[pirinosa]

also, whenever I read research stuff to give daawah to non muslims, I remind myself in the beginning, "I don't need this to believe in you, Allah, I believe you BLINDLY, I need no proof" inclucate that habit. I really believe in Him and everything he says blindly and I need no proof whatsoever.

[seervezex]

also, whenever I read research stuff to give daawah to non muslims, I remind myself in the beginning, "I don't need this to believe in you, Allah, I believe you BLINDLY, I need no proof" inclucate that habit. I really believe in Him and everything he says blindly and I need no proof whatsoever.

Thats definitely a good thing to do, we have to take care of our Imaan first.

[mynaflzak]

i agree with both, warea and amr123... while putting urself into the non-muslims shoes maybe neassary to address the persons position in life, caution must be executed to make sure that we do not fall victim to shaitaans whisperings.

consider a person who is ffrom a rural village. it wouldnt affect him if we talk about things above his comprehension. we must put ourselves in his level of thought - [NOTE: not type of thought- level-], and speak to him in a way that he understands.
this may not work well with the rich city man with a unversity education, he would require proofs of a differeent nature to the uneducated man. thus we must align our thinkin mind to that avenue.

this is what i think warea was talking about... the necessity to think of the non-mulims POSITION in life by putting ourselves into his MATERIAL not spiritual shoes\\


wassalam

[violetgorman]

Why should we put our selves in the shoes of those who deny Allah(SWT), beloved Prophet (PBUH) and here after? Do you realize the severity of this preposition? These things are inconceivable.

Masha Allah wonderful point!

[violetgorman]

Also concerning the ayah:

“They said: ‘Our Lord doth know that we have been sent on a mission to you’”[Yasin verse 16]

We see that these messengers are speaking to please Allah SWT as He SWT is listening to them and watching them closely. According to them, it doesn’t matter what the unbelievers think of them as long as Allah SWT is pleased and impressed.

May we all have that mindset in our da’wah endeavors. Amin Ya Allah
WALLAAHU A’LAM wa HighHopes laa ta3lam illa maa callamahaa Allah
Barak Allahu feenaa

[Wluwsdtn]

i agree with both, warea and amr123...
wassalam

A group of people came to this person and advocated a stand point. He said that you are absolutely right. Then they left and the opposite group came and advocated a diametrically opposite view. He told them that they were absolutely right. He was the high officer at that time and both of the groups were part of his organization. After the second group left his wife was puzzled. She asked him as to how both of them can be correct at the same time. He told her that she was absolutely correct.

Joke over. It is not impossible that diametrically opposite things can not be simultaneously true. They can be but there has to be a clear cut mechanism for this. Let us take an example. Allah (SWT) is Az-Zahiru (The Open One) and Al-Batinu (The Hidden One). These two things look diametrically opposite but these are nevertheless true at the same time and can be reconciled. Allah (SWT) is Az-Zahiru because each and everything in this world is manifestation of his action. Open one. He is Al-Batinu because we have not seen Him in His personality. So two opposite things are true simultaneously because we have a very lucid visualization of this.

Coming back to the point of contention in this thread. Let us refine assertion that has been proposed contrary to the OP. Let us say : It is advisable for a Dawah worker to put himself in the shoes of the invitee in a material/physical way. Now this statement is facile because the main issue is spiritual. It is the soul, the spirit that has become sick, because of the material environment, and is not believing in the actual reality beyond our physical perceptions. And we are indeed obliged to make every conceivable effort to redeem that soul but without harming ourselves. Even in worldly matters we receive notices like kindly make it convenient to attend the meeting. The indication is that in trying to attend the meeting do not ignore any other duty.

Wassalam

[violetgorman]

Coming back to the point of contention in this thread. Let us refine assertion that has been proposed contrary to the OP. Let us say : It is advisable for a Dawah worker to put himself in the shoes of the invitee in a material/physical way. Now this statement is facile because the main issue is spiritual.

Wassalam

Isn’t there an ayah in the Quran where Allah SWT compares having more than one Slave master to having more than one God?

So wouldn’t that be proof that it’s Ok to put ourselves in non-Muslims spiritual shoes as long as we keep in mind that they’re completely wrong? I don't know if I'm contradicting myself here...

Maybe Shaykh Maripat could kindly give an answer. Barak Allah

[Wluwsdtn]

Isn’t there an ayah in the Quran where Allah SWT compares having more than one Slave master to having more than one God?

So wouldn’t that be proof that it’s Ok to put ourselves in non-Muslims spiritual shoes as long as we keep in mind that they’re completely wrong? I don't know if I'm contradicting myself here...

Maybe Shaykh Maripat could kindly give an answer. Barak Allah

I am not a Shaikh sister - only a layperson like you.

Allah(SWT) has given us many instructions of the same nature as you have quoted. But He (SWT) is our Lord and As-Samad. We are not supposed to act like him, we seek His refuge in uttering such words, we have to obey Him. It is our beloved Rasoolallah (PBUH) whom we have to copy. From His life it is clear that he very strictly had forbidden any adoption of other people's ways, manners and customs.

[violetgorman]

I am not a Shaikh sister - only a layperson like you.

Allah(SWT) has given us many instructions of the same nature as you have quoted. But He (SWT) is our Lord and As-Samad. We are not supposed to act like him, we seek His refuge in uttering such words, we have to obey Him. It is our beloved Rasoolallah (PBUH) whom we have to copy. From His life it is clear that he very strictly had forbidden any adoption of other people's ways, manners and customs.

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it.

And I apologize. I actually saw that in a post right after posting but may Allah SWT make you a shaykh and much more amin

You know I do think I was contradicting myself. It’s just not possible to put ourselves in someone’s shoes while still holding on to our beliefs. To put ourselves in someone’s shoes we must first take off our ‘shoes’. We become that person to try and feel what they feel. So, for a moment, we actually become an atheist or Christian etc. wa na3uthubillah. We unintentionally commit kufr wallahu a’lam if only for a minute.

I think I needed to distinguish between putting ourselves in someone else’s spiritual shoes and understanding that individual’s spirituality. There’s nothing wrong with the latter insha Allah. I think just as we can understand a child’s fear of the boogie man, we can understand other beliefs. And just as it’s absurd to wonder “What if the boogie man is under the bed?” it’s a million times more absurd to consider the non existence of Allah SWT or the falseness of Islam.

Hmmm…I think this makes sense iA but feel more than free to object if you disagree. Barak Allahu feekum

[Wluwsdtn]

sisters for very kind words.

When I became aware of how the rest of the world looks at Islam (leave out the Muslims for the sake of simplicity) it was a rather horrifying scenario. One would feel like a delinquent for being a Muslim. It took lots of time and reading to get rid of that burden. The main culprit has been orientalism - an intellectual disposition in the western world by which they sought academic fortification of colonialism. For me it was A Short History of Saracens by Syed Ameer Ali (a Shia by faith and also classified as an author to avoid by some people here at SF). A better book is Islam and the World by Syed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi (RA). In this book he salvaged the image of Islam by using quotations from most rabid western authors and it was remarkable - nothing short of miracle how Islam shines in the face of most venomous intellectual assault. This movement has not yet reached its logical conclusion where our youth is aware of the subtle presence of poison in the western thoughts, attitudes and life style. Precisely these are the things, or one specific example of that, that we were discussing in this thread. There are many others. I keep writing about them in my blogs (first and last in my signature below). Salafi youth is doing better in this regard by taking the west head on - or supposedly so. Supposedly so because they too are in the same trap some how- look at this article to see how following western approach might lead you to a different destination than intended. Wallahualam.

[violetgorman]

sisters for very kind words.

When I became aware of how the rest of the world looks at Islam (leave out the Muslims for the sake of simplicity) it was a rather horrifying scenario. One would feel like a delinquent for being a Muslim. It took lots of time and reading to get rid of that burden. The main culprit has been orientalism - an intellectual disposition in the western world by which they sought academic fortification of colonialism. For me it was A Short History of Saracens by Syed Ameer Ali (a Shia by faith and also classified as an author to avoid by some people here at SF). A better book is Islam and the World by Syed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi (RA). In this book he salvaged the image of Islam by using quotations from most rabid western authors and it was remarkable - nothing short of miracle how Islam shines in the face of most venomous intellectual assault. This movement has not yet reached its logical conclusion where our youth is aware of the subtle presence of poison in the western thoughts, attitudes and life style. Precisely these are the things, or one specific example of that, that we were discussing in this thread. There are many others. I keep writing about them in my blogs (first and last in my signature below). Salafi youth is doing better in this regard by taking the west head on - or supposedly so. Supposedly so because they too are in the same trap some how- look at this article to see how following western approach might lead you to a different destination than intended. Wallahualam.

Thanks a lot for all that information: The books, the article, your blogs, and your insight. Barak Allah. I did read the article and wow! it’s so true. That’s why dessert is saved for last! But insha Allah we can all turn the Law of Contrast to our advantage by looking at those beneath us instead of those above us like our Habib SAW advised. Barak Allah my brother