What Is Your Response to What Is Said About You?

What is your response to what is said about you?

Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah. Dear brothers, often you find a caller to Islam who benefits people by Allah's grace, but he is subjected to criticism and allegations. His followers and lovers ask him to respond to them. This preoccupation with allegations can lead to a waste of effort. Here, I would like to give some advice to the callers, including advice to myself and advice to the followers, for "religion is sincere advice" as our Prophet peace be upon him said.

Advice to the Callers

Dealing with Criticism and Fabrications

Firstly, for the callers: you may be criticized rightly, and you may be falsely accused. It is dangerous to put all your critics in one basket and treat them the same. Therefore, it is not right to ignore all criticism, thinking that people's talk does not matter to you, for there may be some truth in it, and in that case, you correct yourself, and the believer returns to the truth.

At the same time, it is not right to listen to every criticism directed at you and pay attention to it, especially when it is repeated fabrications. The existence of fabricators against the callers is something very natural, and we will never reach a stage where no one opposes us. As Warqa bin Naufal said to our Prophet peace be upon him: "No man has ever come with what you have brought but has been met with enmity." Whoever follows the path of the Prophet peace be upon him will inevitably be opposed, not only by the disbelievers, but also by those who have gone astray, the misguided, the envious, the followers of desires, and the flatterers of rulers.

The Trap of Responding and Repeated Responding

Here, you must be very careful not to fall into the trap of responding and repeatedly responding, for Satan uses these fabricators as tools to distract the callers from supporting Islam and confronting falsehood.

How do I know that these fabricators do not deserve my attention?

Firstly: if what they say are repeated fabrications that you have responded to many times, and yet they do not discuss your response but ignore it as if they have not heard it, then these are not seekers of truth but their goal is to attack you only.

Also, one of the most important signs of these people is the timing they choose to spread their fabrications. When they cannot attack you except when you are rescuing or leading the Muslims and the youth are positively influenced by you, then know that their attack on you is not for any good.

As for myself, dear people, I have heard canned fabrications from such people that are repeated as they are from eight years ago, and I have responded to them many times, such as in the speech "Revealing the Truths" and the speech "The Position of Iyad Quneibi Towards Those Who Sanction the Blood of Muslims" and the speech "Does Iyad Quneibi Belong to a Certain Group?". Among them are those who repeated the fabrications when we clarified the truth about the Dheeh program, and among them are those who repeated them when I responded to a celebrity regarding his speech that began with the entry of Jews and Christians into paradise, those who rejected Islam, even if they rejected Islam. And among them are those who repeated them when responding to Nicholas Khouri and clarifying that he mocks Muslims about their religious rituals while they do not feel it. And among them are those who repeated them when talking about the reciters who did not respect the right of the Quran. So you see these fabricators did not raise their heads to clarify the truth in these instances, but they attack those who clarify the truth and attack them with repeated fabrications.

Here, dear people, we need to balance. On the one hand, there are new followers who have increased by the grace of Allah, and it is their right that we refer them to the words in which we have responded and which they have not seen. However, at the same time, I advise myself and my fellow callers not to fall into the trap, for Satan uses the fabricators as tools, whether they feel it or not, to distract us from continuing our call, which neither supports the truth nor silences falsehood, but comes to stand with the helpers of the oppressors and wants to put you, O caller, in the category of accusation with repeated fabrications to try to defend yourself. These are the accused and even the condemned.

What drives them, I wonder? Among them are those who are annoyed that you speak about the scholars of the rulers and the reciters of the rulers and the helpers of the oppressors who deceive people in their religion, so he feels that the turn has come to him. Among them are those who shape their speech as a thorn or those who shape your speech as a thorn for him because it shows the greatness of Islam that he has distorted in the eyes of people. Among them are the envious and the hateful. Whatever the reason, do not allow these people to distract you. This is my advice to myself and to my fellow callers.

Advice to the General Followers

The Right of Followers to Clarification and Response

As for my advice to the general public of followers, yes, it is your right upon us that we clarify and respond to what you hear about us as callers, especially in this time when people receive shocks and shocks from callers whom they considered to be good. Therefore, we responded for the first time, the second time, and the third time, and this is the nature of social media that old words do not reach many followers, so it is your right upon us that we refer you to them.

The Right of Callers to Followers

However, at the same time, dear ones, it is our right upon you that those who have seen the responses should inform those who have not. It is our right upon you that when we spend our time preparing new materials in which we instill the religion of Allah to His servants, otherwise we would be preoccupied and prevented from continuing the call, and Satan would achieve what he desires. We do not want emotional responses without knowledge, nor insults and curses that a Muslim should rise above, but rather a response with knowledge.

How do we ask you to respond with knowledge?

Firstly: With the same responses that we have published. How beautiful it would be if those who have seen our responses kept them to answer new inquirers or deliberate slanderers, and thus earn the reward of relieving their brothers from what is more beneficial. Some of you do that, may Allah reward you with good, and we will assist you by placing links in the video description, if Allah wills.

Secondly: Responding with knowledge means instilling in people the general Islamic rules for dealing with claims: "O you who have believed, if there comes to you a rebellious one with information, investigate, lest you harm a people out of ignorance and then be regretful for what you have done." How many people have commented saying, "Dr. Iyad, I did not listen to you over the past years because I heard about you what repels me, but when I listened, I regretted those years and the good that I missed in them." I truly feel pain for these good young people who are turned away from good by fabrications, otherwise, the fabricators are not worth our attention. What is required is that we instill in people the Islamic rule in the saying of Allah, the Exalted: "Say, 'Bring your proof, if you should be truthful,'" and the saying of Allah, the Exalted: "And why, when you heard it, did not the believing men and believing women think good of themselves and say, 'This is an obvious slander'?" This, dear ones, provides immunity from paying attention to fabrications instead of wasting our time responding to every claimant with falsehood.

Thirdly: Responding with knowledge means clarifying to people whose speech is consistent and whose positions are consistent, and whose speech and positions are contradictory. You find one person defending the supporters of the oppressors and saying about one of them, "Do you not tear open his heart? He may have good in his heart." But if he sees a caller warning against the supporters of the oppressors, he says, "This caller practices taqiyya, he shows what he does not conceal. In his heart, he disbelieves in so and so." Glory be to Allah! In his heart, he tears open the heart of the caller when he did not see in his speech what to criticize, but he did not tear open the heart of the supporters of the oppressors.

Fourthly: Responding with knowledge means placing the isolated words of any caller in their context. In the case of your brother, you will find, for example, those who collect tweets separated from their context to say, "He supported such and such group that shed the blood of Muslims." I say to my brothers, if only some of you would return to what we wrote and filmed during that period to see how the distortion occurs, then inform your brothers that our heritage is available on the internet. There are even those who take the title of a speech and incite people with it. If you look at its content, you will see that it is the opposite of what is claimed, completely and in a ridiculous manner. And Allah is funny, amazing, and strange. Discuss with the one who puts the speech and say to him, "What do you object to in it? Where is the exact flaw?" Do not be satisfied with the title. No, come and enter the speech. What do you object to in it? Do not say, "Iyad said, 'Do not approach prayer,'" and he said, "Woe to the pray-ers." Bring the speech in its entirety and let us discuss it. We want, dear ones, responses with knowledge, for this helps your brother to continue in his call, making you partners with him in it by the permission of Allah, the Exalted.

Conclusion

And after all this, advice to all followers of any caller: If you hear about him what does not please you, then look at the state of his call and ponder what is being said about him. If there is no proof on the call, do not turn yourselves back every time to say, "What is your response?" For thereby you fall into the trap of distracting him from continuing in what benefits you and benefits the people.

And finally, my brothers, I do not claim to be free from error. I do not claim to be free from error, but I do claim to be free from the lies of the fabricators. And I do not hope that everyone will love me, for this was not the demand of the prophets and reformers throughout the ages. But if something is precious to me, it is that fabrications heard about me would prevent my call from reaching those who need it. Otherwise, what reward do we ask of you, and praise be to Allah who has placed between me and the general public of Muslims who know us, great affection and brotherhood.

And to inform you, I sometimes write on a topic knowing that it will provoke objections and stir up fabrications. Okay, my brother, since you know why do you speak? Let us be relaxed. No, dear ones, it is not appropriate for one who calls to Allah to speak according to the whims of the people, nor that his standard is to please everyone, but there is no reform except if we confront the people with what displeases some of them from the truth. And he who seeks the pleasure of Allah with the anger of the people, Allah suffices him from the people, and he who seeks the pleasure of the people with the anger of Allah, Allah entrusts him to the people. And we seek refuge in Allah from being entrusted to the people. And we seek refuge in Allah from being entrusted to the people. And with that, praise be to Allah that what we publish is accepted and has an effect on the general public of Muslims. And I ask Allah, the Exalted, to make me and you among the believers so that we may enjoy His saying, Glorified is He: "Indeed, Allah defends those who have believed."

Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.