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 MANY PEOPLE use Facebook to educate their friends and family about Islam, but what happens? They often post information and are met with...complete silence. Or with hostile responses. Often several of their friends or family join in to criticize them for posting such "racist" or "bigoted" articles.Do you have this experience? It's very discouraging and upsetting. It can make you feel isolated and alone in your commitment. You can feel ostracized by your own inner circle. But you know you are in a key position to educate your fellow non-Muslims about Islam, so you don't want to stop trying. You know that if you don't reach these people, probably nobody will. They won't get any good information from the news sources they read or watch (because people tend to seek information that resonates with their own beliefs), and they won't get any opposing opinions from any of their friends (because people tend to choose friends who agree with them). You may be the one last hope we have of reaching these people with genuine information about Islam's prime directive. This article has some suggestions to help you fulfill your commitment effectively. First, it will really help to gain some allies. Join a counterjihad group or two or more on Facebook, and when you see intelligent comments on posts there, visit the person's page, and if they seem like a good person, "friend" those people. Include a message to them that tells them you would like an ally. Let's be allies for each other. And when you see your new friend post something good on their personal page, give it a thumbs up or a positive comment, and they can do the same for you. Let your family and friends see that not everyone thinks as they do. And if someone criticizes a post of yours, your new Facebook friends will probably add their own comments on your side of the argument, helping you feel less alone. This has a tremendously positive impact on your own psychology, and it has a positive influence on the person who made the negative comment (because of the principle of social proof). It will help change minds. Another thing that will help is to add something to every link. Don't just post a link as-is. Use these tips to make a good-looking post, but also add a comment at the top that helps your family and friends understand what the implications are or why it's important to read it. Be simple and clear. Be calm and informed. Don't rant. Go out of your way not to give the impression you are an angry, hating person. It is an easy impression to give when your family and friends are multiculturalists who vehemently despise criticisms about Islam. So make a strong effort to understate your case and be as reasonable as humanly possible. Post facts. Post specific examples. Post local stories. And don't do too many. No more than once a day. Be extremely selective. You don't want people to hide you because you dominate the postings too much. So be highly selective and only post the very best items. Don't post anything that's only "okay." Let's be smart about this, not just committed and enthusiastic. You're trying to reach people who don't already believe as you do. If you post a lot, you may gather a lot of friends but they all already know enough about Islam. Those aren't the ones who most urgently need to be educated. So be selective about what you post. And don't only post about Islam. They will think you are obsessed. Post other things that are interesting. And use good timing. The best times to post something are Saturday and Sunday mornings. Post your very best things on those days — one per day, but make it a very good one. Save up your best things for the weekend. More people will see what you post on the weekend mornings, and they're more likely to have the time to read them. The second best time to post something is in the early evening on week nights. Let's use Facebook to advance the cause. And return the favor to your friends by not only posting, but checking your "home" page and seeing what your friends are posting and respond, support, help them argue too. Let's use the power of social proof to help change minds.  |
 THIS IS ANOTHER in our series, Answers to Objections. I've never actually heard anyone say this in a conversation, but I've heard this said in writing many times. The person saying it usually thinks they know a lot about Islam, but they don't, and the objection is a great opportunity to give some really good information about Islam. Here is how I would answer it:The Quran is considered by Muslims as Islam's most holy book. Sixty-one percent of the Quran is about non-Muslims. Writings about what Muslims should do is religious. Writings about what non-Muslims should do or how Muslims should deal with non-Muslims is political (read more about this distinction). Therefore, based on Islam's most holy book, Islam is more political (61%) than religious (39%). There are 245 verses in the Quran that could be considered "positive verses" about non-Muslims. Every single one of those verses have been abrogated by later, negative verses about non-Muslims. Not one positive verse about non-Muslims is left. In contrast, there are 527 verses of intolerance toward non-Muslims, and 109 verses specifically advocating violence towards non-Muslims. Not one of these verses has been abrogated. Even if you completely ignore the Quran and only look at what Muslims actually do in the Muslim world, the conclusion is the same. Whenever Muslims get a large enough minority to seize the reigns of power and impose their will, they treat non-Muslims horribly, and eventually drive out non-Muslims or subjugate them, or set up conditions that cause non-Muslims to convert to Islam just to relieve the burden of dhimmitude. The end result is 56 countries in the world that consider themselves Islamic (members of the OIC, the largest voting block in the U.N.) and that have ever-decreasing percentages of non-Muslims in their countries because non-Muslims flee, are killed, or convert to relieve the dhimmi burden. So if I am "cherry-picking" verses out of the Quran, apparently Muslims around the world today, and Muslims throughout Islamic history, have cherry-picked in exactly the same way. The fact is, every Muslim is commanded by Allah to follow the example of Mohammad, an example that was written down in great detail. The Hadith is an enormous written record of what Mohammad said and did. There are two versions of the Hadith, which are very similar, that are considered to be the most authentic by Islamic scholars and the Muslim world throughout its history, one by Sahih Bukhari and the other by Sahih Muslim. If you count up all references to jihad in Bukhari's voluminous record of Mohammad's life, 97 percent of the passages refer to jihad as bloodshed and warfare against non-Muslims. Three percent of the references are about jihad as an inner struggle. So even if Muslims ignore the Quran completely and simply follow Mohammad's example, they would still be violent, aggressive, and intolerant, following the same course as would be described by "cherry-picking verses" out of the Quran. But if this is all true, why are there millions of Muslims in this country who are not blowing things up? That answer can be found here: Objection Number 14.  |
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