Our God — Page 189
Refutation of Arguments Supporting Atheism 189 while others are weak. Some are born normal while others have some birth defects. There is a general law of nature, also mentioned in the Holy Quran, that everything has an impact on its surroundings (16:49). Everything in this world depends on others for its survival and everything can be influenced by other things in the universe. Thus, an offspring, which is the closest to his parents, is influenced by the good and bad traits of his parents. So the notion that babies are born with different characteristics as a result of their deeds in a previous birth is erroneous and absurd. This misunderstanding arises because people seek the cause of acts of nature in the law of Shariah. The ideas of atheists and those who believe in reincarnation are based on the same error. Both have failed to identify the dis- tinction between the law of nature and law of Shariah; they have sought the cause of acts of nature in the law of Shariah. As they were unable to find a reasonable explanation, one group concluded that it was all anarchy and the idea of God was baseless. The oth- ers argued that God is not unjust and would not punish anyone without reason. So, the disparity among newborn children must be rooted in their previous births, hence the doctrine of reincar- nation. Had they pondered, they would have easily understood that God has ordained two sets of laws acting independently of each other and it is a grave error to seek the cause of acts of nature in the laws of Shariah. To summarise, the righteous and the innocent sometimes suf- fer during natural calamities, diseases, and disasters. This is only because the law of nature is different from the law of Shariah. A good deed in conformity with Shariah, on its own, cannot