Re: Islamic Faith
Critic:-
The faith of Muslims is irrational. It is based on a circular argument:- The Quran is from God and is true because Muhammad says so. Muhammad is a Prophet from God because the Quran says so. It is blind faith that prevents them from thinking.
Answer:-
That is not how it is understood in Islam. The Quran tells us:-
"Nay, but it is a clear revelation in the hearts of those who are endowed with knowledge, and none deny Our revelations save the wrongdoers (or unjust)." 29:49
"Those unto whom We have given the Scripture, who read it with the right reading, those believe in it. And who so disbelieves in it, those are they who are losers." 2:121
The Quran is accepted because its truth is recognised at a deep level. This, by association, confirms the Prophethood of Muhammad (saw).
But the Prophet was also known as a truthful and sincere person who devoted his whole life to the service of God, a mission he recognised. This by association also confirms the Quran.
The two reinforce each other.
We do not understand faith as "blind belief" but as confidence in a perceived truth. Those who cannot see are regarded as blind as you can see from the very beginning of the Quran (After the Fatihah). This faith is not sub-rational but supra-rational in that it arises from the perception of the heart rather than the superficial intellect and verbal reasoning.
The Objective Truth is defined as the Word of Allah by which all things have been created and the Muslim (one who surrenders to Allah) is required to judge all things by what Allah has given, setting aside his own subjective prejudices, fantasies, distorted reasoning and desires.
"Whoso will not judge by what Allah has revealed, these are the disbelievers. ....Whoso judges not by what Allah has revealed, these are the wrong-doers." 5:44,45
Whereas it is true that many people accept Islam, as any other religion, without understanding but because of cultural tradition, habit, sentimentality, prejudices, self-interest and so on, this is not what Islam teaches. We are told:-
"And follow (or pursue) not that of which you have no knowledge; verily, the hearing, the sight, and the heart, of all of these it shall be asked (to give an account)." 17:36
In most cases the capacity for such perception requires the application of an appropriate discipline. This is no different from undergoing an educational course to study the sciences, the arts and crafts and any other subject.
You can certainly say that you cannot understand all this. But you cannot infer from this that it is untrue or that it cannot be understood that others cannot understand it.
Critic:-
You have just demonstrated by quoting the Quran that you are in a circular argument.
Comment:-
Is it really so difficult to comprehend that I have quoted the Quran to tell you how the Quran requires us to understand and accept it?
How would you go about convincing a person that something you see exists if he cannot see or does not wish to see or is of low intelligence.
But I see you are a worshipper of Logic. You should then try to explain to yourself the following circular arguments:-
Assertion: All changes require a force to cause them. Question: How do you know there is a force? Answer: We measure it by the change in motion.
Assertion: Logic is the only way we can reach truth. Question: How do you establish the truth of your assertion and the validity of Logic? Answer: We do so by Logical arguments.
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