WHY Islam? The question “why?” demands a rational answer. However, many people think that it is not possible to give rational answers to ideological commitments (by ideology, we mean a system of thought). They believe that a commitment to any theistic ideology is an irrational act. One cannot deny the fact that many people do commit themselves illogically to various ideologies and continue to hold onto them only because they find themselves to be raised up in particular communities. They accept such ideologies in just the same way as they would accept a traditional form of dress handed down to them through the generations. For example, a person might be deeply committed to a nationalistic ideology simply because it may be the best way to win the support of the masses and thereby gain personal political power. Let us analyze two commonly-found views regarding ideological commitments: u The first states that a commitment to any ideology, which involves some type of deity must necessarily be irrational. The premise of those who say this is that the fundamental claims of all such ideologies are beyond the comprehension of the human mind. Those who have accepted such a premise have concluded that all types of such ‘belief' must be based on irrational and imaginary thoughts rather than on reality. u The opposite view is held by people who seek to justify their ‘belief' in certain irrational ideas by claiming that reason is limited. In fact, the followers of this ideology state that people should commit themselves to such ideas by simply having ‘faith.' The conclusion of these people is that ultimate reality must be irrational in essence and, therefore, incomprehensible to the human mind. They go on to say that their ideology must be accepted or ‘believed' without reason, in order to attain some type of ‘salvation.' This kind of argument is very difficult to accept because as human beings, we may ask: What do we have other than the use of our minds for acquiring knowledge? If we are told to ‘believe' in something that is irrational (i.e. beyond all reason), such as a type of being which is both mortal and immortal, we cannot possibly digest such an idea. Therefore, it does not seem unnatural for us to demand that our way of thinking and living be based solely upon those concepts, which can be verified as being true. Going back to the first view regarding ideological commitments, we see that this view contends that we cannot and should not believe in that which we cannot comprehend. The emphasis lies on the word comprehend, and so it must be defined. It is true that one cannot have an adequate mental picture of some mathematical and scientific facts. For example, one cannot have an adequate mental or visual picture of the curvature of space, or one of the mathematical concepts of infinity. Nor can we really have an adequate mental picture of the way in which certain animals experience things, such as the way in which bats ‘see' by using ultrasonic waves. However, we know these concepts to be true because of solid evidence and not because of some non-rational ideas. Therefore, we can say that we do indeed comprehend them. Now what about the concept of a singular, all-knowing entity, which has created the universe. It is impossible to have any mental or visual picture of such an entity, for evidence tells us that this entity must be unlike anything in the universe because this entity must be independent of space and time. The evidence for the existence of this single intelligence lies in the design of nature itself, which we can freely examine; hence, such an ideology is rational. If one realizes this — through confirmation — then one can proceed to answer the question: Why Islam? – The News (To be continued) __
