New Muslim Bug Bears
When referring to somebody or talking to somebody.
Good old gentleman-like or lady-like manners go along way. Don't
address your fellow human being by their colour of their skin and
ethnic group or religious or non-religious inclination in a negative
way. When our Prophet (Salasalam) sent the letters inviting the
leaders of various nations to Islam, he specifically referred to the
Christian emperor of Rome (Hercules), not as a 'kafir' (disbeliever)
or white man and black man or such other words. He (Salasalam)
referred to him as 'The Great one of Rome' (Adheem ul Rome).
When the Prophet spoke about The great King of
Abyssinia (Ashama
ibn Abjar) who later excepted Islam and Conducted the
Prophets (Salasalam) marriage. He used words of honour and
endearment, to raise and respect that person. If your view of the
world, is that your non-muslim fellow human beings are all 'Kafir',
surprise, surprise, that's exactly how you will treat other people.
Resulting, in affecting no body with our beautiful religion. Our job
is to convey the message of Islam to our fellow human beings in a
beautiful and kind way, with love, mercy and clemency.
More over, if you refer to people by the colour of their skin or ethnicity, in other languages used in the UK, this
can be interpreted by some, as racial or at the least bad manners.
The Prophet (Salasalam) used to refer to 2 of his companions as
Salman al Farsi (Salman the Persian) or Bilal al Habishi (Bilal the
Abyssinian). Referring to them an honoring them by their country of origin.
Contextually, words can also have on undertone of
all the things negative about someone's culture or ethnicity. Words
may begin harmless, however, when used contextually, using body
language and voice tone, this can be offensive and demeaning.
Here are some alternative words easily adapted to
our language vocabulary; 'Brother/sister' 'sir' 'ma'am' 'madame' Ya
Sayyidi translated 'Oh my master' ' My friend ' ' Those of other
faiths instead of Non Muslims, ' Brothers/sisters in Humanity' ' My
Fellow Brothers & sisters' ' Brother/sister from England, America
etc
Take heed of this Advice 'Don't call Muslims or non Muslims 'Kafirs'
We don't know, what is in that persons heart or
whether they are Muslim or not, or even hiding their faith for fear
of persecution and ridicule. We don't know whether that person will
be become Muslim or not. Allah Is the knower of hearts and a persons
end state, and he is the judge NOT YOU Oh Mr or Miss I have all the answers, and my Shaykh Google of Islam has told me this. I have the biggest ego in the world and I am right and everyone else is wrong. I have a daleel Akh!
Do you feel comfortable referring to the
companions before they became Muslims as Kafirs, would you say to New
Muslim, things like' Your family are all kafirs & they are all in
hell' or saying to a New Muslim that “you were a kafir before you
became Muslim”. ABSOLUTELY NO, we don't feel at all comfortable
with these statements.
Have we really passed on the true message of
Islam? not the Islam that promotes the killing of innocent people or
propagates death and destruction to everyone that doesn't follow
their ideology and referring to human beings as kafirs and everyone
all in hell. Or do we follow a religion, that is one of love,
forgiveness, preference over others and forbearing.
These comments and concerns highlighted above,
make up a reaction to common New Muslim complaints and experiences
that they face on a daily basis.
