When was the last time you saw a Muslim on any of the crime shows? How about police chases? Cops?
Did you know that 1 in every 4 people is a Muslim?
Did you know that there more Muslims in China than in Saudi Arabia? (that throws out the stereotype.. huh)
You know why? Think and learn.
I have had some discussions with some people about the value of debates in inviting people to faith. Debates could be a lot like sports matches. I believe that debates are only useful for the small percentage of any audience who can hear beyond the art of speech and who attend carrying an academic mentality towards religion (as all Muslims should be since Islam focuses on logic throughout the Quran… we can debate that too).
I like the way that the second debate started and I would like to reiterate it here:
“Christians wake up; no body is dying for your sins. You will be accounted for every single deed that you make or will make.”
These 2 debates took place in California between Jalal Abu Al Rub, David Wood and James White.
The topics a are as follows (you can download the audio by clicking at the titles)
1. Is Muhammed (pbuh) a Prophet?
2. Does the bible teach that Jesus (pbuh) is God?
More details can be found here
I read on one of the motivational blogs this advice (given to a graduate student by his mentor):
When I started doing my own research after completing my graduate coursework, I was advised by a mentor to have three descriptions of my work ready to recite at a moment’s notice: a three-minute overview, a 12-minute presentation, and a half-hour discussion. The three-minute version is what you tell someone when you’re sharing an elevator at an academic conference; the 12-minute version is suitable for giving a conference presentation; and the half-hour version is what you pull out when you’re sitting down for an interview with a potential funder or getting permission from a local community to do research there.
What a great advice which one can implement in almost every field of life to give an introduction to things like your job, your country, your opinions on a certain topic but most importantly YOUR DEEN: ISLAM.
We as Muslims living in the West have a mission to explain our beliefs to people; our job is to be messengers for our faith. We will not force anyone to accept it but the least we owe ourselves and the people who live in our circles is to give them a brief introduction to our religion.
Ask any Muslim (including myself): tell me about your religion? or why do you consider your religion to be the truth? Most people would start up by saying: uhmm, well, you see, in Islam, we worship one God and you know….. or they would just say the 5 pillars of Islam. The listener deserves a more intellectual, thorough and complete response about something that we consider to be very important to us.
This is what made someone like Sheikh Deedat (may Allah have mercy on him) and Dr. Zakir Naik so effective: preparation and intellectual sentence structure.
My resolution for this coming time of my life is to invite someone to Islam. To tell him: Give me 3 minutes of your time and I will tell you all about my religion.
Ofcourse, this needs some dedication and research. I have outlined some steps which I will try to carry out inshaa’ Allah (God willing). If you have modifications/additions please list them down. My plan is to have something in written form around February of 2008. Attached is a mind map to achieve this resolution.
Our team at the Masjid has carried out a successful Islamic competition for Eid al Adha. The competition was interactive (using TurningPoint technologies). The kids and the parents enjoyed it. It was a new experience for the team as well. We are sharing the Eid competition (quiz) PowerPoint presentation along with some pictures for the benefit of all. The interactive kit was very helpful in keeping track of the answers and to get the attention of the kids.
I am compiling an Islamic CD which consists of short lectures. Random thoughts and speakers. The aim is distribute it for both Muslims and non Muslims.
| 1 | Quran Chapter of Fatiha |
Abdallah Basfar | 00:50 | |
| 2 | Convert OR Die | Ahmed Deedat | 05:15 | |
| 3 | How Islam is different from Other Religions? | Zakir Naik | 09:13 | |
| 4 | Addressing an Atheist | Zakir Naik | 11:45 | |
| 5 | Quran- Chaper of Ikhlas |
Abdallah Basfar | 00:39 | |
| 6 | Women Oppressed in Islam? | Khalid Yasin | 05:44 |
Any feedback or suggested lectures are very welcome.
How can we prove that Islam is the best way of life? All religions speak good things: not to rob, not to steal, etc. What is the difference?
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