Question: Can
there be a genuine case where a person denies the existence of God? If
not, why do we bother having dialogues with Atheists? Is it our duty to
have dialogues with the atheist on existence of God.
Answer: According
to the Qur’an the existence of God is a reality found in the intuition
of every person. There is no doubt about the fact that the perception of
Creator is found in the intuition of every person. The Qur’an says
that before mankind was created, the Almighty took a covenant from the
spirits of all individuals about His being their Creator. At that time,
all of them acknowledged this fact, which was subsequently made a part
of their intuition by the Almighty. A person who still denies this fact
is bound to be doomed in the Hereafter. The Qur’an says:
When your Lord drew forth from the children of
Adam from their loins their descendants and made them testify upon themselves
[saying]: Am I not your Lord. They said: Yes indeed we do testify. [This
was done] lest you should say on the Day of Judgement: Of this we were
unaware or [you put forward the excuse] that our forefathers were idolaters
and we were their descendents after them. Will you then destroy us in retribution
of the misdeeds of the evil doers. (7:172-73)
A person’s concept about God may be incorrect
but as far as the question of whether there is a God is concerned, human
intuition needs no external agency to point this out. Consequently divine
Books only correct our conception of God by explaining His attributes and
His practices. One therefore cannot have any genuine ground if one persists
in denying His existence -- one can however have an incorrect perception
about Him.
Atheists are people who are not new
to this world. One can only have a dialogue with atheists if they are willing
to exchange views on the basic questions of life. It is not our responsibility
to convince people who are not ready to exchange views. However, if one
does find an atheist who is willing to talk, then instead of talking to
him on the basis of Divine Books, he should be tackled through his intuition
and through the fact that without a God, the cognizance of morals found
within every person cannot be explained.
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