Philosophy

Hadith Transmission is not like Chinese Whispers / the Telephone Game

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

There is a popular attack given on hadith as well as orally transmitted history in general (even outside of Islamic civilization) that it is unreliable because it is like the telephone game (also known as Chinese whispers). For those unfamiliar, the telephone game is when a group (usually of children) sit in a circle. Then, someone starts off with a message and whispers it into the ear of the next person. That person then whispers it into the ear of the next person, and so on until the circle is complete and the last person says the message out loud. It is then compared to the original message, and usually totally off. This supposedly proves how oral transmission is unreliable. Continue Reading

Can God be both Merciful and Just?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

“Justice means to give someone exactly what he deserves. Mercy is to give someone less than he deserves. God therefore cannot be infinitely/perfectly Just and infinitely/perfectly Merciful at the same time.”

Famous atheist Dan Barker once made this argument in a debate. Although there are many answers to this dilemma, I wanted to offer one thought.

Let us say that a man murdered your child. In Islamic law, you have the option to a) have him executed or b) forgive the man and have him pay blood money.

Let us say you pick option b, which is the more merciful option. Has justice not been served? Of course it has. That is because you, as the injured party, have the choice as to whether you want vengeance or not. The murderer is brought to justice in both a and b, because justice here is dependent on the will of the injured party.

Allah owns all of us, and all sins are sins against Allah first and foremost. He can therefore choose to forgive whatever He Wills on the Day of Judgement without this being a violation of justice. All of our missed prayers, our anger, our lust, etc. can be forgiven. Continue Reading

Discussion Review: William Lane Craig and CosmicSkeptic on the Kalaam Cosmological Argument

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I recently reviewed this great discussion between WLC and CosmicSkeptic. Below, I have posted the original video, my review, and then the notes I used when making the video. Continue Reading

Let’s Be Honest about the ComicSkeptic vs Saboor Ahmed Debate

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

  يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاءَ لِلَّهِ وَلَوْ عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوِ الْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالْأَقْرَبِينَ ۚ إِن يَكُنْ غَنِيًّا أَوْ فَقِيرًا فَاللَّهُ أَوْلَىٰ بِهِمَا ۖ فَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا الْهَوَىٰ أَن تَعْدِلُوا ۚ وَإِن تَلْوُوا أَوْ تُعْرِضُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرًا – 4:135 Continue Reading

The “Atheists Are More Moral” Argument

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I’ve often heard the argument that atheists are more moral; indeed the only ones who are truly moral. Why you make ask? Well, because religious believers only do good deeds for the sake of heaven or from fear of hell, or otherwise to get something from God, rather than doing good for goodness sake. Continue Reading

Is Theistic Evolution Compatible With Islam? An Analysis of the Philosophical Issues

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Recent controversy has emerged after Dr. Shadee Elmasry criticized Dr. Mohamed Ghilan’s “leanings” towards the theory of evolution regarding the creation of Nabi Adam (as). Dr. Ghilan, however, views evolution as a process which Allah swt started and guides. Continue Reading

A Conversation With Connor – Part 3

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

The following is a conversation I had with a convert friend of mine in April, 2016. I thought it would be of general benefit to my readers. I have done some very light editing but otherwise left the conversation as it is. My friend’s name has been changed to protect his anonymity. See Part 1 and Part 2. Continue Reading

A Conversation With Connor – Part 2

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

The following is a conversation I had with a convert friend of mine in April, 2016. I thought it would be of general benefit to my readers. I have done some very light editing but otherwise left the conversation as it is. My friend’s name has been changed to protect his anonymity. See Part 1 here. Continue Reading

A Conversation with Connor – Part 1

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

The following is a conversation I had with a convert friend of mine in April, 2016. I thought it would be of general benefit to my readers. I have done some very light editing but otherwise left the conversation as it is. My friend’s name has been changed to protect his anonymity.
Continue Reading

The Logic You Need to Understand a Deductive Proof of God’s Existence – Definitions (Proof for the Existence of God Part 4)

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

With God’s help, I have been in the process of writing a proof for the existence of God – one that hopes to be very thorough, inshaAllah. It addresses every single objection that I personally have thought of or encountered. However, in the process of this laborious undertaking, I realized that in order for a general audience to follow some parts of the argument, it required an occasional foray into logic. This is not to say the logic is overly complicated, but it does help to work through the reasoning explicitly. Unfortunately, this resulted in a lengthy and somewhat messy article, whereas my original intent was to make the proof as clear and concise as possible without compromising on content. I have therefore decided, with God’s grace, to first go over some basic “not completely obvious” logic that will be used in the proof, and that I can refer readers back to in the course of the argument. I will not be explaining things like the principle of non-contradiction, which everyone is familiar with, but I will instead be explaining what a proof by cases is and other such matters. Here, we begin with the idea of definitions. Continue Reading