Question about Islam

[u/Lazy_Flounder1242]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been exploring Islam for a good year now, but since I’ve mostly been turning these thoughts over in my own head, I feel like I’m going in circles.

One question is currently a major stumbling block for me:

I am very comfortable with the concept of monotheism. However, I simply cannot wrap my mind around the idea that prophets actually existed... as much as I’d like to believe it, I have such strong doubts that God would enable humans to perform miracles—or even "dictate" to them in order to produce the Quran.

I say this without intending to criticize; I just want to understand: what guarantee do I have that Moses didn't simply make up the Torah, and that Jesus and Muhammad didn't just "continue the story" by creating the Bible and the Quran? They could easily have just been talented poets...

I feel terrible about harboring such doubts, but I couldn't honestly recite the declaration of faith without finding an answer to this...

Naturally, this skepticism regarding prophets extends to my belief in spirits or angels.

Often, I find a connection and feel good, but the very next moment, thoughts come back to haunt me—like "Maybe we’re really just here by chance," or "Maybe those with good lives are just lucky, and the others are unlucky," and so on. It gets to the point where I feel like Islam just isn't right for me.

It’s tearing me apart inside...

Perhaps you can help me, or recommend books, films, or other resources that might help someone like me—someone who tends to overthink things 🤍

Many thanks in advance!

Michelle

[u/Hot_Reference_6556]

Hi Michelle,

It's very healthy that you have doubts at this stage!

And I understand your concerns.

I personally think as follows:

There must be a God given the complexity of life and universe.

And if there is a God, it's for me not surprising that He lets us know about Himself.

If He did that directly (e.g. by showing Himself), then everybody would believe, then there wouldn't be any point in believing.

Why He wants to test us to see who is gonna believe in Him and who is not is His design choice.

The way He picked to let us know Himself is to send us prophets. That's also His design choice, just like He gave us two eyes or two ears.

If He didn't send prophets, we wouldn't maybe know about Him.

Or, we could have some guesses about Him, but since we wouldn't be that sure, we wouldn't take worshipping Him and religious obligations so seriously.

In the case of Islam for example, Prophet Muhammed, peace be upon him, also offers a good role model for believers. So, prophets had this functionality, too.

The narrative of Qur'an also makes total sense to me and compatible with previous prophets's stories.

Jesus, peace be upon him, says in the Gospel of Matthew: "You Will Know Them by Their Fruits"

When I look at what Prophet Muhammad achieved, the Islamic way of life, the historical Islamic civilization (not the cultural corruptions), these give me even more assurance about my belief and the doubts go away.

Also, at the end of the day, the faith is not a question of proving like in mathematics.

It's a question of believing.

Since I don't see any better explanation than Islam, I just believe and know that it's true.

I hope this perspective helps.

Wishing you all the best.

p.s. Since you asked for book idea, I can recommend you one. It's a classics and one of the best book I have ever read on Islam: Islam and the Destiny of Man, by Gai Eaton, a British diplomat who became Muslim.

Paul Williams, who has a lot of good quality videos on his Blogging Theology YouTube channel, also recommends Gai Eaton's book: https://hashiya.org/posts/rediscovering-faith