what's wrong with comparative debates? by abu noah ibrahim ibn mikaal

8/14/2019 What's Wrong With Comparative Debates? by Abu Noah Ibrahim Ibn Mikaal

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What's wrong with comparative debates?

First off, I would like to say I'm a big fan of comparative religion debates and especially the debates of the late

Ahmed Deedat, but I think the new wave of debaters have lost the touch and instinct that Ahmed Deedat had, and

what I mean by that is that most of today's debaters get away from what makes a great debate. We have young and

inexperienced debaters challenging more experienced competitors and being exposed for their inexperience as a

result. There are numerous young talents coming from the Islamic realm who have a bright future in this field, but

some of them are not ready yet and it is apparent by their actions and their attitudes in these debates. As a Muslim

it is obligatory to hold your composure and be respectful in religious matters and yet we find brothers using

disrespectful language and arrogant speech to demean their opponent. This is not the Sunnah of Muhammad, and

in fact the opposite. Allah subhana wa ta ala said:

"And do not dispute with the followers of the Book except by what is best, except those of them who act unjustly,

and say: We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you, and our Allah and your Allah is

One, and to Him do we submit." Al-Ankaboot: 29:46

But, we find that there are a lot of brothers who attack their opponent with name calling and aggressive speech.

This is not to say that we should not be assertive in our speech, but there is a difference between assertiveness

and aggression. Assertiveness puts both individuals on the same playing field as each other which means that you

respect someone's opinion and others right to believe as they do even though they may be wrong. Aggression on

the other hand is the total disregard of other person's beliefs and feelings and the idea that the person you are

debating has ideas and beliefs that are inferior to yours.

Allh Tala reminds us to:

"be merciful in our dealings (with each other) and to be firm with the disbelievers". The Qur'an 5:54

But this does not mean to attack them and demean them, it means to be firm and unwavering in your position with

the disbelievers and to be kind and forgiving to your brothers.

Allah said:

And by the Mercy of Allah, you dealt with them gently. And had you been severe and harsh-hearted, they would

have broken away from about you; so pass over (their faults), and ask (Allahs) forgiveness for them The Qur'an

3:159

And the sheikh Abd al-Rahmaan al-Sadi (may Allah have mercy on him) explains this:

"A good attitude on the part of a religious leader attracts people to the religion of Allah in addition to the praise and

special reward they bring to the one who has that attitude. A bad attitude on the part of a religious leader puts

people off the religion and makes them hate it, in addition to the condemnation and special punishment they bring

to the one who has that attitude. Allah said this to His Messenger who is infallible, so how about others?

Is it not of the utmost importance and necessity to follow his good example and deal with people as he dealt with
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them, with kindness, a good attitude and friendliness, in obedience to the command of Allah and so as to attract the

slaves of Allah to the religion of Allah?

Then Allah commanded him to forgive them for their shortcomings towards him, and to pray for forgiveness for them

with regard to their shortcomings towards Allah, and to combine forgiveness and kindness."

So, this is the adab of the Muslim, not the raising of the voice and the verbal attacks we see on You Tube debatesof late. These debates do not have the substance of the Ahmed Deedat debates or the respect that Ahmed Showed

for his opponent. But this is not to say that he did not go for the jugular in his debates, because he made it very

uncomfortable for the opposing debater. When Ahmed Deedat brought his argument, it was flawless and that was

where he broke his fellow debater down...with an air tight argument.

This is not what we see today, but on the contrary we have two extremes in today's debates. On one hand we have

the brothers who attack their opponent and lose the audience in the same moment and on the other side we have

those that are too easy and conceding with the non-Muslims. I recently watched a video where a fellow Muslim was

debating Dave Hunt and he actually denied a Hadith in Sahih Al-Bukhari that is ruled mutawatir and is unanimously

agreed upon by our 'Ulema, but we also have this epidemic of new faces in the Ummah today who have not

attained a fifth of what our scholars have and challenge them at every turn. This is not to say that we should not

thoroughly investigate our Deen, but keep your opinions to yourself, because the only opinion that matters is

Allah's. Other than that opinions have no place in religion, because Allah has perfected Islam and does not need to

be approved upon.

But back to the topic at hand, this same brother also said in his debate, to appease the Christians, that we should

promote democracy in the Muslim world and that he thinks that it is in line with Islam, but this is not so, since

democracy is a majority rules government and not necessarily a government for the people and their well being, so

if the people vote to allow gays to live in peace in Saudi Arabia, then that would be the law as it was won by a

majority vote, and this is not compatible with Islam, for Allah has gave us the law and we should abide by it. It is

forbidden to rule by other than what Allah has revealed as it is made quite clear in the Qur'an:

"And rule between them by that which Allah has revealed and follow not vain desires, diverging away from the truththat has come to you." (Qur'an, 5:48)

"And rule between them by that which Allah has revealed and follow not their vain desires, but beware that they may

turn you away from some of what Allah has revealed." (Qur'an, 5:49)

"And whosoever does not rule by what Allah has revealed they are kaafiruun." (Qur'an, 5:44)

"And whosoever does not rule by what Allah has revealed they are DHaalimuun." (Qur'an, 5:45)

"And whosoever does not rule by what Allah has revealed they are faasiquun." (Qur'an, 5:47)

So, democracy (as is generally practiced) is not permissible to promote or implement by a Muslim and those who

say other than this have committed bid'a and have attempted to lead others to commit bid'a. Sheikh Faysal Mawlawi

said:

"As for the true concept of democracy, it is not our main concern. We, Muslims believe in pluralism and political

freedom as part and parcel of Islamic teachings. It is worth stressing here that we accept the articles and the

principles of democracy that cope with the teachings of Islam and reject those principles that are non-Islamic. Our


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main reference is Islam when deciding whether to accept or reject any new ideology.

So, we as Muslims need to take the middle route to this phenomenon which is the debate. Do not be ill-mannered in

our debates and do not be too passive as to let the Christians, and the like, walk over us and force us to make

concessions to them and renounce part of our beliefs to appease them as we see our brothers do too often. We

need to stick to the Sunnah in spreading the Deen of Islam and trust those who have came before us with their

proofs.

Salaamu 'Alaikum

Abu Noah Ibrahim Ibn Mikaal

what's wrong with comparative debates? by abu noah ibrahim ibn mikaal

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