Doubt

For many religious people there is a problem of doubting various creedal statements contained in their religions. Often propositional beliefs are looked upon as a necessary, though not sufficient, condition, for salvation. This causes great anxiety in doubters and raises the question of the importance of belief in religion and in life in general. It is a question that has been neglected in philosophy of religion and Christian theology. In this paper I shall explore the question of the importance of belief as a religious attitude and suggest that there is at least one other attitude which may be adequate for religious faith even in the absence of belief, that attitude being hope. I shall develop a concept of faith as hope as an alternative to the usual notion that makes propositional belief that God exists a necessary condition for faith, as Plantinga implies in the quotation above. For simplicity’s sake I shall concentrate on the most important proposition in Western religious creeds, that which states that God exists (defined broadly as a benevolent, supreme Being, who is responsible for the creation of the universe), but the analysis could be applied mutatis mutandis to many other important propositions in religion (e.g., the Incarnation and the doctrine of the Trinity). I am not sure how these ideas fit into Islamic thought, but I offer up my paper to stimulate discussion between Christian and Islamic philosophy on the subjects of faith and doubt.

The spread of religious doubts in the public arena via information technology has caused religious faith to be changed and questioned in the turmoil of these doubts. This has provided the ground for acceptance of non-religious sects even in the form of religion. Explaining the logical approach according to Islamic affairs is one of the topics that has been less explored. Authors confront the doubts with their own taste in order to pay their debt to Islam and defend the sanctity of Islam and the divine religion. It’s necessary and serious matter to identify doubt and distinguish it from the problem (issue). We require coherent planning to purposefully confront religious doubts, for we are in an age when the most advanced means of mass communication have made its dissemination quick and easy. Identifying doubts from the problem and examining the methodology of dealing with them is what this article seeks to explain, regarding to the Qur'anic verses and hadiths. Accordingly, a comprehensive method for dealing with doubts can be achieved over time and religious doubts may be answered. The method of this article is descriptive-analytical.