This is a question that is often asked by atheists to believers- “Why doesn’t God simply show Himself to the people to dispel all doubts that He exists ?” Simply showing Himself to humanity will also help a lot of people, since the world runs on hope and optimism. Belief in God often gives people feeling “The Almighty is behind me. He will take care of me”. Even in sad and desperate situations, believers can be optimistic and hopeful and live a happier life. So, it is very important that God show Himself to people so that they at least feel reassured that there is God behind them to help them, if not to prove to mankind that God’s only true religion is Islam.
Now many believers and people like Dr Zakir Naik have tried to answer this question. We simply quote Zakir Naik :
“The questioner asked a question that he has a friend who believes that there is one supernatural power, but if Islam is right, then why doesn’t Allah come down and say that I am God, worship me, so that everyone would believe???
There is a verse in the Quran in Yunus, Chapter 10, Verse 99:
“If it had been thy Lord’s will, he would have made all human beings as believers,- all who are on earth!….”
It is very easy for him to do that!!! But this is a test we are undergoing… Allah says in Al-Mulk, Chapter 67, Verse 2:
“He Who created Death and Life, that He may test which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving;- “
So this life is the test for the hereafter… The human beings are the best of the creations of Allah SWT, he gave us freewill to either go with the orders of Allah SWT or against the orders of Allah SWT… Those who obey Allah SWT and submit their will to Allah SWT are called as Muslims… and those who go against him and disobey him are called as Kafirs(disbelievers)…
For example, if in an examination test, where the students are giving an examination, so one of the students says: “Why is the teacher testing us? Why doesn’t she come and show us all the answers and everyone will write the right answer?”!!! If the teacher comes and dictates the answer, then where is the question of the test??? So the teacher before the test taught you many things… Told you, and now it is you who have to remember back then and ask questions at that time… That is why Allah SWT has revealed the Quran and He has given you signs… Allah SWT says in the Quran in Fussilat, Chapter 41, Verse 53:
“Soon will We show them our Signs in the (furthest) regions (of the Horizons), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord doth witness all things?”... So Allah SWT said that He will show you the truth in the soul of every human being… Now after they come to know the truth, whether they believe or not is their problem… So the teacher before the examination, she teaches that 2+2=4… In the Examination whether you write 3, 5 or 4 it is your problem… So Allah SWT has directly by himself showed you his signs in the Horizons through the sun, through the stars, through his creations and He himself will make it evident, and it is a promise that every human being will believe in one God, BUT after that, do they agree with the commandments or not that is secondary…
So this is a test we are undergoing, those who submit their will to Allah SWT they are called as Muslims, and they will be rewarded in the next life… and those who disobey they will be punished…”
Naturally this is a ridiculous answer and a ridiculous analogy. Why should God ‘test’ people without proof? Zakir Naik is of course assuming that Allah wrote the Quran. What is the proof of that- since it was dictated by Muhammad, and the Quran contains hundreds of mistakes? A God like Allah who needs Angels like Gabriel to do his work, who lives only in a particular part of the Universe and who cannot even give good stationery to his chosen Messenger to record the Quran and makes his followers write it on palm trees, stones, camel bones in a language where the whole meaning can change with the slightest change in alphabet, and whose book Quran saw many versions within 20 years of the death of Muhammad is of course very unlikely to write the Quran.
Actually Chapter 41 Verse 53 itself is a proof that Islam is false. “Soon will We show them our Signs in the (furthest) regions (of the Horizons), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord doth witness all things?” But this God did not show any signs, did not re arrange stars in a manner that they read at night “Islam is true”, filled the Quran with errors, mistakes and contradictions, and did absolutely nothing to prove that Islam is from God either during Muhammad’s time or later. Far from showing his signs in the furthest of regions, God actually kept the Muslims (and also the rest of the world) completely unaware about two whole continents of the world- viz South America and North America until nearly 900 years of the birth of Islam! Christopher Columbus accidentally discovered America in 1492 and thought that he had reached India!
Look at the other passage quoted by Zakir Naik – Chapter 10, Verse 99:
“If it had been thy Lord’s will, he would have made all human beings as believers,- all who are on earth!”
This is another point which will go against Islam. If God could have easily made all humans as believers then why is the message of Islam ‘convert or kill’ with unbelievers being allowed to remain as “Dhimmis” paying the Jizyah tax in the first instance? The whole Quran contains more than 70 passages urging Muslims to wage war on non-Muslims, convert or kill them and shun them in this life and the next. Apostates i.e. those Muslims who leave Islam are given death penalty. This is the legal provision in many Muslim countries even today, like Afghanistan a state supposedly rescued by liberals from the radical Taliban, which gives death penalty for leaving Islam.
If there is no compulsion in religion and God can easily make all humans as believers then why should apostates be given death penalty? The Quran in 2:27, 2:39, 3:90-91, 4:89, 9:66, 9:74, 47:25-26 makes it clear that apostates are to be punished. Some passages of the Quran are quoted below:
“8:60 And prepare against them what force you can and horses tied at the frontier, to terrorize thereby the enemy of Allah…
8:12 I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them.
Unbelievers
2:191, And slay them wherever ye catch them
2:193, And fight them on until there is no more Tumult or oppression
2:216, Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you
3:28, Let not the believers Take for friends or helpers Unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah
8:15-16, O ye who believe! when ye meet the Unbelievers in hostile array, never turn your backs to them. If any do turn his back to them on such a day – unless it be in a stratagem of war, or to retreat to a troop (of his own)- he draws on himself the wrath of Allah, and his abode is Hell,- an evil refuge (indeed)!
8:17, It is not ye who slew them; it was Allah: when thou threwest (a handful of dust), it was not thy act, but Allah’s: in order that He might test the Believers by a gracious trial from Himself
8:65, O Prophet! rouse the Believers to the fight. If there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred, they will vanquish a thousand of the Unbelievers
9:5, But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the idolators wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem.
9:73, O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and be firm against them. Their abode is Hell,- an evil refuge indeed
9:123, O ye who believe! fight the unbelievers who gird you about, and let them find firmness in you: and know that Allah is with those who fear Him.
8:39, And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah altogether and everywhere.”
These are just a few of the many passages of the Quran where Muslims are ordered to convert or kill unbelievers. If God can make all humans believers, then why does He force Muslims to do his work of killing and converting unbelievers when He could have done so Himself? Also, this same God does the following :
- * Intentionally preventing unbelievers from knowing the truth-> 6:25 6:110
- * Intentionally preventing unbelievers from Understanding Quran-> 17:45-76
- * It is God who causes people to err and He punishes them for that-> 17:97
- * God could guide, if he chose to, but did not-> 6:35
- * Intentionally misguiding those whom he pleases to->14:4
- * Willfully misguiding some-> 16:93
- * God causes human to err-> 4:143 7:178
- * God deceiving human-> 4:142
So God deliberately keeps unbelievers away from Islam and then punishes them for that- this is sadism. And if this is the case, then how can unbelievers ‘fail the test’ when their fate is already sealed by God?
What a ridiculous analogy of students and teachers! Students are tested to know how much they have learnt and progressed, or many times tests are kept just for the reason that students may study (practice tests) for the big tests (For example, giving Mock tests before taking the actual exam). Before the test, students know that there is going to be a test and try their best to prepare for it. Did God tell all humans before their birth that Islam is true, that their lives on earth will be a test, and they have to pass his test of faith by following his religion correctly?
Students saying “Teacher should show us the answers” would completely end the meaning of the test, how would God showing Himself to humans end the meaning of Our ‘test’? On the contrary, it would be a very good thing, since it should prove to humanity that God exists and that he indeed is testing us, and this would enable humans to consciously follow Islam to pass the ‘test’ of God. A God who doesn’t even inform humans about ‘testing’ them and throws them in Hell forever for failing his tests is not a true God.
Also, students are ‘tested’ for 2 things- to know how much knowledge they have gained, which is very essential for their progress, and often to make them study and improve their performance in the final big exam. For what reason would God ‘test’ mankind? God being Omniscient would already know everything about mankind. And then such a God who ‘tests’ people keeps nearly 80 % of the people unaware about his own true religion, keeps continents like North and South America unknown to the rest of the world for nearly 900 years after Islam’s birth!
In this case, Zakir Naik has given a ridiculous analogy that asking “Why doesn’t God show Himself” is like students asking “Why doesn’t the teacher show us the answers in a test?” Firstly, the fact that life is a test is assumed by Zakir Naik, which is completely unproven and most likely untrue. Secondly, here asking God to show himself is like asking the TEACHER to show herself, the teacher who takes the test is expected to show herself. We are not asking for answers of the questions to be shown. Zakir Naik is not a scholar but a showman, he has a great memory and can impress the audience temporarily with his words. He has been completely exposed here by Ali Sina.
This is a video of a debate between Zakir Naik’s guru Abdullah Thariq in a debate with Mahendra Pal Arya in full:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zIujH5R9m0
Again we must quote the virus thing. Tiny invisible viruses living somewhere on a drop of water somewhere down the Pacific Ocean are being ‘tested’ by God without even being told that they are being tested and God doesn’t even show Himself to them. Man has been around for lakhs of years on this earth, and yet there is not a single instance recorded of God showing Himself to humanity. God is supposed to be omnipresent and be able to do all the things. Would a true God play hide-and-seek with humans and not show Himself to mankind ever since the birth of mankind?
Also, there are so many crimes committed in the name of God by misguided followers who genuinely believe that they are doing the right thing and spreading faith in God. Those who destroy idols of Tulja Bhavani in Tuljapur genuinely believe that they did a sacred and a very good thing, whereas the others who are devotees of Goddess Tulja Bhavani (like Chhatrapati Shivaji was) will feel exactly the opposite. At least one of these two must be wrong. Now God should show Himself here and directly tell the wrong group that the other group is right and to stop destruction in His name.
Many claim that the radical Muslims who killed unbelievers in 26/11 and 9/11 did not follow true Islam. But they genuinely believed that they were following true Islam and doing the right thing for God. Now, God being omniscient would have known that innocent people were going to be killed by radicals (either from his own true religion, or from a false religion) and should have shown Himself to these radicals and told them not to kill in his name!
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