Q28 :What is the most convincing way to
prove the existence of Allah, the Almighty? Also, what is the
proof of the existence of the Prophet?
A28 : Do we really need to prove Allah’s
existence? Perhaps thirty years ago, I might have warmed to
such a question and could have written a treatise providing
methodical discussion of the subject and giving arguments that
the opponents of religion would find very difficult to refute.
Now, with the benefit of my life experience, I am more inclined
to say that we do not need such a proof any more than we need
to prove that the sun gives us heat or that a full moon gives
the night superb brightness. Perhaps the best proof lies in the
fact that when human nature is free from prejudice, it tends to
be a believing nature. Before anyone accuses me of being too
subjective, I would like to relate this interesting story.
Imam Al-Ghazali was a highly renowned scholar who rose to fame
in an age which was characterized by its great variety of
intellectual and philosophical schools of thought. Many
Orientalists consider him the greatest philosopher in Islamic
history. Yet he was the one who brought about the decline of
philosophical trends in the Muslim world. It is said that
Al-Ghazali was once walking along the street and people were
keen to express their admiration and respect of him. A very old
woman was not particularly amazed by what she saw. She asked
who the man was. Someone answered: “Do you not know him? He is
the one who knows one thousand proofs of Allah’s existence.”
The old woman answered: “So what? Had he not had one thousand
doubts, he would not have had one thousand proofs.” Al-Ghazali
overheard this reply. He smiled and offered a little prayer in
these words: “My Lord, grant me the strength of faith old
people have.” The story is significant in the sense that it is
man who determines the level of evidence he requires in order
to believe in Allah. If he allows his nature to look freely
without restraining or checking it by prejudices, social
prejudices, personal desires, or interests, he will be so much
closer to faith. This is indeed the message we understand from
the Qur’an. As you realize the Qur’an is above all a book of
divine guidance. It concentrates first of all on the basic
issue of faith: The belief in the Oneness of Allah and His
control of, and supremacy over, all the universe. The Qur’an
draws our attention to the world around us and invites us to
contemplate on every aspect of creation. It tells us that there
are pointers and indications in the universe which prove
without any shadow of doubt, that there is no deity save Allah,
the Creator of all. If we were to reflect on these, the only
conclusion we would derive from them is that Allah is the
Creator of all and the Lord of all. Such indicators are
everywhere in the world, but we tend to overlook them because
they are so familiar to us. If you consider how a big tree
netes from a small seed and the process of planting the seed,
its producing a shoot out of the soil, the way it establishes
its roots, and how it grows, blooms and yields its specific
brand of fruit, you will conclude that only Allah could have
given the seed all these characteristics. But we do not tend to
reflect on this, because the planting of trees and plants and
waiting for their yield is so familiar to us that we tend to
think of it as a simple natural process. It may be so, but who
made it so natural? Similarly, the birth of every child is a
miracle, but we tend to accept it as the most natural thing on
earth. Such birth is certainly a natural phenomenon, but who
said that natural phenomena are not miraculous? Since it is
beyond man’s control, it is definitely subject to the will of a
different power, i.e. that of Allah. Man has been studying this
process of conception, pregnancy, and birth for centuries on
end, but he still cannot influence, amend or change this
process. Nor can man determine when to start it or influence
its outnete. Not even the best techniques of helping women
conceive change the fact that all efforts of man do not amount
to more than inducing the start of the process and allowing it
to take its course. Otherwise, can man conceive of any method
which would bring children into being, without relying on the
process of fertilizing a female egg with a male sperm? You ask
how can we prove the Prophet’s existence. Do we need to prove
it? How to prove the existence of any historical personality?
Is it not by the reports we have about him and the events in
which he took part or he helped acnetplish? We have a full
record of the life of the Prophet. We also have reports of all
his actions, from the most private ones to those of state and
public interest. In the case of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him), however, we also have the radical change in the Arabian
society and in human life as a whole which he brought about.
Perhaps what you actually mean is how to prove that he actually
was a messenger of Allah and that his message was the final one
addressing mankind as a whole. In this case, I have to refer
you to the Qur’an which is the ultimate proof of all that. I
have several points to make here but I can only refer to them
very briefly, because of the limitation of space. The Qur’an
was revealed at a time when the Arabs gave so much importance
to literary excellence, particularly in poetry. A poet of high
standard was a source of pride for his tribe. In the tribal
warfare, poetry was as important a weapon as swords, spears and
arrows. When the Prophet received his revelations and recited
them to the people of Makkah, they listened to something
totally new. It was not poetry, but its literary excellence
surpassed everything they knew. They realized that it could not
have been netposed by a human being. Even the staunchest of the
enemies of Islam acknowledged that. Moreover, the Qur’an was so
different in style, rhythm and use of imagery from the Hadith
which was the Prophet’s own expression. It is not possible for
any human being to use two widely different styles to express
the same subject matter and to do that so consistently over a
period of 23 years, which was the length of the time during
which the Qur’an was revealed. Moreover, the Qur’an mentions
certain facts which were totally unknown to mankind at the time
of its revelation and only very recently we started to discover
them. One example is the details the Qur’an gives about the
various stages of the development of the fetus, from the moment
it is conceived to the time of its birth. These details are now
scientifically proven by the use of sophisticated technology,
such as ultrasound scanning. The Prophet had no means of
knowing these, except through revelation from Allah, the
Creator of man and the universe. Another example is the clear
reference to the fact recently proven by scientists: When a
strait separates two seas, as the Red Sea is separated from the
Indian Ocean by the Strait of Bab Al-Mandab, the two seas are
actually separated to the extent that the maritime life in one
is so different from that in the other. In Verse 61 of Surah
27, the Qur’an refers to Allah as having “placed a barrier
between the two seas.” In Surah 55, Verses 19 and 20, which
may be rendered in translation as follows: “He has given
freedom to the two seas so that they might meet; yet between
them is a barrier which they not transgress.” If Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not receive this from Allah
Himself, how could he have known it when he never came near the
sea in his life? Moreover, the Qur’an laid down new
legislation in various social matters which represented a great
departure from what prevailed in Arabia and in surrounding
countries and states. Yet there was no earthly reason for the
enactment of such legislation which any reformer would have
hesitated to introduce because they were bound to upset the
social balance. Perhaps, the best example of these is the high
position Islam gives to women, bring them to a level of
equality with men, with only a few differences of secondary
importance, necessitated by the different role they have to
fulfill in human life. In pre-Islamic Arabia and in most
societies at the time of the Prophet, women were considered far
too inferior to men. Some Arabian tribes considered a widow
part of the estate of a deceased man, to the extent that the
chief of the clan could do with her whatever he wanted: He
could marry her if he wished, without even bothering to ask her
or he could pass her to someone else in his family if he so
preferred. Women had no share in inheritance. Islam gives them
their rightful and fair shares. Furthermore, it gives the woman
all the rights to own any type of property and to invest it or
spend it as she pleases, without any intervention by her father
or her husband or any other man. Why would Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) make such a great departure from the
prevailing tradition when no woman in Arabia raised her voice
calling for a reform? As you realize, the Qur’an is preserved
intact. Allah has guaranteed that it would remain in its
original form for all time. We recite it in prayer and at other
times. Its recitation earns us reward. Yet the Qur’an contains
a reproach to the Prophet for a step he made. If the Qur’an was
of the Prophet’s own netposition, would he have included such
reproach? If he recognized his mistake, would it not have been
courageous of him just to admit it? Would he have included such
reproach in his book of worship? Read, if you wish, this
reproach at the opening of Surah 80. A passage which would also
make a very interesting reading is the one included in Surah
69, which describes the Qur’an in these terms: “It is indeed
the word of a noble messenger, and is not — however little you
may be prepared to believe it — a word of a poet and neither
is it — little you may be prepared to take it to hear — the
word of a soothsayer; it is a revelation from the Lord of all
worlds.”(40-43). This description is followed by this threat:
“Now if he (whom We have entrusted with it) had dared to
attribute some of his own sayings to Us, We would indeed have
seized him by his right hand and would have indeed have cut his
life vein and none of you could have saved him.” (44-47) If
the Qur’an was of Muhammad’s own invention, far be it from him
to do so, would he have included such a threat to himself?
Moreover, I want also to refer to the fact that the Prophet
demonstrated his absolute faith in the Qur’an as the word of
Allah. The Qur’an tells the Prophet that he had nothing to fear
from human beings because Allah protects him. Verse 67 of Surah
5 may be rendered in translation as follows: “Messenger,
announce that all that has been bestowed from on high to you by
Your Lord; for unless you do that, then you will not have
delivered His message. Allah will protect you from all people.”
In the battle of Hunain, the Muslim army was in retreat and the
Prophet in a highly vulnerable position. The disbelievers would
have sacrificed any number in order to kill him. Yet, he stood
on his horse, calling on his netpanions to rally to the cause
of Islam. He drew very close to his enemy on purpose. Anyone
else in his position could have been easily killed, but he did
not even try to have any cover. This sort of attitude
demonstrated the strength of his faith. When Allah tells him
that he will be protected, he was certain that nothing would
happen to him and he went extremely close to his enemies as if
he was inviting them to kill him, hoping to persuade them of
the truth of his message when they related his action to what
is said in the Qur’an. No one other than a messenger from Allah
and a prophet would have done that. These are only a brief
examples of what the Qur’an contains of evidence proving that
the message of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was truly
and genuinely a message from Allah. [But again as was earlier
said it is man who determines the level of evidence he requires
in order to believe in Allah. If he allows his nature to look
freely without restraining or checking it by prejudices, social
prejudices, personal desires, or interests, he will be so much
closer to faith.]
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )