Renounce the path of reason
'It's cool being an atheist'.
"Well I hope it is, because you're going to end up at a very warm place, so you'll need that chill ".
One can understand why the moron types of the west would go for the 'atheist thing', but it seems complex when people more of the intellectual type are so much inclined towards atheism which fascinates a small portion of Pakistani youth as well. Why would a scientist like Stephen Hawking or a writer like Oscar Wilde show disregard for religion. Though in many cases it's a reaction to personal bad experiences but the greater reason provided is the seeming irrationality that people claim to have discovered in the basic concepts of major religions.
When religion becomes irrational!.
One of the basic problems that atheists find unanswered properly in religions is "what exactly God is? ", "what's His origin? ", "how is He self sustaining? ", "what's the secret of His own creation? "The incomprehension of the "self" of God is what that has led many completely reject the notion of a supreme being.
But! The reason for this inability to comprehend comes from our nature. We humans understand by drawing analogies. The definition of 'definition' is to describe something new using previous knowledge. When someone defines current to a student as rate of flow of charges, he is likely to elucidate it as water flowing in a pipe. There are two types of definitions.
1. Definition by Extension: it means describing something by enumerating the members of that class. For example if we define reptiles as a class of living organisms including lizard, crocodile, snake etc, then this is definition by extension. But in the case of God, theology cannot present a physical example of god so god cannot be defined by extension.
2. Definition by Intention: it means describing all the distinguishing characteristics of a thing. But major religions, especially Abrahamic religions are of the view that the Supreme Being carries uncountable qualities. Among these Islam has a doctrine that all good qualities belong to Him while the complete comprehension of His characteristics is impossible.
This is where the atheists go mad!(and wrong in fact).
This is where people miss the point. When you define something completely, you restrict it.
"A list of all the contents of the bag tells as well what the bag does not contain "," an indication of origin of something means there definitely is a time before which it did not exist ".
Secondly, rationalism is of the nature that every answer in fact generates another question. What is a zebra?, A member of a class of animals. What is an animal?, A member of a class of living organisms? What is a living organism? It goes on until you reach the most basic of questions which is answerable. The moment you can answer it, it no longer remains the most basic question. Every field of science has a 'last why?'.
Atoms were considered to be the most basic particles of matter when these were supposed to be unsplittable, but the discovery of even smaller particles took away the title of being the elementary particles.
"A question that can be answered can never be the most basic question, similarly a self whose sustenance is another known source, can never be the Ultimate Power ".
Therefore someone who can be completely described, whose all characteristics can be known, whose source of sustenance is something rationally is too unfitting to be GOD. Someone with a graspable method of creation is bound to have a time, an origin of creation which means before that it did not exist, which eradicates the possibility of absolute existence. This leads to the incomprehension of complete characteristics to be a necessary qualification for someone claiming to be a God.
This is where Islam shows its beauty by declaring that even if all the trees turn into pens and all seas turn into ink, even then these will fall short to describe His characteristics. Of these qualities, He described as much as He willed in His Holy Book.
Ending note:
God is one of those things which logic and reason have failed to explain. Just like the question of eternal life that goes on and on (even if one does not belief in life after death the question of eternal existence remains there). It seems that rationality is too short a tool for encompassing God. So it is amusing when someone as smart as Alan Turing or Earnest Hemmingway rejects God measuring Him on the scales of rationalism. The right equipment for it is something they've never experienced. 'Faith'.
Iqbal rightly described it as.
Guzar ja Aqal se agey ke yeh nor.
(Renounce the path of reason; it is a light).
Chiraag e raah he manzil nahi he.
(That brightens thy way; it is not thy Final goal). religion islam www.pakpositive.com