ONE of the main problems with an atheistic ideology is that it cannot explain intelligence in the processes of the universe. Another problem is that it tends to deprive life of all meaning. Furthermore, we know that human beings are naturally inclined to be honest; however, in atheism there is a denial of an ultimate originator and of anything beyond death, which creates a contradiction and leads to an inconsistency in behavior — on the one hand, a person would be inclined to be honest, and, on the other, to be dishonest ‘to make the most of this world.' [If everyone insisted on ‘making the most of this world,' society, as we know, it would not exist. As a case in point, let us suppose that all those who wanted to ‘make the most of this world' resorted to thievery. If this happened, no one would be producing the goods (growing food for instance) that the rest of us could steal. Hence, it seems that ‘making the most of this world' as a system of action is doomed to failure. Could it then be a viable system of belief?] Broadly speaking, with regard to theistic ideologies we have the revealed, the distorted and the man-made ideologies. One can easily say that a way of life communicated to humankind by the Creator of this universe is preferred to man-made ideologies. If one wants to follow the advice of that being which has made the universe and all that it contains — regarding what is beneficial or harmful — then it is better to refer to pristine communication from this originator, than to that communication, which has been fabricated or distorted by man. Those ideologies claiming to be based on revelations can be subjected to a number of tests, the first and most important of which is that of consistency. We must look for two types of consistency: internal and external. Internal consistency means that a statement made in a book must not contradict another statement in the same book. External consistency means that a statement made in a book must not contradict facts as we know, be they psychological, physical, chemical, historical, geographical, biological and so on. Applying these tests, consider the most important truth that all the supposedly revealed ideologies proclaim, that is, the existence and perfect attributes of Allah. Allah, for all ideologies, that claim to be revealed, is supposed to be All-Knowing, All-Merciful, Everlasting, etc. However, some books imply that Allah's knowledge is limited and imperfect by saying that, for example, Allah was deceived by a human. In contrast, the Holy Qur'an provides the perfect concept of an All-Knowing, Singular Originator of this universe. This leads us to the next test — that of authenticity. The question that should be asked is whether the scriptures that we have today are indeed a communication from the Originator to humankind. A study of the history of Islam would show that the present Qur'an is exactly the same as that which was communicated about 1,400 years ago. During its revelation it was committed to memory by a large number of people and was written down also without the slightest alteration. Yet another test is that of comprehensiveness. A truly comprehensive ideology, revealed to humankind by the designer of the universe, would describe the most beneficial systems in all spheres of life including the political, economic, social, medical and environmental spheres. Lastly, we might look at the test of universality. Clearly, an ideology, which is historically or geographically limited, is not as good as that which may be applicable to all human beings, irrespective of the time and place of their origin. In conclusion, if one uses the criteria of universality, comprehensiveness, authenticity and, above all, consistency, one would find the Holy Qur'an unique and worthy of investigation. It is interesting to note that the Holy Qur'an itself stresses the above-mentioned approach. For example, in verse 82 of chapter 4, it is said, “Will they not ponder about the Holy Qur'an? If it had been from other than Allah, then they would have surely found in it many inconsistencies.” – The News (Concluded) __
