We have all seen the usual knee-jerk statements from atheists claiming that we believe in fairy-tales and that we can't face the world and need religion to fall back on. They bring up near-eastern mythologies and claim that we have plagiarized them without showing a direct link. They also come to this sub and elsewhere objecting to islam or belief in god in general on moral grounds. We have seen those edgy teenagers who claim to have left islam out of their superior morality or because of their sexuality. When we counter these arguments, and we do it successfully, we're usually still not dealing with the underlying issues of atheism and we leave room for these people to log off and go back to their lives either saying agree to disagree or saying muslims are regressive and don't live in the 21st century. We frankly need to do better than this.
In the previous paragraph I presented few prevailing arguments and opinions but they might not be representative of all so please spare me the disclaimers, I know they're all special little snowflakes. I also address this post to atheists but it's not only about them and it includes anyone who doesn't believe in the metaphysical world and the soul no matter what they "choose" to label themselves.
On top of the other arguments we present as muslims to explain what we believe and to alleviate some confusion or discomfort especially in moral issues, we need to look deeper in what these other people believe and what assumptions their worldview has. What pieces of information about the world do they take for granted as self evident and how did they come to that conclusion. Take them to task concerning what they believe and what their perception of epistemology is. Don't just speak about islam as if your interlocutor is an empty vessel. People have a choice to make and the process of elimination is sometimes the best way to get to a solution.
There are various ways in which we could tackle this and I've made comments about them before but I'm dedicating this post to dealing with free will.
The issue of free will versus determinism is so central to everything there is in life and we cannot keep ignoring it whilst speaking with atheists. If there isn't free will then no one can justly be judged for what they do because they're not responsible for it. In absence of a belief in free will, atheists couldn't be justified in being sanctimonious about any moral issue and they can't support any of their mostly liberal social attitudes.
Determinism means that everything in the universe is governed by external or internal causes and they are all related. The laws of physics or the different biological mechanisms and substances together determine all your actions at all times. The chemicals in your brain and the hormones and your physiology and your education and your environment are what's making your decisions for you and you're just living in an illusion of free will. These are not even decisions because there was always one option out there and you couldn't have done otherwise.
As we know atheists claim to believe only in empirical evidence and free will has none. So if they believe in free will then they should explain how that conforms to their supposedly strict empirical criteria for evidence. If they have no evidence for it then they should tell us how their faith in free will is justified. If they instead "choose" to believe in determinism then they need to explain how their worldview accounts for morality and personal responsibility. How does this position allow for justice? Why do they "choose" to keep living in this illusory existence? If they can't explain any of this then they should shut up and spare us their moral pontificating.
If people believe in some kind of compatibilism then they should outline it alongside their definition of free will and explain how it conforms to the physical world.
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