary and transcendent. Gaining knowledge about other perspectives is always important in allowing us to form a holistic understanding of the world.

• Understanding God as the necessary being of the universe (Wajib Al-Wujud) through logical thinking

The use of an argumentative structure was useful in understanding the logic behind God’s necessary existence – Wajib Al-Wujud. The question of “Does God exists?” is usually not understood well enough, especially by fortunate people like me who were born into a Muslim family and were raised through Islam. And this simple question becomes tough to address, beyond the laymen answer of simply “faith”. The Argument from Contingency (AFC) framework breaks it down into 2 factual premises:

• “The universe exists contingently” – based on scientific observation, we realise that everything in this universe is contingent (dependent):
  • A fire requires heat, fuel and oxygen to existOxygen requires a structure of protons, electrons and neutrons to exist
  • Neutrons are composed of quarks
• “Everything that exists contingently needs a necessary being to make it exist”  – through this exercise, we also observe that everything that is contingent, requires another being to exist.
  • Without oxygen, the fire cannot existWithout the neutrons, the oxygen particle cannot exist
  • Without quarks, the neutrons cannot exist
• Therefore the universe needs a necessary being to make it exist.

Beyond this, science has yet to explain the fundamental existence of quarks. Based on these 2 factual premises and through logical deduction, we realise that a “necessary being” that is not contingent nor dependent on anything must exist to allow for the creation of everything else in this universe. If not, everything will simply fall and cease to exist. This perspective of Wajib Al-Wujud helps us understand our need for Allah s.w.t. and that everything else in the universe needs Him to exist.

• Understanding the privative attributes of God – Beginningless (Qidam), Endlessness (Baqaa’), Independence (Qiyamuhu Binafsihi), and Transcendence (Mukhalafatuhu Lilhawadithi)

These 4 private attributes describe God’s perfection and explains His existence as the necessary being of the universe.

• Beginningless (Qidam): “He is the First and the Last.” (Quran, 57:3)
• Endlessness (Baqaa’): “Place your trust in the Everliving who will never die.” (Quran, 25:58)
• Independence (Qiyamuhu Binafsihi): “Verily, Allah is completely free of need from everything else.” (Quran, 29:6)
• Transcendence (Mukhalafatuhu Lilhawadithi): “There is absolutely nothing like Him,” (Quran, 26:11)

This framed my understanding of how God can exists as the necessary being that makes the contingent universe exist. To understand Allah s.w.t. is to know that He is perfect, everything is His creation, and all His creations are imperfect. This is a topic that I hope to continue learning about as the sessions continue.

Overall, Alhamdullilah as the session was perfect in kicking off the new series and alongside the Tuesday classes of Tazkiyah (Purification of Heart), I look forward to the rest of the series and inshaAllah all of us can attain conviction of Haqqul Yaqin in our journey.

Do You Believe in One God
& Ready to [Re]start your Journey of Faith & Gratitude as a Muslim?