Defending Islam

Learn From The Master

2009-09-14T10:59:00.001-07:00

Ahmed Deedat was one of the best there ever was at answering the critics of Islam. Watch this video and see how he uses the three steps to prove his point to a non-Muslim who accuses Islam of oppressing women.

From his demeanor and attitude, we can assume and hope that his character is righteous.

He certainly has adequate knowledge as he quotes from the Quran and the Bible. And he also uses logic and common sense.

And finally, he takes it to the questioner. He turns the veiled attack against Islam into against the attacker and makes her look rather foolish.

Alhamdulillah. Excellent work. May Allah reward our brother Ahmad Deedat with forgiveness and mercy. Ameen.

Learn more about the Islamic Religion.

more about "Sexy Answer! (full version)", posted with vodpod

The Final Step: Take It To Them

2009-08-31T11:25:00.000-07:00

I've talked so far about two of the three things we Muslims must be do in order to be effective at defending Islam, Inshallah.

The first was to improve our behavior and character.

The second was to gain knowledge of Islam and the world around us.

The third and final step is to use these improvements to take the fight to the anti-Islam pundits. If we are sincere in our efforts and we take the time to increase our knowledge, Inshallah, we will be successful at defending Islam against their lies.

There are dozens of these cretins out there defaming and blasting Islam. But we needn't go after the top dogs just yet. It is enough for now to find the minor idiots doing their part to spread ignorance and deceit.

And there are a lot of these idiots running around. There are hundreds of neo-conservative and radical Christian blogs out there. And most of them are just running their mouths about what Islam is or isn't.

And the vast majority of them don't have clue about what Islam really is. I suggest we use these idiots and neanderthals as training. Go after them because they are real easy. I mean, they don't have a clue.

Go to their blogs, read their posts, and using your knowledge and logic, counter every single point they make. Make them look a little stupid in the process. Ridicule them. But don't talk about their religion or faith or nationality. That is un-Islamic also.

Instead, show how pointless and ignorant they are. Don't deal with them emotionally...deal with them rationally.

You might get flamed or trolled by other blog readers. But if your points are solid, then their statements will be moot. And you will become stronger and a better defender for it.

Also visit some of the other blogs and websites that are working to expose these charlatans also, Inshallah. My favorite one so far, is Loonwatch. Check them out. So far, they are the best at it, but they usually take on the big guys.

You may or may not be ready for that yet. I suggest we start small and work our way up.

And Allah knows best.

Knowledge is Key to Defend Islam

2009-08-26T15:18:00.000-07:00

Last week I talked about how part of our job as Muslims was to improve our behavior. Now I'm going to talk about the second aspect of Defending Islam.

The author of another blog posted some interesting facts about the Lockerbie bombing last week, and the reaction, both in the U.S. and Libya, to the release of the man convicted for the crime.

The author explained how there were a lot of facts to that case that many people did not know about. He pointed out how it may very well be possible that the man charged, arrested, and convicted of the crime, may have been innocent.

In order for us to effectively defend Islam against the "islamophobes" and "anti-Islam pundits", we must increase our knowledge. We must increase our knowledge of Islam, and the world around us.

Case in point, many people make outlandish claims about how Islam was spread. So many talk about how Islam was spread by the sword. But if you study the history of Islam, you understand that that was not the case.

Yes, there were Islamic empires, and yes they spread through warfare like all empires do. But it was very rare for any invading Muslim army to force the conquered to convert to Islam.

Another new claim is that Islam preaches honor killings. This is when some one, usually a Muslim father or brother, kills a female relative for supposedly "dishonoring" the family, or Islam, or whatever.

While these things do happen, no where, I mean NO WHERE, in the Quran or the sayings of Prophet Muhammad are men allowed to kill their female relatives.

FOR ANY REASON.

It doesn't exist. It's not true. It's a flat out lie.

But if we don't read the Quran, how are we to know this? We'll be just as ignorant as the ignoramuses making the ignorant claims.

So I'm encouraging every Muslim out there, when you're ready to go on the offensive against the fake "islam-experts", make sure you know your stuff. Because 9 times out of 10, they do.

And even if they don't, they'll sound like they do.

Step 1 was last week: Improve your behavior.

Step 2 for this week: Increase your knowledge about Islam and the world around us.

Step 3 for next week, Inshallah: Go on the offensive!

Our Job as Muslims

2009-08-19T10:10:00.001-07:00

In order for us to be effective defenders of Islam, we Muslims must improve ourselves. If we are going to go on a verbal Jihad against the anti-Muslim bloggers and pundits, we must make Jihad against ourselves also.

I do not mean that we wait until we have everything together in our personal lives before defending Islam against the lies of the Shayateen (devils).

I mean that we work to improve our characters and morals while working to expose the charlatans and Shayateen of the anti-Muslim blogosphere.

Brothers and sisters, to be effective in this regard, we must first begin to abide by the rules of Allah and His messenger, peace be upon him.

And since we are nearing the beginning of Ramadhan, this is a perfect time to change some of our bad habits.

So, if you were negligent in your Islamic prayers, now is the time to shape up.
If you had a difficult time lowering your gaze, now is the time to start practicing.
If you are not good at controlling your temper, now is the time to change that.

Whatever your weakness was, Inshallah, let's work on strengthening it. There is no better time than now.

And of course, keep an eye out for the anti-Muslim pundits and go to work on them. Don't make Ramadhan an excuse to go easy on them either. When you find that they've spoken a lie about Islam, show the truth and show your proof.

Just like Allah says in His book:

Truth stands clear from falsehood.

Salaams.

Learn more about the Islamic Religion at Islamic Learning Materials.
Sign up for my weekly newsletter and keep up with ILM.
Brush up on your Islamic history at ILM Pages.
Visit my other Islamic blog, ILM Blog.

Defending Islam With Logic and Knowledge, Inshallah

2009-08-16T18:25:00.000-07:00

I ran into this evil blog (I will not reveal the name since I don't want to drive traffic his/her way).

This person has been happily slandering, lying, and defaming Islam for several years on their blog. I couldn't believe there were so many posts, going back at least three years with few if any comments!

Well, I couldn't stand for this. So I looked at the most recent post and went to work.

I have to admit, the evil-blogger knew how to present a solid argument. I had to research every so-called fact they presented and verify how accurate they were.

Alhamdulillah, I was able to counter every thing they said with the truth from the Quran and Sunnah (and plain old common sense and historical fact).

Here's my response to their post. Hopefully you'll understand the evil lies he/she was trying to spread about Islam based on what I wrote.

First of all, the Torah is not available in its original language. All you can do is point out what is available in English and give your interpretation of what that means.

Even if your accounts of the beliefs of the pagan arabs is true, it is irrelevant.

You state, but have not shown proof that the pagan arabs did believe Allah's spirit resided in the black stone.

But even if they did, so what?

If you do have the evidence, it is irrelevant as Muslims do not believe the same thing.

You state that "ilah" is the Arabic word for God, with a capital "G". Very misleading.

Actually, "ilah" means god, with a lower case "g". A more suitable word would be deity.

Yes, Muslims accept the word "Allah" as the name of the creator of all that exists, or God, with a capital "G".

But Allah has a simple literal translation: "The Deity."

And though the exact spelling of the word "Allah" may not appear in the Bible, a very close sounding "Elaha" (Aramaic for "The Deity") does appear in the New Testament.

Did the pagan Arabs also believe in Allah, "The Deity"? Yes, they did, and they worshiped Him along with several other idols and deities.

But this only proves that the pagan Arabs corrupted the Tawheed (monotheism) of Prophet Abraham and added several false deities thus creating a pantheon.

Just like Jesus (peace be upon him) originally taught worship of one deity but those who claim to follow him corrupted his teachings and added two more false deities (Jesus being one of them).

The Islamic "rituals" you have mentioned have little to do with pagan Arabia.

The pagans did not pray five times a day.

They did not pray in the same manner

They did not recite Quran during prayers.

The pagans did not fast during Ramadhan.

The Quran states we were ordered to fast because it was ordered on those before us, i.e. Christians and Jews.

The circumambulation of the Kaaba originates from Ibrahim's time. The practice was corrupted by the pagan Arabs and purified by Islam.

Kissing the black stone has little significance in Islam and most Muslims are unable to do it. As you mentioned, Umar bin Khattab mentioned how he knew the stone was just a stone.

Muslim's veneration for the stone comes from our belief that it was sent down from heavens by Allah.

You mentioned blowing water out the nose. That is part of the Muslim ablution. Both Christianity and Judaism have variations of ritual washing.

Many faiths (including Judaism) practice animal sacrifices. You want to say it came from pagans. I, and most other Muslims, say our animal sacrifice came from the Hebrew prophets before Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon them all). And the Quran agrees with me.

Stoning the devil was a practice started by Muhammad. Where's your proof it came from pagans?

Giving alms?

Now you're just grasping at straws. Giving charity is in no way exclusive to Islam, paganism, Christianity or religion at all.

You are right that all the rituals existed before the message of Muhammad.

Because most of them originated with Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him).

How does any of this conflict with the First Commandment? (Your assertion; not mine).

Accepting your definition of the First Commandment (Muslims do not have to accept it since the Islamic concept of Tawheed is far superior to anything the Bible has to offer) there is no violation.

Neither the black stone nor the Kaaba are representations of Allah. In fact, to believe such would violate the fundamentals of Tawheed.

Your so-called Islamic rebuttal is foolish and convoluted. I have presented a much clearer rebuttal to all of your arguments.

And then using sarcasm to counter a false rebuttal is senseless. I have a hard time following your chain of thought.

Here's a tip: Don't use sarcasm and dry-wit when stating a counter-rebuttal to a false rebuttal. Once your opponent (me) figures out what the hell you're trying to say, it is very easy to pick your statement apart.

You are deliberately misinterpreting these verses of the Quran.

In these verses, Allah is holding Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to a higher standard than regular men. As a prophet of Allah, he could not misrepresent the message of Allah or he would face the wrath of Allah.

It is not a blanket threat against anyone who lies against Allah, since there are many people (yourself included) who make up things and attribute them to Allah who have not been punished in this manner as yet.

Though your time may yet come, if Allah wills.

Please post comments if you have anything to add, Inshallah.

Learn the truth about the Islamic Religion at Islamic Learning Materials.