A claim that is popular in some (usually Christian) circles is that we believe in our religion based on faith. There are no clear proofs that the religion is true, and it is just a leap of faith.
Many atheists and agnostics take this claim and try to paint Islam with the same brush and try to tell us that we only believe in Islam based on a leap of faith, not proof.
This is entirely wrong.
They take it further and object to the doctrine of disbelievers being punished in Hell by asking: Why would God punish people for not believing in something that isn’t proven in the first place?
This objection would have been correct if it were true that Islam wasn’t proven and was only based on faith. However, that is not the case.
We, as Muslims, believe in Islam due to sound evidence and proof that Islam is true. It is not based on a leap of faith where we say, “I cannot know for sure, but I will believe because I have faith or because I want to.”
This use of the word “faith” to refer to a leap without logic and evidence is not present in Islam. Allah is repeatedly and consistently clear in the Quran that belief in Islam is based on clear signs that prove Islam is true.
There are many verses that point to this:
And We have certainly revealed to you verses [which are] clear proofs, and no one would deny them except the defiantly disobedient. (2:99)
Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding. (3:190)
And it is He who placed for you the stars that you may be guided by them through the darknesses of the land and sea. We have detailed the signs for a people who know. (6:97)
And it is He who produced you from one soul and [gave you] a place of dwelling and of storage. We have detailed the signs for a people who understand. (6:98)
“O company of jinn and mankind, did there not come to you messengers from among you, relating to you My verses and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?” They will say, “We bear witness against ourselves”; and the worldly life had deluded them, and they will bear witness against themselves that they were disbelievers. (6:130)
We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. But is it not sufficient concerning your Lord that He is, over all things, a Witness? (41:53)
It is He who sends down upon His Servant [Muhammad] verses of clear evidence that He may bring you out from darknesses into the light. And indeed, Allah is to you Kind and Merciful. (57:9)
Indeed, those who oppose Allah and His Messenger are abased as those before them were abased. And We have certainly sent down verses of clear evidence. And for the disbelievers is a humiliating punishment. (58:5)
Not only is belief in God based on very clear evidence, so is the belief in the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and the Quran. The evidence for God is well-known and almost self-evident. There are many arguments made and put forth. The evidence for the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is vast and ranges from the miracle of the Quran itself to the many prophecies he made.
This is not an article for me to delve into these arguments and proofs, but that was just a short mention to show that the religion is not based on a leap of faith where we don’t know for sure. Rather, it is based on very real evidence.
That is why people may be punished in Hell for denying the religion. The religion is clear, and those who deny it only deny it due to blameworthy stubbornness or laziness.
Someone may object, saying: How do you claim the evidence for the religion is clear when so many people don’t believe it?
I would answer by saying: Since when is the amount of people who believe something relevant to its proof or evidence? If this were so, perhaps atheists should start believing in God since the majority of people have believed in a creator for most of human history and even today.
The reasons people deny Islam even though its evidence is real and clear are many, and this is not the article to go into it in detail. However, what is enough for now is that everyone knows the amount of people who believe something in a certain time or place does not say anything about the truth or provability of that thing.