# How do Muslims know Islam is true and other religions are not? *How do you know Islam is true? Hinduism, the mug deity and the story of Ganesh* - URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/uuldzklvxvo/s/3/ - Date: 2018-04-09 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: The Role Of Reason In Religion - Mufti Abu Layth (9:20–15:54) - Status: general teaching - Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuLDZkLvxvo&t=560s - Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/uuldzklvxvo/ **Topics:** Reason and revelation; Christians and other faiths; Atheism and the existence of God **Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Muslims reject Hinduism and the Trinity by reason, relying on a shared human intersubjectivity that judges by practical facts; Mufti Abu Layth says the same standard of reason must therefore be applied to Islam. **Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth holds that Muslims use reason to reject Hinduism and the Trinity, that a shared human intersubjectivity lets a healthy mind judge such claims absurd, and that the same standard of reason must be applied to Islam. **Evidence, his words at 15:06:** “the question here comes do we do we not have the responsibility then to apply those same standards to Islam” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuLDZkLvxvo&t=906s) ## Longer summary Mufti Abu Layth says the ultimate question is how we know Islam is true and other religions are not. Taking Hinduism as his example, with an apology to any Hindus present, he asks why nobody in the room believes idols are gods, holding up a mug and asking why it could not be a deity; the audience answers from the general laws of nature and cause and effect. He tells a summarised version of the story of Ganesh, whose father beheaded him unknowingly and replaced his head with an elephant's, and asks by whose reason and whose intellect people call this absurd, given that intelligence varies. His answer is that human beings share an intersubjectivity, the basis of language itself, so that a normal healthy mind judging on practical facts can call something absurd when it does not add up to reality: heads are not replaced with elephant heads in the real world. He asks the audience to lock this thought in, since Muslims use reason to demonstrate the fallacy of Hinduism or of three gods being one, and asks whether they do not then have the responsibility to apply the same standards to Islam rather than exempting themselves because they are Muslims. ## Sources and names cited - one set of standards: judge Islam's claims by the same test applied to other religions ## Transcript (machine tier, 9:20–15:54) [8:50] an argument along a certain line so I had placed this in more pokey and I'm just trying to think is it ticking right so yep mm-hmm so no but we're not exactly there come on much much more important than all of this when it comes to religion reason you can't handle the truth god damn it this is this is the ultimate question how do you know [9:27] Islam is true how do you know Islam is true how do you know other things are not true how do we know Hinduism any Hindus here by the way okay I'm just apologize first right so any mushriks here I mean Muslim mouche okay right so is this coming out as the right hand now magic blindness with this magic right so [10:06] okay so how do we know Hinduism isn't true let's say nobody here believes in Hinduism we don't believe in idols being gods why not why don't we believe in Idol this thing is a bit ironic I'm going to call this let's say for a moment a deity and a God since it's got the width oh he's written on it but but okay let's roll with that toheeb this mug he is a God why can't that be God some reasonable rational but somebody could say well why okay so we've got so we're saying you see what [10:44] you're doing is going back to General Laws understood within nature like you're saying Oh what we've created that cause-and-effect like we've put that into motion how could that have you know how could that be the creator for this universe for this cosmos it doesn't make sense it doesn't add up to reason well okay let's say they say fine hinduism is a it's okay this this isn't good thing actually god this is a statue of god obviously it's reflecting god but then you know there's many gods and there's rom and vishnu and hanuman and ganesh [11:24] any favorites right so nothing wrong with having a favor just to speak about you should wait till you see my shrines so now the thing so we look at hinduism now we say this doesn't make any sense and the hindu will say and this isn't an attack on Hindu or on Hinduism I'm trying to show reason I'm trying to show the importance of reason in religion in faith so you [12:04] say well you know this can't be who knows the story of Ganesh by the way as an example rights okay part of the story of Ganesh is okay this is a a hugely massively summarized version so just in case some Hindu scholars try to pick me up on it or do a YouTube video on me so basically Ganesh his father the God has is out there in the cosmos [12:33] his mother is at home the God doesn't even know that okay he's not too sure let's use better words he's not aware about Ganesh being born so when he comes back many years later he sees him and thinks oh my god who's his mind with my wife and cuts his head off then he realized oh my god Oh silly me that's actually my son Ganesh and what I should have you know now I've now have decapitated him he's beheaded him so what do I do so he says okay well what I'll do is the next thing next person or next thing coming past I will just behead that thing and give him a new head so that happens to be the elephant [13:11] then that comes so he gives Ganesh the elephant head obviously the question was why cringes pick up his own head and put it back on him that would have probably been the more easier operation to do but anyway so now this Ganesh is the lord of strength and things like this the elephant kind of symbolic head why is this unreasonable to people now we say oh but that doesn't make sense having an elephant head God doesn't make sense I could ask you at this stage really according to whose sense you say it doesn't add a cool reason according to [13:48] whose reason you say it can't be it's not computed by the intellect I could ask at this stage whose intellect we already said we all have varying levels of intelligence so like these are valid questions but you would agree with me that there is a level of shared intersubjectivity the human beings have this there's a there's an intense objectivity that we have hence we have language hence we have these things the ability to communicate in that a normal healthy mind based on practical facts around us [14:27] can think and pass the judgement that this is an absurd but Lee if it does not add up to reality in the real world things like this don't happen people don't chop off heads and then get elephant heads and put them on people and these kind of things don't happen in the real world this I want you to hold on to only to lock it in this this this thought and hold on to it because this point what we're doing is saying that ok Hinduism or Christianity what do you mean three gods one God this don't make [15:06] any sense how can three be worn mathematical proofs you know this doesn't add up it doesn't we're using reason to demonstrate the fallacy in all of these right the question here comes do we do we not have the responsibility then to apply those same standards to Islam oh is it for us it's ok you know we don't no no no we don't need to ask our question because we're ok we're Muslims so it doesn't matter but no we [15:45] need to ask the Hindu what do you mean about an elephant guard or a monkey guard or this God or you know the rat guard or the snake God what does this mean or the fire God it doesn't make any sense but when it comes to us do we not have to put Islam to the same criteria of reason do we not have to because is it not all about truth isn't that what this was all about right now we're gonna put that aside i'ma tell you the Islamic ruling the Islamic ruling actually is we call this another in theology okay no Thorazine I know like you see another ## Cite Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment UuLDZkLvxvo/s/3. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/uuldzklvxvo/s/3/ Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.