Page 192 - The Religion Of The Ignorant

THE RELIGION OF THE IGNORANT

pidity and illogicality. However, "magic" is the only possible explana-
tion for people from all over the world believing that unconscious and
lifeless atoms suddenly decided to come together and form a universe
that functions with a flawless system of organization, discipline, rea-
son, and consciousness; a planet named Earth with all of its features so
perfectly suited to life; and living things full of countless complex sys-
tems.
In fact, in the Qur'an Allah relates the incident of the Prophet
Moses (as) and Pharaoh to show that some people who support atheis-
tic philosophies actually influence others by magic. When Pharaoh was
told about the true religion, he told the Prophet Moses (as) to meet with
his own magicians. When the Prophet Moses (as) did so, he told them
to demonstrate their abilities first. The verses continue:
He said: "You throw." And when they threw, they cast a spell
on the people's eyes and caused them to feel great fear of
them. They produced an extremely powerful magic. (Surat al-
A‘raf, 116)
As we have seen, Pharaoh's magicians were able to deceive every-
one, apart from the Prophet Moses (as) and those who believed in him.
However, his evidence broke the spell, or "swallowed up what they
had forged," as revealed in the verse:
We revealed to Moses: "Throw down your staff." And it im-
mediately swallowed up what they had forged. So the Truth
took place and what they did was shown to be false. (Surat al-
A‘raf, 117-118)
As we can see, when people realized that a spell had been cast
upon them and that what they saw was just an illusion, Pharaoh's ma-
gicians lost all credibility. In the present day too, unless those who,
under the influence of a similar spell, believe in these ridiculous claims
under their scientific disguise and spend their lives defending them,
abandon their superstitious beliefs, they also will be humiliated when
the full truth emerges and the spell is broken. In fact, world-renowned

190