Have you ever asked yourself? Why am I Muslim? Is it just because my parents are Muslim? Or because I was born and brought up in a Muslim background? Or because I don’t have an option, I’ve heard someone say, I’m a Muslim by chance and not by choice? Is it the case with you too? If today,you were in any other religion,would you revert to becoming a Muslim?

How many of you have strived to find what our purpose of existence is?

If not, today let’s question ourselves,are we just Muslims by name or do we truly understand why we are Muslims or why Islam is the right deen? How would you answer this question today?

Let’s break this down to a number of other questions,which would gradually give us our answer.

First, why do we believe in the existence of God?

Look at this painting, what if I say this beautiful painting was created when ink randomly fell on a canvas.You’ll obviously doubt how something as with such precise details can be just randomly created,it should have a painter.Then how is it possible for something as complex as the universe to be created without a creator.It is undeniably impossible.

“Have they been created without a Creator? Or, are they their own creators? Or, have they created the heavens and the earth? The fact is that they lack faith.” -Surah At-Tur, Ayah 35.

Now, these three statements can be further understood

1. Have they been created without a creator?

As we have already discussed earlier,if something as little as a painting cannot be created without a painter,something as intricate and complex as the universe cannot be created without a creator. Also,it is impossible for something to be created out of nothing.

2. Are they their own creators?

For you to create yourself,you have to already exist before you were born,which is also impossible. Since the universe had a beginning, it could not have created itself.

3. Have they created the heavens and the earth?

Even if we look at the most impressive human inventions,they do not stand even as a zillionth part as compared to this universe.

Let’s take the example of our earth and solar system. The earth rotates on its axis once every twenty-four hours. Imagine the earth was spinning really slowly. A day or night is say 30 or 40 years long instead of 24 hours. One part of the earth’s surface would be exposed to sunlight for that time, and the other in darkness. So the earth’s surface would be both superheated and supercooled. Or, if we were fractionally (in cosmological terms) closer to the sun or further away, it would be too hot or too cold. Or, if the composition of the gases in the atmosphere was not exactly the right blend of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen, or if there was no ozone to filter out the harmful effects of the sun’s radiation, without these optimal conditions it is difficult to see how life could exist.^[1]

Many people around the world don’t believe in God because of the lack of evidence. Some, when they are asked what kind of evidence they would like, will say a miracle in front of their face. Which is a subjective experience and would actually be the worst type of evidence as everyone would have to have the same subjective experience as well. If only one person had a miracle appear before them, then that miracle would be evidence only for that one person. For everyone else the person was deluded, hallucinating, drunk and so on. It’s not proof. Also the person could convince themselves that it was a dream or imagined, and when the miracle never appears again they may soon forget it entirely.

“And even if We had sent down to them the angels [with the message] and the dead spoke to them [of it] and We gathered together every [created] thing in front of them, they would not believe unless Allah should will. But most of them, [of that], are ignorant.” -Surah Al An’am,Ayah 111-112

But if asked what sort of evidence a person would require to believe in evolution, dark matter, or some other scientific belief, the answer wouldn’t be a miracle. The answer wouldn’t even be to see the evidence with their own eyes. They are satisfied with being told that it’s true by trusted people (scientists) and that’s enough for them. They trust the scientific process, and they trust the peer reviewed journals and the conclusions of these men. Even while knowing (or perhaps they don’t know) that science changes all the time and has had many paradigm shifts in the past.”^[2]

How would you explain that there is only one God? The foundation of Islam, is on the oneness of Allah, who is Al-Qahhar, the most powerful.

Imagine a car has two drivers,one steering, at some point or the other,there will be a clash among the two.If there were more than one god, there would either be hierarchy,and if there is hierarchy,how can all be most powerful? or if they were,there would be a clash among the two.And the universe in all its ultimate precision, does not represent any such clash.

The balance of the universe is the biggest proof of God’s oneness.The sky is always blue, gravity is the same,the earth revolves around the sun,so on and so forth.

“Is not He (better than your gods) Who has made the earth as a fixed abode, and has placed rivers in its midst, and has placed firm mountains therein, and has set a barrier between the two seas (of salt and sweet water).Is there any ilah (god) with Allah? Nay, but most of them know not.”

Now you would ask, if just believing in God’s existence and oneness is enough,why do we need a religion?

Today,in any of the countries in the world,why do people live according to certain sets of laws, rules and regulations? Why don’t they just do what they want or feel like?

Yes, because there would be a complete havoc.The nature of man is not to be organised by default,he requires a certain set of rules. Now, why do these rules have to be divine.As we can see,the human made laws are amended from time to time which signifies the fact that they are fallible.

So where do we get the right direction from?It definitely has to be from some infallible,omniscient and omnipotent source i.e from the word of God. This necessitates the requirement of a correct path to walk on and not some random leaps and jumps.Also,all religions can’t be true,there has to be one right path.

Allah (the one and only true God) says in the Quran, in Surah Aal-e-Imran, Ayah 19:

“Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam.”

How do you find the purpose of your existence,the correct way to lead your life?How does Islam provide this answer?

You buy a new device,but you don’t know what it is for,how it is operated,you’ll look for a user manual.

Similarly,we as humans should ask ourselves: why am I here?Where am I going? What is my purpose?

All the answers are provided by the one who has created us. THE QURAN is the biggest testimony to the fact that Islam is the only religion which is self-evident to be the truth. It is a miracle that exists till date.There are numerous arguments backing the fact that the Quran is not human speech, rather is the word of God. It is a book, like no other book,a speech like no other speech,and this can be shown in so many ways.

First,its preservation by Allah.Allah predicted its preservation from the very beginning.Over 1400 years have passed, and the Quran remains in its original language, completely unchanged.Since Muslims claim the Quran to be the direct word of God, any changes ,even if it was a single letter would instantly falsify this claim.^[3] The Quran has no errors. Allah challenges the reader to look for contradictions if they think the Quran is man- made.

1. It is easy to memorise.

Today the Quran is stored verbatim in the hearts of millions. Every single generation since the Quran was revealed has had memorisers making it the only book in history to have passed down in both human memory and written form.

2. Scientific and historic precision

The Quran is jam-packed full of scientific and historical accuracies that were impossible to have been known 14 centuries ago.There are more than1000 scientific verses,and not a single one of them can be disproved by established science.

THE AFTERLIFE
Imagine an African child dying of starvation at the age of 12 and a millionaire dying at the ripe age of 60, after enjoying his life.

Is it just?

As we know the world is full of Injustice and inequalities.If death would have been the end,how unjust,unfair would it be.

The day of judgement, the akhirah is the ultimate hope for a believer to understand that death is not the end.It gives him the internal motivation to do good, as morality comes from within and can never be imposed. The day of judgement and the afterlife is what gives hope of reward on doing good and fear of punishment on doing bad deeds.The day of judgement, is mentioned as the ultimate reality which signifies the fact that the world is no more than a water bubble.

“So, whoever does an atom’s weight of good shall see it; (99:8) and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil shall see it.” –Surah Az-Zalzalah 99:7-8

“When the sun is wrapped up [in darkness]
And when the stars fall, dispersing,
And when the mountains are removed
And when full-term she-camels are neglected
And when the wild beasts are gathered
And when the seas are filled with flame
And when the souls are paired
And when the girl [who was] buried alive is asked
For what sin she was killed
And when the pages are made public
And when the sky is stripped away
And when Hellfire is set ablaze
And when Paradise is brought near
A soul will [then] know what it has brought [with it]”
-Qur’an, Surah Takwir

THE PROPHETHOOD
The way the life of Prophet Muhammad ﷺhas been preserved is above and beyond any other type of preservation in history.

The narrations cannot be false because of the sanad,the chain of narrations.The narrators and narrations are tested against strict criteria to verify that the narration can be trusted.All the information we have,literally invites us to study his life and make a rational decision to see if he was actually a prophet or not.Not only is he the most documented historical figure,But also has been titled the Best man in the world as well as mentioned the first out of 100 most influential people in the world in Michael Hart’s book. An unlettered person,coming up with such eloquent word that remains today the best literature the world has ever seen,substantiates his miraculous life.

All his prophecies,from Arabs competing in building tall buildings^[4],Interest being rampant,^[5] power and authority being given to wrong people^[6] sexual promiscuity becoming widespread and parents giving birth to their masters^[7], prove to be true.

CONCLUSION

“We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. But is it not sufficient concerning your Lord that He is, over all things, a witness?”
-Surah Fussilat, Ayah 53

There is no leap of faith in Islam.Allah has given us an intellect,countless signs and a lifetime to search for him

Being the best of the nations, Ummatun wasatan, the community of the middle way’ is too rich in meaning to find an adequate equivalent in any other language. It signifies that distinguished group of people which follows the path of justice and equity, of balance and moderation, a group which occupies a central position among the nations of the world so that its friendship with all is based on righteousness and justice and none receives its support in wrong and injustice.

The purpose of creating ‘the community of the middle way’, according to this Qur’anic verse, is to make it stand as witness ‘before all mankind and the Messenger might be a witness before you’. What this means is that when the whole of mankind is called to account, the Prophet, as God’s representative, will stand witness to the fact that he had communicated to the Muslims and had put into practice the teachings postulating sound beliefs, righteous conduct and a balanced system of life which he had received from on high.^[8]

After rationally analysing all these points,we ourselves can answer our conscience before answering anyone else. Why is Islam the truth and why am I a Muslim

References

1. The Man in the Red Underpants by A.R. Green ↑

2. https://themuslimscomic.com/2020/12/13/10-reasons-why-islam-is-the-true-religion/ ↑

3. Why Islam is the Truth ↑

4. Sunan-An-Nasai ↑

5. Musnad Ahmad ↑

6. Sahih-Al-Bukhari ↑

7. Sahih Muslim ↑

8. Tafhim-ul-Quran by Syed Abul A’la Maududi ↑