Thread by @DrJavadTHashmi

The fear--that life without God is meaningless--has long been recognized by theistic & atheistic philosophers alike & it seems unthinking to simply dismiss it in such an offhanded way. The human need to find meaning beyond ourselves is exactly the timeless allure of religion. 1/

https://twitter.com/Leaving_Islam/status/1390399683260977152

That atheism can & does lead to nihilism is not seriously in dispute, the only question being if that state can be overcome or not. You may believe that it can be, but we have powerful reasons for our skepticism, which you do not seem to have duly pondered. 2/

On the purely atheistic worldview, humans are the result of mere happenstance, the chance byproduct of a random & mindless process, nothing more than molecules colliding--mere matter in motion. We are a tiny speck on a distant planet in a vast universe, hurtling in space... 3/

On the grand scale of things, we live an infinitesimally small duration of time, a mere blip of nothingness. In this view, how can anything we do in this life really matter? As soon as our short lives are cut short, we are reduced to bones & dust, forever reduced to oblivion. 4/

Not only are our individual lives of no lasting significance but our entire species is headed towards its own extinction, the universe ready to carry on ever afterward, until finally culminating in the heat death of the entire universe. Then, complete nothingness. 5/

In this worldview, we human beings have no ultimate significance & there is no ultimate meaning in life. Nothing happens in the world for an ultimate reason--it's all purposeless. In the words of Richard Dawkins, the universe has "no design, no purpose, no evil, no good... 6/

"...nothing but pitiless indifference." No less than Nietzsche, a far more thoughtful atheistic thinker than today's pop philosophers & internet experts, brooded over the death of God. "We have killed God," he lamented. How could we find meaning when it was in God that... 7/

human beings have looked outside of themselves to find ultimate meaning, & recognized the ideals of truth, justice, beauty, & love? In God we fulfill the human desire for transcendence & survive as a society & species. Nietzsche knew that we needed a replacement... 8/

... & he feared what would happen to modern Western society when it unthinkingly marched down the path of secular atheism. As William Lane Craig put it, "This is the horror of modern man: because he ends in nothing, he is nothing." 9/

In fact, you really should listen to Craig's talk on nihilism. Disagree you may but at least do so thinkingly & consciously. If you wish Muslim society to hurtle towards your path of atheistic irreligion, at least show the awareness of Nietzsche. 10/

You have rightfully reacted against bad religion but you have conflated it with all religion, throwing out the baby with the bathwater, the good with the bad. You seek to push us down the abyss of atheism without fearing the nihilism that awaits us at the bottom. 11/

We as human beings require an ultimate purpose & meaning, & we need the hope of a hereafter to make sense of *this* life. Otherwise, it's all just suffering culminating in an inevitable death. 12/

I've noticed how ex-Muslim anti-theist types really try to push the narrative that they live happy, fulfilled, & meaningful lives, a fact that seems to be belied by their inability to escape the orbit of Islam, which they parasitically still finding meaning in/against. 13/

You can certainly look to other things for meaning, but ultimate meaning still remains wanting. Religion, meanwhile, creates meaning out of the universe & human existence, from top to bottom. The biblical & Qur'anic creation stories are remarkable for... 14/

...not only their emphasis on God as creator but also for their anthropocentrism, with all of creation culminating in God's special creation of the human being, who becomes vicegerent on earth. All of the universe was created by Him for him. Glory to God, glory to man. 15/

What modern man may wish simply to dismiss as silly fable is actually profound meaning-making, far more significant than a cold scientistic view of the universe. As Nietzsche put it, a purely scientific worldview is "the most destitute of significance... 16/

"...of all possible world-interpretations." Yes, I agree with you that the Islamic world is rife with religious fundamentalism & extremism, but atheism is not the only path we can take; for me, the response to bad religion is good religion. We should learn from the West... 17/

Blindly going down the path of pure secular atheism will lead to the breakdown of the social fabric, the destruction of the individual, family, & society. The fruits of nihilism are seen in broken individuals, broken families, & broken, non-existent communities... 18/

...where God is replaced by the all-powerful state & the even more powerful marketplace. Hedonism, materialism, & consumerism can hardly fill the God-centered void in our hearts. Depression, drug abuse, divorce, broken families, loneliness, social atomization, & despair. 19/

"By the time! Verily, mankind is in loss, save those who believe, perform righteous deeds, exhort one another in truth, and exhort one another to patience." (Q 103)
"Verily, in the remembrance of God do hearts find rest." (Q 13:28) 20/