By: Dr Zakir Naik
1. Belief in the hereafter is not based on blind
faith?
Many people wonder as to how a person with a
scientific and logical temperament, can lend any credence to the belief of life
after death. People assume that anyone believing in the hereafter is doing so
on the basis of blind belief.
2. Hereafter a logical belief
There are more than a thousand verses in the
Glorious Qur’an, containing scientific facts (refer my book "Qur’an and
Modern Science-Compatible or Incompatible?").
Many facts mentioned in the Qur’an have been
discovered in the last few centuries. But science has not advanced to a level
where it can confirm every statement of the Qur’an.
Suppose 80% of all that is mentioned in the Qur’an
has been proved 100% correct. About the remaining 20%, science makes no
categorical statement, since it has not advanced to a level, where it can
either prove or disprove these statements.
With the limited knowledge that we have, we cannot
say for sure whether even a single percentage or a single verse of the Qur’an
from this 20% portion is wrong.
Thus when 80% of the Qur’an is 100% correct and the
remaining 20% is not disproved, logic says that even the 20% portion is
correct.
The existence of the hereafter, which is mentioned
in the Qur’an, falls in the 20% ambiguous portion which my logic says is
correct.
3. Concept of peace and human values is useless
without the concept of hereafter
Is robbing a good or an evil act? A normal balanced
person would say it is evil. How would a person who does not believe in the
hereafter convince a powerful and influential criminal that robbing is evil?
Suppose I am the most powerful and influential
criminal in the world. At the same time I am an Intelligent and a logical
person. I say that robbing is good because it helps me lead a luxurious life.
Thus robbing is good for me.
If anybody can put forward a single logical
argument as to why it is evil for me, I will stop immediately. People usually
put forward the following arguments:
a. The person who is robbed will face difficulties
Some may say that the person who is robbed will
face difficulties. I certainly agree that it is bad for the person who is
robbed. But it is good for me. If I rob a thousand dollars, I can enjoy a good
meal at a 5 star restaurant.
b. Someone may rob you
Some people argue that someday I may be robbed. No
one can rob me because I am a very powerful criminal and I have hundreds of
bodyguards. I can rob anybody but nobody can rob me.
Robbing may be a risky profession for a common man
but not for an influential person like me.
c. The police may arrest you
Some may say, if you rob, you can be arrested by
the police. The police cannot arrest me because I have the police on my
payroll. I have the ministers on my payroll. I
agree that
if a common man robs, he will be arrested and it will be bad for him, but I am
an extraordinarily influential and powerful criminal.
Give me one logical reason why it is bad for me and
I will stop robbing.
d. Its easy money
Some may say its easy money and not hard-earned
money. I agree completely that it is easy money, and that is one of the main
reasons why I rob.
If a person has the option of earning money the
easy as well as the hard way, any logical person would choose the easy way.
e. It is against humanity
Some may say it is against humanity and that a
person should care for other human beings. I counter argue by asking as to who
wrote this law called ‘humanity’ and why should I follow it?
This law may be good for the emotional and
sentimental people but I am a logical person and I see no benefit in caring for
other human beings.
f. It is a selfish act
Some may say that robbing is being selfish. It is
true that robbing is a selfish act; but then why should I not be selfish? It
helps me enjoy life.
1. No logical reason for robbing being an evil act
Hence all arguments that attempt to prove that
robbing is an evil act are futile.
These arguments may satisfy a common man but not a
powerful and influential criminal like me. None of the arguments can be
defended on the strength of reason and logic. It is no surprise that there are
so many criminals in this world.
Similarly raping, cheating etc. can be justified as
good for a person like me and there is no logical argument that can convince me
that these things are bad.
2. A Muslim can convince a powerful and influential
criminal
Now let us switch sides. Suppose you are the most
powerful and influential criminal in the world, who has the police and the
ministers on his payroll. You have army of thugs to protect you.
I am a Muslim who will convince you that robbing,
raping, cheating, etc. are evil acts.
Even if I put forth the same arguments to prove
that robbing is evil the criminal will respond the same way as he did earlier.
I agree that the criminal is being logical and all
his arguments are true only when he is the most powerful and influential
criminal.
3. Every human being wants justice
Each and every human being desires justice. Even if
he does not want justice for others he wants justice for himself. Some people
are intoxicated by power and influence and inflict pain and suffering on
others.
The same people, however, would surely object if
some injustice was done to them. The reason such people become insensitive to the
suffering of others is that they worship power and influence.
Power and influence, they feel, not only allows
them to inflict injustice on others but also prevents others from doing
likewise to them.
4. God is Most Powerful and Just
As a Muslim I would convince the criminal about the
existence of Almighty God (refer to answer proving the existence of God). This
God is more powerful than you and at the same time is also just.
The Glorious Qur’an says:
"Allah is never unjust
In the least degree"
[Al-Qur’an 4:40]
5. Why does God not punish me?
The criminal, being a logical and scientific
person, agrees that God exists, after being presented with scientific facts
from the Qur’an. He may argue as to why God, if He is Powerful and Just, does
not punish him.
6. The people who do injustice should be punished
Every person who has suffered injustice,
irrespective of financial or social status, almost certainly wants the
perpetrator of injustice to be punished. Every normal person would like the
robber or the rapist to be taught a lesson.
Though a large number of criminals are punished,
many even go scot-free. They lead a pleasant, luxurious life, and even enjoy a
peaceful existence. If injustice is done to a powerful and influential person,
by someone more powerful and more influential than he, even such a person would
want that person perpetrators of injustice to be punished.
7. This life is a test for the hereafter
This life is a test for the hereafter. The Glorious
Qur’an says:
"He who created Death
And life that He
May try which of you
Is best in deed;
And He is the Exalted
In Might, Oft-Forgiving"
[Al-Qur’an 67:2]
8. Final justice on day of judgment
The Glorious Qur’an says:
"Every soul shall have
A taste of death:
And only on the Day
Of Judgement shall you
Be paid your full recompense.
Only he who is saved
Far from the Fire
And admitted to the Garden
Will have attained
The object (of life):
For the life of this world
Is but goods and chattels
Of deception."
[Al-Qur’an 3:185]
Final justice will be meted out on the Day of
Judgement. After a person dies, he will be resurrected on the Day of Judgement
along with the rest of mankind.
It is possible that a person receives part of his
punishment in this world. The final reward and punishment will only be in the
hereafter.
God Almighty may not punish a robber or a rapist in
this world but he will surely be held accountable on the Day of Judgement and
will be punished in the hereafter i.e. life after death.
9. What punishment can the human law give Hitler?
Hitler incinerated six million Jews during his
reign of terror. Even if the police had arrested him, what punishment can the
human law give Hitler for justice to prevail?
The most they can do is to send Hitler to the gas
chamber. But that will only be punishment for the killing of one Jew. What
about the remaining five million, nine hundred and ninety nine thousand, nine
hundred and ninety-nine Jews?
10. Allah can burn Hitler more than six million
times in hellfire
Allah say in the Glorious Qur’an:
"Those who reject
Our signs, We shall soon
Cast into the Fire;
As often as their skins
Are roasted through,
We shall change them
For fresh skins,
That they may taste
The penalty: for Allah
Is Exalted in Power, Wise"
[Al-Qur’an 4:56]
If Allah wishes he can incinerate Hitler six
million times in the hereafter in the hellfire.
11. No concept of human values or good and bad
without concept of hereafter
It is clear that without convincing a person about
the hereafter, i.e. life after death, the concept of human values and the good
or evil nature of acts is impossible to prove to any person who is doing
injustice especially when he is influential and powerful.
Source: www.ilovezakirnaik.com
Just because you might not be able to prove to someone that raping, cheating, robbing etc are wrong, that doesn't necessarily mean that total justice should occur. Even if one believes that total justice should occur, that doesn't necessitate or follow that a hereafter exists. Therefore, Naik's argument commits the non-sequitur fallacy.
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