“Shock and Awe” Vs. “Overawe” By Maqsud Sobhani Salam alaikum. Often time we (that is Muslims) have a tendency to think of others (that is Non-Muslim) as hopeless, as far as their accepting Islam. We just feel that these people are so far outside of the reality of Islam that there is no chance what so ever of them ever accepting Islam and becoming our brothers and sisters in faith. We often like to use the word “Kuffar” in the most derogative manner; certainly not in the manner it is used in the Holy Quran to refer to people who had been hiding or attempting to hide the truth of Islam. I strongly believe that we often turn people away from Islam with our own behavior. Instead of becoming part of the solution, we become part of the problem! I know there are many enemies of Islam, but in reality, are they any worse than the many enemies of Islam that the Prophet of Allah, Muhammad (upon whom be peace and blessing of Allah) had encountered and eventually won the hearts of? I seriously doubt that and this is why. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was the greatest of all creation and certainly Allah had reserved the greatest of the challenges for him (to elevate him in status). We, on the other hand, are nothing in comparison to him. Therefore, our challenges logically should be lesser than what he had to endure and suffer. I only wanted to share one wonderful news that I heard the very first day I came to Bangladesh. What I wrote before is only a prologue. A long time back, a woman started to come to the chat room. For those who do not know me well, in the past (pretty much stopped doing it for the last 6 months or so), I used to spend most of my day in yahoo Islamic chat rooms. More precisely, in a user created chat room created by me often named Islam, Peace and Understanding. I did this for about 3 years. She was interested to learn about Islam. From the very beginning, she didn’t have any ill feeling towards Islam. She also had, a lot of marital problems and forewarned me about her husband who might be a “hater” (This is a common term used to refer to people who often violently disrupt the chat room with their extreme prejudice against Islam) and a trouble maker. Sure enough, one day her very suspecting husband came to the room following her (my recollection is bit blurry how it all happened). He was suspicious of his wife, thinking she was having an affair among other things. His wife was very afraid of him. She said that he would be rude and not understanding of Islam. Anyway, somehow I made a connection with him. He became curious, most likely because he wanted to find out what his wife was up to. We talked few more times in the span of a few weeks. I offered to send him a Quran and probably some CD’s about Islam. However, in spite of all these, their marriage was still falling apart. I added both of them in my yahoo messenger, among the 300+ others that I had in my messenger. (By the way, if any of you would like to add me to your yahoo, you are welcome to do so, only condition is I cannot promise to do chit chat very often but you can leave messages if you have any questions.) Not long after, I lost touch with both of them and didn’t hear from them at all, except maybe a rare offline message. This was a while back. The day I arrived in Bangladesh, after settling down, I went online using my cousin’s computer. I found a bunch of messages from someone, thanking me for sending him/her (I didn’t know who that was) the Quran and that he/she has taken the shahada recently. There are bunch of other offlines from this person thanking me for various things that I do not deserve any credit for. I just couldn’t recall at all who this person might be, because over the years I have sent Quran to many people and with most of them I have no contact at all. Luckily, that person was still online. After making some courtesy messages, I politely asked him/her to remind me who he/she was. I was given a reminder who he is and boy was I surprised! He was of course as you all can tell the estranged husband of the woman who used to come to my chat room. I guess you never know whose heart Allah will guide and the power of the Quran that over the human mind, even a simple, translated Quran without any real explanations/commentary. I have made a promise to myself that I will never doubt the intention of anyone and will always send quran or any other material about Islam with an open heart. It may be years, but it is always possible that Allah will change heart of someone whom we would otherwise have not imagined to be inclined toward Islam. I was tired after 2 days of traveling and I was missing all my family who I left behind in USA, especially my 2 nieces and a nephew. Not to mention the whole different atmosphere in Bangladesh and the uncertain future, but at that moment I was overjoyed with the good news of this person becoming a Muslim. I thanked Allah for bringing him to Islam and giving me the ability to make a small contribution in the process. As I was reciting the Quran after Fajr, I was also reading the English translations from chapter Qaf. The last verse of the chapter really struck my mind and it couldn’t have been more appropriate for the present time the Muslims are facing world wide. “You are not one to overawe them by force. So remind them with the Quran such as fear My warning.” 50:45 We don’t need to use “shock & awe” tactics by massive bombings. All we need is to use the words of the Noble Quran to “Overawe” them to the simple truth of Islam.
May Allah keep us in the straight and middle path of Islam. Maqsud Sobhani http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamicminds/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TXWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest". Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamcity/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
