Overview
- Javed Akhtar and Mufti Shamail Nadwi faced off for nearly two hours at the Constitution Club on Saturday, with Saurabh Dwivedi moderating before a packed hall and a large online audience.
- Nadwi argued a metaphysical first-cause position and said reason, rather than empirical science, is the proper basis for assessing claims about God.
- Akhtar centered his case on human suffering and moral contradictions, invoking the war in Gaza to question belief in an all‑powerful, benevolent deity.
- At one point Akhtar quipped that the prime minister is better than an omnipotent God, a line that drew reactions across the audience and online.
- Organisers framed the event as a civil, academic exchange focused on God’s existence itself after an earlier cancellation involving Akhtar, and reports noted more than 1.5 million livestream views within six hours.