Q386 :I recently sent a letter to a radio station,
but it turned out to be a Christian preaching station. The person who
answered my letter spoke about the enlightened vision of Jesus Christ
and suggested that those who do not follow that vision are in total
darkness. Could you let me know how to convince him of Islam and to
tell him that what he is doing is wrong?
A386 : The first thing to remember about this
question is that we, as Muslims, are not required to convince anyone of
the truth of Islam. Allah will not ask anyone of us: How many people
have you convinced or how many have benete Muslims as a result of your
efforts? Indeed, He has told His messenger: “You certainly cannot guide
whomever you please; It is Allah who guides whom He will. He best knows
those who accept guidance.” (28:56) What Allah will question us about
is whether we have fulfilled the task He has assigned to His messenger
and to all Muslims: Namely, conveying the message of Islam to mankind.
That is our task: To explain Islam to people and to tell them that
Allah requires them to believe in it. If they accept it, they reap the
fruits of being rightly guided. If they reject it, we have fulfilled
our task. I hope that I have made the distinction clear between doing
our part which is within our power, and the results that our efforts
produce. I appreciate your keenness to have this broadcaster see the
light of Islam. To do so, you only have to supply him with the relevant
information. You may send him a letter or reply, or send him some books
relevant to the topic you raised with him, or relevant to his essential
beliefs and the basic beliefs of Islam. If you do so, you have done a
good service to your faith. Whether he will be convinced is a totally
different matter. You should not be hesitant to send him whatever
information is available to you about Islam. Followers of other
religions do the same. I continue to receive letters from Christian
missionaries and followers of religions. They either reply to some
points they have read in Arab News or speak about their faiths or
invite me to follow their own religion. Muslims should not hesitate to
present their faith to other people. By doing so, they actually do them
a great service, because they explain to them the faith which Allah
accepts from human beings.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )