TIMESTAMPS & some summaries: Start 0:00 Atheism's Declining Threat 00:02 [The new atheism movement, which gained momentum in the aftermath of 9/11, has lost its grounding and momentum over time.] The Quranic argument for God's existence 13:14 [The book discusses the Quranic argument for God's existence and how it engages with atheist professors and thinkers. It presents the underlying logic of Quranic verses and highlights that these verses are not only meant to stimulate philosophical thinking but also to awaken one's innate disposition.The book discusses the Quranic argument for God's existence and how it engages with atheist professors and thinkers. It presents the underlying logic of Quranic verses and highlights that these verses are not only meant to stimulate philosophical thinking but also to awaken one's innate disposition.] Listening style and understanding the person 25:18 [It is important to have the intention to truly understand the person we are interacting with. This involves being committed to their well-being, seeking goodness and guidance for them, and assessing their particular context. Our response may vary, such as listening without speaking, buying them a pizza, or engaging in a discussion. This approach applies not only to Christians but to individuals in general. We should avoid assuming we know someone based on labels or preconceived notions, as people are complex and may not conform to our expectations. By adopting a person-centered approach, we can foster meaningful conversations and avoid arguments.] The role of intellectual veracity in understanding 37:52 [Intellectual veracity plays a crucial role in understanding complex concepts and beliefs. It goes beyond blind faith and is based on spiritual and intellectual grounding. However, it is important to recognize that the process of understanding is not solely reliant on abstract intellectual arguments. It involves a phenomenological experience and personal conviction. Just like experiencing the taste of a sweet mango, personal experiences shape one's understanding and conviction. Therefore, in Islam, the internalization of religion and the manifestation of belief in one's life are essential components of developing a strong conviction in Allah's names and attributes.] Existence of Inner Subjective Conscious Experiences 50:02 [The key point of this transcript is the existence of inner subjective conscious experiences. The speaker questions how such experiences can arise from blind code physical processes. Various forms of physicalism, including eliminative materialism, reductive materialism, emergent materialism, and functionalism, are considered inadequate explanations. Neuroscience, with its physicalist assumptions and metaphysics, fails to explain the hard problem of consciousness. Even mapping electrochemical activity in the brain does not reveal the subjective nature of experiences. The speaker also mentions how people who have had near-death experiences or out-of-body experiences face difficulties in sharing their transformative encounters, especially with materialist or physicalist family members, leading to friction and arguments within families.] The Existence of the Divine 1:02:06 [Many atheists deny the existence of the supernatural and believe that everything can be explained by physical processes. However, their denial of the Divine is based on false assumptions, incoherent arguments, and emotional issues. Psychological factors, such as traumatic experiences or misinterpretation of events, often play a significant role in their rejection of God. It is important to help them reconsider the meaning they have assigned to these experiences and guide them towards a perspective that aligns with the intentions of Allah, freeing them from negativity and empowering them.] Functioning Appropriately and Coherently 1:13:58 [When someone is infected with excessive blameworthy desires, their intellect may be fine, but it won't function properly. It's like a driver without wheels and an engine in the car. This can be illustrated by an example of meeting a successful online gambling businessman who was embarrassed in a discussion about the Quran stating that the world is flat. The materialist's arguments were inconsistent with his own epistemology, relying on testimonies and photographs taken by others. The alternation of night and day, mentioned in the Quran, reflects the spherical shape of the Earth. Even pre-modern scholars, such as Ibn Hazm and Al-Ghazali, recognized the roundness of the Earth.] Kindness and Justice for Non-Combatants 1:25:40 [In the Quran, specifically in chapter 60 verse 8, Allah emphasizes the importance of being kind and just to those who do not fight for religion or pose a threat. The word used for 'kindness' is the same word used to describe how one should treat their parents, highlighting its significance. This principle of kindness extends to all people, regardless of their beliefs or affiliations. It emphasizes the rejection of bigotry and encourages treating others with fairness and compassion.]
2:39 I agree that New Atheism is not a threat anymore. I’ve taken some religion courses and there was always a refutation of Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens involved. I remember in those classrooms everyone (including the other atheists) agreed that New Atheist arguments against religion were shallow.
@@nanashi7779 Yeah, I find that the conversations in academia are way ahead at times and may not be representative of the public. Like they even put Quran 4:34 on the board. People were asking questions about it, but nobody except for 1-2 people even suggested anything negative into it, but everyone else fully understood that it has to be interpreted in light of all the Hadiths and verses we were looking at earlier. I was pretty shocked to see that, cause most people that I’ve come across (on the internet) have some judgmental impairment or something where they can’t even grasp that basic concept.
@@Kimeikus Interesting. Ideas in the academy tend to be delayed slightly before they trickle down into public consciousness, but it's useful to know that's how the public reacts to things like Verse 34 of surah Nisa
He is right. Even 10 years back, atheist were so vocal and ready to argue over anything but now I am finding them disenchanted and very quickly end the debate via don't know, not enough evidence. Discussion with them is no longer interesting and pretty repetitive. Maybe some new discovery can kick start the new discussion but at the moment, things are plain boring in terms of debate between Muslims and Atheists
Awesome, nice to see others may find these segments fruitful! We also follow Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him). Just as he prayed, we pray. Just as he, and all other prophets, called to worship The One True God, so too we follow that. Jesus, like all the other prophets, are all created and were chosen to carry out a message and disseminate guidance to the people. Whereas Jesus came to the time--period pertaining to him and came to the people he was sent to, Muhammad was sent to all of mankind (being that he is the seal of the prophets...i.e., the last of the prophets...hence the Quran's universal and timeless message, not limited to one time period or people's, and especially not a "chosen people." (Peace be upon them both) Peace be with you
MashaAllah, what a conversation! Two of my favourite muslim intellectuals in this era in one episode! Sapience Institute and Blogging Theology provide a free bachelor, masters and PhD in one go. Gain so much knowledge by their hands. The episode about the theology of Ibn Taymiyyah was also a big eye opener! May Allah swt bless you!
Paul, to address your final point about liberal oppression, I think most of the liberals' oppressive power is a mirage. In Islamic history the Mu'tazila became extremely powerful at one point, but after a few prominent scholars voiced their opposition, the fitna dissipated almost overnight. The same thing happened with the Fattimids who became brutally oppressive but there came a point when their power disappeared like a dream. Most ordinary people know that liberal values should be challenged so we already have that popular foundation. All we have to do is raise our voices and lose our fear and the bubble of fitna will, at a time of Allaah's choosing, burst like it was never there insha'Allaah. That's just my two cents on the issue.
@@BloggingTheology You're welcome. I think that as this liberal fitnah grows, its outward appearance may look formidable but its core is being hollowed out by the rise of strong critiques against it backed by the common sense of most people. Eventually it will be left with nothing but the appearance of strength and will subsequently collapse all at once like most fitnahs before it, insha'Allaah. "Lo! The victory of Allaah is near".
One should wonder, why those who say "It's my own body, as long I am not harming anybody, I can do with it as I want", do not object to governments prohibiting them from "selling" it to anyone who wants to "buy" it.
Salam Alaykum! Hey Paul and Hamza! Thank you for engaging in this refreshing, intellectually edifying discussion. I appreciate both of your efforts and I look up to you both as my peers in Islam and as esteemed seekers of knowledge in the way of Truth. May Allah grant you success and ease for you and your loved ones! Allah Humma Barak Tawfiq! Alhamdulilahi Rabbil Alameen!
Many thanks Mr. Tzortzis for sharing your wisdom, knowledge and opinions with us, seriously enlightening. Two take aways,for me. One "listen with the intention to understand..." More difficult than it seems but of crucial importance if you really care about your interlocutor. The second is that, well, I'll say it through an old Irish saying "You can take the horse to the water but you cannot make it drink". May Allah's Blessings accompany both of you and my fellow listeners.
Barik Allah feekum brother Paul and brother Hamza for this wonderful conversation. It is always a pleasure to see you two brothers speak to one another!
Wow MashaAllah amaizing conversation, so rich. I was going over some parts several times. I shell read the book inshaAllah. Jazakumullahu khairan both of you.
Byung-Chul Han’s (29:00) perspective reminds of an old, short piece i wrote on the struggle of judgement: "Do I have to silent my emotional history to be able to understand yours? I want to watch and listen without placing judgements, no matter of what I see or hear; to give myself an opportunity to understand. But I am struggling. When I listen, I hear my own echo. When I watch, I see a shadow of my own being."
Correction: Fitrah isn't only in hadith but quranic in chapter 30, verse 30. فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفًا ۚ فِطْرَتَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا ۚ لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ (30) So direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth. [Adhere to] the fitrah of Allah upon which He has created [all] people. No change should there be in the creation of Allah . That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know
54:07 I've also been thinking about this, that, if you damage your brain, you damage your consciousness I'm of the belief that your consciousness (which includes your thoughts, memories, experience, 5 senses, emotions, etc ) are only affected / dependant on the physical thing that they're tied to (e.g the brain for consciousness and the eye for eyesight ) while you are in your body/tied to the organs, but they become free from those constraints when they leave that physical vessel for example, we have cases of blind people who could suddenly see during a near death / out of body experience (NDE) , seemingly implying this: now that their subjective consciousness has left their body temporarily , it was free of the physical constraints of the eyes that can't see, and are thus able to see another example of this might be lucidity before death - where someone's brain is just absolutely physically gone, like if cancer ate it away, and right before they die they suddenly start acting normally and start talking, even if they were in a coma for however long, and doctors cant explain how (one doctor even wrote that "it wasnt his brain" that made him so lucid so it seems to me that when our spirits leave our body they are no longer affected by the physical organs such as the brain or eyesight with all of that said, Allah knows best, maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong, hope you all found this useful :))
33:53 To plug something relevant, humberto garcia book "Islam and the English Enlightenment 1670-1840" is a fantastic link to the issues that hallaq raises towards Edward said Orientalist critique of Orientalism Garcia shows that there was intercultural contact between England and the Muslim world, and that the latter influenced British Christian and political identity in the 17th -19th centuries. Garcia uses notable writers such as Henry Stubbe, John Toland, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley and Robert Southey to show how some of England’s leading scholars were not only impressed by Prophet Muhammad’s socio-political achievements in Makkah and Madinah in the seventh century, but were importing his ideas in order to redefine Whig principles and challenge Anglican authority.These writers also looked at the achievements of Muslim empires at the time such as the Ottomans who Lady Mary Wortley Montagu regards as progressive in granting women greater rights compared to Britain"
Salam Paul can you please share the academic papers that talk about out-of-body experiences, particularly the one about blind patients that you talked about? I think people can benefit from it a lot!
May Allah have mercy on br Paul, br Hamza and all other scholars He has blessed us with. The story of alliance of virtue is actually about the man who came for hajj before risala started and was refused payment by a Meccan who bought from him on credit. Other Meccan men made an alliance to defend whoever is oppressed even if it is against another Meccan. The prophet (s.a.w) attended the alliance with his uncle. He (s.a.w) after prophethood made the statement that he would a similar alliance as the prophet if it arises.
Assalamolaykum, very interesting topic. May Allah accept it from you brothers. I would like to mention that the adds are numerous and a lot of the time inappropriate. You may need to look into that brother Paul.
John Locke getting trashed a little on tabula rasa, although he picks up his purposes of government in his Second Treatise from the Sharia through his teachers like Pococke and contemporaries like Stubbs.
What I respect about the speaker is the caurage to make a u-turn and admit he was wrong about his earlier approach (in public!). This is real caurage, not the endless ranting on social media.
Asalaamualaikum Br. Paul, I would suggest you start doing affiliate links for the books you and your guests talk about. On multiple occasions I have wanted to check the books out and would rather you get a piece of that.
I came across this youtube account when it started and back when brother Paul had few followers. I have very much enjoyed, and continue to enjoy, much of the content. I find myself getting incredibly frustrated, though, with 'our' focus on lgbtq+, liberalism and 'Western' culture, and particularly when presented as 'future challenges'. I hate to break it to you all but these are not the most pressing issues. The climate change crisis is far more a pressing an issue. That we are experiencing the third mass species extinction event in real time, that the continuity of our own species is on the line in the here and now too, and depends upon the decisions of our generation(s), that all this gets so little talking time is simply incredible! And particularly for us and where we view ourselves as custodians and guardians. So, why do we not talk about the Muslim nations peddling oil and fossil fuels that is bringing an end to God's creation in the here and now? Why do we not speak on our brothers and sisters who consume so much, including meat? Why do we never directly address the Saudi royal family critically on this? Why? Critical commentary should begin with 'us' and particularly given what is happening in the world. Everything else is epiphenomenon and distraction from the actual conversations that need to occur. For example, what makes certain Sheikhs and youtube channel hosts so important that they fly to other countries for short speaking and teaching engagements? Why are the difficult conversations avoided here? I have some thoughts as to why these critical conversations never occur, particular with respects to the oil and fossil fuel producing Muslim nations. Fear, loss of status and ability to get on in this material world or Dunya. And that Dunya is a test, that we have to operate in apparent (not real) autonomy and make 'choices'. My choice right now is the speak the above truth, to put it out despite the criticism I might get. A particular truth regarding what is presently the most pressing challenge that future wise, is only going to get worse for Muslims and nearly every other complex lifeform on this plant. Lifeforms and a planet that we, as humans and God's special creation, are meant to safeguard. We're failing in that and that failure for us personally includes getting distracted with discussions as shown in this video, or those on lgbtq+ issues or.....I could go on. May God forgive me for my bad habit to criticise, for it has lost me careers, status, has built enmity towards me and harmed those I love. Yet, perhaps these are the sacrifices I have to make to stay true to God. Peace to you all and may God bless you.
The Channel deals with Theology and not climate issues and extinction of species. The most important thing to a Muslim is faith and his relationship with Allah. Not worldly material things. So get your priorities right👈 Don't worry about earth; if humans don't destroy it Allah will destroy it anyways as he Promised. When the hour is established, everything gets destroyed.
It's a simple fact that rolling back the use of fossil fuels in Muslim nations (and any other developing nation for that matter) would hurt living standards and make energy considerably more expensive. As long as fossil fuels are cheaper than the alternatives, I don't think any nation should be expected to sacrifice development simply because the developed world has recently decided that fossil fuels are harmful to the environment. The entire industrial development of the West was made possible using fossil fuels, so I think a push to close off that path for the rest of the world is rightly met with skepticism. Closing off paths to development also closes off paths to national independence of those nations and their people. A very hard sell, to be honest.
To be clear though, I think advances in technology will address both of your main concerns in this century, and I highly doubt that the climate will kill us off before then. If temperatures do rise, it will be the developed nations that will be best equipped to adapt to those changes, and stunting developing nations by forcing them off fossil fuels will leave them far less resilient to those changes.
When you read the comments, you already get your answer. A fictitious afterlife is heavily prioritized over the fate of our planet in Islam. It´s unique to this religion, all others have found a way to also care about life on earth.
@@grnzrn Yeah. Everybody has priorities. And the priority of Atheists/liberalists is this worldly life and nothing more. But they are ignorant about the hereafter.
There is no higher and better intellectual veracity than Alaah's words in the Quran .words in the Quran. و يريد الله أن يحق ااحق بكلماته و يقطع دابر الاكافرين الانفال ....أية ٧ هذا كتابنا ينطق عليكم بالحق ...الجاثية....أية ٢٩
Hi Paul. Thank you very much for your valuable work. May Allah be pleased with you. I think you are miss understanding the term of tabula rasa and claiming that this term is contradicting with the Islamic view of Fitrah. Fitrah does not mean that we are coming/being created with some solid knowledge of the truth, but a natural tendency to search and recognize the truth. Actually, tabula rasa is inline with Quranic teachings. "And Allah brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers knowing nothing, and gave you hearing and sight and hearts that haply ye might give thanks." (An Nahl 78) Please don't misunderstand, I am not defending liberalism in full sense. But John Locke was in favor of divine guidance in the search of the truth, and he strongly rejected tolerance to atheistic views in his "A letter concerning tolerance". Later on, with a switch of hand, liberalism is used to propagate the woke ideology of philosophers like Nicolas Fouquet after the collapse of communist regimes.
@@haledhajdari1154 Roman commander Aelius Gallus led an expedition of 11,000 men through Hijaz (Mecca) region 2000 years ago. On their return one year later not one man reported Mecca or Kaaba.
Interesting. I thought atheists just weren't convinced of a God or afterlife - and therefore perceive this world as the only world that we can be sure of. I thought some atheists just point out that an all-kind and all-powerful God is incompatible with gratuitous suffering in the world.
Of course we were all spoonfed in first year university or college studies the blank slate/tabula rasa in Western civilisation and or Philosophy courses. This was deliberately put there as its author, John Locke has admitted to contradict the instinctual knowledge of the fitra. Even the usage of the Latin word points to papal influence. As we are now aware, the incomparable scholar of Islam Ibn Taymiyyah most eloquently attacks and soundly defeats this ignorance. Don't be so naive as to think Locke was not aware of the ongoing debate in Western civilisation regarding such subjects wherein Christianity means against Islam... and still does. Witness the proliferation of the cross motif in King Charles coronation.
I know 6 languages but German isn't one of them so please explain Zeitgeist. 😂😂😂 I can get a primary understanding by the context of the lecture but I'd prefer that Paul would add more, he is very beneficial.
If physical process does not produce consciousness, How do u explain medical practices that treats psychology and psychiatric illness by giving drugs to fix the physicall process
The professor is right, intellectual debates about the existence of God can go on ad infinitum. These debates have been going on for thousands of years and will no doubt continue for thousands of years. No one is ever going to be able to claim victory this way. What makes sense, then, is to see who is 'right,' or 'better' by virtue of the actual values one holds. Sadly, currently, atheists hold the upper moral ground over so called 'mainstream' muslims when it comes to the values like justice, fairness, kindness, equality and freedom - which is why western countries are more just, fair, kind, equal and free than Muslim countries. Muslims have a lot of catching up to do and that is where the challenge lies - within not without.
just sharing a video "The mathematics behind the relationship between human and god @Jeffrey Lang, which might be useful to us/all revert/convert..assalamualaiqum
