revert_north
NEW MUSLIMA
Salaam alekoum brothers and sisters,
I have a problem that I need some guidance with. It is not really in the form of a question, because it's a pretty complex situation, so any help/comments/suggestions are appreciated.
Basically, my neighbour of 3 years (who is male and middle-aged) is a severe alcoholic. By his own admission, he simply 'lives' for alcohol, and he has gotten himself into a number of troubles because of it, such as not being able to keep a job, as he is always drunk.
I am not exaggerating, he drinks all day, every day, and in these 3 years, I have not seen him in any other state than severely intoxicated.
The thing is, he comes up and talks to me a lot of the time, and whilst I am always nice and polite, I'm incredibly uncomfortable being around him sometimes (note that completely avoiding him is not really an option, he lives like 2 metres away from me!)
I'm not uncomfortable because I'm a Muslim sister and he's a non-Muslim male...I'm uncomfortable because I don't know how to address him and make polite conversation with him anymore. He is my neighbour, I'm supposed to respect him and be kind to him as and when needed, but I unfortunately feel that my kindness is futile (astaghfirallah).
He knows that I am Muslim, and he respects that, when he is coherent enough! He's a pretty open-minded guy, and I *heard* that he's very loosely involved with his Catholic Chruch (i.e. he gives the occasional confession, attends the occasional mass, etc).
I would like more than anything to call him to Islam, I truly believe it would do him the WORLD of good, even if the only benefit is him ditching the alcohol, but I don't know how to do it.
Although I know he would listen (and he HAS listened in the past) to my thoughts and persuasions about the benefits of Islam, it seems so useless talking to him about it when he is drunk! Sometimes he doesn't even remember my name (for some reason he calls me 'Claire', which doesn't even SOUND like my name!), so it's obviously quite unlikely that anything I say is 'hitting home' in his drunken mind.
I pray and pray for him, I am really worried about him.
What should I do to call him to Islam (or AT LEAST try to get him to drastically reduce, or quit, his alcohol intake)?
I have thought many times of giving him an English copy of the Qur'an to peruse, BUT a) I fear that he wouldn't give the good book the respect it deserves in his drunken state, i.e. he may misplace it, tarnish the pages, or whatever, and b) I'm not even sure that this is the correct way to call somebody - drunken or not - to Islam??
The situation has gotten so bad that today I saw him at the shop, and I purposefully took a different route home to avoid bumping into him
(astaghfirallah for my ignorance to him).
Of all the people I have ever met, I don't think there's anybody I've known who NEEDS Islam more than him, and it would set my mind at ease to see him embrace the deen. It would be unfortunate if I am NOT able to call him, but to at least see him SOBER and living a 'normal' life would be a blessing.
(PS: He has no family, and seems to have no friends, who I could find out more from)
I have a problem that I need some guidance with. It is not really in the form of a question, because it's a pretty complex situation, so any help/comments/suggestions are appreciated.
Basically, my neighbour of 3 years (who is male and middle-aged) is a severe alcoholic. By his own admission, he simply 'lives' for alcohol, and he has gotten himself into a number of troubles because of it, such as not being able to keep a job, as he is always drunk.
I am not exaggerating, he drinks all day, every day, and in these 3 years, I have not seen him in any other state than severely intoxicated.
The thing is, he comes up and talks to me a lot of the time, and whilst I am always nice and polite, I'm incredibly uncomfortable being around him sometimes (note that completely avoiding him is not really an option, he lives like 2 metres away from me!)
I'm not uncomfortable because I'm a Muslim sister and he's a non-Muslim male...I'm uncomfortable because I don't know how to address him and make polite conversation with him anymore. He is my neighbour, I'm supposed to respect him and be kind to him as and when needed, but I unfortunately feel that my kindness is futile (astaghfirallah).
He knows that I am Muslim, and he respects that, when he is coherent enough! He's a pretty open-minded guy, and I *heard* that he's very loosely involved with his Catholic Chruch (i.e. he gives the occasional confession, attends the occasional mass, etc).
I would like more than anything to call him to Islam, I truly believe it would do him the WORLD of good, even if the only benefit is him ditching the alcohol, but I don't know how to do it.
Although I know he would listen (and he HAS listened in the past) to my thoughts and persuasions about the benefits of Islam, it seems so useless talking to him about it when he is drunk! Sometimes he doesn't even remember my name (for some reason he calls me 'Claire', which doesn't even SOUND like my name!), so it's obviously quite unlikely that anything I say is 'hitting home' in his drunken mind.
I pray and pray for him, I am really worried about him.
What should I do to call him to Islam (or AT LEAST try to get him to drastically reduce, or quit, his alcohol intake)?
I have thought many times of giving him an English copy of the Qur'an to peruse, BUT a) I fear that he wouldn't give the good book the respect it deserves in his drunken state, i.e. he may misplace it, tarnish the pages, or whatever, and b) I'm not even sure that this is the correct way to call somebody - drunken or not - to Islam??
The situation has gotten so bad that today I saw him at the shop, and I purposefully took a different route home to avoid bumping into him
(astaghfirallah for my ignorance to him).Of all the people I have ever met, I don't think there's anybody I've known who NEEDS Islam more than him, and it would set my mind at ease to see him embrace the deen. It would be unfortunate if I am NOT able to call him, but to at least see him SOBER and living a 'normal' life would be a blessing.
(PS: He has no family, and seems to have no friends, who I could find out more from)
