Atheism Darwinism Whats The Purpose Of Life
AI: Summary ©
The host of a radio show discusses the importance of peace and religion, as it is taboo subjects and has negative consequences. They stress the decline in values and the importance of knowing the difference between peace and religion, which affects people's desire to know who made them. The three part series of questions asked by viewers is discussed, including the theory of evolution and worshiping God. The importance of worship is emphasized, along with practical acts of worship and the importance of belief in God and the final profit. Viewers are encouraged to visit the contact website and contact the contact Us button.
AI: Summary ©
There's only one
there's only one. Jesus was his messenger
Why did that maybe, maybe it's just to break the ice Bismillah Alhamdulillah salaam aleikum, which means peace be unto you. Welcome to another episode of the deen show, which is a way of life we try to put out there for everyone to see helping you understand Islam and Muslims. And my next guest when we come back, Dr. Lawrence Brown, you will know where we're going right back discussing the purpose of life.
peaceful,
peaceful, peaceful, peaceful.
Salam alikoum.
Thank you for thank you for being with us again here in the de show. And just so the people don't have to take an Arabic class, can we kind of let them know what we just said? Sure. Well, Salaam Alaikum. Peace be upon you.
Allahu wa barakato is basically the blessings of Allah.
Isn't that beautiful? I wish peace upon him. He wish to back upon me. So now you don't have to take the Arabic class? Not quite yet. Now I would, I would point out something and that that is that we as Muslims say, peace be upon you. But this is also the greeting that Jesus Christ teaches his disciples in the Bible. And one thing that always confused me, or bothered me a little bit was how so many Christians made fun of this. Yeah. You know, we would say Salaam Alaikum Wa Alaikum. Salaam, what is that? What is that last Peace be upon you and wishing peace back. And so I said, What do you have to do that each time to say, you know, and I point out to them, I said, Look, this isn't just
the teachings of, you know, the Prophet Muhammad, and the Quran. This is also a biblical teaching. And the surprising thing is that even though Jesus Christ taught this to His disciples, you don't see them practicing it. Yeah, that's a good point to mention. Dr. Brown, thank you for being with us. It's an honor to have you on the show. We want to talk about the purpose of life. And the questions that some people aren't raising, they should be raising my experiences
dealing with, you know, just layman, the individuals in the woods society today. It's kind of a taboo to talk about God, it's kind of a taboo to talk about religion is my experience. I see people want to talk about the football game, the basketball game, they want to talk about the nightclub they're going to go to they want to talk about, you know, this is a just a normal things that go through people's mind. But when you bring up God, when you bring up religion, when you bring up some of these things, it's kind of like, you know what, I don't have time for this. Why do you think this is?
Why it is? I don't know. But
but I think it is a fact. I think it's a fact, not just that discourse, has pretty much become more centered around entertainment and less centered around God. But I think that in general, people who have sound, moral and spiritual values,
have noticed that in the West, there just seems to be a decline in moral and spiritual values. And along with that, is a decline in investigation, a decline in open minded discussion of a variety of topics, religion, of course, being number one.
Tell us now why you've written an article. And it's addressing some of these questions that most people ask some people don't. But if they don't, they should. Let's discuss some of these questions that you written about in your article. Sure. Okay. This is a it's actually a three part series.
It's it's an article called the big questions. The big questions are the questions that everybody asks themselves at some point in their life. I don't know anybody, except that at some point in their life, they asked themselves who made me and why am I here?
So I, I wrote this in this article called the big questions. You can find it on my website, which we'll be mentioning later.
But this is something that
I think this is a topic of discussion that basically breaches that, that, that chasm, we were just talking about how religion and God are things that are considered almost taboo subjects nowadays. But the purpose of life is not. And it's very easy to talk with people about, you know, what do you believe about who made you? What do you believe about? why you're here? And those are subjects that are still very much alive. Dr. Brown, in your experience dealing with you, I'm sure you deal with a lot of people.
When you have you after asked this question to people, what is the purpose of life? And what are some of the common responses you get to this?
Well, I think the first question I usually start with is Who made you?
And it's a perfect challenge to make a person think, and for the most part, you'll get only a few answers. Some people will just say, I don't know. Yeah, I don't know, when it's, it's too big of a question for me to think, are they shocked that they even asked him this question?
Not really, actually, I think I imagined that they would be more shocked than then than they actually are. I mean, I thought it was kind of a conference, confrontational question to say, Who made you, you know, you get it, you're in a discussion with somebody, and they're kind of just going this direction and going that direction and trying to bring them back to the central point. This is talking about religion, of course. And you just asked what, who made you, you'll find that a remarkable number of people who consider themselves religious, will have really peculiar answers to that.
The the vast majority, of course, will say what, well, God made me okay.
But there, you will get all kinds of funny, funny, funny answers.
I think, I think this question the who made you question is more a question designed for the atheists, but and for those people who are on a religious search and haven't, don't really have very strong convictions? Most Jews, Christians, etc, etc. When you ask them this question, they'll say, Well, God made me and we move on. Okay, we then move on to discussing the purpose of life.
If I ask somebody who made you and they say, I don't know, maybe they're atheist, or whatever,
I'll just point out to them, I'll say, look, look around the room.
Everything that we see, that we as human beings have made with our hands, you know, it's, it's a created object. Everything that we see has been made. When you see a painting, you know that there's a painter, you see a sculpture, you know that there's a sculptor, you see a piece of furniture, you know, that there's a furniture factory,
everything that everything in our experience, is, is made. And yet, when you look at creation, and the perfection of creation, people just, there are some people who just say, well, the big big bang theory and evolution
are their answers. How do you deal with this when someone brings us up Marxism or evolution? Or?
Big Question? How do I deal with this? Well, quite simply, I say okay, the Big Bang and evolution. Let's take a look at those two, the Big Bang, the big bang theory is that all the matter in the universe coalesced into a hyper dense core, which then in an explosion of energy and matter, burst apart, and, and spread into what has become the known universe. So that's the origin of the universe. Well, a couple of questions.
Where did all the matter and the energy that coalesced into this hyper dense core? Where did all that matter come from to begin with?
Okay, this might explain the design of why the universe is in the shape, it's in why it is expanding to this day, and why the planets are there, the stars are there, etc, etc. This might explain that, but it doesn't explain where all of this matter where all of this energy came from to begin with. Oh, sure. I mean, aside, aside from the point that the big bang theory explains the way things are, but it doesn't explain where all the energy and energy came from in the first place. It doesn't, it doesn't dismiss the possibility of a creator. All right, let's say the Big Bang happened. Well, a firecracker explodes. But who sets it off?
I mean, the point is that yes, the Big Bang may be responsible for the university, the universe as we know it, but who organized that series of events? Now of course, some people
will remain upon their atheism and say, Well, I don't know or nothing or chance events, but people, you know, people of religious persuasion or people who are inclined to believe, will will see the sense of this and understand Oh, yeah, sure.
It makes sense that that event was organized, when you look at the way that this universe is organized the perfection of the balance of this universe.
To say that that happened as a random event.
To me, it means you just haven't studied the universe enough, you don't understand the complexities of the universe, this this planet, if it was the smallest distance closer to the sun, would be uninhabitable. Because of the heat, everything on this planet would die. If it was the smallest distance away from the sun, it would be an ice ball,
the the spin on this planet creates a gravity which is the perfect balance to keep us on the surface, a little bit, a little bit, a little bit more gravity or a little bit less. And again, life as we know it would not exist.
The balance of the universe, in general, the gravitational pull of all of the heavenly bodies, etc. You just you have to study the universe to understand its complexities. But, but those who do I think they come away realizing that the human organism life as we know it is complex, that the universe itself is a wonder. And so, again, who organized that series of events, it's upon Allah, this is deep, I'm enjoying listening to Dr. Brown, I'm sure you are also, they say we come from monkey adaptive. Talk about this. How do you address this? Well, this is back to the concept of evolution. Again, when we're talking about who made us the answer is usually
in two parts, people usually say, well, the Big Bang and evolution.
There are a number of answers to that. Of course, one of the answers is that Darwin himself began to question evolution towards the end of his life, and for very good reason. Let me give you an example. I'm an ophthalmologist, I work on the eye. My specialty ophthalmology is divided into multiple specialties. We have people who are specialized in the cornea and the anterior segment, glaucoma, uveitis, retina, refractive surgery, neuro ophthalmology, cancer of the eye, pediatric ophthalmology, etc, etc, etc. This is a very small Oregon, the eye, but it's highly complex, so much so that our specialty is divided into a large number of sub specialties. Well, interestingly enough,
Eddie Darwin, when he started studying the AI, he, he basically began to question the theory of evolution. And the reason why was because the eye is such a complex structure, that it cannot, it cannot work without all of its elements working together. And that means that if there was any problem with the cornea, the lens, the UVA, the iris, the retina, the sclera, the optic nerve, the connections with the brain, etc, etc.
all all of these elements would have had to have evolved at exactly the same time in perfect coordination to give rise to the structure and he could not conceive that as having happened.
A lot of most scientists can't. But the real answer I give to the concept of evolution is similar to the one I just said about the Big Bang, and that that is, as Muslims, we have no problem with the concept of the Big Bang, we just understand that it was under the design of our Creator. In the same way, we have no problem with the concept of evolution, meaning the concept of natural selection, animals and human beings adapt to their to their circumstances. The difference between the Islamic view and what you're taught in the classroom is, is simply that we do not believe that human beings evolved from monkeys. The Animal Kingdom, with its different species may have gone through
evolution. As a matter of fact, the fossil record suggests that it does. We have no problem with that dinosaurs walk the earth. Horses at one time with this high dogs at one time with this high there was a time when when when birds were seven feet high. Okay, we have no problem about with all of that the different species changed according to their circumstances changed over time. But again, what we say is that was that was all within the design of our Creator.
And this is a concept which is really
recently been popularized in science under the concept of intelligent design. Because many scientists are speaking out against the concept of evolution saying that these systems are simply too complex to have evolved, it could only have been a result of
intelligence, intelligent design. And who is that designer?
Sure, if you look at the gene code, you might find the gene code of monkeys very similar to the gene code of human beings, you might find our DNA is 97% compatible.
And all of these things might, you know, sway a person to, to believing in evolution. But that's a test of your faith. And
it by no means means that you, you cannot have had these two entities as separate creation.
You're here on the dean show, you're watching us here on the dean show with Dr. Brown and Dr. Brown. The person who's tuned in and they really like what you have to say, they say, you know, what, you got me. Okay, this whole, you know, idea that
I just came into existence by myself, there's no creator behind this. Okay, he's getting away from this, this whole idea of, you know, being the son of a monkey, he's not digging this either. Now, he wants to hear what you have to say about what the million dollar question, how you answer it? What is the purpose of life? Why are we here?
Well, let me ask the people out there, you tell me why you're here. Are you here just to
just to have a good time? Is life meant to be one big party and then we die? And it's black emptiness? And and that's it? Are we here to make a little music, throw a few parties, eat some good dinners? Is that what life is all about?
I think most people, most people, at some point in their life, they will come to some sort of a spiritual awakening, where they will ask themselves, is this all there is? Is this what it's all about?
You see that a lot. You see that a lot with people who have everything, you know, the Hollywood stars, the the multi, multi, multi millionaires, and so on and so forth. They often get to some point in their life, where they basically have it all in a material sense. And they start asking themselves,
this, what it's all about, there's nothing more.
And they get down to asking themselves just this question, why am I here? What's my purpose, I think all of you out there know that we have a higher purpose than simply making life a party, and then we die and go away.
But to explain it in simple terms.
Again, look around the room, look at everything that you see in front of you look beyond the TV set that you're looking at, and just scan the room. And you will see that everything that we as human beings have made has a purpose, every single thing that we made has a purpose. Okay? And the purpose of everything we made, was to serve us, by serve us, I mean, perform a function for us, okay? Even if it's something as simple as a glass, it performs a function for us, it serves us in a capacity, so does the table that holds us so to the tiles that that cover the floor that that table is resting upon, etc, etc, etc. Even if even if we created something just to entertain us, that's still still
serving us in some capacity.
So if everything we make is made for the purpose of serving us, doesn't it make sense that our Creator made us
to serve him?
And that's my answer. I mean, my answer is that
is that we were created for the purpose of serving and worshiping our Creator. Now, I think that's kind of a common sense answer.
But it wasn't until I read the Holy Quran, that I found a book of Scripture that simply said that. It's simply said that God did not create
man mankind and spirits except to serve and worship him.
Okay, you're not here with Dr. Phil. We're here with Dr. Brown on the dean show. Dr. Brown tell us now as they come on to worship God, what are you talking about?
Tell them kind of elaborate more on this. What do you actually mean by we've been created to serve God and worship God. Give us some more details about this.
Well,
let's go back to the real world as we know it. Okay. I was talking about some simple objects. This is a glass okay. We create
did this to serve us? Yeah, right now it's holding iced tea. That's its job. Yeah, right. Now we all look at a glass is a pretty simple thing. And we don't think about the rules that apply to this glass. But even simple objects have got rules. You hold it right side up, you don't hold it right upside down. We don't overfill it. If you put cold water, and then you add hot water, the glass might shatter, because that's what happens if you put cold and hot together.
Just some simple points, but everything we make has got rules. Or you might say, laws. And if you violate these laws, it doesn't perform the function for which it was created. Okay? And it doesn't matter what you're talking about, you can talk about something as simple as a spoon. You eat with one end, right? Not the other. That's, that's a rule upon that utensil.
But if you look at something more complex, a computer, a car, going by an mp3 player, whatever you're talking about, what does it come with? It comes with an owner manual, right? It comes with an instruction booklet that tells you what it tells you how to use it. And it tells you the rules upon that object. It was created for what function? And how do you use it properly? And if it's not used properly, what will happen? Right?
Well, is it any different for us?
I mean, we are created for a function.
We are guided by? We're guided by rules. So does it not make sense that
we would be provided with an owner's manual? Absolutely an instruction booklet. And now you got something to tell us what those rules are. How How, how the one who created us, and intended us for intended us to use our lives, the rules he intended us to live by.
That's really all it comes down to. And here's another thought.
Here's another thought. I mean, if you're looking at a rulebook, if you're looking at an instruction manual, who writes that?
Who writes the instruction manual? You're looking at a TV right now, I don't care what brand it is, who wrote the instruction manual for that brand? If you're watching a Sony TV, was that instruction manual written by Panasonic? If you're watching Toshiba? Was that instruction manual written by GE? I don't think so. The one who writes the instruction manual is the one who created the object.
That is the purpose of I mean, that is where scripture fits into our lives. The one who created us is the one who wrote the books of guidance for us, the books of Scripture.
Dr. Brown, I think the skeptic, we got his attention. Now. I think everything's making sense something logical is not something far fetched, it makes sense. Tell us some of the practical acts of worship that a Muslim does on a regular basis. So they can see that this is something even that goes even further with their nature. Talk about some of the main tenants of worship.
Okay.
Basically, in Islam, the Muslim prays five times a day, they fast the month of Ramadan, they pay a poor do which is called a cat. It's it's an amount of money that we that we pay on a yearly basis, according to according to what we have, in excess of our needs. And I stress this because this is important. It's not a type. You know, a type in the Christian world is paying a certain amount of your income.
A lot of people find that burdensome and for reasons I think that are easily understood, there are some people who need 100% of their income to get by. If you ask them to pay 10% leave them with 90% of their income. They can't do it.
In Islam, the poor do the money that is due to the poor is assessed on what you have above and beyond your needs. Okay. So like I said, we pray five times a day we fast the month of Ramadan, we pay this
if we are able to, and we have the money. One time in our life, we are obligated to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. And the number one and probably will, the most important the the one obligation from which all others begins is that we make Shahada we make the testimony of faith. We testify that we believe in God is one God and in Muhammad as the final prophet.
When you
you testify that Muhammad peace be upon him is the last and final prophet messenger. Do you now accept all the other messengers that preceded him?
Well, in a nutshell, when you testify that Muhammad was the final prophet, the final profit in the chain of profits,
it obligates you to a number of things, it obligates you also to, to adhere to his teachings, and to adhere to the teachings of the book of Revelation that was revealed through him. And, and so the these things teach us about the other prophets, they teach us about Adam, and
on up to the profits that are well known to all those in Judaism and Christianity, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Noah, Moses, Jesus, to name a few. And, and the Holy Quran validates these people as prophets. So we are obligated to believe in what are some of the benefits now are living a life according to how your Creator wants you to live, as opposed to living life according to how you want to live according to your desires?
Well, for me, I have to say that the main benefit
for me is that for the first time,
I felt I understood my place in life, my place in this cosmos.
He was the first time that I felt peace actually entered my life.
Islam, I'm sure everybody has heard by now, you know, Islam has the meaning of peace.
The root of Islam, you find in the in what we know as consonants, as lm, and one of the one of the words from which that takes root is Salaam or peace.
Another word that it takes root from is tasleem, which is submission. So our understanding as Muslims is that this word, one of the meanings, most commonly spoken of meaning, is the piece that the Muslim finds when they submit to their Creator. And what I can say is just that, I feel that before Islam, everything I did was just marking time.
It was just marking time. I'm not saying I didn't have a good time. Yeah, I had fun. I'm not saying good things didn't happen. But I'm saying in the end, everything I did before I became Muslim, I feel like it was just marking time on this earth. It wasn't dedicated for purpose.
After I became Muslim,
I feel that everything I did, it had a purpose. I understood its purpose. And the piece of satisfaction that I received from that made my life rich, regardless of what I had in my home or in the bank, you couldn't pay for that. This is something I can't buy that can't buy it. You can't buy that upon the law and and how you know, I mean, how many how many disaffected rich people do we know? You could pick up any pick up any, you know, any national enquirer, globe star, whatever, whatever magazine, it is always filled with celebrities,
you know, the wealthy and so on and so forth, and the disasters that their lives have turned into.
And yet, how many people how many Muslims do we know who are simply happy with their life the way it is, whether they're rich or poor, because they know they're, you know, they know that they found their place in life. They know the purpose of life. Tell us for more, they're telling us we're out of time. Tell us. For someone who wants to read more upon some of your books and some of these things we discussed where they can visit you. Well visit me on my two websites. The first is the eighth scroll.com that spelled exactly as the title of this book. Eight scroll, ei g h th s CR o. l l.com.
The other website is level truth.com le vltruth.com. And on that, on that website, you'll find my articles my conversion story. My other books among them are these two
Miss got it and got it. You can take a look up them up for yourselves and you can contact me through the Contact Us button. Thank you for being with us. We hope to inshallah God willing to have you back again on the deen show. I hope to be here. And I thank you all for tuning in to another episode of the deen show. And you got to hear it here what the purpose of life is, is to worship your Creator alone without partners to worship and submit and surrender.
To him, not his creation and if you joy enjoyed this episode of the deen show continue to come back every week here. If you missed this on the TV and a local cable station in Chicago you can visit us at the deen show comm th e d show.com. Until next time, I set on Lakeland peace be unto you
Bismillah
Allahu Allah, Allah
upon you.
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