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Atheism and Islam: A Contemporary Discourse
This monograph skilfully surveys the expanding gap between Islam and the rhetoric of contemporary atheism. It offers a much-needed, comprehensive, and thematic overview of atheist-theist discourse from several scientific and philosophico-theological perspectives and identifies major scientific contentions and provides a critique of the ubiquitous over-reliance on natural theology, which has not resolved the “theological gap”, as opposed to the extra-evaluative potential of systematic (revealed) theology. From evolution to sociology, physics to metaphysics, philosophy to theology, this monograph provides a great overview of the current state of the discourse.
55 pages, ebook
First published October 23, 2018
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June 26, 2021
This book is an attempt to formulate a logical and coherent response among the muslim scholars in light of defending the religion from the attack of so called "New-atheism" main ideas which swept the world by storm in this 21st century.
Shoaib divided his monograph into 3 parts. The first part focuses on the main points of "new-atheism" champions (either from western atheists such as Dawkins, Harris, etc or ex-muslim atheists) about the irrelevance of religion in general and attacks on Islamic theology in general. The attacks are mainly coming from the idea of scientism which is an ideology that put science as the ultimate way of describing the truth of the metaphysical world. Hence the name of "new-atheism" is dubbed for the champions of atheism via scientism.
The second part of the monograph, Shoaib focuses on 3 main aspects of the new atheism that should be taken seriously by the muslim world in general and muslim scholars in specific. The first aspect is how to treat science and its relation to the theology of the religion. For example is the problem of evolution vs creationism in Islam. The second aspect deal with the philosophy of existence of God and its place as the omnipotent being in Islamic theology. The last one is about the islamic law/jurisprudence (shariah) and its problematic literal interpretation in this modern times.
The third part of the monograph, Shoaib explains what steps should be taken by the muslim communities in light of the massive attacks from the atheists movement especially in the muslim majority countries. He proposed 3 solutions. The first solution is to revive the old tradition of interdisciplinary study of religion-science-and philosophy among the muslim scholars. Any attempt of isolating the religion in terms of literal interpretation of the sacred text or reformation of islamic teaching radically in order to inline with the western values are deemed wrong and will increase the expulsion of muslims from their faith. Second solution is to intense the study of the classical arabic in which Qur'an was written because in the light of Qur'an as a "miracle" not bound by temporal aspect will surely give a proper answer if understood properly in its original language. The last one is there must be a lot of caution s in linking the information from the sacred texts and from the science. The way to present these relation should be thought properly so it does not fall in realm of ridicule from the scientific community.
In my personal opinion, Shoaib has explained the problem of islam in dealing with atheism. The combination of traditional way of understanding the sacred scriptures, couple with the ignorance about the age of science and technology is the main reason why more and more young muslims stray further from the religion. In light of this, a new reformation of the understanding of religion is needed urgently in the same level as the spread of the atheism in the world. This reformation can be in form in the new totally interpretation of the sacred scripture in relation with philosophy and science or the revival of old concepts that have potential in bridging all these problems. Shoaib mentioned an example for the later namely the concept of Kalam to explain the possible fact of reality that discretization at the lowest level of reality proposed by the Quantum loop gravity or string theory.
Overall this is a fun ride, but I think Shoaib can give more clear stance on evolution and Adam-eve creation problem because I personally believe evolution is the truth.
Shoaib divided his monograph into 3 parts. The first part focuses on the main points of "new-atheism" champions (either from western atheists such as Dawkins, Harris, etc or ex-muslim atheists) about the irrelevance of religion in general and attacks on Islamic theology in general. The attacks are mainly coming from the idea of scientism which is an ideology that put science as the ultimate way of describing the truth of the metaphysical world. Hence the name of "new-atheism" is dubbed for the champions of atheism via scientism.
The second part of the monograph, Shoaib focuses on 3 main aspects of the new atheism that should be taken seriously by the muslim world in general and muslim scholars in specific. The first aspect is how to treat science and its relation to the theology of the religion. For example is the problem of evolution vs creationism in Islam. The second aspect deal with the philosophy of existence of God and its place as the omnipotent being in Islamic theology. The last one is about the islamic law/jurisprudence (shariah) and its problematic literal interpretation in this modern times.
The third part of the monograph, Shoaib explains what steps should be taken by the muslim communities in light of the massive attacks from the atheists movement especially in the muslim majority countries. He proposed 3 solutions. The first solution is to revive the old tradition of interdisciplinary study of religion-science-and philosophy among the muslim scholars. Any attempt of isolating the religion in terms of literal interpretation of the sacred text or reformation of islamic teaching radically in order to inline with the western values are deemed wrong and will increase the expulsion of muslims from their faith. Second solution is to intense the study of the classical arabic in which Qur'an was written because in the light of Qur'an as a "miracle" not bound by temporal aspect will surely give a proper answer if understood properly in its original language. The last one is there must be a lot of caution s in linking the information from the sacred texts and from the science. The way to present these relation should be thought properly so it does not fall in realm of ridicule from the scientific community.
In my personal opinion, Shoaib has explained the problem of islam in dealing with atheism. The combination of traditional way of understanding the sacred scriptures, couple with the ignorance about the age of science and technology is the main reason why more and more young muslims stray further from the religion. In light of this, a new reformation of the understanding of religion is needed urgently in the same level as the spread of the atheism in the world. This reformation can be in form in the new totally interpretation of the sacred scripture in relation with philosophy and science or the revival of old concepts that have potential in bridging all these problems. Shoaib mentioned an example for the later namely the concept of Kalam to explain the possible fact of reality that discretization at the lowest level of reality proposed by the Quantum loop gravity or string theory.
Overall this is a fun ride, but I think Shoaib can give more clear stance on evolution and Adam-eve creation problem because I personally believe evolution is the truth.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 3, 2021
Buku ini tipis, cuma 55 halaman, tapi isinya high level, harus kuakui. Ia menjelaskan poin-poin benturan pemikiran terbaru antara atheisme dan Islam di tingkat global. Tapi penulis membedakan atheisme yang ia bahas di sini dengan istilah "New Atheism".
Ada banyak poin dan tokoh yang ia angkat. Misalnya, pihak Islam seharusnya membuat forum interdisipliner, soalnya argumen-argumen atheisme juga ditopang oleh banyak bidang. Contohnya, argumen atheisme sekarang bukan cuma didukung oleh filsafat, tapi juga biologi, arkeologi, fisika, dan lainnya.
Sementara, menurut penulis, masih ada seorang ulama Saudi yang melawan argumen atheisme dengan argumen teologis semata alias ayat dan hadist. Ini perlawanan yang lemah. Sebab, itu tidak akan berpengaruh banyak. Mengapa? Sebab, dengan menggunakan argumen teologis, artinya si ulama menyasar kaum muslim. Artinya dia tidak atheis. Buat apa orang seperti ini diyakinkan lagi?
Yang perlu diyakinkan justru adalah orang-orang yang KTP nya Islam, tapi sebenarnya ia sudah tidak percaya Tuhan lagi. Berhubung akidahnya atheis, ia tidak percaya dengan ayat Alquran. Makanya perlawanan atheisme jangan dilakukan dengan ayat semata, tapi digabungkan dengan pendekatan interdisipliner via fisika, biologi, juga ilmu-ilmu lain, seperti argumen para pendukung atheisme juga. Forum interdisipliner inilah yang harus ada di kalangan muslim. Masalahnya, para ulama sendiri tidak paham dengan ilmu fisika atau biologi. Argumen atheisme dari ilmu biologi haruslah dituturkan oleh profesor biologi muslim, jangan dilakukan oleh ulama fiqh. Nah, dengan kata lain, tiap ilmuwan dan pemikir saling berdiskusi dan menyusun argumen kontra atheisme dari berbagai sudut pandang keilmuan.
Ada juga poin-poin menarik lain, misalnya tentang 1) pandangan kalau Islam sudah tidak relevan lagi 2) pandangan soal teori evolusi 3) ajaran jihad yang sangat jahat, dan seterusnya. Tiga hal di atas -dan poin-poin lainnya di ebook itu, benar-benar batu-batu besar yang argumennya begitu kuat sehingga menyedot perhatian global. Baca ebook tipis ini, kita benar-benar dihadapkan oleh peta benturan pemikiran Islam vs Atheism berskala global. Membuat saya deg-degan dengan exicetement..
Ada banyak poin dan tokoh yang ia angkat. Misalnya, pihak Islam seharusnya membuat forum interdisipliner, soalnya argumen-argumen atheisme juga ditopang oleh banyak bidang. Contohnya, argumen atheisme sekarang bukan cuma didukung oleh filsafat, tapi juga biologi, arkeologi, fisika, dan lainnya.
Sementara, menurut penulis, masih ada seorang ulama Saudi yang melawan argumen atheisme dengan argumen teologis semata alias ayat dan hadist. Ini perlawanan yang lemah. Sebab, itu tidak akan berpengaruh banyak. Mengapa? Sebab, dengan menggunakan argumen teologis, artinya si ulama menyasar kaum muslim. Artinya dia tidak atheis. Buat apa orang seperti ini diyakinkan lagi?
Yang perlu diyakinkan justru adalah orang-orang yang KTP nya Islam, tapi sebenarnya ia sudah tidak percaya Tuhan lagi. Berhubung akidahnya atheis, ia tidak percaya dengan ayat Alquran. Makanya perlawanan atheisme jangan dilakukan dengan ayat semata, tapi digabungkan dengan pendekatan interdisipliner via fisika, biologi, juga ilmu-ilmu lain, seperti argumen para pendukung atheisme juga. Forum interdisipliner inilah yang harus ada di kalangan muslim. Masalahnya, para ulama sendiri tidak paham dengan ilmu fisika atau biologi. Argumen atheisme dari ilmu biologi haruslah dituturkan oleh profesor biologi muslim, jangan dilakukan oleh ulama fiqh. Nah, dengan kata lain, tiap ilmuwan dan pemikir saling berdiskusi dan menyusun argumen kontra atheisme dari berbagai sudut pandang keilmuan.
Ada juga poin-poin menarik lain, misalnya tentang 1) pandangan kalau Islam sudah tidak relevan lagi 2) pandangan soal teori evolusi 3) ajaran jihad yang sangat jahat, dan seterusnya. Tiga hal di atas -dan poin-poin lainnya di ebook itu, benar-benar batu-batu besar yang argumennya begitu kuat sehingga menyedot perhatian global. Baca ebook tipis ini, kita benar-benar dihadapkan oleh peta benturan pemikiran Islam vs Atheism berskala global. Membuat saya deg-degan dengan exicetement..
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews