The majority of the world is judging Islam by its bad followers, how we can clarify things to them?
In most cases they got brainwashed by their media and only see the bad followers forgetting about those who are following the right way of Islam.
Even when we try to convince them to go and read the Quran or Sunnah to get the right facts they always can't get rid of that bad image of Islam they have in their minds.
wa alaykum us-Salam dear sis. i wrote this reply up over a week ago, but didn't get around to posting it.
realize that Allah is the only one who can change heart <---most important.
realize and do what is upon you to do, i.e give dawah, answer their queries, etc but in the end it is Allah who can change the hearts...so there is only a certain extent you can actually do. if you get too ahead of yourself, you may end up > imsad
know how to give dawah! every person is different, every person thinks and feels differently and every person will have different questions, so know how the mentally of the person you are calling to is, and approach it through that channel. In other words, treat people as INDIVIDUALS!
it is next to pointless to talk to a 6yr old primary school student about complex maths equations, whilst at that age they are still learning what 1+1 is! so in other words "mould" your dawah around the person to suit their mentality.
as our hero
P) shiekh Muhammad al-3areefi once said (along the lines of), you need to know 2 things when giving dawah: the persons mentality and the knowledge of what you need to tell them.
for example, a deviant Muslim, you need to know what their own creed is and you need to have the proper (Islamic) knowledge to counter act it.
you can know another persons belief by asking our own scholars/reading the tafseers of the relevant ayahs/hadiths.
listen to talks about how to give dawah, and also take note and observe how other people and/or shiekhs give dawah to others as well. note their mistakes and good points so that you know what to avoid and implement when calling people to allah.
they will hear all sorts of baloney from all corners of the earth concerning Islam, so make sure you are armed with the proper knowledge to back it up with. make sure you know what it is they may dislike us for< ---i have a simple formula to know this: any aspect of Islam that does not conform to their ways of life, they will attack. the hijab/niqaab, polygamy, obedience to husband, etc because think about it: nothing that conforms with ones way of thinking may be considered a threat/dislike? get me???
to get an idea what it is you need to address, read their papers, watch their news channels, i would suggest go to their forums, but :hmm: i like to skim through this very forum to get an idea of how it is they think.
before answering their questions, know exactly what it is they don't grasp or understand. for example someone may ask you (this isnt necessarily relevant to this thread because i cant seem think of a relevant question right now) "i want to become Muslim" you answer with: *nice polite attitute* "oh so what is it that you know about Islam?
"
they may answer you with a misconception they have about Islam, may tell you they believe in Allah, except they dont believe in the angels, etc. so by asking questions, you find out what it is they know, and for what they dont know/misunderstand you can clarify (as opposed to jumping the gun and bombarding them with a bunch of confusing information <---major put off).
inshallah if they do end accepting Islam, it is done with knowledge and a whole-heartened acceptance, inshallah.
the reason why i say you need to ask questions first is because sometimes you mean something so innocent but your tongue may slip and you mention something they may seem so so alien to them, since it isn't apart of their norm/culture. this may cause them to be put off Islam, based on a mere misunderstanding.
also remember that it is the way you word something that could make a worlds difference. for example: polygamy. mention the hardship he has to go through first
(they dont like men so hearing any thing of hardship to them, may come as a delight
) or marriage...mention here about her financial obligation and rights over him (people hate men
and love wealth so hearing that she gets a mandatory dowry of what
evershe wants will sound pretty impressive) i remember speaking about something like this to a non-Muslim and boy was she impressed
) also in a situation like this, perhaps they have hears of a religion/culture that implements and preaches the same practices of Islam...so by stating that other practices, cultures etc do the same thing, they will feel a little more familiar and comforted by it.
as for those who after you have kindly and gently explained to them about Islam, and yet are adamant on being arrogant, either ignore them and/or speak to them just as harshly as they speak to you (i personally prefer the latter :X). islam is not a door mat to be taking such rubbish from arrogant people.
all the best ukhtee.
