Do you want the Comparative Religion section Open?

I understand that there could be more disadvantages than advantages, but as I said before perhaps if we opened it for a trial period for a little while and if it is invaded by trolls bashing Islam or it descends into bitter arguments we can always close it and seal it up forever.

As a young Muslim myself I wouldn't feel discouraged by seeing others ask questions about Islam, it would encourage me to learn more and tbh most questions non-Muslims ask are more about the fundamentals of Islam and aqeedah than fiqh, inshaAllah some here would be well-informed enough to reply.

format_quote Originally Posted by noraina

I understand that there could be more disadvantages than advantages, but as I said before perhaps if we opened it for a trial period for a little while and if it is invaded by trolls bashing Islam or it descends into bitter arguments we can always close it and seal it up forever.

As a young Muslim myself I wouldn't feel discouraged by seeing others ask questions about Islam, it would encourage me to learn more and tbh most questions non-Muslims ask are more about the fundamentals of Islam and aqeedah than fiqh, inshaAllah some here would be well-informed enough to reply.

That alone is a good reason to reopen it. Questions from non-Muslims does encourage us to look further into our own beliefs. We do not know what we don't know until some one asks a question we have difficulty answering. If looked at properly hard questions are the key for growth of our own Eeman. Questions should be encouraged, not avoided.

format_quote Originally Posted by Hamza :)

Mods are active 24/7

You think that mods never sleep?

format_quote Originally Posted by Zafran

The comparative religion section last time it was opened was a less about Comparative religion and more about bashing each other to death, furthermore learning about other faiths can easily be done outside this forum. So I voted keep it shut.

I agree with you. It’s inevitable that Members will find non-Islamic statements and positions to be offensive and not correct.

As in the past, this is likely to arouse emotional and confusing responses.

In relation to understanding challenging questions:

Islamicboard already has a comprehensive selection of forums and threads that have valuable information on topics such as Aqeedah and Clarifications about Islam. Members are encouraged to study these existing threads and respond with any questions that they may have.

We also have a number of non-Muslim Members whose participation on the Forum is greatly appreciated. To those members: Please do not be offended by my stance against the proselytization of other faiths on this Forum. As my brothers and sisters in humanity, I lovingly invite all of you to accept Islam.

For a Muslim, the end result in comparing religions must be to show that the position of the other religion is incorrect. A Muslim cannot accept anything that opposes the guidance of Muhammad to be valid. Muslims need to understand and internalize the Islamic understanding of other religions and perspectives of life. That said, the Deen of Islam already comprehensively guides a Muslim towards positive and peaceful coexistence with everyone in humanity. In other words, we can get along despite our differences – the Prophet Muhammad told me that.

Comparative discussions are qualitatively different than clarifications. There are many Muslims that may not even understand the dialogue that occur in comparative discussions, resulting in confusion.

As a final note: It is believed that opening the Comparative Religions forum will give the green light for various types of missionary work to occur on Islamicboard.

Assalaamu alaikum,


I've been reading the discussion to date. I feel a little conflict of interest, because if this section is opened, then I suspect that moderators will have more work to do. (smile) And I ask myself, if I think it's a good idea to open this section, would I be willing to put extra time in?!

Could it be a good idea to share understandings of different people's positions? Yes, I think so. Not really for direct daw'ah purposes, but because it is important to understand one another better 1) So we can respect and get along better with one another, but also because 2) when a Muslim tries to call someone to Islam, it is very important for the Muslim to understand the other person's fundamental assumptions.

I've often heard Muslims and others talking to one another, each thinking that they made perfect sense, but actually, they were not truly communicating. Because of the assumptions we make about another person and their fundamental understandings, we often do not convey what we think we are conveying. What the other hears is something very different from what we intended.

Daw'ah is not easy. You can't just broadcast what you think is right. You have to have deep understanding of where the other person is coming from. And how can you do this, if you have not sincerely listened to the other person?

Of course, I agree that there are armchair proselytizers, people who wish to bait Muslims for fun, people who like to argue to fill their lives with some sort of empty victories, and suchlike. And such people can be rather tiresome (literally!). (mildly) Though even these people are human beings. And, I think, need to be treated one by one. However, more importantly, there are other people who are sincerely trying to discuss in order to understand. Or to be understood. And are these not people that we should interact with? For their sake. And for ours (for how enriching it can be to have one's thoughts challenged, and how motivating to try to learn and understand Islam better).

(sigh) However, there are human limits to how much a Forum can absorb.

(pensively) What about a sort of quota? That is, a certain number of posts per time frame in the comparative religion section?

And what about if the comparative section not be used to try to triumph over another person, but be about trying to understand another person? We could say: we're not here to debate you, but to understand you. We could ask the posters questions. Then summarize and say : is this what you believe? And then, perhaps, we can say what we believe. Not in order to crush them. But in order to help them understand us better. It could also help those Muslims who do not know their faith well to learn, also. (sigh) It is astonishing how many Christian beliefs I have found expressed by Muslims, who actually thought those beliefs were Islamic.

This format may sound strange to you, but it is what we do in my local community. I am part of a Muslim-Christian dialogue committee. We share. We try to understand. We do conferences so that our respective views can be better understood by the other. (smile) For instance, when we had a conference about the views of Maryam (Mary) (May God Bless her) in Islam and in Catholicism, there were no mass conversions! But I think we came to understand that one another's positions had similarities and differences, and we realized that the views were much more thoughtful and developed than we thought they were.

This increased understanding helps us to feel more at ease with one another. It has been lowering some barriers. (smile) And when barriers are lowered, we can not only live together better, and do good works together, but we can touch hearts.

So in summary:

1) Perhaps we could limit the discussions to what we can deal with, perhaps freezing the section if we get overloaded, until we have time again? We could perhaps also put a limit to the length of a post. Or insist that one point be discussed at a time (some people like to throw everything and the kitchen sink at you in one go).

2) Perhaps we could encourage people of other beliefs to try to explain their beliefs to us. Then ask them questions to try to understand better, then summarize. Then explain (without denigrating the other's beliefs or looking to triumph) what our own understandings are, from an Islamic perspective. No debate. Just a sharing of views in a respectful manner.

For example: OP: I believe that Jesus was the son of God.
Question: What does that mean to you? Do you believe that God had a child?
Next: the original poster would explain his/her position.
We could ask as many questions as we liked, till we felt we could summarize the poster's position.
Then we could say: The Qur'an teaches that Jesus was a Prophet of God.

(smile) This is, of course, a simplification. But I think it could be a way of dealing with the issue in a way that is low-conflict, respectful, and teaches about the Islamic position.

(smile) So these are my thoughts to add to the pot.


May Allah, the Repeatedly Forgiving, have Mercy on us, and Guide us to doing what is best Pleasing to Him.

format_quote Originally Posted by farhan

Kind of like 24/7 .

Mods from Canada, Bangladesh, UK, America etc. All corners of the globe .

bro , pl. include 2 more options . As already suggested , not sure option and Yes but after Ramadan.

Greetings,

format_quote Originally Posted by ibn-Adam

Because each of those paragraphs were reflections by different moderators. Both of them who wrote that said the same thing.

I thought this might be the case.

Most scholars and knowledgeable people have busy offline lives. They have far important things to do than engage in online debates and discussions.

This forum and others like it are a valuable channel for communication between Muslims and non-Muslims. That dialogue is surely vitally important, so your opinion here is surprising.

We have a dedicated section on understanding Islam and clarifying misconceptions.

True. The boundaries between the two forums have often been blurred, and the Comparative Religion forum has become a catch-all area for all sorts of discussions, often debates, and often discussions that go outside the category of comparative religion.

Maybe what is needed is simply a debating forum. There is an established Islamic tradition of debate in intellectual matters, so why not? Is it certain that no knowledgable Muslims can be found who wish to engage in debates here on the Islamicboard? Maybe people need to look at other forums nowadays if they are interested in such discussions?

Keeping a diamond in a safe and not comparing it with other stones does not indicate its weakness when its clarity has already been established.

This is hardly an appropriate comparison. Ideas should be free to be discussed with no restrictions, unless they are things like state secrets or ideas under patent or perhaps copyright. Islam isn't like this, though. It's a system of beliefs and practices that is, in theory, available to everyone. Why shouldn't it be examined and debated from all angles?

Peace

That is a good idea, sister. Actually when I was learning about Islam I knew no Arabic words at all and I can imagine how helpful a list would be here.

InshaAllah, we must all strive for communication and understanding with those of other faiths, particularly, as you said, that Islam, Christianity and Judaism have many similarities despite the differences between them. That is one of the reasons I love this forum so much - it allows people of different faiths to communicate and understand each other's views and opinions, and this is even without the Comparative Religion section.

Salaam,