A Trip To Your Neighbor

[robin hudhud]

Originally Posted by Rabiah - la Voyageure ©

We were then distracted in our discussion, and I left her be. I feel I could have given better da'wah to her and not run around in circles. Any advice on what I can improve on? She is a very hardworking person, educated and open minded. And I definitely want to share the core message of Islam with her on what we are commanded to deliver.

It seems that she is a deist -- i.e. she believes in a God but doesn't believe in organized religion. In Dr. bilal philips's lecture, "7 qualities of truly successful people", he gives a response to deists. Simply put, God had to tell people what to do. He gave the analogy of parents who take their children to school. The parents have to tell their children to go to class, sit down, listen to the teacher, etc. If they didn't tell their children what to do, they would run straight for the playground and play all day...... and subhanallah we see that; adults who don't know what to do in life, they spend all their time having fun, partying, and going after the dunia.
And there is also the fact that, since God is all-wise, all-perfect, it would not befit him to create us without any wisdom behind doing so.

I would probably tell her that this life we are in is a test, and based on how we do, we will be rewarded and/or punished accordingly. Could also mention that the main criterion is worshipping God without partners, etc, then I would talk about paradise and hellfire. InshaAllah hopefully it would illustrate the purpose in Allah creating us. Allahu a'alam, do as you see fit.

One of the early scholars of ahlus-sunna, (anyone know who said it? maybe during time of Imam Ahmed?), said: "The intellect is a king, who crowned the shari'ah and stepped down from his throne." MashaAllah, this analogy explains very well the balance between reason and submission. We use our reasoning to arrive at the fact that Islam is the true religion. Then after that, it's full submission, no questions asked.

[Rabiah - la Voyageure ©]

Originally Posted by Yaseen1982

Simply put, God had to tell people what to do. He gave the analogy of parents who take their children to school. The parents have to tell their children to go to class, sit down, listen to the teacher, etc. If they didn't tell their children what to do, they would run straight for the playground and play all day...... and subhanallah we see that; adults who don't know what to do in life, they spend all their time having fun, partying, and going after the dunia.

That's a good analogy. JazakAllaahu khayr

[AZikria]

BISMILLAHI AR-RAHMANI RAHEEM
Okay this next story is about giving dawah in a unexpected place (kind of). Well, I have developed this bad habit of playing this game called "Settlers of Catan" constantly. This game was originally only a board game which means if I don't have anyone else to play with probably use that time for more productive things. Of course one genius, who I assume loves the game as much as I, decided to grab one of his other genius friend and make the game available online. So now you can log in and play with people from all across the world. Which means now you can play the game all the time because you always have players who want to "burn" time. Unfortunately the majority of the people there don't realize that we will be questioned by our lord (Subhana Wa Ta'alla) for the time we spend. This is specially true for the believers or those who know what ALLAH (Azza Wajal) will question each individual about. So yeah I feel bad but however I do try to put a cap into how much time I do spend on playing this game online.

Anyhow I was playing "Settlers of Catan" online. As I was waiting my turn I decided to use this cool messaging feature one can use to contact other players. While this feature is primarily used for exchanging strategy I decided I could spark a conversation. And of course my conversations with non-Muslims often goes towards me asking them if they believe in God. On this day this case was no different. So before you know it I found out that Chris, one of my online opponents in the Settlers of Catan game, was from Kentucky and somewhat of a practicing Catholic. I asked him how much he new about Islam. His response was that in Kentucky there is not much known about other cultures let alone Islam. He said the only think he knows was from the news but even then he doesn't know much about Islam. He mentioned that Kentucky do not have many people from other countries. So he apologized for to being more knowledgeable.

Subhan ALLAH conversations like this really helps me to realize that we Muslims have done close to nothing in giving dawah. May ALLAH (Subhana Wa Ta'alla) strengthen us, forgive us and give us success in calling others to His (Azza Wajal) beautiful deen, Ameen.

Well I wrote out the really basics of our tawheed but he immediately responded with "I'm glad to hear you believe in god but honestly I'm not that practicing right now but I love my religion". I asked him want he liked about his religion so much and he responded with the different practice which give him a sense of spirituality. I wanted to further talk about these "practices" but the game ended and he had to go. He thank me for the talk but i was hoping I'd have little more time with him so before i could ask for his contact info he had already logged off. Subhan ALLAH at least I got him to at least hear something about Islam. INSHA ALLAH, he may pick up a book or something ALLAHU ALIM.

As an update to Chris a few weeks later when I got back on to to play that silly game again. Chris randomly noticed that I was logged in another game, which he was not in, and he decided to message me saying "I'm leaving now and I thought I say hi before I leave". Hmmm Subhan ALLAH one simple chat on a online board game and he thought it would be nice to say hi. This goes to show that many people do actually like to talk about God even with strangers but maybe not in front of a bunch of people. ALLAHU ALIM.

This story certainly helps me to understand that we should look for and always have opportunities for what I call that Dawah Moment.

[Rabiah - la Voyageure ©]

Originally Posted by Yaseen1982

I would probably tell her that this life we are in is a test, and based on how we do, we will be rewarded and/or punished accordingly. Could also mention that the main criterion is worshipping God without partners, etc, then I would talk about paradise and hellfire. InshaAllah hopefully it would illustrate the purpose in Allah creating us. Allahu a'alam, do as you see fit.

Alhumdulillaah, I was given the blessing of talking to my neighbour again.
She does believe in one God. We were talking about a friend who recently passed away, Allaah yarhamuha, and the lady was feeling sorry and sad. So, I said, it's nothing to be sad over. InshaAllaah, we'll meet her at a better garden after we die, and drink milk together. (we were sitting in a backyard drinking tea at that time). So she's like, is that what you guys believe in? And we said yes.. we believe there's Hell and Heaven and after you die you'll be resurrected. She listened, and was just puzzled. And then she completely shunned the idea of paradise and hell. She said, I believe in God, but I don't believe in the hereafter. I think God sent us in this world to become a better person and to help each other.
I am inshaAllaah, gonna invite her over for a neighbourhood BBQ, and make more of a personal connection with her, as it's a topic definitely not to be discussed over a cup of tea!

[robin hudhud]

Originally Posted by Rabiah - la Voyageure ©

She listened, and was just puzzled. And then she completely shunned the idea of paradise and hell. She said, I believe in God, but I don't believe in the hereafter. I think God sent us in this world to become a better person and to help each other.
I am inshaAllaah, gonna invite her over for a neighbourhood BBQ, and make more of a personal connection with her, as it's a topic definitely not to be discussed over a cup of tea!

If (according to her) there is no resurrection, then there is no reason to be a good person. A person could go out and committ all kinds of lewd acts, murder, spread corruption, and get the dunia all for himself. Materialistically, that would be a lot easier than "becoming a better person." According to her, whether someone tries to be like Mother Theresa or like Adolph Hitler, it doesn't make a difference in the end; they will just be a dead body in the ground.
Is it appropriate for a perfect, just god to allow that without retribution?

alhamdulilah that she believes in tawheed, but I guess she is having trouble understanding Allah's attributes. a perfect god must be just; a perfect god does not sleep or get hungry, etc. Even toddlers understand the concept of justice. If a child falls and hits his head on a table, he cries. Then, if you pretend to "hit" the table, like you are punishing it, the child will stop crying......... *fitra!* (Yasir Qadhi said in LOG that the fitra is the secret weapon of da'wah; now I understand why...)


Surat yasin:
78)And he puts forth for Us a parable, and forgets his own creation. He says: "Who will give life to these bones when they have rotted away and became dust?"
79) Say: (O Muhammad SAW) "He will give life to them Who created them for the first time! And He is the All-Knower of every creation!"
80) He, Who produces for you fire out of the green tree, when behold! You kindle therewith.
81) Is not He, Who created the heavens and the earth Able to create the like of them? Yes, indeed! He is the All-Knowing Supreme Creator.

wallahu a'alam

[robin hudhud]

Originally Posted by Rabiah - la Voyageure ©

That's a good analogy. JazakAllaahu khayr

wa iyakum

[Alima]

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullah,

I moved this hear as i though it would be more appropriate.

I had this conversation via muchobene, i signed up for it and subhanAllah the first question that came up was 'Does God exist?' so i decided to answer it, i made quite a few mistakes, which i realised when i viewed my conversation later.

Also can you tell me what i could have done better. Muchobene is like google, however anybody who signs up can ask and answer questions. Its totally anonymous, so you have no idea who your talking to. i have to be honest other than that Muchobene is pretty useless, i also had another instance where i asked a muslims specifically to test out how many muslims were on Muchobene, subhanAllah i learnt the art of Patience and in the end it turned to my advantage. Let's just say he were't muslim! That was my final meeting with Muchobene. Alhamdulillah.

I'm in blue.

Here's my conversation:


You are connected to another user!

Does God exist?

Yes

Prove it

One sec

The fact there is a creation proves we must have a creator, can we really come from no where

So where did God come from?

Come on that is soooooo illogical

That's the thing about god, or may I say the ultimate authority...he is infinite, he has always been if he was created, then the cycle would go on, and god would not be god, because it becomes a created being just like me and you.

Indeed, however You must also consider the youth of science in terms of answering questions like these, in comparison to religionSince religion was only invented in the first place to explain what science could not.

Let me give you an example:

The Vikings used to believe that lightning was caused by Thor throwing mjolnir to the ground However, science has now explained lightning, and it is common knowledge that this is not true. Someday, science will explain what happened before the big bang, and all these other "proofs" of God's existence.

I don't think so; you're big into science now, right

I believe that science can explain a great deal more than myths and legends, yes.

Science itself has been undermined, that is another story...You are thinking about myths and legends from places that science has indeed undermined

Let me ask you some obvious questions.

Where is God?

Okay let me tell you on the basis if what i believe...

Firstly I'm a Muslim!

Alright

Cut all the misconceptions, let's get to beliefs.

You still up for it?

Of course

Cool...seeker i see

How much do you know about Islam, i don't want to tell you stuff you already know

I must say i know much more about Christianity, or Buddhism, even. =P

Okay, lets one thing i have learned from my sociology class whilst studying religion is that most people associate the failures of Christianity with Islam.

The crusades, for example?

Erm...i was thinking in terms of science

Oh, explain please.

Well there is not one scientific failure in the Quran, since it was revealed to Muhammed saw. Well there is not one scientific failure in the Quran, since it was revealed to Muhammed saw there are many things related to science in there and all has been found to be accurate.

This is what i mean most associate the failure of science in the bible with the Quran, which is not the case, this is why you can say secularisation is on the rise in the western world, like the uk, because many of the young and educated will not take the bible in a literal sense as it goes against science.

Arrgh. I need to go AFK >.<

Nice hearing your points of view though

You too...learn about Islam....you may just be surprised. Nice talking to you too : )

alright, cya =)

cya

-----------

Lessons i learnt:

I didn't focus on Tawheed.
I should have given him/her a website about Islam so they could refer to it.

[Ahmed Ibn Hassan]

Asalaamu Alaykuum,

How many of you give da'waah to your neighbors? I'm doing this with a couple of brothers and (may allah give us strong tawfeeq) were starting off with brochures that directly relate to "calling towards the the oneness of Allah". In that brochure were writing them our a general e-mail so they may order a free copy of the quran, or they just want to learn more about Islam. Then insha'allah were planning on spreading out from All corners. Insha'allah I will keep giving updates as to if anything happens that is significant. Lets remember our job is to relate the the Message of Islam (especially to our neighbors) and it's up to Allah if he wants guide them or not. Sometimes we get too excited and want to give da'waah to places far away and focus on things out of our reach thinking were doing something amazing (insha'allah we are), but what about our neighbors who are so close us and they never heard about Islam, how do you think they will feel towards you on the day of Qiyamma?

“Invite to the Way of your Lord (Islam) with wisdom and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better”. [16:125].

Allah’s order “invite” as stated in this verse is presented in a general form indicating that all Muslim, individual and collectively, are included in this obligation. To this end the prophet ,sallallahu alayhe wa sallam, has said: “Convey from me even one verse”. (Bukhari)

Just an Idea for those who are interested in this area.

[bint_habibullah]

As salaam 'alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

Masha Allah this is such an interesting and beneficial thread. I had a question for the brothers and sisters, have any of you (or your mother/sisters/aunts/female relatives) given dawah in niqaab? Some people think it's a barrier to giving dawah but I am interested in the sisters who give dawah in niqaab. I remember one imaam, as a response to that claim, is that it invites more dawah because people wonder and are curious, thus leading to questions/discussions. Insha Allah, I'd love to hear about it, as there's not so much talk about it.

If it was mentioned already in this thread, please forgive me insha Allah! I only read page one, two and...forty-two, subhan Allah.

Barakallahu feekum.

bint_habibullah

[AZikria]

Originally Posted by bint_habibullah

As salaam 'alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

Masha Allah this is such an interesting and beneficial thread. I had a question for the brothers and sisters, have any of you (or your mother/sisters/aunts/female relatives) given dawah in niqaab? Some people think it's a barrier to giving dawah but I am interested in the sisters who give dawah in niqaab. I remember one imaam, as a response to that claim, is that it invites more dawah because people wonder and are curious, thus leading to questions/discussions. Insha Allah, I'd love to hear about it, as there's not so much talk about it.

If it was mentioned already in this thread, please forgive me insha Allah! I only read page one, two and...forty-two, subhan Allah.

Barakallahu feekum.

bint_habibullah

Asalamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu

I would suggest to start a new thread that way people can answer your question specifically. you can still read the stories here to see if it could further help you out.