Is it OK to ask this?

Maybe you saw a video online that said there is no God. Maybe a friend at school or work asked you: "How do you even know Allah is real?" And maybe you did not know what to say. Or maybe the question came from inside you, late at night, and it scared you.

Here is the first thing to know: this is a fair question, and asking it is not a sin. The Quran itself asks it. The messengers said to their people: is there any doubt about Allah, the Maker of the heavens and the earth?¹. They did not say "be quiet". They pointed to the heavens and the earth and asked people to think.

Faith in Islam is not blind. Again and again the Quran says: look, think, do you not see? This chapter gives the main reasons, in plain words, and is honest about what we cannot know.

What do people who do not believe say?

It is only fair to hear the other side. People who do not believe usually say: "I cannot see God." "Science explains the world without Him." "The universe just happened." "People only believe because they were raised that way, or fear death."

The Quran knew these ideas long ago. It tells us that some people said: there is nothing but this life. We die and we live, and only time destroys us. Then Allah says: they have no knowledge of that. They are only guessing².

Many people who do not believe are honest, kind and thoughtful. We do not mock them. We simply think the reasons for belief are much stronger. Here they are.

The short answer

If you only have one minute, here it is:

• You were born knowing. Deep inside every human is a sense that there is a Maker. Islam calls it the fitrah.
• Everything that begins needs a cause. The universe began. Nothing comes from nothing, and nothing makes itself. So something outside the universe made it.
• The world is full of order. Laws, balance and life that works. This points to a wise Maker, not to blind chance.
• You know right and wrong are real. Hurting a child for fun is truly wrong, not just "not my taste". That kind of right and wrong needs a source above us.
• You were made for a reason. The deep human hunger for meaning makes sense if a Maker made us for a purpose.

None of these is a math proof on its own. But think of a court case. One clue may not be enough. When many clues all point the same way, the case becomes strong. That is how it is here.

Is belief in Allah already inside you?

Islam teaches that belief in Allah is not something strange that has to be pushed into a person. It is already inside you. Nabi ﷺ said: every child is born on the fitrah (natural belief in one Maker). Then his parents make him a Jew, a Christian or a Magian (fire worshipper)³. Allah says the fitrah is the nature He made people with, and nothing can change what Allah has made⁴.

What does this look like in real life?

• In every land and every age, most people have believed in a Maker. People who never met each other came to the same idea.
• In danger, people call out. Allah describes people on a ship in a storm: they call on Allah, sincere to Him alone. Then, when He brings them safely to land, many forget Him⁵. Many people who say they do not believe still pray when a plane shakes.

Someone may say: "That feeling is just how you were raised." But the fitrah is there even in people raised with no religion. Many of them come to believe later, on their own. And belief is not only a feeling. The Quran also gives reasons for the mind, as we will see next.

For more on the fitrah, read Fitrah: why we believe.

Can something come from nothing?

This is the Quran's most famous reason, and it is very simple. Allah asks:

Were they made by nothing? Or did they make themselves? Or did they make the heavens and the earth? No, they are just not sure.⁶

Think about how you came to be. There are only a few choices:

• Nothing made you? Nothing has no power and does nothing. A cup of tea does not appear on an empty table from nothing. Neither does a person, or a universe.
• You made yourself? Then you would have to exist before you existed. That makes no sense.
• Something else made you, which was also made? Your parents made you, but they were made too. If every maker needs a maker, the chain never ends, and nothing would ever start. There must be a first Maker who was never made.

That first Maker is Allah. Nabi ﷺ was asked how creation began. He said: there was Allah, and nothing else before Him. Then He made the heavens and the earth⁷. In a dua, Nabi ﷺ said to Allah: You are the First, and there is nothing before You⁸.

But did the universe have a beginning?

Most scientists today hold that the universe as we know it had a beginning, a very long time ago. Things that begin need a cause. And the cause of all space, time and matter cannot be part of space, time and matter. It must be outside them. It must be very powerful and must choose to create. That fits what the Quran says about Allah.

Some people say: "Maybe the universe was always there." Even then, everything we see in it depends on something else. A tree needs the sun, the sun needs gas and gravity, and so on. Things that need other things cannot explain themselves. In the end you need something that does not need anything. Allah says: you are the ones in need of Allah, and Allah is the One who needs nothing⁹.

"Scientists say the universe came from nothing"

You may hear this online. When scientists say "nothing" here, they usually mean empty space with energy and laws of nature in it. That is not really nothing. Real nothing has no space, no energy and no laws. And where did the space, energy and laws come from? The question is still there.

When Jubayr ibn Mut'im, not yet a Muslim, heard Nabi ﷺ recite these verses, he said: my heart was about to fly¹⁰. The next question, "so who made Allah?", has its own chapter: Who made Allah, and why can we not see Him?

Does the order in the world point to a Maker?

Imagine you walk into a desert and find a watch lying in the sand. Its parts fit together and it keeps perfect time. You would never say: "Wind and sand made this by chance." You would know someone made it.

The world is full of things far more complex than a watch. The Quran asks us to look:

• The sky. Look again. Can you see any cracks?¹¹.
• Night and day. In the making of the heavens and the earth, and in night following day, are signs for people who think¹².
• Your own body. Allah brought you out of your mother knowing nothing, then gave you hearing, sight and a mind¹³. And inside yourselves too. Do you not see?¹⁴.

When Pharaoh asked Musa: who is your Lord?¹⁵, Musa did not give a long speech. He said: our Lord is the One who gave everything its form, and then guided it¹⁶. A bee knows how to build its comb. A baby knows how to drink milk. Who taught them?

The universe seems set just right

Scientists have noticed that some basic settings of the universe, like how strong gravity is, sit in a narrow range. If they were a little different, stars, planets and life could not exist. Many scientists, believers and non-believers, find this striking. Others give different explanations, and they argue about it.

So we say it carefully: this is a sign, not the base of our faith. Science changes, and our faith does not rest on any one scientific idea. But it fits what Allah tells us: He created everything and measured it exactly¹⁷.

Why do we feel that right and wrong are real?

Think of a man who hurts a small child just for fun. Every normal person knows: that is wrong. Not "wrong for me", not "against the custom here", but truly wrong, everywhere, even if a whole country voted for it.

Now ask: if there is no Maker, and we are only matter that came together by chance, where does that kind of right and wrong come from? Some people say right and wrong are only feelings that helped humans survive. But then cruelty would not really be wrong. It would only be something most of us dislike.

Most people cannot live as if that were true. Islam explains why: Allah made the human soul, and taught it what is wrong for it and what is right²⁵.

Why do we want our life to mean something?

Humans ask: Why am I here? Does my life matter? What happens after I die?

If there is no Maker, the honest answer is hard: there is no reason, and in the end nothing you do matters. Some people accept that. But most people feel it is wrong. They feel their life must mean something.

Allah answers that feeling directly: did you think We made you for nothing, and that you would not come back to Us?²⁶. And: We did not make the heavens and the earth and what is between them for play²⁷. You have a purpose: to know Allah and worship Him, and to come back to Him one day.

Hunger points to food. Thirst points to water. The heart's hunger for meaning points to the One who gave it meaning. Allah says: it is by remembering Allah that hearts find calm²⁸.

"But science explains everything now"

This is one of the most common things people say. Science is a gift. Islam loves real knowledge, and for centuries Muslim scholars made great discoveries in science. But we need to be clear about what science does and what it does not do.

• Science explains how, not why. Science can tell you how an engine works. That does not mean no one built the car. And science studies things that already exist. It cannot tell you why there is something instead of nothing.
• Laws of nature describe, they do not create. The law of gravity tells you how things fall. It does not make anything exist. A rule cannot make the thing it describes.
• Science and belief are not enemies. Many great scientists, in the past and today, believed in God. Finding out how Allah made something is not a reason to stop believing in Him. For many, it is a reason to say subhanallah.

A note of care: some Muslims say certain verses predicted modern science. Many scholars and scientists disagree with some of these claims. The Quran is a book of guidance, not a science textbook. We do not need such claims to believe, and we should not build our faith on them. For more, see Islam and science.

What can we not know?

Honesty matters. Here are things we cannot fully know in this life:

• We cannot see Allah here. He is not part of the world, so we cannot test Him in a lab or look at Him through a telescope. We know Him through His signs, His words and His messengers. See Who made Allah, and why can we not see Him?
• We do not know every detail of how He created. Allah tells us He created. He did not tell us every step. Scientists will keep finding out more, and that is good.
• Some questions are bigger than our minds. Allah says: you have been given only a little knowledge²⁹. Not knowing one answer does not cancel a strong case. A doctor may not know everything about the body, but still knows you have a heart.

No argument will force a person to believe. Allah gave us minds and hearts, and then He let us choose. The signs are clear enough for anyone who looks honestly, but He does not take away our choice. That is part of the test of this life.

What do you do with this doubt in daily life?

• Do not panic. A doubt is not the same as disbelief. Some Companions told Nabi ﷺ about thoughts so bad they would hate to say them. He said: that is clear iman (faith)³⁰. If a thought worries you, that worry is a sign of faith.
• Tell a whisper from a question. If the same thought keeps pushing at you and will not stop, it may be a whisper from shaytan. Nabi ﷺ said: when that happens, ask Allah to protect you, and stop there³¹. If it is an honest question, look for an honest answer.
• Go and look. Step outside at night and look at the sky for a minute. Nabi ﷺ used to wake at night, look up at the sky and recite: in the making of the heavens and the earth ... are signs for people who think³².
• Read the Quran with its meaning. Many people found Allah through the Quran itself. Start with a short surah on our Quran page.
• Talk to someone. A wise imam, teacher or friend you trust. See How to look for answers.
• Ask Allah. Even if you are not sure, you can say: "O Allah, if You are there, guide me to the truth."

Common questions

If I cannot prove Allah like a math sum, is my faith blind?

No. Most things we know for sure, we do not know like a math sum. You cannot prove with numbers that your mother loves you, but you know it from many signs. Faith in Allah is like that: many signs all pointing one way, from the fitrah, reason and the Quran³³.

Do I only believe because my parents are Muslim?

Maybe you first learned it from them, and that is fine. But you can check the reasons for yourself, like Ibrahim did³⁴. Many people raised with no religion came to believe, and many converts chose Islam against their families. The reasons stand on their own.

My friend says religion is only for weak people who fear death. What do I say?

Stay calm and kind. Wanting comfort does not make something false. A thirsty man wants water, and water is real. The real question is whether the reasons are good. Invite with wisdom and kind advice³⁵. You do not need to win.

What about the Big Bang and evolution?

A universe with a beginning still needs a cause. How Allah made living things is a separate question, where scholars give different views. See Islam and science.

If Allah made everything, who made Allah?

Only things that begin need a maker. Allah never began³⁶. See Who made Allah, and why can we not see Him?

I believe, but some days I feel nothing. Is my faith gone?

No. Iman goes up and down for everyone. Keep praying and remembering Allah, even on flat days³⁷. See Iman rises and falls and Keeping your faith strong.