Please teach me how to respond as a Muslim to missionaries when they visit to my home to share the Bible
Mormon missionaries go door to door, trying to convert people.
Assalamu Alaykum brothers and sisters in Islam,
I would like to learn how to respond to a missionary when they randomly visiting to my house and knocking my door and offering or sharing the bible study.
Alhamdulillah, I am a muslim and I was born as a muslim. We muslims respect all human being, no matter what race,what nationality or what religion they are.
Honestly I do not have enough knowledge about Islam or any other religion yet. Alhamdulillah, everyday bit by bit, step by step I am learning about Islam.
When anybody comes to our home we suppose to be polite and invite them in and offer them food and if they need help we suppose to help them if we can.
But the question is since i do not have enough knowledge, how should i respond them? I can invite them home and offering them food.
But their purpose is to teach Bible. If i ignore, it would be very rude. If i listen, it would be totally interruption for my imaan.
So, what should I do? Please help.
- Rahmon
12 Responses »
Leave a Response
Entries(RSS)
Counter argue them? ask them that how do u know that bible is not unadulterated.? If jesus (a.s) was a god can god die? there are so many things just try to counter question there question .As they lack logic
First, we deal with Astronomy.
Point No.1 - Bible says in Genesis Ch. No. 1 Verses No. 3 and 5,…‘Light was created on the first day.’ Genesis, Ch., 1 Verses, 14 to 19… ‘The cause of light - stars and the sun, etc. was created on the fourth day’. How can the cause of light be created on the 4th day - later than the light which came into existence on the first day? - It is unscientific.
Point No.2 - Further, the, Bible says Genesis, Ch. 1, Verses 9 to 13… ‘Earth was created on the 3rd day. How can you have a night and day without the earth ? The day depends upon the rotation of the Earth Without the earth created, how can you have a night and day?
Point No..3 - Genesis, Ch. No. 1 Verses 9 to 13 says… ‘Earth was created on the third day.’ Genesis Ch. No. 1 Verses 14 to 19 says…‘The Sun and the Moon were created on the fourth day.’ Today science tells us… ‘Earth is part of the parent body… the sun.’ It cannot come into existence before the sun – It is unscientific.
Point No. 4 - The Bible says in Genesis, Ch. No.1, Verse No. 11 to 13…‘The vegetation, the herbs the shrubs, the trees - they were created on the 3rd day And the Sun, Genesis, Ch. No. 1, Verses. 14 to 19, was created on the 4th day. How can the vegetation come into existence without sunlight, and how can they survive without sunlight
Ask that if jesus was god (father ,son ,holy spirit) then why did he shout on the cross at the ninth hour, Isa ibn maryam shouted in a loud voice, "Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" TO WHOM DID HE SHOUTED?
Assalamu Alaykum Brother Iman,
Could you please teach me more Points? :))
I really liked your response. Thank you.
I am agree with brother Wael, but i would like to know more about these kind confusions in Bible for just in cases .
Assalamu Alaykum
I favor the simple approach. I think it's too much to ask Muslims to start memorizing verses of the Bible (many Muslims are not even familiar with the Quran - now we're going to ask them to learn the Bible?) and trying to debate complex theological issues with trained missionaries.
Stick to Tawheed. One God who has no son, no parent, no partner. Laa ilaha-il-Allah.
Tell them, "What I know is that God is One, has always been One, and will always be One. In Arabic we call Him Allah. He is not one in three, or five or ten or a hundred. One. He has no partners nor children. Islam is the true religion that God has always given to humanity, from the beginning of time. The Quran is the perfect revelation from God, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (sws)."
"We do not worship anything else in creation. We do not worship the angels, or Mary, or Jesus (peace be upon them), or Muhammad (sws), or saints, or the dead. Only Allah."
Stick to these fundamentals.
Wael
IslamicAnswers.com Editor
Asalaam alaikum,
Never invite anyone into you home who is a stranger off the street for safety purposes. It is not rude to refuse and to be honest, plenty of people either post a sign at their door prohibiting missionaries or just won't answer their door. These days you can never be too safe, especially if there are females at home and/or you may have children at home.
The two biggest door knockers are Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons in the States. JWs usually head out on Saturdays as part of their efforts and they actually record who is responsive to them. Once you get a "possible" marking by them (even if you are just polite), then they may never leave you alone. Harsh, but true. It's easier to just tell them that you don't believe in salvation through Prophet Isa (as).
Mormons actually believe in a different form of scripture from mainstream Christians. In fact, many Christians don't accept Mormons as part of their ilk. They believe that there are more than one god, and that the god they believe in was elected, essentially. Astagfirullah. Their book is based on a person who they believe was a prophet during the 19th Century and that he was succeeded by more prophets after his death. Astagfirullah. They also believe that it is possible to still receive revelation. Astagfirullah.
This is just a gloss over of their religions, but needless to say, it's not worth debating with them on your doorstep. Instead, make a simple gesture of peace by inviting them to your local masjid to speak about religion in an interfaith gathering. Conservative JWs by their very rules won't do this at all, as they refuse to engage in another house of worship. The same can be said for Mormons, as they are often young, and are not trained to give this type of outreach to learned scholars, alims and the like. Their focus is on the layman.
Be polite of course, but just kindly inform them that their religion is not in your heart.
I forgot to add that Mormons by their very training will attempt to leave their books with you to read, so that they can return the next day or so to discuss it with you. JWs will leave a small pamphlet called Watchtower. It's better to just refuse them the first time. If you don't, you'll have to deal with them again, a few days later.
Thanks Professor X, you made some important points. I should have thought about the safety issue, considering I teach martial arts and environmental awareness. Also, I was not aware that if you answer the door and talk to them, they put you on a list for repeated visits.
Wael
IslamicAnswers.com Editor
assalamalaikum- i have experience of 32 years in the comparative religion particularly the bible thumpers about whom you mentioned -
pl take copies of these and give them-
BIBLE VERSION OF JESUS REJECTING THE TRINTARIANS. ACCEPTING ONLY UNITARIANS [THOSE WHO BELIEVED THAT JESUS WAS A MIGHTY PROPHET OF GOD] THE PAULINE CHRISTIANS WILL BE TOLD HE NEVER KNEW THEM. MATHEW-7-21
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the Will of the Father who is in Heaven. Many will say to me on the day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"MAHAUMA"[MUHAMMED] IN HEBREW "Paraclete" IN GREEK AND "COMFORTER" IN ENGLISH
In the Bible we can find the following four passages wherein Jesus (pbuh) predicts a great event:
John 14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever"
John 15:26 "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me"
John 14:26 "But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
John 16:7-14 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All Bibles in existence today are compiled from "ancient manuscripts," the most ancient of which being those of the fourth century C.E.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"He" not "It":
Notice the use of "he" when referring to the Paraclete and not "it." If we read John 16:13, we will find no less than SEVEN occurrences of the masculine pronoun "He" and "Himself." There is not another verse in the 66 books of the Protestant Bible or the seventy three books of the Catholic Bible which contains seven masculine pronouns, or seven feminine pronouns, or even seven neuter genders. So many masculine pronouns ill befits a ghost, holy or otherwise. The word "Spirit" (Greek, pneu'ma), is of a neutral gender and is always referred to by the pronoun "it."
Mr. Ahmed Deedat says:
"When this point of seven masculine pronouns was mooted by Muslims in India in their debates with the Christian missionaries, the Urdu (Indian) version of the Bible had the pronouns presently changed to SHE, SHE, SHE! so that the Muslims could not claim that this prophecy referred to Muhammad (pbuh) - a man! This Christian deception I have seen in the Bible myself. This is a common trickery by the missionaries, more specially in the vernacular.. The very latest ruse I have stumbled across in the Afrikaans Bible, on the very verse under discussion; they have changed the word "Trooster" (Comforter), to "Voorspraak" (Mediator), and interpolated the phrase - "die Heilige Gees" - meaning THE HOLY GHOST, which phrase no Bible scholar has ever dared to interpolate into any of the multifarious English Versions.. No, not even the Jehovah's witnesses. This is how the Christians manufacture God's word."
"Muhammad, the natural successor to Christ," Ahmed Deedat, p. 51
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
worlds greates priest REVERTED TO ISLAM IN 1928 AND WROTE THIS BOOK NO OTHER BOOK IS AVAILABLE ON THE PROPHET SALALAHUALAAIHIWASALAM- SO GREAT IN THE WORLD http://islamicweb.com/?folder=bible
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NO CRUCIFIACTION NO CHRISTIANITY- http://quranmalayalam.com/crucifiction/index.htm
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://jesus-messiah.com/apologetics/catholic/trinity.html TRNITY IS PAGAN-
IF YOU NEED MORE YOU CAN WRITE AGAIN I WILL SEND MORE STRONG LITERATURE -
REGARDS
ALI YOUSUFF-
Thanks Brothers,
Assalamu Alaikum
Brother,
They come to my door all the time. I politely hear what they have to say. I inform them that I am Muslim and then it is I who begins to tell them about my faith...Islam. They are polite as well, hear me out and go on their way. I have never had anyone behave rudely and in fact, I can see that I have stirred their thinking a bit when I speak of Islam. I love that! Allah hu Akbar!
Salam
It depends on their thinking.
If they are constantly hassling you maybe you have to just be firm.
But some of them that come have been quite polite and are also quite willing to listen. So it can be a way of dawah. Provided you stick to tawheed. Islam is a way of life but of course the basis to that - the most important thing is tawheed so when explaining it you dont need excessive knowledge. Only about tawheed.
But remember to be safe. If you happen to get someone interested in Islam and they want to learn more invite them to attend local masjid. Unfortunately this is rare though as these people are firm in their own beliefs.
If they are pestering you, remember you dont have to answer your door. It is up to you.
Sara
IslamicAnswres.com editor
There is a book called 101 contradictions in the bible.
It is very concise, very clear and the same way they leave some book or pamphlet to people's house, the same way we can give them one of this booklet when they come visit.
It is up to them to ponder over it then.
if they give the bible, take it. and in return you give them a link written on piece of paper that is http://beta.quran.com so that they too be given chance to read the english translation of Quran.
about debating which religion is of truth. i advice not to engage as it will take hours just to discuss about that and we dont want to harras their feelings. as every person having religion will want to defend saying they are of truth. and in the end nothing stays in mind. so just make it short, make exchanges.