Behind many an atheist’s rejection of God lies not a cold philosophical conclusion, but a wound — a moment of personal tragedy that shattered the foundations of faith. In this third instalment of the Dawah to Atheists series, the discussion cuts to the heart of why so many people turn away from belief, and how Muslims engaged in dawah can respond with wisdom, compassion, and intellectual clarity. From the spiritual journey of one of the twentieth century’s most celebrated physicists, to one of philosophy’s most famous challenges against divine omnipotence, this episode equips the believer with the tools to engage atheism where it truly lives — not merely in the mind, but deep in the soul.
When Suffering Becomes the Seed of Disbelief — Understanding the Emotional Root of Atheism
“Invite (mankind, O Muhammad) to the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.” [al-Nahl 16:125]
The lecture opens with a striking case study: the renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, who believed in God before a progressive neurological disease left him almost entirely paralysed in his late teens and early twenties. Confronted with the seeming injustice of a brilliant mind trapped in a failing body — and witnessing ordinary people in India living full, healthy physical lives — Hawking wrestled with the question every sufferer eventually asks: Why me? This anguish drove him into atheism during his middle years. Yet in his later writings, references to God quietly returned — particularly after he found love again in his life. This real-life arc illuminates a profound insight for any Muslim engaged in dawah: atheism, for the vast majority of people who hold it, is not primarily an intellectual position. It is an emotional wound dressed in philosophical language. Understanding this is perhaps the most important practical lesson of this entire series.
- Look beyond the argument to the story: Most atheists, when you trace their journey, can point to a defining personal tragedy — a bereavement, a debilitating illness, an injustice, or a betrayal — that fractured their relationship with God.
- Address the pain, not just the premise: Effective dawah means sitting with the person’s suffering and gently helping them understand that apparent evil can contain ultimate good — without dismissing or minimising what they have been through.
- Intellectual dawah must be paired with human connection: Arguments alone rarely open hearts. The Prophet ﷺ exemplified this — bearing the persecution of disbelievers with extraordinary patience, gentleness, and mercy.
- Faith is always recoverable: Hawking’s later return to speaking about God is a reminder that the door of iman is never permanently closed; sustaining the conversation with dignity and sincerity matters enormously.
- Clarify that belief in Allah is rational: As the previous sessions established, the dawah to tawheed is the logical, reasonable position — it is atheism that is ultimately irrational and incoherent when examined carefully.
The Omnipotence Paradox — The Islamic Answer to “Can God Create a Stone Too Heavy to Lift?”
One of the most frequently deployed philosophical challenges against the existence of God — and one that every Muslim in dawah to atheists or Christians must be prepared to answer — is the so-called omnipotence paradox: If God is able to do all things, can He create a stone so heavy that He Himself cannot lift it? The apparent catch-22 seems airtight: say yes, and you concede something can exceed God in magnitude; say no, and you appear to limit His omnipotence. The Islamic answer, however, dissolves this paradox at its very root. When we affirm that Allah is ala kulli shay’in qadeer — capable over all things — we are emphatically not including actions that are self-contradictory or that would negate the very definition of divinity. God having no beginning is intrinsic to who He is; asking “can God be born?” is therefore not a genuine question about His power, but a logical absurdity disguised as one. Allah Akbar — Allah is greater than all things — is definitional; asking Him to create something greater than Himself is asking, in effect, “can Allah cease to be Allah?” The same precision applies when Christians use this line of reasoning to argue that God can have a son: begetting a child requires taking on the characteristics of created, contingent beings, which would strip Allah of His divinity entirely. These are not limitations on God’s infinite power — they are the incoherence of the question itself. The discussion concludes by grouping such questions firmly in the category of absurdities, which are simply not included in the all-encompassing declaration that Allah has power over all things.
“Say: He is Allaah, the One. Allaah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, nor is there to Him any equivalent.” [al-Ikhlaas 112:1–4 — interpretation of the meaning]
Faith in Islam is not a retreat from reason — it is a homecoming to it. The beauty of Islamic dawah to atheists lies in its insistence that intellect and spirituality are not adversaries but allies, and that the call to believe in Allah is the most rational, coherent, and purpose-filled worldview a human being can embrace. Whether engaging someone whose atheism was born of personal tragedy and unanswered grief, or someone who reaches for philosophical paradoxes like the omnipotence challenge, the Muslim daee is invited to respond with knowledge, patience, and genuine care for the person before them. The mission of the Prophets was never to win debates, but to guide hearts — and it is Allah alone who turns those hearts. Our task, as this series so powerfully reminds us, is simply to convey clearly, argue gently, and carry the message with the mercy and sincerity it deserves.
