New Trend Magazine
Damage Done to Islamic Cause in Debate with Christians
Unqualified People Should not Pretend to be Scholars of Islam
January 21-22. A whole galaxy of Christian scholars questioned
three
Muslim "leaders" about Islam on a "Christian-Muslim Relations" program
aired
repeatedly on C-Span.
We do not want to take names or even mention the groups these
Muslims
belonged to so that this criticism should not be given a personal tinge,
but
the program was a disaster for Muslims and should be looked at
critically so
that such mistakes are not made again.
Muslims who decide to get on TV should have at least basic
qualifications to be able to present Islam in America. The three
committed
every mistake they could have made.
1. They were not well-versed in Islamic knowledge and could not
answer
specific questions about Quran and Hadith.
2. They were not fluent in English. One of them seemed to have a
speech
impediment while the other two had difficulty in finding words to
express
themselves.
3. The three suffered from serious inferiority complex about
Islam,
Muslims and the Muslim world.
These Muslims allowed themselves to be put in a defensive
position. The
Christians, well-trained from seminaries and churches, asked the
questions
while the Muslims answered as if they were being tried in a court of
law.
The Muslims accepted the American premise that 9/11 cannot be
discussed
and there is no way its causes or related issues in the Muslim world
can be
brought forth. In other words, Muslims accepted self-censorship as the
basis
of the discussion.
The Christians built on Muslim self-censorship to ask: If you
condemn
9/11 attacks on U.S., how can you justify martyrdom attacks on Israel?
The three did not know what to say about Nasikh and Mansukh in
the
Qur'an. They could not answer specific questions about the "verse of
the
sword" or the Quranic verse calling for draconian punishments for those
who
disrupt society and commit highway robbery (which was repeatedly
misquoted by
the Christian questioner).
They were totally inept in the questions about Islamic "oppression
of
women" because they wanted to stay away from the Taliban issue (which
in turn
could lead to the 'bombing of Afghanistan' issue).
The Christians floored the three by talking of the freedom of
religion in
America as compared to dictatorships in Muslim countries. {The three
did not
have even the basic understanding of separation of Church and State in
America: Here you are free to follow any religion because religion does
not
matter. In Muslim countries religion can change the State.}
The three could not answer why the Prophet (pbuh) married Ayesha
(r.a)
when she was so young.
The issue of non-Muslim minorities in Muslim countries was also a
disaster for the three.
The Christians knew which questions to ask. The Muslims tried
Public
Relationing (PR): Islam is a religion of peace. Everything is wrong
with
Muslim countries (America is the greatest). Jihad has been
misunderstood.
To specific questions on Quran, the three would say: You have to
know
the context or (even worse) that was only for that time! They had no
specific
answers.
{The biggest absurdity was the Christian claim accepted by the
three that
such a wonderful discussion could only be held in America. The fact is
that
such discussions and even those about 9/11 can be held in most Muslim
countries as long as you do not attack or try to overthrow the
government.}
The self-appointed leaders of America's Muslims have still not
given up
their ways of hypocrisy and public relationing even in the most serious
issues. Every time they come on TV they shame Islam and Muslims.
Can someone tell them: Why do you have to speak? Is TV such a great
attraction?
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2002-01-22 Tue 16:33ct