Transcript Document

ATHEISM
• A lack of belief in God
• Strong Atheist – Total denial of the
existence of God
• Weak Atheist – Without believe in any God
• Religion as totally irrational
Theists and Atheism
• Atheism is disbelief in any kind of god and
not only a particular god from a particular
religion.
• Atheist do not hate god because they do not
believe in the existence of god.
• Atheist do not hate satan because they do
not believe satan exist
Theist and Atheism
• Atheist believe existence of supernatural
beings cannot be proven by science /
experiments / impirical data / rational proof.
Thus they do not exist.
• Communism, Humanism, Nihilism,
Objectivism, etc
• Religion as theories full of lies / ancient
myth / primitive superstition
Theist and Atheism
• Use religion for personal gain (status,
power, influence) as intermediary between
god and people
• Use religion to get sympathy and collect
funding
• Religion caused of human sufferings /
conflicts / wars.
• Religion as anti-knowledge
Secularism and Islam
• Secular from ‘saeculum’(latinized Christian
church) referring to people who are preocccupied with mundane worldly matters
• Activities that are not sacred / something
temporal
• Terms relating to secularism (eg. Almaniy)
introduced to mainsteam Islamic Arabic
although no relevance to Islam/ummah.
Secularism and Islam
• No equivalent in Islam the concept of ‘church’ and
‘clergy’ i.e no dichotomy of the sacred and the
profane.
• Nearest definition to secular - al-hayat al-dunya
(the wordly life)
• Dunya (from dana) – serround us and overwhelm
us – distract from the consciousness of the final
destination (akhirah)
Secularism and Islam
• The Holy Quran says : The Hereafter is better than
life in this world – more abiding / everlasting.
• Islam do not derogate the world
• Contemplate and reflect upon the wonders (ayat of
God) to interpret and derive practical benefits
• Islam only warns the distracting nature of life (alhayat al–dunya).
Secularism and Islam
• Western Christian concept – this age /
present time / contemporary
• Condition of this world at this particular
time or period or age.
• Ever changing world in which occurs the
relativity of values – modern Western
civilisation influencing the Muslim world.
Secularism and Islam
• Secularism is defined as the ‘deliverance of
man first from religion then from
metaphysical control over his reason and
language. “
• Setting free of the world from religious and
semi religious understanding of itself.
• Discovery by man that he has been left with
the world in his hands
Secularism and Islam
• Secularism encompasses political, social but also
culture.
• ‘Liberate’ man from religious control /
worldviews – historical relativism.
• Disenchantment of nature (act upon nature as he
pleases/needs/plans without religious bearings)
• Desacrilization of politics (abolition of sacral
legitimisation of political power and authority)
• Deconsecration of values (free to create change to
values/ codes of conduct//morality)
Discussion
• (1) Why atheists do not believe in God and
religion.
• (2) How do you prove that God exist and religion
is important.
• (3) What is the meaning of secularism. How does
secularism affect your life and your community
• (4) We are living in secular state with a multi
religious and multi-racial community. Discuss this
situation in relation to the Muslim minority here.
Socialism
• Production own by workers rather than rich
minorities/capitalists
• Control production for common good and
not individual profit
• Cooperative nature
• Monopoly of labour and production
Socialism
• Man is a collective entity shaped by
economic forces beyond his control whose
greatest good is to serve the ends of
‘society’
Capitalism
• Separation of economics and state
• Private ownership – uncontrolled and
unregulated economy
• People free to form and act upon their own
values – individual rights
• Do not threat and impose values on others.
Capitalism
• Capitalism recognizes that each and every
person is the owner of his own life and has
the right to live his life in any manner he
chooses as long as he does not violate the
rights of others.
Capitalism
• Pursue own economic self interest and
simultaneously benefit the economic self
interest of others
Minor Debate
• Capitalism vs Socialism - Debate
Din al-Islam
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Indebtedness
Natural Inclination -Fitrah
Submissiveness
Judicial powers
Din al-Islam
• Din / Dana / Madinah / Tamaddun
• Cities, civilized society of law, order,
justice, authority, commerce, etc – customs,
habits.
Din al-Islam
• Din –Natural tendency of man to form
societies and obey laws and seek just
government
• Religion of Islam as the objective of faith,
belief and practices and teachings
experienced and lived by each and every
member of the Muslim community as well
as the Community as a whole.
Dana- Indebtedness
• Man is indebted to God, his Creator and
Provider for bringing him to existence and
maintaining him in his existence
• Returning the debt means to give himself up
in service (khidmah) to his Lord and
Master; to abase himself before Him
Raja’ – Returning
• It is interpreted as rain because God returns
it time and again, and it refers to good
return – benefit, profit , gain.
• True Din brings life to a body otherwise
dead just as ‘the rain which God sends
down from the skies, and the life which He
gives therewith to an earth which is dead
(al-Baqarah : 162)
Raja’ – Returning
• In order to ‘repay’ his debt man must return
himself to God, his Owner.
• By returning himself to his Lord and Master, by
loyally and truly following God’s commands and
prohibitions and ordinances and law …
• “ Who is he who will loan (yuqridu) to God a
beautiful loan (qardan hasanan) which God will
double to his credit and multiply many times” (alBaqarah: 245)
Natural Inclination - Fitrah
• Indebted – Returns the debt (enslaves onself –
khidmah- ibadah
• “ I have created the Jinns and Man and they may
serve Me (ya’budun)”. Al-Dhariyat: 56
• Man’s obligation to serve God is felt by him as
normal because it comes as natural inclination
(fitrah) on man’s part to do so.
• Fitrah – It is the pattern according to which God
has created things (sunnat Allah).
Submission
• Submission does not entail loss of freedom
for him freedom in fact is to act as his true
nature demands (fitrah).
• The man who submits to God in this way is
living out his din.
• “Who can be better in religion (din) than
one who submits (aslama) his face ( i.e. his
whole self) to God… ?” (Al-Nisaa: 125)
Submission (Din al-Islam)
• Din refers to Islam - total submission
(istislam) to God
• “If anyone desires a religion (din) other than
Islam (al-Islam), never will it be accepted of
him… (Ali-Imran: 85)
• “Verily the Religion (al-din) in the sight of
God is Islam (al-Islam) (Ali-Imran: 19)
Judicial Powers
• The man of Islam as a city dweller, a
cosmopolitan, living a civilized life
according to clearly defined foundations of
social order and codes of conduct
• He obeys to Divine Law, endeavor towards
realizing true justice and striving after right
knowledge are cardinal virtues.