Dawaa & its ways

[Kayote]

:salam2:

First the intro... I really really want to invite people at work to Islam as I really feel there are some genuinely nice people out there who just need to be invited. Recently, one of the directors of the company died of a heart attack. He was in his mid (to late)-thirties at the very most & left behind 2 very young boys & their mum. Because of this, a lot of people were a bit shaken over the past 2 weeks.

My problem is that - firstly, I cannot decide who to start with. Their is my boss whose a great guy, then there are my neighbouring sweet girl collegues. And many more...

Secondly, how do I direct the conversations towards religions & Islam. I want it to come across as natural direction of the conversation so they are not alarmed or defensive. Islam being potrayed so awefully here in UK, I really want to be careful to paint the true & sincere picture. Also considering most of them probably dont believe in God in the first place...

Thridly, please guide me to recommended books that I can give them after my conversation with them to ensure they follow through that discussion with reading the books & getting more interested in Islam.

The reason I ask these many questons is that as a muslim we have a responsibility to give them the message. Allah (SHW) has only asked us of this. But we have to ensure we do this right or otherwise we are doing a great dis-service to Islam.

Please assist!

 

[Submitter]

:salam2:

Mashallah may Allah reward you for your good intentions brother.

When wanting to talk to friends and colleagues about religion or even just about spirituality I put them into 2 very simple categories: athiest and non-athiest! I have found it is many times more difficult speaking to someone who doesn't believe in a god (they seem more stubborn) than it is speaking to someone who already has their own religion and methods of worship. If you're not sure whether they believe in a god or not and you're close enough to your colleagues to ask them such a question then go for it. "Mate, do you believe in a god? We couldn't have just evolved from nothing could we?" or something lol

Now if your colleague is athiest then I find the best way to talk to them is with science. Science is the one tool that is most likely to convince them of the truth of the Qur'an. You could maybe start by asking them about evolution of man (i.e. apes to humans). They'll say of course they believe in human evolution because scientific evidence proves it. But then you explain to them science has not proven this at all. If you don't know much about the subject I recommend the following resource:

http://www.evolutiondeceit.com/

Then slowly start mentioning the scientific miracles of the Qur'an and how modern science has only come to discover things that were mentioned in the Qur'an 1400 years ago. Ask them "how could this be?" As you say though, you don't want to do Islam a great dis-service so be sure to do your research before approaching them!

Now regarding colleagues that already believe in a god - speak on their level. Everyone will have different levels of religious commitment and spirituality so try and gauge this and approach at the appropriate level. Most major world religions believe in only one God (including Hinduism) and so do you! So tell them we all worship the same God. Then from there try to pick up things you have in common in your religions (the concept of God probably being at the top) and try to explain the Islamic perpective and try to show why it's superior (and in most cases, much simpler) to theirs without actually saying "my religions better than yours :tongue:".

Just rereading what I've written it kind of looks like a how-to which is not what I intended! But anyway, I hope this is helpful bro; it's what I find works for me.

 

[ifka]

:salam2:
I think Sheikh Yussuf Estes offers great lectures on how to invite people to islam including how to talk, how to redirect their anger, and how to handle one's self.

http://www.islamtomorrow.com

As for books many reverts say they found the quran helpful, they dont have to read it all at once at thei own pace with an open mind. if they are christians Sheikh Ahmed Deedat (may Allah blees his soul) has written on their believes and the bible.

http://jamaat.net/deedat.htm

 

[Kayote]

Thankyou ever so much Submitter & Ifka for the replies.

Those are some very useful advices.

JazakAllah Khair

WaAliekum Assalam