Salaam,
I had always understood that many of the early alchemists were Muslims. Where would alchemists become atheists? I have not found any in the arena of philosophy. That is blending two divergent thoughts. Please give me source that is more cogent than google.
Well I really can't give you a source thats more cogent than google becuase google is a search engine. If I take that out then I really can't research. Its true most early alchemists were Muslim people but thats why I bolded the word "most" on my last post. Not all of them were aethiests but most were. Alchemists and Materialism people were linked. So materialism is in a way the same word as Atheism, give or take a few charateristics. If you would like a video, then watch the Harun Yaha video where he debunks the theory of Evolution. In the beginning of the video he explains how Darwin's theory was first supported by Alchemists.
Here is the definition of of Materialism:
Materialism: the philosophical theory that regards matter and its motions as constituting the universe, and all phenomena, including those of mind, as due to material agencies.
and also this
Materialism: Philosophy The theory that physical matter is the only reality and that everything, including thought, feeling, mind, and will, can be explained in terms of matter and physical phenomena.
Dictionary.com is where I pulled that from.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/materialism
Oh, and here is a really good one:
Atheism and Materialism:
Atheists are usually materialists of some sort, rejecting the idea that there exists anything independent of the workings of matter and energy. Materialism often entails atheism unless a person believes in a purely physical god, but atheism does not entail materialism. It may be hard to believe in a god in a materialistic philosophy, but an atheistic philosophy need not be materialistic.
This is where I pulled the above text from:
http://atheism.about.com/od/philosophyschoolssystems/p/materialism.htm
Hope I helped.