Dear Muslim Friend,
In an age when most people do
not believe that Truth exists or that it is worth their
time and effort to seek it, the mere fact that you have
sought us out on the internet reveals that you want to
know the Truth about who and what God is and how to find
acceptance before Him. The Truth is important because it
sets us free from ignorance and superstition. And, once
free from these things, Truth can then set us free from
the fear of death and bondage to sin. We too share the
same desire and love of the Truth that you have. Let us
then search for the Truth together as fellow travelers on
the road of life.
Religious Truth Claims
All religions make Truth
claims, i.e. they all claim to tell us the Truth about
God, man, salvation, and the universe. Yet, they do not
make the same claims. One religion may claim that man is
God or that the universe is God while another religion
may claim that man and the universe were created by God
and are not God or gods at all. One religion may claim
that there is only one God while another religion may
claim that there are millions or even billions of gods.
Obviously, the religions of
this world make different Truth claims. In fact, they
contradict each other on almost every point. This is a
sad but true fact of life that we both already understand
and believe. Yet, we all know people who claim: "All
religions worship the same God." How foolish! How
naive! The Hindu who worships millions of gods and
goddesses is not worshipping the Allah of the Muslims.
The Christian who worships one God in three Persons: the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, is not worshipping
the Allah of Muslims either. Each religion makes its own
claim about the nature of deity.
What Is A Religion?
By definition, a religion
is a world view that tells us what to believe and how to
live. It is composed of ideas, i.e. doctrines, and
values, i.e. morals. A religion wants us to accept
certain ideas as the True explanation of all that is.
Intellectual assent to these ideas is what constitutes
"faith." But a religion not only wants our
intellectual assent that certain ideas or concepts are
true, but it also wants us to obey a list of commands and
prohibitions. In other words, a religion expects us to
obey its law and observe its rites and rituals.
Is Islam A Religion?
Is Islam a religion? Of
course it is. It puts forth various ideas which it claims
to be the Truth and it demands that all men believe them.
It also demands that all men obey its laws and observe
its rituals.
Common Ground
In order for us to
dialogue, we have to begin with ideas that we
both accept as true. The common ground that we
have is the truth that "Islam is
religion." Do you accept that statement? We
do. It seems self-evident to us that Islam is a
religion. If you do not accept this first point,
then the rest of this letter will be a waste of
time.
Question #1 Is Islam a religion?
Yes___ No___
Islam's Truth Claims
Since we all agree
that Islam is a religion, then we must also agree
that it asks us to believe certain ideas or
concepts as the truth. These ideas are its Truth
claims. In other words, the teachings of Islam
are either true or they are false. There is no
middle ground. They are either one way or the
other.
Question #2 Does Islam put forth various
teachings that it expects us to accept as the
Truth?
Yes___ No___
Blind Faith Will Not Do
Truth claims should
not be accepted by blind faith. The issues are
far too important for us to make a "leap
into the dark" and just believe something
because we were told to believe in it by our
parents, some religious leader, the state or our
culture. If we are all suppose to maintain
whatever religion our parents taught us, then no
one should convert from it to any other religion.
But no one really believes this. Hindus accept
converts from other religions just as Muslims do.
As a matter of fact, people are changing
religions all the time. We personally know
Muslims who became Christians, Christians who
became Jews, Hindus who became Buddhists, etc.
Some people go from one religion to another as
easily as they change cars.
Question #3 Do you know of people who left the
religion they were raised in and converted to a
different religion?
Yes___ No___
People can and do
change their religion. This is simply a fact of
life that we must all deal with. Our own children
may leave our religion and convert to another
religion. It happens all the time. Only a fool
would deny this. Why would someone convert to
another religion? Some people change religions
because of marriage. They fall in love with a
person of a different religion and they give up
their religion to marry that person. It happens
all the time. Other people change religions due
to coercion such as threats or violence or bribes
of money, sex or political advantage. If you
change your religion because someone threatens to
kill you if you do not accept their religion,
this is not good. If you convert to a religion in
order to obtain money, sex or a job, this is not
good either. The only moral reason to change your
religion is on the basis of the Truth. If you
find out that your former religion was not
telling you the Truth, then you should leave it.
To continue to believe in a religion that you
know to be false is to live an intellectually
dishonest life. If you find that another religion
is telling you the Truth, then you should be
willing to join it no matter the price or
consequences. To find and follow the Truth is the
only way to get to ultimate reality. The issue is
thus reduced to whether you really care about the
Truth. If you believe in a religion for any other
reason than it is the Truth is to cheat yourself.
Convenience, habit, upbringing, fear or greed do
not constitute a sufficient basis for belief in
any religion. Something is not true simply
because you believe it. You should believe in
something because it is true.
Questions #4 Is your desire for Truth so strong
that you would be willing to leave your present
religion if the Truth led you to do so?
Yes___ No___
This is where the
"rubber meets the road." This is the
ultimate test of your character and love of the
Truth. If you are not willing to follow the Truth
if it leads you to leave your present religion,
then you do not really care about the Truth. If
your attitude is, "Don't confuse me with
facts, my mind is already made up," then you
do not really want the Truth at all. If you feel
that you must blindly follow what your parents
taught you until the day you die, then you will
never know if what they taught you is really true
or a lie. Why? For you it is irrelevant if it
true or a lie. It doesn't really matter to you.
You were born a Muslim and you will die a Muslim.
That is all you care about. How sad to live your
entire life without ever seeking the Truth. To
have a closed mind that will not accept anything
that contradicts what you believe. An unexamined
faith is a worthless faith. It is no better than
no faith at all for it comes from a prejudice and
ignorance instead of the joyous search for and
the acceptance of the Truth.
Question #5 Could Islam be false in its teachings
and rituals?
Yes___ No___
This question lays
all the cards on the table. "All things are
possible." This means that you must accept
the fact that what you have believed all your
life could be a lie. If this is not even a
possibility to you, then why pretend that you
want the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth? A
deep commitment to finding and following the
Truth regardless of where it takes you is the
only attitude consistent with intellectual
honesty and integrity. Face it, Islam could be a
false religion. Two thirds of the people on this
planet think so. Are you even open to the fact of
logic. If not, then why are you reading this
letter? It is addressed to open minded Muslims
who are willing to examine the evidence against
Islam with objectivity and intellectual honesty.
Question #6 Are you willing to examine the Truth
claims of Islam?
Yes___ No___
Question #7 Are you willing to entertain the
possibility that Allah is a false god, Muhammad a
false prophet and the Qur'an a false book?
Yes___ No___
If you react to these
questions by getting angry, what does this reveal about
you? Are you open or closed to the Truth? If Islam is
false, why in the world would you want to continue to
believe in it? If you are still with us at this point,
hopefully you feel the same as we do: There is nothing
more important in this life than the Truth. It is worth
whatever price we have to pay. We will follow it wherever
it leads us. How can we test the Truth claims of Islam to
see if they are true or false? By honestly seeking the
answers to crucial issues we can find out if Islam is
true or false. Remember, the Truth is never afraid of the
light of research. The following propositions require you
to think objectively about Allah, Muhammad and the
Qur'an. Don't just answer them off the top of your head
without doing any research. Cheap answers will always
cheat you out of the Truth. Instead, go to a library and
look up the answers in encyclopedias and dictionaries.
Find history books on Arabia and on Islam that answer
these questions. We found them. So can you.
