Problems with Dawa Methods
Behnam Sadeghi
On college campuses some Muslims use dawa methods that make most students
who come in contact with them despise them. It's not always the contents
of their assertions that is at issue. Rather, it is the WAY they go about
it, and the TIMEs and PLACEs they choose. They come across as arrogant,
dogmatic, and ignorant. They may attract a person or two here or there,
but they repel many. And the odd person or two whom they attract is often
on the freaky side himself or herself. The more intelligent, studious,
and rational students are repelled by what they interpret as a close mind
and dogmatic, uncritical attitude. They begin talking about Muslims in the
same manner as they do about the "Campus Crusade for Christ" or about the
New Age freaks.
Another problem is the awful things Muslims distribute as dawa literature.
The literature often makes claims about "scientific facts" in the Qur'an.
These are basically the same kinds of claims that some Hindus (on the
freaky side) make about the Hindu scriptures. Such claims could be made
about any ancient religious text, since religious scripture by its nature
has to use metaphors and parables, which must be somewhat ambiguous and
therefore susceptible to being twisted by weak and insecure minds into
this or that theory: evolution, the big bang, quantum mechanics, etc.
It is quite telling that in EVERY SINGLE INSTANCE these scientific
theories were read into the Qur'an only AFTER they were proposed in modern
times! Now, if the pseudo-scientific claims about the Qur'an are valid,
does it not follow that the Qur'an is in these passages so vague that for
centuries not even a single person could guess what it was really saying?
And if these passages do have this character of vagueness and ambiguity,
how on earth can you claim that they talk about scientific concepts, which
require precise and unambiguous language? A passage can be called
scientific only if it is clearly understood at the very outset to entail
certain experiential predictions. None of the alleged "scientific" verses
in the Qur'an meet this criterion.
In the literature Muslims hand out, why not focus on the basic message of
Islam instead, like the one God, with His attributes as mentioned in the
Qur'an, prayers, the Judgement, and the importance of being honest, kind,
and caring? Focus on themes that are repeated over and over again in the
Qur'an. There is a reason why they are emphasized.
And what is with all those quotes from Voltaire and Napoleon about how
great Islam is? Is the appeal to "authority" or "fame" an effective way
of making a point? It may be effective only for authoritarian and
irrational folks. Or else, it could at best be a way of dealing with
one's inferiority complex vis. a vis. the West, the goal being to convince
ONESELF, by citing famous non-Muslim Westerners, that one's attachment to
Islam is not so preposterous after all. Only a high level of insecurity
in one's faith could lead one down this path.
At any rate this approach has nothing to do with the search for truth.
Voltaire and Napoleon were people too, and they could easily be wrong.
People are very limited and know very little, and this applies to geniuses
and great scholars too. Moreover, for every genius you cite who had
favorable views on Islam, you can cite another genius who did not. Such an
approach would at best attract only authoritarian people to Islam,
increasing the ratio of dumb Muslims.
Speaking of inferiority complexes: why is that Muslim immigrants are so
eager to parade white American converts? They will have white converts
give speeches on Islam even if the particular convert in question happens
to not be a good speaker, and even if he or she happens to know very
little. I think the reason why is obvious: a deep inferiority complex vis
a vis the dominant white culture. Some Muslims have so little confidence
in their faith that they need an affirmation by a white convert to
convince them that Islam might be worth something. They find it
fascinating that a white American might consider becoming a Muslim.
Which is why I attribute the great popularity of Maurice Bucaille's book
among Muslims partly to the fact that his name is Maurice Bucaille, and
not Murad Bakri. So, here we have a book which at a psychological level
is doubly satisfying: it recruits the support of Western science for
Islam, and does so through the authorship of a Westerner. That
combination ensures a hit.
(Also incidentally, those Muslims who are not in awe of white Muslims,
sometimes go to the opposite extreme, and think they're better than the
converts because they've been a Muslim since the beginning, and they
become very condescending. I guess that way they can feel better about
themselves and deal with their insecurities and inadequacies. But that's
another story.)
And what is it with all those attacks on Judaism and Christianity in the
dawa literature? The major threat to godliness in America comes from
atheism, greed, and selfishness. To defend against these problems, it
would be better to cooperate with Christians and Jews rather than try to
destroy the little that remains of people's faith. One could show people
the merits of Islam without necessarily trying to destroy the faith of all
Christians and Jews. The Qur'an itself appeals to Christians and Jews to
join Muslims to unite on a common platform of belief in God and good
deeds. The idea of cooperation with "good" Christians and Jews is in the
Qur'an (as is, of course, the idea of non-cooperation with "bad"
Christians and Jews).
Now, I don't want to be misunderstood. Nothing is wrong with criticism of
religions per se. But the kind of criticism one finds in the dawa
literature tends to be more destructive than constructive. Besides, it
suffers from the same intellectual poverty as the science-in-the-Qur'an
mumbo jumbo. Moreover, it is full of double standards. Objections are
often directed at Christians that could equally be made against Muslims.
So, these types of objections could not be possibly valid. If they were
valid, they would cut both ways.
Behnam
khalid
when do the problems with dawa starts
when the call to Islam changes its direction
when groups starts to form
when leaders assume control
when the members of the group become submissive
when no dissenting voice is heard
when leaders are glorified
when ALLAH is not their lord
\
when leaders become muslim priests
when the la in la tafarraqu is missing
when Muhammad ( S.A.W.) is side tracked
the proof: thousand of dakwah groups are in existence
the results; DISMAL
The solution; acknowledge the failure of
organised present dawah methods
(which no organisation would want
to admit) and start anew.
Inshallah.
wassalam khalid
* Sent from AltaVista http://www.altavista.com Where you can also find related Web Pages, Images, Audios, Videos, News, and Shopping. Smart is Beautiful
mtaylor
I just wanted to let you know from a white american that has reverted to
Islam I agree with you. I to was given the flyers on sci. proof and the
others that you mentioned. If it had not been for my study of Islam for 10
months befor going to the masjib I might have walked away and not thought
twice. Please arab brothers slow down on trying to proove Islam to me I had
accepted it befor I walked in the door. Now I may not be like others , but I
would never have found this way had it been pushed on me.
The walk is mighter than the talk.
Mike
Tai Fu
some reason a group of pakistanis dont know how to unite. They act more
like Atheists. I try to give speech but no one allows me, I dont know
why, cause I always feel left out cause no one in MSA is chinese and no
one talks to me. I wanted to make a point about Young Muslims who are
acting as if they dont believe in god, but no one lets me. And sometime
I go crazy about this!!
--
Tai Fu
NAR# 76089
Website: http://web.wt.net/~taifu
Company: http://www.youngsfashion.com
nasiru...@my-deja.com
You started a pretty interesting thread. You mentioned a lot of
examples of "bad da'wah" so now please give some examples of "good
da'wah".
I think the problem is that most of us were born from muslim parents.
We haven't really reverted or converted to Islam so we can't really
understand why a non-muslim would convert or revert. We can
hypothosize and say, "If I was born into a non-muslim family what would
spark me or trigger me into looking into Islam or accepting Islam?"
I really admire those that accepted Islam though brought up in a non-
muslim family. It is like the difference between a self-made
millionaire and one who inherited a million bucks. The first will
always be greater than the latter in a sense. If I was born in a
millionaire family I can ask myself "If I was born in a poor family
what could have I done to make a million dollars?" I can ask myself
this a million times but I can never be sure if it would have really
worked because I was never in a poor man's shoes.
All I can do is thank Allah that he guided us in whichever way He
willed to guide us:
And We will remove whatever of ill-feeling is in their breasts; the
rivers shall flow beneath them and they shall say: All praise is due to
Allah Who guided us to this, and we would not have found the way had it
not been that Allah had guided us; certainly the messengers of our Lord
brought the truth; and it shall be cried out to them that this is the
garden of which you are made heirs for what you did. (7:43)
If you want to call to the way of Allah it is important to remember one
thing:
Surely you cannot guide whom you love, but Allah guides whom He
pleases, and He knows best the followers of the right way. [28:56]
Guidance comes in mysterious ways. You can pile the hundred greatest
books written about Islam in front of someone and he will never accept
Islam in a million years.
That same exact person can be guided or attracted to Islam by simply
observing you pray or by observing the peace you have in your life as
compared to himself.
There is a great saying of the Imam Ja'far al Sadiq (as):
Be Callers for mankind without your tongues; that they may see from you
piety and hard work and Salat and goodness.
(Kuunuu du'aatan linnaas bighayri alsinatikum liyaraw minkumul war'a
wal ijtihaada wassalaata walkhayr.)
An important verse to keep in mind also is:
Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and
have disputations with them in the best manner; surely your Lord best
knows those who go astray from His path, and He knows best those who
follow the right way. (16:125)
How would you define wisdom, goodly exhortation and best disputation?
I see nothing wrong with demonstating that Islam is a scientific
religion or contrasting the differences of Islam with other world
religions like Christianity. I agree that attacking Christianity is
not neccessarily the best way.
>From experience it is better to start first with what Islam and
Christianity have in common and to avoid "differences" until the end.
Very few christians know that Jesus and his mother are even mentioned
in the Qur'an or that religion and scientific progress have never been
opposed to eachother in Islam as has been the case with Science and
Christianity.
I think printing Christmas Cards with verses about Jesus and his mother
>from the Qur'an to give to your christian friends is an excellent
opportunity to start a dialog or call to Islam.
A couple of good books that I have come accross about calling to Islam
are:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/086590250X/
Preaching of Islam : A History of the Propagation of the Muslim Faith
by Thomas Walker, Sir Arnold
Though written by a christian missionary, it is one of the best books I
have read on the subject.
and
Why Islam Is Our Only Choice Muhammad Hanif Shahid H 328
13.5
Islam Our Choice (Abridged Edition) Ebrahim Ahmed Bawany S
115 4.5
They are collections of essays written by converts or reverts
explaining how or why they looked into Islam and eventually accepted it.
You can pickup all these books at http://www.halalco.com
A nice online book that covers a lot of questions and answers about
Islam in a very simple manner can be found at:
http://www.al-islam.org/inquiries/index.html
This is one of the best books I ever read about Islam.
warmest regards,
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Sifr ibn Saladin
"Behnam Sadeghi" <b...@umich.edu> wrote in message
news:Pine.SOL.4.10.99112...@qbert.gpcc.itd.umich.edu...
<excised>
> And what is it with all those attacks on Judaism and Christianity in the
> dawa literature? The major threat to godliness in America comes from
> atheism, greed, and selfishness. To defend against these problems, it
> would be better to cooperate with Christians and Jews rather than try to
> destroy the little that remains of people's faith. One could show people
> the merits of Islam without necessarily trying to destroy the faith of all
> Christians and Jews. The Qur'an itself appeals to Christians and Jews to
> join Muslims to unite on a common platform of belief in God and good
> deeds. The idea of cooperation with "good" Christians and Jews is in the
> Qur'an (as is, of course, the idea of non-cooperation with "bad"
> Christians and Jews).
Being a convert, one of the more effective tools I found in making certain I
remained within Islam was going to the masjid, learning from my brothers.
They took me right in. The first day I entered a masjid I took the shahada
and they gathered me under their wing. It was this priceless, crucial
tutelage which helped me through some very rough times with my parents,
co-workers and friends over religion.
I've found that a critical knowledge of Islam and Christianity was essential
to defending myself before those who took issue with my conversion. Though
it's not a hearting process--learning that your whole life spent as a
Christian was under false pretenses and that, in essence, you were
perpetuating a two millennia-long lie--had I *NOT* known of textual
criticism, the numerous contradictions in the Bible, ect, I would've never
been able to hold up against my parents, who were rather irate. I'm partly
agreeing with Br. Behnam here--perhaps dawa literature isn't the appropriate
place for bringing forth all the many problems with Christianity--but it
should be taught to new converts as quickly as possible. They have to be
able to stand on their own two feet.
As to how to gather converts (reverts) in the *first* place...interestingly
enough, a wonderful piece of work was done by the Saudi Embassy called, I
believe, 'Understanding Islam and the Muslims'. No diatribes against other
faiths, just an overview of the Islamic world. Most Westerners--North
Americans in particular--do not have an appreciation of the universality of
Islam. What they *THINK* they know about Islam comes solely from the
secular, often religiously hostile media. Basically it almost comes down to
two or three corrupted messages: all Muslims are Arabs ("It's the religion
of Arabs."), Usama bin Ladin hates the West and "they all wanna drive the
Israelis into the Mediterranean". How many Westerners know that only 20% of
Islam is Arabic? Or that it's the fastest growing religion in the West? Or
that their numbers are very nearly equal to the numbers of Jews in the US?
Hardly any.
The best dawa literature in my mind would attempt to wipe out the myths,
legends and stereotypes of Islam *first*, teach *true* Islam second and
*then* give the convert intellectual leverage against those who would draw
him away from his faith (cite the contradictions in both Testaments of the
Bible, ect.).
Salaam,
Sifr
--
___________________________________
Sifr ibn Saladin
Si...@worldnet.att.net