Lessons 1-2
Name the person who theorized that primitive people originated religion because of fear.
Bertrand Russell.
True or False: Atheists do not have a worldview since they do not have a religion.
False
What is an omnipotence paradox?
It is an objection to Allah being All-Powerful, and there is no yes or no answer to it. (It is based on an incoherent concept.)
Give a response to the objection to spirituality with religion that religion is too in the future: One cannot tell someone to go about doing certain things to be rewarded sometime after they die.
Rewards are not limited to the day of judgement/Akhirah.
There are certain individuals who gain an understanding of the world around them due to their inner _______?
Purity/Taqwa.
Provide one scenario where knowing the extent of Allah's Omnipotence is beneficial.
e.g. when alone, knowing Allah is capable of solving our problems.
Briefly describe Auguste Comte's theory on the origin of religion.
He theorized that primitive people created religion due to their ignorance. They were observing their surroundings, unable to draw the reason for the phenomena occurring around them. They related them to (a) supernatural power(s) (God).
He said that now we do not need this, and that we can rely on science to answer our questions.
Name 3 types of worldviews (learnt in this course).
-Secular worldview
-Blind religious worldview
-Rational worldview.
What is meant when we say Allah is Al-Hayy (the ever-living)?
2-He is supremely alive and not restricted by time.
Give 2 objections to Russell's theory.
Sample Answers:
-How do primitive people seek shelter from an unknown (something unknown is fearsome) God?
-Believe in God is the effect and fear is the cause. Therefore, if the cause (i.e. fear) is eliminated, the effect is as well.
-Religion was not created for man to deal with fear.
a) What are the 3 levels of God's knowledge?
b) T/F: Allah does everything on the basis of wisdom whether it has a good reason or not.
a) (1) God’s knowledge of His Essence,
(2) God’s knowledge of the creatures prior to their creation
(3) God’s knowledge of the creatures after their being created
e.g. when alone, knowing Allah is capable of solving our problems.
b) F.
a) What is the purpose of life and death according to Surah Mulk ayah 2?
“He is the one who created death and life to test you to see who has the best of deeds…”.
b) What is the best of deeds as mentioned in part (a)?
a) The purpose is to test us on our deeds (meaning there are certain things to do to achieve this purpose), and to see who has the best deeds.
b) Worship (servitude of God).