Only a diseased mindset can deny the existence of God. All religions of the world whether divine or other, as well as modern science, accept the existence of God. It is the responsibility of the religious scholars to protect the youth from the mischief of atheism and secularism. Islam taught humanity how to free itself from slavery, misguidance and exploitation of every kind through the concept of monotheism. If the religious class consumes its energies in meaningless debates then it will strengthen the culture of slander, deepen religious divisions and promote hatred, leading to estrangement of the youth from the religion.

President MQI Prof Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri made these remarks while delivering a very thought-provoking address titled “Need of Religion and the Existence of God” to a Friday congregation at Jamy Shaykh-ul-Islam.

Prof Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri said that today's youths are raising questions about the need for religion and the existence of God. He said that the religious scholars should realize the enormity of the challenge of increasing estrangement of the youth from Islam and instead of subjecting Dawah of Islam to their own desires, they should make themselves subject to the demands and imperatives of the invitation of the Holy Quran and Sunnah. He said that the parents with tearful eyes come to us with a request to save their children from the challenge of secularism and correct their belief system.

Dr Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri said that our response to such parents is that when it was the time of teaching them about the basics of the religion, they were more interested in getting them higher education to make them successful in worldly terms. There was no attention given to their character building or moral training. He said that now that they have acquired worldly education but ended up becoming estranged from the religion, why worry now?

President MQI said that at the ripe time of upbringing and training, the parents are more interested in worldly pursuits such as bigger houses, bigger cars and big bank balances. He advised the people that if they wanted their children to stay connected with the teachings of the religion, then they should focus on imparting them training about the basic belief system. He said that it is the young age where training and education in beliefs can be effective.

He said that a trend has been observed that despite Pakistan being an Islamic Republic, many people are now registering themselves as atheists. He warned that if religious scholars did not get alarmed by this incident and took corrective actions the situation would get out of hand. He said this is the very area that should draw the attention of the religious scholars instead of internal squabbles.

He said that there are two ways through which some people have turned out to be atheist scholars. One category of the people is those who were abnormal and psychologically sick in their younger age. The situation aggravated due to certain incidents of grave nature that happened in their life, so it led to their estrangement from religion. He said that in an act of revenge, they started writing against the religious teachings and questioning the existence of God.

Dr Hussain said that if you study the biography of any of these atheist scholars, you will find this assertion vindicated. He said that the second category is those people who subscribed to the idea of religious violence. He said that since Islam shows the path of moderation and tolerance; therefore these people were off the track and became atheist. He advised the youth to not question the existence of God and deny the religious teachings by studying the books of abnormal people, adding that this is an utter deceit and misguidance. He said that the existence of God is an undeniable reality. Science is the apex of secular knowledge and every scientist has accepted that there is a certain power Who has maintained the system of the universe and that this universe is functioning according to certain predetermined principles.

President MQI said that there is another line of thought that says that they are convinced of spiritualism and that one should attach oneself with Allah and be indifferent to the world. He said that the claims of spiritualism are a form of mischief of secularism, adding that there can be no real connection with Allah Almighty without acting upon the religious teachings in letter and spirit. He said that one cannot win nearness of Allah without following the religion in its entirety. He further said that the protection of the religious beliefs of the youth is the responsibility of scholars.

“Therefore they should get rid of the so-called preference for their sects and meaningless debates and rather focus on character building and protection of the faith of the youth”, he concluded.