[Music]
I'm going to start as Muslims do in the
name of
godd I greet you all brothers sisters
and friends with the Islamic greetings
of
peace brothers sisters and friends to
today we have an interesting question
Islam or atheism you decide now before I
get into the thick of my argument I
would like to propose something I would
argue that the way human beings must
make decisions in their life is the way
that critical thinkers should make
decisions in their lives now you may
think this is fancy philosophy it's not
what I actually mean is that we must
base our decision
on ration and reason and Common Sense
something that myself and Ed Buckner
will agree upon let me elaborate with an
example say for example we're at home in
our living room and we're watching the
football okay and at 9:00 in the evening
someone knocks on the door knock knock
okay we look through the spy glass and
we see Superman with his red Underpants
and he
says I'm here to check the gas and and
you're thinking he's here to check my
gas meter that doesn't make sense so
using your reasoning using your common
sense your critical thinking you're
going to actually phone the gas company
and say do you actually come at 9:00 in
the evening and have you changed your
uniform policy significantly you're
going to be crying out through the door
saying excuse me sir can I see some ID
can I see some
paperwork and from this analogy or this
example example we have come to realize
that we must use our Common Sense our
previous information our intellect our
rational capacities in order to make
decisions in our lives and I would argue
today that to support the atheist
worldview would be equivalent of
allowing someone in their red Underpants
to come and check your gas meter whereas
someone supporting the Islamic worldview
be the one with slightly more critical
thinking and the way I'm going to do
this is first suspend my judgment about
a ISM and wait for Dr Ed Buckner to
respond or provide a good case for The
Atheist worldview and now what I'm going
to do is provide a positive case for the
Islamic worldview now what is the
Islamic worldview now the Islamic
worldview is based upon three
intellectual foundations one the
existence of God two the Quran being
Divine and three the truthfulness of the
prophets sallallah alai wasam peace and
blessings be upon him claim to
prophethood so I'm going to go straight
to the first argument God's existence
now brothers sisters and friends God
makes sense of the origins of the
universe CU we have all asked the same
question why does something exist rather
than nothing how did the universe come
to being in this light the Quran the
book of the Muslims points to this type
of thinking as the Quran says or do they
think the heavens and the Earth the
whole universe came out of nothing
now typically atheists have responded by
saying that the universe is just Eternal
and uncaused for example bertran Russell
the famous atheist on the radio program
he said the universe is just there and
that's all however brothers sisters and
friends if we conclude or if we scratch
the surface on this statement we will
conclude that it is absurd and
irrational because that would mean that
the Universe never had AIG beginning
which would then mean that our history
is infinite that the Universe has an
infinite history of past events by ask
you the question can this really be the
case can we have an infinite history the
answer is no because the infinite does
not exist in the real world take the
following examples into
consideration example number one say we
have an infinite number of Dr Ed
buckners in the room okay
okay whether we like that or not okay
say we take two Dr Ed buckners away how
many Dr edbar do we have left infinite
infinite as Dr Ed bakner has just said
but logically it's Infinity minus 2 and
if it's Infinity minus 2 it's less than
infinity and if it's less than infinity
we should be able to count how many Dr
Ed buckners are in the room but we can't
it just exists in the mathematical realm
of discussion
of discourse example number two now say
we have aund Dr Ed buckners in the room
and at every possible moment I add
another Dr at Buckner 101 102 a, And1 a,
and2 a million and one a million and two
will I ever reach a number that we can
describe as infinite no because at every
possible moment I can add another Dr Ed
Buckner so in this the mathematicians
kasmin and Y they said the infinite
certainly does not exist in the same
sense as we say there are fish in the
sea and significantly brothers sisters
and friends the famous German
mathematician David hilber he said the
infinite is nowhere to be found in
reality it neither exists in nature nor
provides a legitimate basis for rational
thought the role that remains for the
infinite to play is solely that of an
idea but brothers sisters and friends
past events are real they're not just
ideas therefore the number of past
events cannot be infinite therefore
there was a beginning to the universe
and it logically follows there was a
cause to the universe this is why
leading cosmologists and philosophers of
science such as Ellis Kirchner and
Stoger they ask and they answer in the
following way they said can there be an
infinite set of really existing
universes we suggest that on the basis
of well-known philosophical arguments
the answer is no now this may sound like
philosophical mumbo jumbo let's talk
about science okay what does
astrophysical evidence have to say what
does science have to say about this now
I would argue that this conclusion is
also supported by physics as you know
you've heard of The Big Bang everyone
heard of The Big Bang
Hands good and I assure you it's not
that thing that happens after too many
worries okay according to the Big Bang
physical time and space was created and
matter and energy were also created the
four prominent scientists Jay Richards
James E gun David and Shram and beatus M
Tinley they described the event of the
Big Bang as follows the universe began
from a state of infinite density space
and time were creating that event and so
was all matter in the universe I ask you
another question what does infinite
density actually mean well it actually
means nothing this is why Cambridge
astronomer Fred Hoy he states that the
Universe at a point in the past was
shrunk down to nothing at all so let's
reflect on this it would actually mean
that a proponent of The Big Bang Theory
or model would require us to believe
that something comes from nothing I ask
you another question out of does
something come from nothing no because
out of nothing nothing
comes this is why even atheist
philosophers such as David Hume he wrote
in a letter I never asserted to absurd
proposition as that anything might arise
Without a Cause similarly PJ zwart in
his publication about time said if there
is anything we find inconceivable it is
that something could arise from nothing
and we even have the eminent physicist
Sir Arthur Edington concluding the
beginning seems to present insuperable
difficulties unless we agree to look on
it as frankly Supernatural so we can
conclude based on mathematical
philosophical and scientific evidence
that there's a cause for the universe it
doesn't mean it's God doesn't mean it's
Jesus doesn't mean it's Allah it doesn't
mean anything it just means there a
cause for the universe so we ask another
question what is the nature of this
cause and the nature of this cause upon
conceptual analysis which means critical
thinking thinking about this cause we
come to some startling
conclusions this cause must be one the
reason for this is because if we use the
philosophical principle okom razor which
posits that we do not multiply entities
Beyond necessity then we conclude it
must be one this cause must be uncaused
as we have already discussed the
absurdity of an infinite regress of
events similarly with causes this cause
must be imit material because it created
the sum of all matter which is the
universe itself significantly brothers
sisters and friends this cause must be
personal the reason I'm saying this is
how else can an eternal cause bring into
an existence a finite effect the
universe that had a beginning in time it
must have chosen the universe to come
into existence and choice indicates a
will and a will indicates a personality
so we have concluded the traditional
view on God that are transcendental
immaterial uncaused Eternal being exists
let me summarize the argument for you
one Whatever begins to exist has a cause
two the universe began to exist three
therefore the universe has a cause let
me go straight to the second argument
which is about the miraculous nature of
the Quran the Quran being a signpost to
the transcendent
what I mean by this is that the Quran
can only be best explained
by the fact that it is a Divine book and
I'm going to use the inimitability of
the Quran for this now what do I mean by
inimitability what I mean by
inimitability is that the Quran cannot
be emulated reproduced matched or copied
with regards to its literary and
linguistic features and this has a
quranic drive in the Quran which is the
book of the Muslims in the second
chapter the Quran says and if you are in
doubt talking to the whole of humanity
here to the secularists to the atheists
to the agnostics those sitting on the
fence those in the fence talking to
everyone if you are in doubt about this
book which we have sent down to our
servant referring to the prophet
Muhammad sallallah alaihi wasallam then
bring one single chapter like it and
call on your Witnesses and your
supporters and your thinkers and your
philosophers and your scientists and
your Dr Ed Buckner if you are actually
truthful and this challenge Brave
challenge as a historical backdrop too
the famous Arab historian IB rashik he
states that the Arabs at the time of
Revelation over 1400 years ago were
Arabic linguists par Excell they were
the best at expressing themselves in the
Arabic tongue this is why he says that
the only time the Arabs used to
celebrate was on the birth of a boy and
when a poet Rose amongst them now this
inimitability this matchless this
inability for Humanity to try and copy
the Quran has been testified by many
Western and Eastern academics for
example AJ Aubrey the famous translator
of the Quran and the famous orientalist
he said for the Quran is neither Pros
nor poetry but a unique Fusion of both
and there are many reasons why the Quran
cannot be matched or copied from a
linguistic perspective some of these
reasons include its unique literary form
its peak of eloquence its unique
linguistic genre and its abundance of
rhetorical devices now you don't not
have to know anything technical about
this but just to let you know that there
are key cogent Arguments for the
inimitability of the Quran hence Paul
Casanova in April 1909 at the College of
France spoke about the linguistic power
of the Quran and he says whenever
Muhammad
sallam was asked a miracle as a proof of
the authenticity of his mission he
quoted the composition of the Quran and
its incomparable Excellence as proof of
its divine origin and in fact even those
who are non-muslims nothing is more
marvelous than its language with such
apprehensible plentitude and grasping
sonority but I think I could hear the
question in your head and I think it's
saying something like this well how does
it make it Divine how does it make it
come from God how does it make it a
miracle and that's a very good question
but as we agreed we're going to use our
logic and if we use logic we will come
to that conclusion and I'm going to use
something called logical deduction what
is logical deduction logical deduction
is a thinking process where you start
with a universally accepted statement
and from that drawing logical
conclusions but I think there's another
question in your head and the other
question in your head is but I don't
know nothing about the Arabic language I
mean most of us come from the Asian some
continent so what do we know about
Arabic another very good question well
you don't have to know every you don't
have to know anything about the Arabic
language put your hand up if you really
believe that China
exists good now put your hand up if
you've been to China
before eight people so for the majority
of us we still believe China exists and
I ask the majority of us have you ever
spoken to a Chinese person before in
China
have you eaten Chinese food in
China I want some English tea so we
haven't done this but we believe that
China actually exists but you may argue
but it's on the map well if I drew you a
map and I said this is planet zongo and
I'm a zolan and I come from the planet
Zula does that mean it really exists no
but the reason we believe this and if we
study epistemology the study of
knowledge we will come to the conclusion
that we believe in these things because
it's testimony it's recurrent reporting
it's a universally accepted statement
this is why the philosopher and
historian C AJ cordi in his book
testimony a philosophical study he
highlights our dependency on on this
very fact and he says many of us have
never seen a baby born nor have most of
us examined the circulation of the blood
nor the actual geography of the world
nor any Fair sample of the laws of the
land nor have we made the observations
that lie behind our knowledge that the
lights in the sky are Heavenly Bodies
immensely
distinct so I would argue for you to
reject the miraculous nature of the
Quran will be equivalent of saying that
China does not exist and even saying
that the world is not Round We believe
it's round why have we actually felt
it's round us have we gone to Australia
and had a huge headache no so the point
I'm trying to make is that it's based
upon recurrent reporting now what is the
University accepted statement with
regards to the Quran based upon eastern
and western scholarship well it is as
follows those best place to challenge
the Quran have failed to meet its
Challenge and there is a consensus
amongst western non-muslim eastern
Muslim scholarship for example the
highly claimed professor and arabist
Hamilton Gibb he States the meccans
still demanded of him a miracle and with
remarkable boldness and selfconfidence
Muhammad appealed as a supreme
confirmation of his mission to the Quran
itself like all Arabs there were coners
of language and rhetoric well then if
the Quran were his own composition other
men could rival it let them produce 10
verses like it and if they could not and
it is obvious that they could not let
them accept the Quran as outstanding
evidential Miracle Professor Bruce
Lawrence from Duke University in his
book The Quran a biography he says as
tangible signs quranic verses are
expressive of inexhaustible truth they
signify meaning laid within meaning
light upon light Miracle after Miracle
so let's now draw The Logical
conclusions we know the book can
actually come from an Arab and non-arab
Muhammad sallallah alaihi wasallam or
God himself now firstly the Quran could
not have come from an Arab because the
Arabs at the time of Revelation who the
best place to challenge the Quran the
Arabic linguist par Excellence failed to
challenge the Quran they haven't even
admitted that it could not come from a
human being for example the best
linguist of the time his name was W IB
al- he says by God this cannot come from
a human
being the Quran could not have come from
a non-arab because obviously you need to
know the Arabic language in order to
successfully challenge the
Quran now I think the most important
point lies in the fact that many people
claim that the author was the prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam but
the prophet Muhammad could not have been
the author the reason being because he
was an Arab himself and like all Arabs
they failed so he isn't included in that
logically significantly the Arabic
linguist at that time never accused him
of being an author he said it they would
say things like it's
magic significantly the prophet Muhammad
sallallah alaihi wasallam had amazing
trials and tribulations of his 23e
prophetic
career his beloved wife died his young
children passed away he was boycotted
from his beloved City his companions
beloved companions were tortured and
killed he loved children so much that he
would almost curse someone for not
kissing their children but he was stoned
by children in a town in Arabia where
the blood was dripping from his legs
where the scholars would say that his
sandals were stuck to the
sand this was the reality of the Prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam
Muslims and non-muslims agree to
this but yet none of this emotion is in
the Quran itself this is a
psycholinguistic impossibility when you
read Shakespeare some of Shakespeare is
in Shakespeare when you read Homer some
of Homer's works is in Homer anyone
studying psycholinguistics which which I
have done study grounded Theory or
discourse analysis you would see that
this author some of his Personalities in
this author but the Quran remains in the
Divine voice and many Studies have shown
this to be the
case another example why the prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi was can't be
the author is because his narrations
which have been preserved are in a
different distinct style to that of the
Quran and to keep that consistently over
23e period is almost impossible now the
the greatest point is this the greatest
point is this human expression if we
have the blueprint we can emulate it for
example if you study art we have the
artwork of Mone he was an impressionist
wow amazing
art at that time but now you can copy it
we have many replicas of the same art
but we have the Quran today a Timeless
book 1,400 years we have the blueprint
to the words the letters The Sounds the
grammar and the meaning yet we cannot
emulate the
blueprint this shows to me that none of
the explanations above suffice so we can
only come to the conclusion that the
best explanation of the inimitability of
the Quran is the Divine him himself so
let's summarize the arguments as follows
one the Quran could have come from an
Arab and non-arab Muhammad sallallah
alaihi wasallam or God two it couldn't
have been an Arab and non Arab on
Muhammad sallallah alaihi wasallam three
therefore it must have been from god
let's go to the third and final argument
the truthfulness of the claim of the
Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wasallam to prophethood
itself we have four options borrowing
from CS Lewis we have four options that
the prophet Muhammad sallallah alaihi
wasallam was a liar he was deluded he
was both or he was speaking the truth
and let's take each option and use our
critical thinking that we're read that
we're going to use in the beginning
let's take that he's a
liar the prophet Muhammad sallallah
alaihi wasallam could never have been a
liar as we said he was boycotted he was
stoned he used to sleep on Palm fibers
when the kings of Persia and the
byzantines and the Romans were living at
high he never had any worldly gain he
was offered riches he was offered power
but rejected it for his message so this
is not the psychological profile of a
liar and this is why sincere
orientalists such as W mcgomery want
what in his book Muhammad at Mecca he
said his Readiness to undergo
persecution for his beliefs the high
moral character of the men who believed
in him and looked up to him as a leader
and the greatness of his ultimate
achievement all argue his fundamental
Integrity to suppose Muhammad an
impostor raises more problems than it
solves moreover none of the great
figures of History so poorly appreciated
in the west as Muhammad sallallah alaihi
wasallam significantly Sir George
Bernard Shaw in the volume the genuine
Islam he said I have always held the
religion of Muhammad in high estimation
because of its wonderful Vitality it is
the only religion which appears to me to
possess the assimilating capacity to the
changing phase of existence which can
make itself appeal to every age I have
studied him the wonderful man and in my
opinion far from being an antichrist he
must be called the savior of humanity
let's go to the next option we are
clutching our intellectual straws here
the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wasallam was deluded some people say but
can this really be the case the prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam gave
us wisdom and advice about developing an
economic model for society something
which American Scholars come all the way
to Britain to propagate the economic
Message of
Islam is this from a deluded person
someone who thinks he's saying the truth
but in reality is an untruth of course
not look at geopolitics for example the
liberal capitalist Western model they
believe that there's too many needs not
enough resources hence excessive
competition but how did the prophet
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam
solve the number one economic problem of
the 21st century he said something very
simple that we have essential limited
needs and enough resources when we study
geopolitics we find that there's enough
resources in the planet to feed 36
billion people there's only about 7
billion people at the moment so is this
from a deluded person of course not this
is why Michael har in the book The 100 a
ranking of the most influential persons
in history he says my choice of Muhammad
to lead the list of the world's most
influential persons may surprise some
readers and may be questioned by others
but he was the only man in history who
was supremely successful on both secular
and religious levels so how can a
deluded person be successful
religiously and from a secular
perspective is this the product of a
deluded
man what about the third option he was
both well this is logically and
philosophically impossible you can't
know that you're lying and keep a lie
and think you're saying the truth yet
it's an untrue at the same time so what
are we left brothers sisters and friends
we are left that he's speaking the truth
and I think the following quotation from
Dr William Draper in his book The
History of intellectual development of
Europe summarizes this point quite
nicely he says four years after the
death of
Justinian ad 569 was born in meca in
Arabia the man who of all men has
exercised the greatest influence upon
the human race to be the religious head
of many empires to guide the daily life
of one-third of the human race May
perhaps justify the title of messenger
of God so we could summarize this
argument as follows one the prophet
Muhammad sallallah alaihi wasallam could
have been a liar deluded both or
speaking the truth two he wasn't a liar
deluded or both based upon our critical
analysis three therefore he was speaking
the truth so brothers sisters and
friends these are very simple arguments
that could be understood by an 8
80-year-old or an 80y
old the existence of God the miracle of
the Quran and the truthfulness of the
prophet's claim to Prophet Hood
sallallah alai wasallam and I have
attempted to show that there are good
reasons to choose the Islamic worldview
because human beings as we agreed in the
beginning must base the decisions on our
rational faculties on our reason and our
common sense I believe in order for Dr
Ed bakner to be successful he must break
down each of my arguments and then con
construct new ones for the atheist
worldview so brothers sisters and
friends I simply leave you with the
words of the people of paradise
ald unquestionably all praise are due to
God listening thank you very much