How to prevent atheism?

The greatest damage that the social media era has caused in Pakistan is that people have abandoned reading.

Consequently, the biggest tragedy for those who became adults around 2005 or later is that they lack any level of intellectual awareness. Hence, among those affiliated with religious thought, one frequently hears phrases like:

“We need to stop the spread of atheism… How do we prevent atheism?… If we don’t stop atheism, this and that will happen.”

And these phrases are often heard from young people—the very generation that has been deprived of reading.

In 2014, when we became active on Facebook, just a few days had passed when one of our followers sent an inbox message:

“You seem to be talented. With a bit of effort, you could develop the ability to refute atheism. For this purpose, we’ve created a Facebook group where our teacher teaches how to counter atheism using philosophy and logic.”

Since we are always eager to learn, we told the person to take us to his teacher. He immediately invited us to the group. When we joined, we found out that we were about to become the first student. After a while, the respected teacher appeared and revealed that atheism is spreading rapidly. If it’s not stopped, the entire Muslim world will turn away from God.

Alongside, he also praised his own greatness in relation to philosophy and logic. However, after listening to his conversation, we quickly concluded that this was just a young man. So, we asked him an unexpected question:

“Respected teacher! How old are you?”

The teacher was troubled by the question, which was evident by the delayed response:

“What does age have to do with this?”

We insisted that he tell us his exact age, or else we would leave the group. The teacher then turned the question back on us:

“What do you think my age is?”

We told him that his age is less than 25 years, but he must specify how old he is; otherwise, we would leave the group. After some hesitation, he revealed that he was 21 years old. Hearing this, we advised our young teacher:

“For now, focus on two things: one, the feeder, which is essential for your physical growth; and two, reading and learning, which are necessary for intellectual development.”

And with that, we left the group. Unfortunately, a few years later, our would-be teacher disappeared, accused of fraud in cryptocurrency, indicating how serious he was about the matter of God.

Around 2018, another person engaged us on WhatsApp, also concerned about countering atheism. Despite our repeated attempts to explain, they wouldn’t leave us alone, until one day, we had to harshly rebuke them through a voice message to get rid of them.

We do believe that the questions raised by atheism should be intellectually examined in a persuasive manner. A campaign to raise awareness about monotheism and the existence of God should be conducted. But we are absolutely not convinced that it is possible to completely eradicate atheism or polytheism. Those who harbor such foolish dreams have a very shallow understanding of religion. Is it not true that many of God’s chosen prophets left this world without a single person accepting their message?

They came alone and left alone. Didn’t they want their message to be accepted and polytheism to be abandoned? If God’s chosen prophets themselves could not eradicate polytheism, then what extraordinary abilities does some self-styled preacher possess that surpass those of the prophets?

And the most important point is, didn’t Allah directly address His Messenger ﷺ in the Quran, stating that you cannot guide anyone; guidance is solely Allah’s prerogative? Imagine, the young generation doesn’t even know this fundamental concept, yet they claim to want to conquer atheism.

To understand the matter of guidance, it is necessary to comprehend the great scheme of God under which humans exist. The distinction of a human being is that they are the only creature with equal choice in whether to do or not do something. This is a capacity that no other creature possesses, not even the angels. Along with granting this ability, God has also endowed humans with intellect, which they use to make decisions. God then showed them two paths—one of good and one of evil—clearly outlining the benefits and harms of both. He then issued the command to avoid the path of evil and to choose the path of good. But whether or not to follow this command is not imposed on anyone; everyone has the freedom to pick and choose. Obedience to the command is just as easy as disobedience, and it is this freedom of choice that will be judged on the Day of Judgment.

Now consider two Hadith Qudsi. In one narration, Allah says that He deals with His servant according to the servant’s expectations—if they are positive, He is positive, and if negative, He is negative. In another narration, Allah says, when My servant takes one step towards Me, I take two steps towards them; if they come to Me hurriedly, I come to them running. Did you notice who takes the first step? It’s the servant.

And when the servant moves towards Allah, the response they receive is doubled. Similarly, in the matter of expectations, who initiates? Clearly, it’s the human. Allah simply responds. So, if someone has decided to remain an atheist, then even God does not give them guidance, let alone anyone else. Why? Because in God’s great human scheme, the choice has been left to the servant, and it is on this basis that they will be held accountable. Thus, it is absurd to think that anyone can completely eradicate atheism or convert the entire world to Islam.

But the real aspect of atheism is completely hidden from these foolish preachers. By the end of the 20th century, the situation was that whenever Western countries invaded a nation, they didn’t just bring their armies; they also brought entire battalions of missionary priests.

These priests would invite the local population to Christianity. Even Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan faced this situation during the 1990s. They would focus on the poor, provide them with resources, and convert them to Christianity. Therefore, the challenge for Muslim preachers at that time was not atheism but the missionary priests spreading Christianity.

With the advent of the 21st century, Western governments sidelined the priests and began promoting atheism. Thus, the challenge facing Muslim countries is no longer Christianity but atheism. Those who believe that atheism is some naturally occurring weed are out of touch with reality. The truth is that atheism is a political agenda of the West, backed by a treasure trove of funds. Christian missionaries targeted the poor, offering them local resources to convert them, but modern atheism is a scientific project. It can only be accepted by an educated mind, and an educated mind isn’t easily satisfied with just dollars. So now, along with dollars, the bait of Western citizenship is also included. If you don’t know the root cause of the problem, how can you solve it? Can you make someone who is greedy for dollars and Western citizenship abandon atheism?

Finally, let’s assume half the Muslim world becomes atheist. So what? The scheme is God’s. Our role is only to convey the message, nothing more. Even the prophets were not expected to do more. And Allah, in the matter of faith, has made it clear multiple times that if someone accepts faith, it benefits them, not Allah; if someone rejects it, it harms them, not Allah. In fact, He states that He doesn’t care.

The benefits and harms are solely for the human being. So when this whole scheme is God’s, and He Himself doesn’t care whether people accept His invitation or not, why do we stress over it? Our responsibility is solely to convey the message. Why do we entangle ourselves in something impossible that even the prophets couldn’t achieve?