Islam Answers Atheism

Description

This unique work is a result of multiple engagements and debates in universities, mosques, private gatherings and elsewhere. The author, Asrar Rashid, takes on the more difficult questions taking us through a labrynth of Kalām, philosophy, logic, epistemology, science, the Qurʾān, Ḥadīth and Sharīʿa. The book covers in depth the proof for God, His divine attributes, the problem of evil, freewill and divine knowledge, the most difficult philosophical and scientific objections against Islam, as well as objections to Sharīʿa law, the Qurʾān’s historical preservation, the historicity of the Ḥadīth, slavery, Jihād, women’s rights and a host of other complex issues. This book is a must for all who are learning about Islam, Muslims and non-Muslims, apologists and detractors. Contents Transliterational Key Introduction Chapter One. Islam & Atheism 1.1 How can Islam answer atheism? 1.2 The prime importance of kalam 1.3 The categories of belief 1.4 Degrees of proof 1.5 Blind conformity 1.6 The intuitive mind of the pious predecessors (salaf) 1.7 The mind & the intellect 1.8 Religious hypocrisy 1.9 Salvation through kalam 1.10 The emergence of dispute 1.11 The mu`tazila 1.12 The modern era 1.13 Fifteen atheistic fallacies Chapter Two. Epistemology 2.1 The meaning & importance of epistemology 2.2 Does knowledge itself need defining? 2.3 Judgements 2.4 Empirical judgements 2.5 Rational judgements 2.6 Categorisation of empirical & rational judgements 2.7 Certainty & types of proof 2.8 Proofs that impart certainty 2.9 Disputation based on famous assumption or fallacies 2.10 Oratory based on accepted norms 2.11 Poetic license 2.12 Sophistry 2.13 Love is a fallacy 2.14 The importance of common sense & the method of signification 2.15 Anglo-European philosophy & its epistemology Chapter Three. God's Existence 3.1 Cause & Effect 3.2 The sceptical fetters of David Hume 3.3 Russel's teapot 3.4 Reasoning from effect to cause that God certainly exists 3.5 Seven principles 3.6 The summary of proof for these seven principles 3.7 The proof by way of tallying or application (burhan al-tatbiq) 3.8 Cantor's set theory 3.9 The absurdity of circular reasoning & continuous regression 3.10 What the cause of the universe entails 3.11 'A universe from nothing' by Lawrence Krauss 3.12 Afterthoughts & various considerations 3.13 Ockham's Razor 3.14 The principle of sufficient reason 3.15 The fallacy of composition 3.16 A caused universe & the causal principle 3.17 The anthropic principle & the teleological argument 3.18 God of the gaps 3.19 Alien of the gaps 3.20 The names & attributes of Allah Chapter Four. On Evil, Theodicy & Philosophical Sundries 4.1 The problem of evil & suffering 4.2 What Stephen Fry said 4.3 The connections of the attributes of God 4.4 The boulder question 4.5 Satan's tricky question 4.6 Divine knowledge 4.7 The necessary & the essential 4.8 On human freewill 4.9 The legally responsible 4.10 Unbelievers 4.11 The outward Muslim & the outward kafir 4.12 Divine will & human freewill 4.13 The meaning of 'God willing' 4.14 The meaning of 'God guides whom He wills & misguides whom He wills' 4.15 Prophetic reports on freewill 4.16 Sin & freewill 4.17 The danger of religious arrogance 4.18 Why does God need our worship? 4.19 The purpose of human life 4.20 The man who worshipped for five hundred years 4.21 A thought experiment 4.22 Why does God burn the unbelievers in hell for eternity? 4.23 The punishment in hell 4.24 Euthyphro's dilemma 4.25 The drowning man 4.26 God's law 4.27 An imperfect world 4.28 What is the wisdom of God creating evil? Chapter Five. Islam & Science 5.1 The clash of modern science 5.2 The subject of science 5.3 Miracles 5.4 The metaphysical domain 5.5 The Buraq 5.6 The splitting of the moon 5.7 Claims of scientific error in the Qur'an 5.8 The Qur'an is not a book of science 5.9 Claims of scientific error in prophetic reports 5.10 Forgeries & Islam 5.11 Eschatology in Islam 5.12 The illusion of scientific dogmatism 5.13 Paradigm shifts in scientific theories 5.14 Evolution/intelligent design & Islam Chapter Six. The Qur'an, Hadith & Shari`a 6.1 Islam 6.2 The preservation of the Qur'an 6.3 The preservation of the hadith & sunna 6.4 Classification of hadith 6.5 Shari`a law 6.6 Jihad 6.7 Slavery 6.8 Corporal punishment 6.9 Capital punishment for apostates 6.10 Homosexuality in Islam 6.11 The marriage of lady `A'isha 6.12 Polygamy 6.13 The hijab 6.14 Woman like a rib hadith 6.15 Maidens for men, what about women? 6.16 Women & inheritance laws 6.17 Blood money of a woman (diya) 6.18 divorce laws 6.19 Wife beating 6.20 Women's intellect & leadership Notes & References Glossary BIbliography