Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD

Abstract:
Human morality stands at a crossroads in the modern age. With the rise of secularism and skepticism, many have questioned whether moral values can endure without a belief in God. This article examines the foundations of morality through the lenses of atheism, Christianity, and Islam. Drawing on the insights of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, psychologist Carl Jung, and contemporary thinkers, it explores the consequences of losing faith in a higher power. Historical anecdotes and scientific studies – from the chaos of lawless moments to a New Zealand experiment with an “invisible watcher” – illustrate that while human conscience can guide both believers and non-believers, a sense of divine accountability profoundly strengthens ethical behavior. Islam in particular offers a coherent spiritual framework that not only appeals to reason but also deeply moves the hearts and souls of its followers. By integrating spiritual practices with daily life, Islam nurtures a powerful God-consciousness that restrains evil and inspires virtue. Ultimately, this discussion highlights that although atheists and agnostics can be moral, theism – especially Islam’s holistic teachings – provides an enduring, inspiring foundation for personal and societal morality.

Introduction

“Freud has unfortunately overlooked the fact that man has never yet been able single-handed to hold his own against the powers of darkness — that is, of the unconscious. Man has always stood in need of the spiritual help which each individual’s own religion held out to him,” observed the famed psychologist Carl Jung. In our age of growing secularism, Jung’s words ring with urgency. As traditional religious influence wanes in some societies, we must ask: On what basis will human beings uphold morality and resist the “powers of darkness” within? The debate often comes down to atheism vs. religion, and more specifically in Western discourse, atheism vs. Christianity. Yet, there is a third option that merits special attention: Islam, with its harmonious blend of faith and reason and its proven capacity to shape moral behavior.

Prominent atheist voices like biologist Richard Dawkins insist that God is unnecessary for morality. In his 2006 bestseller The God Delusion, Dawkins proudly declares, “Being an atheist is nothing to be apologetic about. On the contrary, it is something to be proud of… for atheism nearly always indicates a healthy independence of mind and, indeed, a healthy mind”. According to Dawkins, one can be “good without God” – conscience and enlightened self-interest supposedly suffice to live an ethical life. Many agnostics and atheists echo this point, arguing that they too can live by golden-rule principles, fueled by empathy and conscience rather than divine command.

There is truth here: every human being has a conscience, an innate moral compass. Indeed, atheists and agnostics can be moral people, showing kindness, honesty, and altruism in their lives. Their morality is often grounded in compassion, societal norms, or philosophical reasoning. As one contemporary writer notes, secular humanists often root their ethics in habit, custom, feeling, and fashion, seeing our moral principles as products of culture and evolution. In that sense, a person with no belief in God may still abhor murder, lie, or theft – their heart can still feel guilt and their mind can reason the social harm of wrongdoing.

However, theists have an additional factor driving them to be moral – a factor that touches something deep in the human psyche: belief in an All-Seeing, All-Knowing God. When a person believes that a loving but just God constantly watches their actions and will hold them accountable, it adds an extra layer of motivation to do good and avoid evil. The Qur’an reminds the believer that “Allah knows what you do” (Qur’an 29:45)thequran.love, instilling a sense of watchfulness far beyond any huma n surveillance. Even Jung – no traditional theologian – recognized that without the “spiritual help” of religion, man’s conscious mind struggles against inner darkness. In what follows, we will explore how the absence or presence of belief in God impacts moral life. We turn first to an unlikely guide – an atheist philosopher who nevertheless understood the moral crisis that godlessness could unleash.

Nietzsche’s Warning: The Abyss of Atheism

The 19th-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was a fierce critic of traditional religion, yet he perceptively foresaw the moral vacuum that widespread atheism might create. Nietzsche famously proclaimed “God is dead”, not to celebrate the fact, but to warn of its dire implications. He penned a parable about a madman who runs into the marketplace looking for God and, not finding Him, sparks the scorn of the secular townsfolk. The madman then cries out to the scoffers: “Whither is God?… I shall tell you. We have killed him – you and I. All of us are his murderers.” In vivid metaphor he asks, How could we, the slayers of God, wipe away the entire horizon, unchain the earth from its sun, or plunge into the abyss? Mankind, by casting aside belief, had unknowingly cast itself adrift in a moral void – “are we not plunging continually? Is there any up or down left?”.

At first, people did not grasp what they had done in “killing” God. They continued living on the momentum of inherited Christian morals. But Nietzsche predicted that eventually the realization would sink in, and with it an era of nihilism – “the destruction of all meaning and value in life”. “The end of Christianity,” Nietzsche wrote, “means the advent of nihilism.” When absolute truth and divine moral law are renounced, all values can become relative and empty. Right and wrong lose their anchor, leaving only personal preference and social pressure. In Nietzsche’s chilling image, “when you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you.” A godless world might eventually gaze into a soul-less void.

Nietzsche’s fears were not merely melodramatic. William Lane Craig, a modern philosopher of religion, comments on Nietzsche’s insight: “Most people still do not reflect on the consequences of atheism and so, like the crowd in the marketplace, go unknowingly on their way. But when we realize, as did Nietzsche, what atheism implies, then [Nietzsche’s] question presses hard upon us: how shall we, the murderers of all murderers, comfort ourselves?” If we have truly “buried” God, where do we find a source of comfort – or a solid foundation for values?

In a world without God, can there be any objective right and wrong? Craig asks pointedly, “Who is to judge that the values of Adolf Hitler are inferior to those of a saint?” If our moral rules do not come from a higher authority beyond human whims, then we are left with conflicting preferences. One person’s cruelty might be another person’s celebrated “survival of the fittest.” Nietzsche knew that without a higher standard, power and will might fill the void – with potentially brutal results.

Indeed, other thinkers following this logic concluded that moral terms become arbitrary in a purely material universe. The philosopher Thomas Hobbes, observing a purposeless worldview, wrote that in such a world “Good and evil are names that signify our appetites and aversions; which in different tempers, customs, and doctrines of men are different. […] Every man calleth that which pleaseth him, good; and that which displeaseth him, evil.” In other words, without an absolute divine reference point, morality becomes subjective – merely a matter of taste or cultural conditioning. A contemporary secular ethicist admitted the same hard truth: “To say that something is wrong because it is forbidden by God, is perfectly understandable to anyone who believes in a law-giving God. But to say that something is wrong even though no God exists to forbid it, is not understandable. […] The concept of moral obligation is unintelligible apart from the idea of God. The words remain but their meaning is gone.”. In a universe devoid of the Divine, terms like “good” and “evil” can become empty labels – relics of an earlier age when people believed they were real.

The Qur’an remarkably anticipated this existential confusion. It warns of those who “forgot Allah, so He caused them to forget their own souls”. When people no longer remember God, they lose their very selves – their higher purpose and moral bearings. Nietzsche, though an atheist, awoke as if from a nightmare to the peril of a world that has “forgotten” God. In Nietzsche’s prophecy, a “most gruesome guest” was already standing at the door – nihilism, meaninglessness, moral anarchy. Would humanity open that door and invite the chaos in?

Read further in Microsoft Word file: