Protecting Ourselves from Atheism

Transcript of the Friday Sermon delivered by Dr. Munawar Haque on Oct 27, 2017

Brothers and sisters! The topic of my khutba today may seem a little strange because it’s not often discussed in our Masajid. However, the topic is both relevant and crucial to our times, and calls for serious thinking and discussion. My khutba today is on the topic: “Protecting Ourselves from Atheism.”  Atheism is the doctrine or belief that there is no God. You may be wondering what atheism has got to do with us. Alhamdulillah, we are all Muslims and we all believe in Allah (SWT).

Studies conducted by the Pew Research Center show that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. But at the same time, according to the Center’s 2012 global study of 230 countries and territories, 16% of the world's population is not affiliated with any religion. There are studies that indicate that atheism as an ideology has been spreading at a very fast rate. 

Shockingly and regretfully, atheism has struck the Muslim community as well. There are ex-Muslims who have lost faith in God altogether and don’t believe any longer. In a statement, the “Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain” has said that thousands of ex-Muslims in Britain are living in fear of violent revenge for abandoning the Islamic faith while others are afraid to admit they no longer believe. So the topic needs to be addressed.

Generally, while addressing this topic, it’s always directed towards the atheists. Believers often argue with atheists and try to explain them the existence of God from a philosophical, rational, or scientific perspective. But that’s not the topic I want to discuss today. Today’s discussion is not for the atheists. It is for my fellow Muslim brothers and sisters. I’m going to talk about what we can do as Muslims to protect our hearts from the onslaught of atheism. Belief and disbelief are matters of the heart. Whether we realize it or not, atheism is a huge problem. It’s a problem that will take a Muslim away from Allah, and away from his deen, and direct him towards the hellfire. We seek refuge in Allah from that situation.

Initially, there are four points that I want to highlight. Firstly, why is atheism spreading? Secondly, why is it important to choose Islam as a way of life, and not to be just Muslims by chance?  Thirdly, why is it important to seek authentic knowledge? And fourthly why is it important to have a close connection with our Creator—Allah (SWT)? The first point is the problem and the remaining three points are the solutions to the problem.

Doubt about the existence of God is a disease of the heart. It’s the result of a heart that is disconnected from Allah (SWT); a heart that is spiritually dead or almost dead. Why is atheism spreading when the bulk of humans in human history have always believed in God? They may have been followers of any religion, but they have believed in God. Why is it in the 20^th century and more so in the 21^st century that we see entire countries and systems of government that are atheistic.

Communism is an atheistic concept. Its entire system revolves around atheism. China has the most atheists in the entire world. For the first time ever, Norway now has more people who do not believe in God than those who do. In the US, a nation whose dollar bill states "In God We Trust," belief in the Christian deity is also at an all time low. Research found that compared to 1980, nearly twice as many Americans in 2014 said they did not believe in God. Why does this happen? This is because people have lost faith in their religion. People find numerous contradictions in the Bible. With the exception of the Qur’an, none of the other scriptures are available in their original forms. People also lose faith when they see religious leaders advocating and doing things that go against the teachings of their own scriptures.

Having nowhere to turn to, people get inclined to atheism. And this is why when you read stories of brothers and sisters who have converted to Islam, atheism was usually a part of their journey because they had lost faith in their own religion. Either they had not heard about Islam or they had heard only negative stereotypes about it as being a religion of hate and violence. There are many stories of people being in a particular religion; then losing their faith in that religion; then becoming atheists, and then converting to Islam. So, one of the primary reasons why atheism is spreading is that people have lost faith in their religion. And this is happening in the Muslim community as well.

While teaching recitation of the Qur’an, when some of the teachers beat children in order to discipline them, some of the children when they grow up, end up either being disillusioned by Islam, or getting alienated from it. The action of beating children while teaching them has nothing to do with Islam or Islamic practice. There is not a single Prophetic narration that supports this action. On the contrary, those who teach and preach the message of truth must be soft-hearted. What does Allah say in the Qur’an about the Prophet’s behavior towards his companions?

فَبِمَا رَحْمَةٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ لِنْتَ لَهُمْ وَلَوْ كُنْتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ الْقَلْبِ لَانْفَضُّوا مِنْ حَوْلِكَ 

“It is a mercy from Allah that you deal with them gently. Had you been harsh and cruelhearted, they would have scattered from around you.” (Aal ‘Imran, 3:159)

The noble companions of the Prophet would have run away from Islam if the one presenting Islam to them had been hard and harsh upon them. What did Allah say to Musa and Harun (Alaihimussalam) when sending them to Firaun—one of the most tyrant and cruel of human beings ever to live?

اذْهَبَا إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ إِنَّهُ طَغَى () فَقُولَا لَهُ قَوْلًا لَيِّنًا لَعَلَّهُ يَتَذَكَّرُ أَوْ يَخْشَى

“Go, both of you to Pharaoh, for he has transgressed all bounds. But speak gently to him; perhaps he may take heed or even feel afraid.” (Ta Ha, 20:33-34)

So, we should understand that harshness when dealing with people, especially when conveying to them the message of Islam chases them away from religion and may well drive them towards atheism.

Another reason why atheism is spreading in the modern world is because people find religion coming in the way of fulfillment of their desires—their nafs. They choose their nafs over their deen. Muslims, for example, are prohibited to fornicate, eat pork, drink alcohol, gamble, deal in usury, or engage in any immoral or unlawful activity. Those with weak iman and with no or little knowledge of the Qur’an and Sunnah, sometimes begin to question the justification of these prohibitions and prefer to abandon the religion because it stops them from following their desires. And this attitude comes from our lifestyle, living in secular western societies. But we now see that this is becoming a global phenomenon. The media around us is all about fulfilling our desires. When the fulfillment of desires becomes the object of worship that is when people start going astray.

أَفَرَأَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّخَذَ إِلَهَهُ هَوَاهُ وَأَضَلَّهُ اللَّهُ عَلَى عِلْمٍ وَخَتَمَ عَلَى سَمْعِهِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَجَعَلَ عَلَى بَصَرِهِ غِشَاوَةً

“Have you seen someone who has taken his desires as his God? God knowingly lets him go astray and seals off his hearing and his heart, and places a covering over his eyesight.” (al-Jathiyah, 45:23)

This is enough about the problem. Now, let’s go into the solution in the second part of the khutba. May Allah save us from the fitnah of atheism.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ 

 الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين 

Brothers and Sisters! Are we Muslims by chance or by choice? If someone asks you, “Are you a Muslim?” The immediate answer will be “Yes I am.”  But, what if someone asks you, “Why are you a Muslim”? This will make you stop answering that question immediately, and will make you start to think. For most of us, the answer might be “It’s because I was born and raised in a Muslim family.” But, is that the correct answer? What if we weren’t born in a Muslim family? What if we were born in a Jewish, Christian, Hindu, or any other non-Muslim family? Would we still be Muslims?

Why many Muslims are unable to take Islam seriously, unable to practice Islam, and unable to love Allah (SWT) is because they haven’t chosen Islam yet. They have only adopted Islam as a culture. So, the first step to solving our problem is to stop equating Islam with culture and to embrace Islam completely and whole-heartedly as a way of life.     

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا ادْخُلُوا فِي السِّلْمِ كَافَّةً وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ

“O you who believe, enter Islam completely (whole-heartedly), and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Surely, he is an open enemy for you.” (al-Baqarah, 2:208)

One of the reasons why a Muslim woman may choose to distance herself from Islam and become a radical feminist is because she might have become a victim of domestic violence. She might have been forced to marry someone whom she didn’t want to marry. She might have been stopped from going to the Masjid. But there are some Muslims who do these things in the name of Islam. The Qur’an enjoins good treatment of one's wife: she is to be honoured and treated kindly, even when one no longer feels love in one's heart towards her. Allah says:

وَعَاشِرُوهُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ فَإِنْ كَرِهْتُمُوهُنَّ فَعَسَى أَنْ تَكْرَهُوا شَيْئًا وَيَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ فِيهِ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا

“And live with them honorably. If you dislike them, it may be that you dislike a thing and Allah brings through it a great deal of good.”(al-Nisa’, 4:19)

The Prophet (SAW) is reported to have invalidated the marriage in which the father had forced his daughter to marry someone she did not want to marry. He is also reported to have told men not to stop women from going to the Masjid. People doing such actions without clear knowledge erroneously think that all this is part of Islam, while it is not. Rather such and similar actions go a long way in alienating Muslim women from Islam.   

Also, there are Muslims living in countries and communities across the globe who believe in all types of superstitions—about things that bring good luck and bad luck. When people do not know what Islam teaches and what some of the wrong cultural practices taken from here and there are, they begin to take culture for religion.  

And this brings me to the second solution to the problem of atheism, and that is the importance of seeking authentic knowledge—knowledge that helps us to separate wrong cultural practices that have nothing to do with Islam from real Islam. Each one of us has the obligation to seek that knowledge and to teach it to our family members. What are some of the ways to acquire authentic knowledge? The first is to learn the Qur’an and to fulfill its obligations. The Qur’an demands of every Muslim five obligations. A Muslim is required (1) to believe in the Qur’an, (2) to read it (3) to understand it, (4) to act upon its teachings, and (5) to convey its message to others.

We also need to learn and follow the Prophetic teachings through the Prophet’s divinely guided lifestyle called the Sunnah. After all, his character was the true reflection of the Qur’an. 

This brings me to the final point. If we want to protect our hearts from doubt and disbelief, we have to develop a strong relationship with our Creator. One of the ways to do this is to do quality ‘ibadah. And one of the ways to do that is through salah. We should try our best to offer our salah with concentration and understanding. We should try to wake up before Fajr and offer at least 2 rak’ahs of tahajjud. We should cry to Allah and make dua to Him with the bottom of our hearts and not just mechanically without humbling ourselves. Needless to add, it is incumbent upon us to do all other ‘ibadat or modes of worship in the best possible manner.   

When our ‘ibadah has quality, we will then insha’Allah experience a closeness to Allah and taste the sweetness of iman. We’ll experience the happiness that comes when a dua is answered. A person going through such experiences will never doubt the existence of a Supreme Being. True belief comes from practicing the deen.

May Allah protect our hearts from any tinge of atheism and from disbelief and doubts about our noble deen; ameen. 

 اللَّهُمَ حَبِّبْ إِلَيْنَا الْإِيمَانَ وَزَيِّنْهُ فِي قُلُوبِنَا، وَكَرِّهْ إِلَيْنَا الْكُفْرَ وَالْفُسُوقَ وَالْعِصْيَانَ، وَاجْعَلْنَا مِنَ الرَّاشِدِينَ 

“O Allah! Make iman beloved to us and beautify it in our hearts, and make disbelief, sinfulness and disobedience hateful to us, and make us from amongst the rightly-guided ones.”

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