Dealing with anti-Islamic Websites

One of the downsides of the internet is that it has given our critics and enemies an opportunity to publicly defame the religion of Islam. I guess this is the price of having freedom of speech. Sometimes you have to read and hear things which are just plain detestable.

The fact of the matter is that its enemies have defamed Islam from the very beginning and this is not about to change anytime soon. What's more, since Muslims are in a very weak position these days, the amount of anti-Islamic propaganda is on the rise from many quarters. I am sure we have all encountered numerous websites that have slandered the Prophet (s), twisted the meaning of the Quran, attacked the companions of the prophet, etc. The more disturbing thing is the ease with which millions of people now have access to this information as a result of the growth of the internet.

Our first reaction is to get angry and get all fired up with zeal to do something about it when we find these offensive sites. It is indeed a good sign of strong faith if we get angry when our faith is under attack, and may Allah always keep our faith in Islam strong. But this is not enough to effectively combat this new attack on Islam.

Her I want to offer a few suggestions on dealing with these anti-Islamic websites so we can more effectively counter this continuing and mounting menace:

1) Keep your cool: As I said before, it is good to be angry when you see Islam attacked, but keep your cool and act with a level head. When we are overly angry we cannot act rationally and thus we undermine our goals. We will do and say things that later on we will regret. For example, we may be tempted to attack the person's religion in a bad way which is not permissible in Islam.

2) Don't write back to the unless webmaster unless you are ready: For the most part these people thrive on confrontation. They would love for you to respond and are ready for a quick answer. Remember, many of these people know a lot about Islam so if you are not ready for them they will soundly defeat you in any argument. Also, if you answer back but don't have the proper knowledge you will end up making Islam and Muslims look worse. Some webmasters actually post all responses on the website for all to read. The sillier the response then the more likely it will be placed on the site. Please note, just because someone wins a particular argument does not mean they are right. The loser may just not have all the information on hand at the time of the argument.

3) Don't try to have the page removed from the internet: Many Muslims try to have the website removed from the internet altogether by writing the company which hosts the site and complaining. In my opinion this is a waste of time. Even if the host removed the site they can open up in a few days under another host, so our time is wasted on such efforts.

4) Don't publicize the site to others: One of the biggest mistakes we commit is to tell others about the offensive website. All this does is give the site owner free publicity which is what he/she wants. If you see an offensive site don't spread it all over the place as you are actually helping the site owner when doing this.

5) Best defense is a good offense: Finally, the best defense against anti-Islamic websites is to develop your own excellent website which presents Islam in a beautiful and accurate manner. Many people are out there searching for answers and more and more are turning to the internet to find these answers. Possibly they could visit your website and as a result become Muslim. Also, other Muslims could use your site to get information they need for dawah or research and Allah will reward you for providing this service. Even if you cannot start a website, you can at least submit articles to existing websites which they can use so that all can get the benefit.

Apostasy and reform in Islam
Guest Commentary
Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq
Professor, Upper Iowa University
March 21, 2007

This column is part of a dialogue that has been inspired by the Secular Islam Summit that took place in St. Petersburg, Fla., on March 4 and 5. See Mike Ghouse's initial Guest Commentary, a response by John Lobenstein and Mr. Ghouse's reply to Mr. Lobenstein.

I have been following discussions about the Secular Islam Summit before it took place as well as afterward. The summit was attended mostly by non-Muslims, ex-Muslims and only two to three avowed Muslims who appeared to have no connection with the mainstream Muslim community. There was a public declaration when the summit ended. The mainstream Muslim community ignored the summit for the most part, considering it an Islam-bashing propaganda sand-castled on Islamophobia.

Some mainstream Muslim communities and organizations condemned or dismissed this summit as irrelevant or even malicious. I also read the exchange between Mr. Robert Spencer of the Jihad Watch website, one of the patrons of the summit, who needs little introduction, and Mr. Mike Ghouse of the World Muslim Congress, an American Muslim committed to engage the Muslim community in upholding and promoting the ideals of pluralism, justice and peace.

Regardless of the way mainstream Muslims may view this summit and might even dismiss it, some serious underlying issues and problems might be glossed over, which is the focus of this write-up. Relevant also is that it seeks a common ground, to identify the points of tangency and convergence and collectively build consensus toward common good.

First, it is important to identify and acknowledge non-Muslims as stakeholders in a broader sense in issues pertaining to Islam. All stakeholders may not formulate or implement a decision or agenda, but an entity should consider their concerns because of both moral and self-interest factors. Muslims often contend that Islam is purely an internal matter; they are unwilling to listen to outsiders or to those who are critical of Islam, let alone Islam-bashers, Islamophobes or abusers of Islam and the Prophet. It is a common tendency to think the worst of those who are critical. However, while effective reforms are internally driven, critics may offer pertinent input that many devotees may not. Indeed, this reality is often ignored.

Symposium: One Islam?
By Jamie Glazov

Spencer: Jamie, there is absolutely no doubt that in many areas of the Islamic world, for many reasons a cultural Islam has evolved that deemphasizes the militancy of the Qur’an and Muhammad’s example, and often contains significant syncretistic elements. This is true in varying ways in West Africa, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. However, Thomas Haidon is correct when he notes that “these pluralistic Islamic practices, I believe, are at risk,” and that there is a movement fostering the “total Arabisation of Islam in Indonesia” and elsewhere. This will involve, as Haidon says, “tolerant cultural practices” being “subsumed by harsher practices.”

Haidon is also unfortunately correct that “more moderate models of Islam may be susceptible and vulnerable to more conservative models” – and this is part of the Arabization phenomenon. This is because the proponents of Arabization and radicalization present themselves as the exponents of a “true” and “pure” Islam, purged of the cultural syncretism that, because it lacks foundation in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, they are able to portray as illegitimate. For instance, in his delightful book The Caliph’s House, Tahir Shah recounts how Wahhabi recruiters from Saudi Arabia set up a trailer in a shantytown in Casablanca, from which they endeavored to recruit the locals for the jihad.