r/PhilosophyofReligion

I am Oussama, a Muslim of Moroccan origin. I am writing to share my personal perspective as a Muslim, on the stance of Islam regarding other religions.

I am not a professional writer, but I hope the following text conveys my understanding and vision.

God created the world, the galaxies, the stars, the planets, and all flora and fauna, as well as us humans, but for what purpose did He create us?

Simply to worship Him.

Yet today, if I were to ask people from diverse cultures and backgrounds, "Which is the true religion?", I would receive varied answers shaped by their origins; for them, the heritage of their ancestors represents the right path to follow.

Today, I ask you: why do you consider your religion to be the true one?

For my part, I have reflected deeply on the origins and authenticity of Islam. I reached a very simple conclusion: the true religion must offer proof of its divine origin and distinguish itself from all others.

Personally, I view any religion lacking evidence in its scriptures or what might be called a "divine imprint" as questionable, because one cannot verify the reliability of its source.

The world today holds a multitude of religious beliefs. So, how does one identify the true religion?

To identify the true religion, one must look to religious texts to bear witness to their own authenticity.

When compared to other faiths, Islam stands out as the religion containing the most evidence within its texts, specifically regarding their mysterious origins. These texts emerged at a time when such information was inaccessible due to the lack of technology and when science was still in its infancy. Take embryology, for instance (one must be careful with the translation here, as it is necessary to look up the precise meaning of the terms used in an Arabic dictionary). Embryology which, thanks to technological progress, has been proven accurate after 1,400 years of scientific advancement along with the expansion of the universe, the Big Bang, the movement of mountains, and the "sending down" of iron (symbolizing that iron originates, in part, from space). These Quranic texts constitute irrefutable evidence that elevates the Quran above the scriptures of other competing religions.

For example, suppose I am someone searching for the true religion; if five religions are presented to me and only one is the correct one, how do I choose among them?

The method is simple: choose the one that offers evidence and distinguishes itself from the others through texts that demonstrate a divine origin or, quite simply, texts that bear a divine signature, such as a miracles. The texts of the Quran, by virtue of their origin, exhibit this characteristic.

Based on what I have explained, Islam stands out above other religions, thereby proving irrefutably that Islam is the true religion. For God is superior to all His creation, and the Quranic texts demonstrate this superiority through the imprint God left within them an imprint intended to be discovered by the current generation through scientific and technological progress, thereby proving that Islam is indeed the true religion.

i don’t know anything. Every time I think I know something, I experience something that makes me question it again

I’ve been having a long discussion about Christianity and I’m trying to understand some things that I genuinely find difficult. I’m not posting this to attack Christianity. I’m genuinely interested in how Christians would answer these questions.

1. If God wants us to genuinely love and obey Him, how do we separate that from fear and reward?

Suppose I follow God's teachings because I love God. But I also know that rejecting God could lead to hell and following Him could lead to heaven.

Those consequences will obviously affect my decisions to some degree. I don't think that's necessarily bad, but how do we know how much of my motivation comes from genuine love and how much comes from fear or desire for reward?

And can I even know that about myself?

I might sincerely believe, "I follow God because I love Him," while there could be other motivations influencing me that I don't recognize.

So if God judges the intentions of our hearts, is it fair to judge us based on motives that we ourselves may not even fully understand?

2. Does having enormous consequences really leave us completely free?

Imagine someone tells me:

"You are completely free to choose whether to study or play games. But if you study, you get an incredible reward, and if you don't, you receive an enormous punishment."

Technically, I still have a choice. Nobody is physically forcing me.

But the consequences are obviously going to influence my decision.

So when Christianity says we have free will even though our choices have eternal consequences, I wonder what exactly "free will" means here.

I'm not necessarily saying that consequences eliminate free will.

I'm asking whether they make it impossible to know how much of our decision represents what we genuinely want versus how much is a response to the consequences.

3. Why is God entitled to determine our purpose?

Christianity often talks about humans having a purpose that God gave us.

But if God created me with a particular purpose before I even existed, I didn't choose that purpose.

I can choose whether to fulfill it, but I didn't choose what the purpose was in the first place.

So why am I morally obligated to fulfill a purpose that I never agreed to?

Having a purpose doesn't necessarily eliminate free will, but it seems to place our freedom inside a framework that we didn't choose.

4. Why does God require our obedience if He doesn't need anything from us?

If God is omnipotent and doesn't need anything from human beings, why does our obedience matter to Him?

I understand the answer that God's commands are ultimately for our benefit and that following them makes us better people.

But then I wonder: why does God get to determine what our ultimate purpose and form of goodness should be?

Why is His definition of what I should become automatically binding on me?

5. What about someone who is genuinely good but doesn't do it because of God?

Imagine someone who doesn't hate God and isn't trying to rebel against Him.

They simply don't have a relationship with God.

But they are genuinely good. They don't want to hurt people. They don't lie, steal, or exploit others. They help people, forgive people, sacrifice for others, and genuinely care about doing what is right.

And importantly, they aren't doing these things because they want heaven or fear hell. They do them because they genuinely believe that goodness is worth pursuing.

What exactly is wrong with this person?

If the answer is, "They don't have a relationship with God," then I have another question:

Why is having a relationship with God itself a moral requirement?

Even if this person knew with absolute certainty that God existed, why would that fact alone mean they must love, worship, or submit to Him?

Knowing that someone exists doesn't automatically seem to create an obligation to love them.

So what is the missing principle that makes a relationship with God morally necessary?

The bigger question I'm struggling with

All of these seem connected to one bigger issue:

If God created us, gave us a purpose, established the moral rules, attached enormous consequences to our choices, and ultimately judges our intentions, what makes this system genuinely free and morally fair from the perspective of the person being judged?

I'm not saying I have proved Christianity wrong. I'm also not saying these questions have no answers.

I'm specifically interested in whether Christianity has a coherent answer to them that goes beyond:

"God knows best, so you just have to have faith."

I don't find that satisfying because it seems to stop the investigation rather than answer the underlying question.

I'd genuinely like to hear how Christians, atheists, or philosophers would approach these questions.

(PS I did use AI to write out this post as English isn't my first language)

I'm wondering what perspective church goers have about how AI affects their religious beliefs.

The evil nature of the creator is central to classical Gnosticism. Of course, there are later offshoots/modern interpretations inspired by Gnosticism that reinterpret these ideas, but we shouldn't pretend that the problem of creation was some insignificant side note.

In the Sethian creation myth, this world is the result of a tragedy in the divine realms. Sophia, in an act of desire outside the proper order of the Pleroma, brings forth the Demiurge, an ignorant and arrogant being who mistakes himself for the highest God. From there, the material cosmos emerge.

We are living out the consequences of Sophia's fall, divine consciousness/wisdom caught in the density of matter, subject to the rulers of this world and the ignorance that governs their creation.

Perhaps that is the final lesson of Gnosticism: to recognize the world for what it is, remember where we came from, and pass through this realm without mistaking it for our true home.

Early thirties guy here in the US. I served a two year Christian mission and have read countless philosophy and religion books trying to solve the question of god since I was a kid (what, who is it, does god exist and in what way ect.)

In 2026, I focused on Hinduism and so far it feels the most “true” of anything I’ve encountered. I’ve read the Gita 16 times, the Upanishads 4 times and the Dhammapada once, and I just can’t get enough . It’s so good and has been so helpful and comforting.

Still… Any suggestions on modern philosophers I could read? Maybe someone familiar with world religions?

I’m so frustrated all the time at the same questions about life and god’s existence (or lack thereof). Just fishing for anything here, something to help. I’m amazed at history and how many humans have lived and asked these questions and then find myself frustrated once again that everyone has asked and seemingly no one has an answer that works for everyone and everything. Any of you annoyed that no one really knows? Doesn’t that bother you immensely?

Please help. I’m happy to answer follow up questions. Just need some support here.