An atheist saying “Can Allaah create a god like Himself?”
Question

                Some atheists ask questions such as, “If Allaah is able to do all things, can He create another god like Himself?” or “Can He create something so heavy that He cannot lift it?”.
Praise be to Allah.Firstly: 
The atheist 
    needs someone who will call him to Allaah and remind him of the blessing and 
    signs of Allaah which point to His existence, Oneness and might. 
The entire 
    universe points to Allaah, may He be exalted, how can anyone deny it? 
How could 
    anyone disobey God or how could anyone deny Him
When God has 
    a sign in everything that exists to point to His Oneness? 
No attention 
    should be paid to the specious arguments of the atheists and those who have 
    gone astray, except by the one who is qualified to refute them. So we must 
    be very cautious, because a specious argument may become settled in the 
    heart, after which it is difficult to get rid of it. 
Secondly: 
This 
    argument is one of the oldest specious arguments offered by the atheists, 
    and the scholars have a well known answer to it, which may be summed up in 
    two points: 
1 – This 
    matter is impossible, because if the other one was a god, it would not be 
    possible to create him. To assume that he can be a god and be created is 
    impossible. 
It says in
    al-Durar al-Saniyyah min al-Ajwabah al-Najdiyyah (3/265): A story 
    discussing a different issue was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas, which is that 
    the devils said to Iblees, O our master, why do we see you rejoicing over 
    the death of a scholar in a way that you do not rejoice over the death of a 
    worshipper? For we cannot influence the scholar but we can influence the 
    worshipper. He said: Go a worshipper, go to him when he is worshipping. They 
    said: We want to ask you. He turned to them and Iblees said: Can your Lord 
    create another like Himself? He said: I do not know. He said: Don’t you see 
    that his worship cannot benefit him when he is so ignorant? 
They asked a 
    scholar about that and he said: That is impossible, because if he were like 
    Him, he could not have been created, and the idea that he is created and is 
    like Him is impossible. If he is created he is not like Him, rather he is 
    just one of His slaves. He said: Don’t you see that this man can destroy in 
    an hour what it took years to build? And Allaah knows best. End quote. 
2 – The idea 
    of another god existing alongside Allaah is inherently impossible. There is 
    a great deal of evidence to suggest that it is impossible, the least of 
    which is the existence of this organized universe. If there were another 
    god, the system of the universe would be spoiled because they would compete 
    with one another and each of them would want to prevail over the other, as 
    Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 
“Had 
    there been therein (in the heavens and the earth) aalihah (gods) besides 
    Allaah, then verily, both would have been ruined. Glorified be Allaah, the 
    Lord of the Throne, (High is He) above all that (evil) they associate with 
    Him!”

    [al-Anbiya’ 21:22]
“No son 
    (or offspring) did Allaah beget, nor is there any ilaah (god) along with 
    Him. (If there had been many gods), then each god would have taken away what 
    he had created, and some would have tried to overcome others! Glorified be 
    Allaah above all that they attribute to Him!”

    [al-Mu’minoon 23:91]
Ibn Katheer 
    (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in his Tafseer: i.e., if there 
    was a number of gods, each one of them would have taken away that which he 
    created and the universe would be in disarray. What we see is that the 
    universe is organized and orderly, and each realm, upper and lower, is 
    connected to the other in the most perfect manner. “you can see no fault 
    in the creation of the Most Gracious” [al-Mulk 67:3].  And each of them 
    would seek to dominate the others and some of them would prevail over 
    others. 
The same 
    applies to the creation of an object so heavy that Allaah could not lift it. 
    It is impossible, because Allaah is the One who creates it, and He is able 
    to destroy it at any moment, so how can He be unable to lift it? 
The atheist 
    only wants to cast aspersions on the general meaning of the words of Allaah,
    “Allaah has power over all things” [al-Talaaq 65:12].  So he says, if 
    He has power over all things, why does He not have the power to do this? 
The answer 
    is: Because it is impossible, it is nothing. 
That which 
    is impossible does not exist, because it cannot exist, so it is nothing, 
    even if the mind can imagine it. It is known that the mind can assume and 
    imagine the impossible, the mind can imagine two opposites, such as 
    something existing and not existing, at the same time. 
The verse 
    states that Allaah has power over “things” but that does not include things 
    that are inherently impossible, because they are not things, rather they do 
    not exist and they cannot be brought into existence. 
Hence more 
    than one of the scholars have stated that the power of Allaah has to do with 
    that which is possible, for the reason that we have mentioned, which is that 
    that which is non-existent and impossible is not a “thing”. 
Shaykh 
    al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: As for Ahl 
    al-Sunnah, in their view Allaah, may He be exalted, has power over all 
    things, and everything that is possible is included in that. As for that 
    which is inherently impossible, such as a thing both existing and being 
    non-existent, there is no reality in it and its existence cannot be 
    imagined, so it cannot be called a “thing” according to the consensus of the 
    wise. This includes the idea of creating another like Himself, and so on. 
    End quote from Manhaaj al-Sunnah (2/294). 
Ibn 
    al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in Shifa’ al-‘Aleel (p. 
    374): Because that which is impossible is not a “thing”, so His Power has 
    nothing to do with it. Allaah has power over all things and no possible 
    thing is beyond His power. End quote. 
And Allaah 
    knows best.