Why must there be a God? [closed]

Question

This question was asked in the Christianity.SE:

I realize this might be a question better suited for the philosophy site, but I am very interested to get the Christian perspective.

I was raised Catholic, but have left the Church in the last few years because of conflicts between my beliefs and the Church's. I suppose my real problem is that I have a hard time seeing a reason that requires God to exist. I was hoping to pose the question directly to you all: "Why must there be a God?"

My lack of belief has definitely negatively affected my relationships with my family and I would really like a reason to believe once more. Any answers at all would be appreciated

I wonder what the Islamic perspective would be to such a question if you were to replace Catholic with Islam and Islam with Christianity.

I realize this might be a question better suited for the philosophy site, but I am very interested to get the Christian Islamic perspective.

I was raised Catholic Islamic, but have not practiced Islam in the last few years because of conflicts between my personal beliefs and the Islamic belief system. I suppose my real problem is that I have a hard time seeing a reason that requires God Allah to exist. I was hoping to pose the question directly to you all: "Why must there be a God Allah?"

My lack of belief has definitely negatively affected my relationships with my family and I would really like a reason to believe once more. Any answers at all would be appreciated

Just for the record, I do not question God or his existence.

Answer 1

The following is what I understand from Quran.

According to Quran, there are things that are beyond human knowledge, human knowledge is very limited (verse 17:85). Many questions about God fall in that category. "Why must there be a God" seem to be such a question (verses 5:116 and 72:26).

I am guessing that your real question is more like "why do we accept that God exists?". From Quran's perspective, we must accept that God exists simply because it is true.

How can we know that it is true?

Before answering that question, let me clarify something: people mean various things by "God", therefore what people mean when they talk about the existence of "God" varies a lot. Most people would not object to the existence of a force that created the universe as long as it doesn't actively influence it and does not have a effect on their lives. I am guessing that you would not object to accepting that. However the question can become more challenging if the existence of God interferes with what they desire to do and the way they want to live their lives; actively gets involved in their daily life; and asks them to follow some rules: perform some actions and avoid doing others.

This distinction in present in Quran. The discussions with disbelievers mentioned in Quran are not centered around the existence of "Allah", the creator God (verses 29:61, 31:25, 39:38, and 43:9). The discussion are mainly around the fact that there are no other gods but God and that God alone is the "Rabb" of everything, that God has sent a messenger (verses 17:94 and 18:55), etc.

Now let me return to the question we had above:

How can we know that it is true?

Quran doesn't use logical and philosophical arguments that much to support its claims (it does sometimes). The main part of humans to understand truth is not their brain but their "hearts" (e.g. verses 63:3 and 7:179). The kind of arguments used in Quran are intended to make honest truth-seeking people to "see" the truth and this is quite different from having an logical argument for validity of a statement.

Obviously this is at odds with the usual modern rationalist practice in western culture which believes that the truth of a statement can be shown by logical and philosophical arguments and reasoning; that thinking is sufficient; and that it is possible to convince any intelligent person about the truth of a statement using logical and philosophical arguments independent of the way they live their lives. That is not Quran's perspective.

From Quran's perspective, thinking and intelligence are not sufficient to understand truth. One's ability to understand truth is strongly connected to the condition of the person's "heart". General actions and behavior effect those conditions. Sins can cloud "heart" and make it unable to see the truth (verse 7:100). Therefore from Quran's perspective there is no argument that would convince a disbeliever to change their view (verses 2:5 and 2:6).

What Quran presents are mostly reminders (تذکره). These reminders often describe a way to look at the world and oneself which directs a person honestly seeking the truth to see it (verses 73:19 and 76:29). Another kind of arguments used in Quran are interactions with God. For comparison, why do you believe that your mother exists? Why do you believe that I, the author of this answer, exist? Quran seems to suggest that seeing that God exists can be achieved in a similar way, i.e. trough interaction. For example, in verse 2:186, Quran states:

وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا لِي وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا بِي لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ

When my servants ask you about me, [tell them] I am indeed close [to them], I answer to the call of the caller when he calls me. Therefore they must answer my [call] and believe in me, [that] they may grow.

Or in verse 17:67, Quran states:

وَإِذَا مَسَّكُمُ الضُّرُّ فِي الْبَحْرِ ضَلَّ مَن تَدْعُونَ إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ ۖ فَلَمَّا نَجَّاكُمْ إِلَى الْبَرِّ أَعْرَضْتُمْ ۚ وَكَانَ الْإِنسَانُ كَفُورًا

When distress seizes you at the sea, those that you call upon disappear but him, then when he saves you to the land, you turn away [from him], and the humankind is very ungrateful.

Regarding the issue of conflict between your and the imam's opinions: remember that there are various issues in Islam that even expert scholars may disagree on them and have different opinions regarding them. Not all issues are of the same importance and the amount of our confidence in all of them is not the same. Disagreeing about some minor issues should not be a reason to reject the main ones like the belief in God. A person should accept the main ones like the belief in God directly and not based on following other people's opinions or what they say. So unless you are certain that the imam's opinion is really the will of God disagreeing with it should not have an effect on your belief in God. (However if you are certain that something is God's will and your belief or desire is against his will and it is important for you then you should try to fix this since not submitting to God's will can cloud one's "heart" from seeing the truth. Fixing this doesn't mean necessarily changing your opinion, the fix might be noticing that your belief in it being God's will was not correct.)

Answer 2

So let me get this right...

Some people question, "Does God Exists?" or "Prove God Exists", which doesn't seem to be your question but rather you ask "Why does God Exist?"

Your question translates to one of two dimensions...

a) A philosophical dimension ... "Why God exists among us?"

b) A literal dimension ... "Why God is?"

I will try to answer both ...

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a) "Why God exists among us?"

When I was in school and my parents forced me to do my homework or cut my TV time or play time I asked a similar questions "Why do parents exist?" , "Why cant kids just grow off trees?"

But today I am an engineer and when I look back at those questions they were innocent thoughts which made no sense. Now I believe, parents are the right of every child. And I pray no child is an orphan ever. And I thank Allah for the parents he gave me.

Similarly, as a Muslim if you go further down in life you would see the benefits of having God in your life. We all know that smoking, alcohol & gambling is not permitted in Islam. But adhering to these would prevent one from many hazards which one might not realize initially.

b) "Why God is?"

Normally, to answer the "whys" and "hows", the "what" has to be answered....

For example: Lets go back to the early-1600's and ask someone then "Why do bacteria exists?", the answer that people then would give you would be... "What is bacteria?".

This answer by those people is but normal, because humans had at that time not discovered bacteria. The whole concept of bacteria was not within human comprehension or vision at that time.

As Muslims it is our conviction that comprehension or vision of God is not a feature of God. Anything that human comprehends or can envision (like idols, pictures or sun/moon etc) cannot be God.

The Quran confirms that ...

No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things. [Quran 6:103]

So if something is outside human comprehension, the "whys" and "hows" are hard to even imagine unless if God willed and Himself chooses to bestow that knowledge.

Let me follow this up with an incident in the Quran [7:143], where Moses(pbuh) asked God to show himself. Here God refused to show Himself but showed Moses(pbuh) only His glory and Moses(pbuh) fainted.

When Moses came to the place appointed by Us, and his Lord addressed him, He said: "O my Lord! show (Thyself) to me, that I may look upon thee." Allah said: "By no means canst thou see Me (direct); But look upon the mount; if it abide in its place, then shalt thou see Me." When his Lord manifested His glory on the Mount, He made it as dust. And Moses fell down in a swoon. When he recovered his senses he said: "Glory be to Thee! to Thee I turn in repentance, and I am the first to believe." [Quran 7:143]

To summarize, anyone who tries to answer the "why" question, would need to answer the "what" first, and then apply the "why" to anything (in this case God).

[PS: I used the word God for the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with the term Allah]

Answer 3

The reason of the existence of a god is actually detached from Islam, Christianity and any other religion. Furthermore, you should distinguish between two questions: "if a god exists?" and "how is the god?".

Does a god exist?

Many philosophers in Islam, split the entities into two groups, "the old" and "the created" ones. The old entities, are the ones that forever existed while the created ones are actually created by the old ones. That's simply because you cannot consider all the entities in the world as created ones. Just consider a chain: A is created by B, B is created by C, C is created by ..., etc. The chain must stop somewhere, otherwise it does not make sense at all. Therefore, there must be an entity, say Z, who is not created. The entity Z is an old entity. To make my explanation more practical, assume the world is made by the physics laws. There are two cases: either the laws of physics are created by something/someone or the laws existed forever. In the latter case physics laws are the old entities while in the former case the creator of the laws (or the creator of the creator ...) is the old entity. In any case, the old entity is called a god or in the Islamic view "The God" (since they believe in a unique old entity called Allah).

How is the God?

This is a more complicated question than the first one. Islam, Christianity, and Judaism share almost a common view to the God. They all believe that there is a unique (not multiple) God and the God has a sort of personality. Having personality means you can talk with the God, you can ask him your requests and he is kind, merciful, great, etc. This is in contrast with many other religions who believe there are multiple gods or believe in a god which is a part of the nature (with no personality).

Answer 4

Believe in God is the most important thing in faith. If someone does not believe that God exists then he is in deep astray.

Atheist-ism@

Does God exist? We have never seen God. We have never talked with God. That is why the Atheists believe God does not exist. It is just a fantasy or a made up thing!

After a lot reading and search I found one of story between atheist and scholar, which clear above all questions, very interesting.

The Story of a Scholar and an Atheist@

There is one story of a Scholar and an Atheist. Long ago an Atheist did not believe the existence of God. He asked a scholar for a debate about the existence of God. Among the questions are: “Does God exist?” and “If God exists then where is God?”

Does God exist?@

The Atheist and the villagers were waiting for the scholar, but the scholar did not come right on time. When the Atheist and the villagers thought that the scholar will not come for the debate, then the scholar showed up.

“I am sorry to keep you waiting for so long. But the rain is so heavy so the river floods.

The bridge drifted away so I could not cross it. Thank God suddenly there was a big tree fell down. Then the branches cut out by themselves so the trunk was branch-less.

After that the trunk was cut and a hole was created so it became a boat. So I used the boat and crossed the river,” said the scholar.

The Atheist and the villagers were laughing. The Atheist said to the villagers, “This scholar is mad. How can a tree became a boat by itself with no one made it? How can a boat exist with no maker who made it?”

The villagers were laughing out loud.

After the people calmed down, the scholar said, “If you believe that the boat could not exist without its maker, then how could you believe the earth, sky, and its contents exist without its creator? Which is the most difficult to make? Making a boat or creating the earth, sky, and its contents?

Hearing that, they realized that they trapped with their own statement.

If God exists then where is God?@

“Then answer my second question,” said the Atheist. “If God exists, why can’t He be seen? Where is God?” The Atheist thought since he cannot see God then God does not exist.

The scholar slapped the Atheist’s cheek hardly so the Atheist felt so much pain.

“Why did you slap me? It’s very painful”

The scholar asked, “There is no pain. I cannot see pain. Where is pain?”

“The pain is here,” the Atheist pointed his cheek.

“No, I cannot see pain. Do you see the pain?” asked the scholar to the villagers.

The villagers said, “No!”

So, though we cannot see the pain does not mean that the pain does not exist. So is the God. Just because we cannot see the God does not mean that God does not exist. Though we cannot see Him, but we can see His creations.” Said the scholar.

The argument of the scholar is very simple. Yet, the argument that God does not exist just because human’s sense could not sense the existence of God is very wrong.

How many things that could not be seen or heard by people but exist?@

We cannot see the Wind but the Wind exists. We cannot see electricity (what you can see is wire) but electricity exist.

How many things in the sky that billions light years away, even trillions light years away that could not be seen by people yet the things exist?@

How many molecular things even nucleus (hair divided in millions) that cannot be seen by people yet exist? People could only see those things by using a very powerful microscope.

How many waves (radio, electromagnetic, electricity, etc) that cannot be seen yet exist?

Those things exist, yet the human sense is very limited so it cannot sense their existence. The human ability to see colors limited to certain frequencies. People only could hear limited frequencies. Sometimes the light not only very dazzling but also could make people blind. So is the sound. Certain sound could not be heard by human sense while other sound which is very loud could destroy human‘s hearing.

Conclusion@

That is the greatness of (GOD)Allah’s creation! If we believe in the magnificence of (GOD)Allah’s creation, then we should believe in the magnificence of (GOD)Allah.

Answer 5

Common theories of truth

Coherence Theory

According to the coherence theory of truth, a statement is true if it is logically consistent with other beliefs that are held to be true. A belief is false if it is inconsistent with (contradicts) other beliefs that are held to be true. We should doubt claims that are currently inconsistent with the rest of our beliefs.

There is simply no reason not to believe. This is why many people never change religious beliefs. There is nothing to disprove what they currently believe; it is coherent with how their perception of reality works.

Islam does claim other truths, all of the major ones are in the Quran. And none of it is disproven, as far as any Muslim is concerned. Because the theme of the Quran is that there is One Almighty God, and the Quran itself is credible enough, there is no reason not to believe that the claims put forth by Islam are false.

For example, there are verses that say Allah rewards the charitable. If one were to act charitable and get a lot of unexpected income, it is coherent. If they did not get any income in return, they will expect to gain it back in the future, or expect to gain it in the afterlife, so it can still be coherent.

Correspondence Theory

According to the correspondence theory, a claim is true if it corresponds to what is so (the "facts" or "reality") and false if it does not correspond to what is so.

This can only apply if there are solid conditions to test it to. An atheist's test conditions are that there's no divine actions. A Muslim has no real test conditions, it cannot be proven until after death. So, there's no reason to disbelieve.

Pragmatic Theory

According to the pragmatic theory, a statement is true if it allows you to interact effectively and efficiently with the cosmos. The less true a belief is, the less it facilitates such interaction. A belief is false if it facilitates no interaction.

Islam intertwines very well with reality and the way of life. Unlike many religions, it allows Muslims to live a normal life - get married, eat, drink, work, have hobbies, be happy. It doesn't oppose this interpretation of truth. And this also aligns with those who believe that God exists because it's easier than creating the world.

Answer 6

It is better for you to believe in God who rules the universe (and keeps it in perfect order) than NOT believing. When you believe in God, you turn out to be a good human. If you believe there is no God but in the end there turns out to be One on the Day, you will loose. However if you believe there IS a God, you are not loosing anything at all, so it is better to believe (with no cost) than to not believe (at the possible cost of punishment).. Though for believers it is not a matter of cost but faith instead.

Human has limited senses to perceive each and everything in this universe. There are certain things you don't feel but have to believe in (you can't see the pain but it does exist). Not believing in God because you don't feel or perceive Him sounds absurd, you can't prove He doesn't exit to those who believe. You need to explore the nature, working of a cell to anything, you would notice complete order in everything.

Human nature calls for help automatically when in troubles and adversities which itself is a proof that there is One, the Creator.

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Note: Using word "God" here instead of "Allah" for people from other religions.

Answer 7

Since this is more of a philosophical question, it needs to be adressed argumentatively, therefore, I will not be quoting neither any ayah or hadith nor any scholarly opinion. On the other hand, I won't claim that I came up with all of this, but I have thought, been taught, discussed these topics over the years and here I intend to write down the much I can remember.

1. Existence : I find it unsatisfactory that existence just happened to be there. For me, the fact that anything exists at all, indicates that there is a reason for it to be exist. And only existence of an entity such as god can be arguable reason of existence.
2. Everything works : I think universe is so complicated that, if it existed aimlessly and just happened to be there randomly, I don't think anything would work. When we observe the universe, one can't help to see the delicate balance that things are supposed to in order for them to work, and how they are actually balanced. This indicates some consciousness and intend behind it.
3. Beauty/Art : I think everything looks so artistically designed that it indicates the artist. For example, when someone looks at mona lisa painting, one can't argue that this is naturally occured to be there, or different colored paints were dropping on a piece of cloth for so long that it formed itself over the years. Or one can't look at statue of liberty and think that it formed itself through natural process of events without any artist taking part doing it. When you look at even tiniest creature on earth and inspect it closely, it will become clear that it has some jaw-dropping side to it.
4. Suitablity of Earth for life : You are most propbably heard this argument so I will be brief. Even with slightest change in the way it works, earth wouldn't be suitable for life.
5. Search for higher being : I always felt like we humans have inner desire to search for higher truth than ourselves. We can't seem to accept we are only intellectual creates in the huge universe. It is like hunches people get when doing math problems. I think we all have a hunch that we are not alone in the universe and acting on it to find God.
6. Reports of different prophets : Consider you aren't at your home, and most untrustable person you know come to you and say "Your house is on fire!". You may not believe it, but he was talking about such an important topic that it would probably make you unconfortable a little bit. Later, someone else, also known as a liar, comes and say the same thing, and you are inclined to believe a little bit more. And this goes on and on, and you come to think that it has to be true, why else would that many people agree on one such lie. When you come to think about it, prophets are reported to be most trustworthy people of their times. And It is enough evidence to argue that a person who didn't tell a single lie for all of his lifetime can't be lieing about something that is really important. Moreover, more prophets over time came and said similiar thinks about god over and over again.
7. Grapes : This occured to me other day. Grapes are so awesome, there has to be a god :)

Edit: Also, this person named Said Nursi was focused on reasoning when teaching islam and he wrote couple of books. You will probably find The Thirty-Third Word of him (it is in his book words) interesting.

Answer 8

Why must there be a God?

Human beings through out the ages have questioned the existence of the world they live in, including their own existence:

• what made us exist?

• will we still exist when we die?

• what made the world exist?

• what made the existence of the thing that made the existence of the world exist?

Religion developed in societies to try and answer these questions using what was known to be true about the world at that time and to propose a theory, even if that theory couldn't be proven. In order for a particular religion to flourish, it must also have given some sort of advantage to the people that practiced that religion, so that they could have more children and therefore pass their genes onto their children who would teach their children to practice the religion and so on.

A recent religion is the Prince Philip Movement created by the Yaohnanen tribe who believe that Prince Philip is a pale-skinned divine being, the son of their mountain spirit. This is how they interpret the world based upon what they know and believe.

So an answer to your question is that Allah must exist to explain how the universe and everything in it came to exist using the beliefs of the Islamic religion.

However, this does not mean that in a world based upon further knowledge and scientific evidence, the Islamic belief of Allah will still exist. This may no longer be true just as for the Yaohnanen tribe Prince Philip is no longer a divine being, but is now seen as an ordinary man married into a culturally privileged family from England.

The above answer isn't meant in a disrespectful way to the belief of the Yaohnanen tribe or any other religious group. We believe in what we believe because of our culture.