Why do some people believe in Allah?
Some believe in Allah because they think that not believing in Allah will result in eternal suffering in hell. To me, that seems like a strange reason to believe in something. Is it intellectually dishonest to make an evaluative decision based on a personal result?
For example, let's say that I wanted to evaluate whether or not I could successfully fly off a cliff, without any sort of vehicle, under my own natural power (i.e., flapping my arms). Flying around would be a very nice personal reward and so I would very much like to fly. However, crashing to the ground would be a very bad personal punishment, so I'd like to avoid that if possible. By the theist's standard, I want to fly and I don't want to crash,
so I should believe that I can fly. Now I understand that Allah never promised that if I believe hard enough that I will actually be able to fly. What I'm talking about here is the
standard of belief. Flying off a cliff is just a silly example. Obviously, it is a bad idea to believe that you can fly, just because you want the personal reward of being able to fly and you want to avoid crashing. But how is that example any different from wanting to believe in heaven? Because a centuries old book says it's true? Wouldn't it be better to use science to evaluate whether or not you can fly off a cliff?
Think for a moment about something that is very mysterious, but less mysterious than any gods,
a black hole. We can't see any black holes, but we can see the effects of the black hole on its surroundings. Some people might say that you can't see Allah, but you can see his effect on his surroundings. The difference between these two, is that the effects around the black hole can be very well explained by natural laws, even though there is much we don't know. The effects of Allah on his surrounds does not seem to follow any consistent laws. Is there any objective, observable, measurable, calculate-able data at all suggesting that there is a god somewhere? I don't know of any. There are volumes of data concerning black holes. Where is the data with regards to Allah?
The reason why I believe in black holes, despite the fact that they can't be seen, is because they can be explained in great detail that is consistent with what I have observed and theorized about the world. The existence of Allah can be explained, but only in very poor detail. No doubt some believe that they have robust explanations, but from what I have heard, I cannot agree. By what natural laws will my person be sent to some place called "hell?" Where is hell anyway? What are its dimensions, its temperature, its mass? Since I do not have satisfying answers for these question, or any questions concerning Allah's alleged existence, I don't have any good reason to believe that Allah (whatever that is) exists, or that hell exists. These things have not been explained in terms of natural laws, and so I believe they are imaginary.
When I ask whether or not I should believe in black holes, I don't ask what effect my belief will have on me. I look at the data that is available, and I look at the theories, and I judge if it makes sense. That position seems a bit more intellectually honest than believing in something because I want it to be true.
It seems very silly to me to send me to hell for eternity simply because there I don't believe in hell.
