Search In Fatwa

How to deal with someone who tries to make people doubt Islam

Question

Salam alaikum wa rahmatAllah wa barakatuhu, I have a Coptic woman in my unemployment class, who uses the violent situation in Egypt to spread false information and lies about Islam, saying that what is happening in Egypt is Islam and that Islam is evil etc. I was kind to her, as Rasul Allah, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, also stayed kind to the jews who entered upon him and wished him death, as I have read in a hadith, and I tried to refute her and telling her that what the killing of innocent is not part of Islam and that it is an "innovation" by certain sects, as far as I have read, Allahu alam. But she claims, I do not understand Islam, because I don't speak Arabic and all translations are wrong because it is so difficult to translate Arabic into another language and much of the original meaning gets lost. I stopped discussing with her, as her slander of Allah, azza wa jall, and Rasul Allah, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam, was hard to bear and it was hard for me to keep calm and not insult her. In my prayer I asked Allah to punish her, also in this life, because I can bear when racists harm me but I cannot bear it when someone tells lies about Allah and His Messenger, sal Allahu alayhi wa salam. Is it permissable to ask for punishment in that case or should I ask for guidance? Salam alaikum wa rahmatAllah wa barakatuhu Nuha

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

First of all, we ask Allaah The Almighty to greatly and abundantly reward you for your zeal about Islam; this will not be lost in the eyes of Allaah The Almighty. However, you should not be afraid for Islam due to this woman and similar people lying about and insulting Islam, as this will not harm Allaah The Almighty in any case.

As for supplicating against her, there are some details about this matter. If you hope that she will be guided and embrace Islam, then you should not hasten to supplicate Allaah The Almighty to ruin her. However, if you lose hope in her guidance and she is a danger to Islam and the Muslims, then you may supplicate against her. Indeed, this was the guidance of the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) in supplicating for or against the polytheists.

The scholar Ibn Battaal  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him said, “The Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) loved that people should embrace Islam and he would not hasten to supplicate against them as long as he wished that they would accept Islam. He  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) also used to supplicate for whomever he thought would ultimately turn to Allaah. Nonetheless, he used to supplicate against whomever he did not hope would embrace Islam while fearing his harm and evil, as he supplicated against some people to have severe years like the years of the Prophet Yusuf  may  Allaah  exalt  his  mention; as he supplicated against the leaders of Quraysh because of their great harm and enmity, and so, his supplication was answered, and so, they were killed in the Battle of Badr, and many people for whom he supplicated for guidance embraced Islam.

As to the translation of the Quran, there are some reliable and trustworthy translations that are known to trustworthy specialists. There might still be some mistakes in some translations, but this does not mean that these errors are in the Quran itself. In addition to this, the intention of this woman may be just to make people doubt Islam, so you should be careful of her.

Allaah Knows best.

Related Fatwa