Mohammed Hijab
British Muslim debater and author; defends God's existence with the contingency argument from Ibn Sina.
11 videos analysed · 31 quotes checked word for word · updated 2026-10-18
Key facts
- PhD candidate researching the contingency argument for God's existence; co-founder of the Sapience Institute. Book · The Burhan: Arguments for a…
- His book The Burhan appeared in paperback on 15 December 2021. Book 2021 · The Burhan: Arguments for a…
- He began uploading to YouTube in June 2015; his channel has about 1.3 million subscribers (2026). Wikipédia 2026 · Mohammed Hijab
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceHe argues that 'the only way to explain the existence of anything is to postulate the existence of an uncaused necessary being', and identifies it with God. In his 2026 lectures he says his PhD defends God's existence through a contingency framework, and he says of atheism that it 'doesn't actually have any explanatory scope or power'.
- He starts from the simplest question to ask an atheist: does anything exist? Everything that exists is either contingent (dependent) or necessary. A series of dependent things, finite or infinite, is itself made of dependent parts, so only a necessary being can ground it. This is his version of Ibn Sina's argument. Video 2026 · How Do We Prove God Exists?…23
- He prefers it to Craig's kalam because it resists counterattack better and bypasses debates about time, causation and infinity; and he says there are many kalam arguments, not only Craig's. Video 2026 · How Do We Prove God Exists?…2
- Against the multiverse he answers that even an infinite set of universes is made of parts, so it stays contingent and does not become necessary. Video 2021 · Londoniyyah - Part 9 - Proofs of…2
- Design alone is not enough: it establishes an intelligent, knowing designer, not an all-powerful God. He ranks dependency and causation arguments as the best, and says arguments from weak versions of the principle of sufficient reason are good. Video 2026 · Do Arguments for God Backfire?…2
- Atheism, a mere lack of belief, has no explanatory power. And he holds that God is one: for him the Trinity is a logical contradiction (three almighty persons yet one almighty, a man who is 100% God and 100% man). Video 2025 · Atheism vs. Islam: Mohammad…2
Why must a series of dependent things have an explanation? The universe may simply be there.
He says a series of dependent things, finite or infinite, is itself made of dependent parts, so it cannot explain itself.
An infinite multiverse could be the necessary reality, with no need for God.
He answers that even an infinite set of universes is made of parts, so it stays contingent and does not become necessary.
See 1 more objections
If the Quran is God's eternal speech, there are two eternal beings and God is not one.
He says the words of God are an attribute of God, not a second eternal being.
Defends : The necessary existent: the proof of the truthful, Sufficient reason: why something rather than nothing?, The moral law points to a lawgiver, The fine-tuning of the universe: too perfect a coincidence?Mixed : The world began, so it has a cause, Whatever begins has a cause: the universe too, The watch and the eyeCriticizes : If God seems present, he probably is
He argued that atheism cannot explain consciousness, which suggests he doubts that matter alone accounts for the mind.
He defends real human choice and responsibility, but also that God's will governs everything. He says how the two fit together stays unknowable. He rejects hard determinism.
At the Oxford Union he asked how an atheist can get to objective morality, and argued only a divine source can ground it. In 2020 he said an atheist cannot have a claim to objective morality, while not denying that atheists have morals.
- He does not say atheists lack morals. He says that without God there is no anchor for objective morality, so an atheist cannot claim it. Video 2020 · Apostate Prophet vs. Mohammed…
One can be good without believing in God.
He does not say atheists lack morals. He says that on atheism there is no anchor for objective morality, so an atheist cannot claim it.
Is something good because God commands it, or does God command it because it is good?
He says Islam asks believers to demand evidence, citing the Quran's 'bring your proof if you are truthful', and he uses philosophy as a tool to reach people who do not accept scripture. He holds scripture is complete, so reason serves faith.
- Islam asks believers to demand evidence for every claim ('bring your proof'). He holds God's existence to be true in the plain sense, 'like 2 + 2 = 4', not merely useful. Video 2022 · Talking to Muslims About Christ…2
- Personal religious experience, such as answered prayers, cannot show that a religion is true because it is not demonstrative; philosophy is for him a tool to reach people, not what Islam depends on. Video 2024 · Tough Questions of Priests! -…2
Truth is what works for life, not only a literal fact about the world.
He says that God's existence is true in the plain sense, as a true statement just like 2 + 2 = 4.
Believing in God can be rational without any proof.
He says Islam asks believers to demand evidence for every claim: the Quran says 'bring your proof if you are truthful'.
He said the purpose of life is to align the finite with the infinite, meaning submission to the lawgiver. In videos he adds that life without purpose leads to hopelessness, and that everything in nature submits to what brought it into existence.
- Purpose comes from submitting, like everything in nature, to what brought us into existence. If we cannot answer where we come from and where we go, nihilism persists. Video 2025 · Atheism vs. Islam: Mohammad…2
- A universe that has design suggests life has purpose, and he says that having no purpose leads to hopelessness. Video 2024 · Convincing Atheists Of God's…2
Life needs no given purpose: we make sense of our own lives.
Meaning comes from loving what is worth loving, not only from submission to a creator.
No sourced position yet on: Source of knowledge, Certainty, Human nature.
On the big questions
Does God exist?Theism
He argues for a necessary being from contingency, with the design argument as a support.
- He starts from the simplest question to ask an atheist: does anything exist? Everything that exists is either contingent (dependent) or necessary. A series of dependent things, finite or infinite, is itself made of dependent parts, so only a necessary being can ground it. This is his version of Ibn Sina's argument. Video 2026 · How Do We Prove God Exists?…23
- He prefers it to Craig's kalam because it resists counterattack better and bypasses debates about time, causation and infinity; and he says there are many kalam arguments, not only Craig's. Video 2026 · How Do We Prove God Exists?…2
- Against the multiverse he answers that even an infinite set of universes is made of parts, so it stays contingent and does not become necessary. Video 2021 · Londoniyyah - Part 9 - Proofs of…2
- Design alone is not enough: it establishes an intelligent, knowing designer, not an all-powerful God. He ranks dependency and causation arguments as the best, and says arguments from weak versions of the principle of sufficient reason are good. Video 2026 · Do Arguments for God Backfire?…2
- Atheism, a mere lack of belief, has no explanatory power. And he holds that God is one: for him the Trinity is a logical contradiction (three almighty persons yet one almighty, a man who is 100% God and 100% man). Video 2025 · Atheism vs. Islam: Mohammad…2
Why must a series of dependent things have an explanation? The universe may simply be there.
He says a series of dependent things, finite or infinite, is itself made of dependent parts, so it cannot explain itself.
An infinite multiverse could be the necessary reality, with no need for God.
He answers that even an infinite set of universes is made of parts, so it stays contingent and does not become necessary.
See 1 more objections
If the Quran is God's eternal speech, there are two eternal beings and God is not one.
He says the words of God are an attribute of God, not a second eternal being.
Defends : The necessary existent: the proof of the truthful, Sufficient reason: why something rather than nothing?, The moral law points to a lawgiver, The fine-tuning of the universe: too perfect a coincidence?Mixed : The world began, so it has a cause, Whatever begins has a cause: the universe too, The watch and the eyeCriticizes : If God seems present, he probably is
The question on the site: all the argumentsDoes life have a meaning?A given meaning
The purpose of life is to align the finite with the infinite.
- Purpose comes from submitting, like everything in nature, to what brought us into existence. If we cannot answer where we come from and where we go, nihilism persists. Video 2025 · Atheism vs. Islam: Mohammad…2
- A universe that has design suggests life has purpose, and he says that having no purpose leads to hopelessness. Video 2024 · Convincing Atheists Of God's…2
Life needs no given purpose: we make sense of our own lives.
Meaning comes from loving what is worth loving, not only from submission to a creator.
Are we free?Free without absolute free will
Close to compatibilism in a theological sense: free choices that God permits and wills. This is our reading of his article.
The question on the site: all the argumentsWhat makes something right?God's will
Objective morality needs a divine source, he argued.
- He does not say atheists lack morals. He says that without God there is no anchor for objective morality, so an atheist cannot claim it. Video 2020 · Apostate Prophet vs. Mohammed…
One can be good without believing in God.
He does not say atheists lack morals. He says that on atheism there is no anchor for objective morality, so an atheist cannot claim it.
Is something good because God commands it, or does God command it because it is good?
Should we believe without proof?Faith and reason agree
He asks for evidence and uses reason as a servant of faith. This is our reading.
- Islam asks believers to demand evidence for every claim ('bring your proof'). He holds God's existence to be true in the plain sense, 'like 2 + 2 = 4', not merely useful. Video 2022 · Talking to Muslims About Christ…2
- Personal religious experience, such as answered prayers, cannot show that a religion is true because it is not demonstrative; philosophy is for him a tool to reach people, not what Islam depends on. Video 2024 · Tough Questions of Priests! -…2
Truth is what works for life, not only a literal fact about the world.
He says that God's existence is true in the plain sense, as a true statement just like 2 + 2 = 4.
Believing in God can be rational without any proof.
He says Islam asks believers to demand evidence for every claim: the Quran says 'bring your proof if you are truthful'.
In their words
The only way to explain the existence of anything is to postulate the existence of an uncaused necessary being.
Islam fulfils both the necessary and sufficient conditions required for belief.
There is no doubt that there is existence.
An atheist cannot have a claim to objective morality.
1 more quotes
All of the arguments that they make for divine simplicity are very weak arguments.
How the ideas evolved
Click a step for details1991Born in London
Born on 5 October 1991 to Egyptian parents. He studies in London, at Al-Azhar in Egypt, at Oxford and at SOAS.
2015Starts his YouTube channel
His channel begins on 16 June 2015 and carries debates and talks.
2018Debate with David Wood: oneness of God against the Trinity
In a formal debate he argues that the Trinity is a logical contradiction (three almighty persons, one almighty God) and defends strict divine oneness.
In their words« It's a contradiction, ladies and gentlemen, that you have fathers almighty, son almighty, uh, holy spirit is almighty, but there are not three almighties, but one almighty. »He argues the Trinity is a logical contradiction and defends strict divine oneness (tawhid). watch
« What we believe is that the calam of Allah which is the words of Allah are an attribute of God »Answering Wood, he treats God's speech as one of His attributes, not a second eternal being. watch
2020Objective morality and atheism
In an online discussion he says he never claims atheists lack morals, only that an atheist has no anchor for objective morality.
In their words« what I will say is that an atheist cannot have a claim to objective morality which is different »He does not say atheists lack morals; he says that on atheism there is no anchor for objective morality. watch
2021The Burhan
He publishes a book that restates Ibn Sina's argument for a necessary being and answers objections.
2021Londoniyyah series on Ibn Sina's proof
He teaches Ibn Sina's argument step by step: something exists, it is contingent or necessary, and even an infinite series of contingent things stays contingent.
In their words« we use philosophy as an instrument to bring people to islam »He says philosophy adds nothing to Islam, which he holds is complete; he uses it as a tool to reach people who do not accept the Quran. watch
« i stood up i said there is no doubt that there is existence that's how i started the debates »He says he opens debates with Ibn Sina's starting point: there is no doubt that something exists. watch
« there cannot be a finite or infinite series of contingent existences as such a series would be composed of many differentiated and dependent members »He reads his own summary: a series of contingent things, finite or infinite, is itself made of dependent parts, so only a necessary being can explain it. watch
2022Articles on the cosmological argument, free will and evidence for Islam
He posts articles in July: Ibn Taymiyyah's contribution to the cosmological argument, divine and human freedom, and the case for Islam.
2022Conversation with Jordan Peterson and Jonathan Pageau
He answers the questions of where we come from and where we go with a creator and a return to God, and says God's existence is true in the plain sense, like 2 + 2 = 4.
In their words« And the answer is we came from a creator »To the questions where we come from and where we go, he answers a creator, and a return to God with our deeds; he says nihilism persists without good answers. watch
« I think if we can't get these two questions right, nihilism will persist »He ties nihilism to not answering where we come from and where we are going. watch
« that there is a God and that's a true statement just like 2 + 2 = 4 is a true statement »He challenges Peterson's pragmatist view of truth: for him God's existence is true in the plain correspondence sense, like 2 + 2 = 4. watch
2026PhD lectures: a God with several attributes
In his Sapience lectures he rejects Ibn Sina's divine simplicity, ranks dependency and causation arguments as the best, and says design arguments alone only show an intelligent designer.
In their words« If you don't have a relationship with divine attributes, you have no relationship with you have no purpose in life. »He defends a God with many real attributes (power, knowledge, mercy) and says a God stripped of attributes would be no better than none. watch
« all of the arguments that they make for divine simplicity are very weak arguments »He rejects divine simplicity in the style of Ibn Sina and wants an argument that reaches a God with several attributes. watch
« the two best arguments are the dependency arguments and causation arguments »He ranks the dependency and causation arguments as the best of the four main families of argument for a necessary being. watch
The arguments 8
The site's arguments they defend or criticize, and why. Click a title to see the full argument.
His book The Burhan restates Ibn Sina's argument and says it is the argument most resistant to counterattack. In 2026 he adds that it avoids debates about time, causation and infinity, and that even an infinite series of contingent things stays contingent.
He treats the necessary-versus-contingent argument as stronger than arguments that rest on the universe having a beginning, because it holds whether or not the universe is eternal.
He argues that a contingent thing cannot cause itself and that an infinite chain of dependent causes is impossible.
He asked an atheist how to get from physical matter to objective morality, citing Hume's is-ought problem, and concluded that only God grounds it.
His reasoning in the Oxford Union debate asks whether something can come from nothing, in the manner of the kalam, but he prefers the contingency argument.
He argues the universe is finely tuned to allow life and uses this to claim that life has a purpose.
He calls the design argument the most intuitive, but says that on its own it only establishes the intelligence and knowledge of God, not an all-powerful God.
Asked about believers who feel their prayers answered, he says personal experience cannot prove that a given religion is true.
Allies and opponents
AvicennaInfluence
His main book builds on Ibn Sina's necessary existent.
Al-GhazaliInfluence
He discusses al-Ghazali's argument against infinite regress and his idea of a sorting agent.
William Lane CraigSparring partner
His Wikipedia page lists a 2024 debate with William Lane Craig; the topic is not given there.
Jordan PetersonSparring partner
They held discussions in 2021 and 2022 on interfaith dialogue and interpretations of Islam. In 2022 he answered Peterson's pragmatist view of truth by saying God's existence is true like 2 + 2 = 4.
DDavid WoodDisagrees
Christian apologist he debated in 2018 on the oneness of God against the Trinity.
Debates and big conversations
Signature ideas
Ibn Taymiyyah's cosmological reasoning
He argues that Ibn Taymiyyah accepted necessary existence, reaching it by sorting things into possible and necessary, and linked it to Qur'anic names of God such as Al-Samad and Al-Qayyum.
A God with real attributes, without parts
He says God is not made of pieces yet has many real attributes, like a razor with no parts that can do more than an electric razor. He rejects Ibn Sina's divine simplicity and argues it cannot be squared with three persons in one God.
Closest and furthest
how it is computedAmong the philosophers
Among today's voices
Take the Compass: 5 minutes to find out which philosophers you are closest to.
All sources (43)
- The Burhan: Arguments for a Necessary Being Inspired by Islamic Thought Goodreads · 2021
- The Burhan: Arguments for a Necessary Being Inspired by Islamic Thought Sapience Institute
- Wrestling with Free Will: Reflections on Divine and Human Freedom mohammedhijab.com · 2022
- Evidences for the Truth of Islam mohammedhijab.com · 2022
- Mohammed Hijab Wikipedia · 2026
- The Cosmological Argument and the Quran mohammedhijab.com · 2022
- Kalam Cosmological Arguments by Mohammed Hijab (summary) Shortform
- Head to Head: Destiny and Mohammed Hijab at the Oxford Union (summary) Oxford Union (summary on rosetta.to) · 2024 *
- How Do We Prove God Exists? Inside My PhD Thesis | Mohammed Hijab YouTube · 2026
- Londoniyyah - Part 9 - Proofs of God's Existence | Mohammed Hijab YouTube · 2021
- Convincing Atheists Of God's Existence | Muhammad Hijab YouTube · 2024
- Atheism vs. Islam: Mohammad Hijab DESTROYS Atheist Arguments! YouTube · 2025
- ***FULL DEBATE!*** Mohammed Hijab vs. David Wood | Tawheed vs. Trinity YouTube · 2018
- Yet Another Humbling Debate For Mohammed Hijab, He Admits Veritas Believes In 1 God/Speakers Corner YouTube · 2026
- Apostate Prophet vs. Mohammed Hijab | Muslims Ambush Ex-Muslim YouTube · 2020
- Mohammad Hijab MENGHANCURKAN Takdir dalam Debat Islam vs Atheisme YouTube · 2025
- How Do We Prove God Exists? Inside My PhD Thesis | Mohammed Hijab YouTube · 2026
- How Do We Prove God Exists? Inside My PhD Thesis | Mohammed Hijab YouTube · 2026
- How Do We Prove God Exists? Inside My PhD Thesis | Mohammed Hijab YouTube · 2026
- How Do We Prove God Exists? Inside My PhD Thesis | Mohammed Hijab YouTube · 2026
- How Do We Prove God Exists? Inside My PhD Thesis | Mohammed Hijab YouTube · 2026
- How Do We Prove God Exists? Inside My PhD Thesis | Mohammed Hijab YouTube · 2026
- Londoniyyah - Part 9 - Proofs of God's Existence | Mohammed Hijab YouTube · 2021
- Londoniyyah - Part 9 - Proofs of God's Existence | Mohammed Hijab YouTube · 2021
- Londoniyyah - Part 9 - Proofs of God's Existence | Mohammed Hijab YouTube · 2021
- Londoniyyah - Part 9 - Proofs of God's Existence | Mohammed Hijab YouTube · 2021
- Londoniyyah - Part 9 - Proofs of God's Existence | Mohammed Hijab YouTube · 2021
- Atheism vs. Islam: Mohammad Hijab DESTROYS Atheist Arguments! YouTube · 2025
- Talking to Muslims About Christ | Mohammed Hijab & Jonathan Pageau | EP 297 YouTube · 2022
- Talking to Muslims About Christ | Mohammed Hijab & Jonathan Pageau | EP 297 YouTube · 2022
- Talking to Muslims About Christ | Mohammed Hijab & Jonathan Pageau | EP 297 YouTube · 2022
- Convincing Atheists Of God's Existence | Muhammad Hijab YouTube · 2024
- Convincing Atheists Of God's Existence | Muhammad Hijab YouTube · 2024
- Convincing Atheists Of God's Existence | Muhammad Hijab YouTube · 2024
- Do Arguments for God Backfire? Mohammed Hijab on Special Pleading & Divine Attributes YouTube · 2026
- Do Arguments for God Backfire? Mohammed Hijab on Special Pleading & Divine Attributes YouTube · 2026
- Do Arguments for God Backfire? Mohammed Hijab on Special Pleading & Divine Attributes YouTube · 2026
- Do Arguments for God Backfire? Mohammed Hijab on Special Pleading & Divine Attributes YouTube · 2026
- Do Arguments for God Backfire? Mohammed Hijab on Special Pleading & Divine Attributes YouTube · 2026
- ***FULL DEBATE!*** Mohammed Hijab vs. David Wood | Tawheed vs. Trinity YouTube · 2018
- ***FULL DEBATE!*** Mohammed Hijab vs. David Wood | Tawheed vs. Trinity YouTube · 2018
- Yet Another Humbling Debate For Mohammed Hijab, He Admits Veritas Believes In 1 God/Speakers Corner YouTube · 2026
- Tough Questions of Priests! - Most Debated Issues of Muslims & Christians @MohammedHijab YouTube · 2024