Debating religion, politics, history and many other topics is a defining characteristic of the internet for as long as we can remember. But it is only recently that Islamic and religious debates have taken the world by storm, with many debaters such as Mohammed Hijab, Hamza Tzortzis and Daniel Haqiqatjou taking the stage of Islamic dialogue in the West.
Not to say that they are pioneers in the field of public debates representing Islam. There have been many much more prominent debaters in the past that have inspired generations of Muslims to be in the offensive rather than the orthodox defensive stance. Exemplary charismatic orators such as Shaykh Ahmed Deedat (May Allah have mercy on him) and Zakir Naik have set in stone the playing field for Muslims in the anglosphere, so much so that we are capable of challenging orientalist academics and revisionists in their own playing grounds.
Needless to say, this article here is not intended to discuss the boons and history of contemporary Islamic debaters but rather the banes of online debates in general. I have been prompted to write this especially after some Pakistani fella sent me entire PDF files trying to refute the suffering of their own Uyghur brothers and trying to paint the whole of it as an American psy-op.
I have always been a proponent of staying away from debates to the best of my ability and trying to spend my time behind more productive things and this would be as per the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah. But some conversations truly make me wonder. Are debates the only form of dialogue? Is evidence always in the form of literary texts? Does some seeming distortions in images invalidate the suffering of millions of people?
I ended the conversation with the Pakistani fella saying, “How would you feel if you were put in some re-education camp after Pakistan is conquered by India and they use terrorism as a justification to ‘re-educate’ you?”.
He finally shut up and began realising the absurdity of his arguments. Whether a Muslim is right or wrong, it does not justify oppressing and feeding kufr and annihilating Islamic culture and practices from millions of Muslims.
The Absurdity of Debate Culture
The debate culture is always predecided on who fights for what. It is extremely rare that someone will show a visible change of heart even if they are proven wrong. It is definitely observed that many parrot the exact same arguments even after being totally thrashed and annihilated on grounds of debate.
Not all debates are conducted on stages with thousands of audiences that wish to learn. Many a time these epic and articulate debates are taken to the darkest corners of the YouTube comment section. Oh, how one wishes to manifest these in real life. However, what stays in the comment section, stays in the comment section.
Such articulate and well-thought-out writing is never likely to be read by the masses again. None derives benefit from it. The writer departed his knowledge. The person objecting is still stuck to his own ways. And there is none else to ever discuss or even glance an eye on the fanciful arguments.
Debates are inherently polarising and both sides would stoop to any level to prove themselves right, qualifying many unconventional objections as evidence. This goes to the extent of the Japanese denying the Nanjing massacres, the British denying accountability for the Bengal famine, the Chinese their extermination of Uyghurs and it goes on and on. Needless to say, when one mentions the extermination of Uyghurs, it does not refer to total annihilation but rather the manipulating of Uyghur culture, language, customs and beliefs.
The Classical Maxims on Debates
Al-Shafi’i, may Allah have mercy on him, said, “Among the degradation of knowledge is that you debate everyone who debates you, or you argue with everyone who argues with you. Knowledge is ignorance to the people of ignorance, just as ignorance is ignorance to the people of knowledge.”
Source: Manāqib al-Shāfi’ī lil-Bayhaqī 2/151
Imam al-Shafi’i said, “If a fool speaks to you, do not answer him, for the best answer is silence. If you speak to him, you have delighted him. If you leave him, he nearly dies in anguish.”
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Source: Dīwān al-Imām al-Shāfi’ī 38
Umar ibn al-Khattab R.A said, “Know that Allah has servants who cause some falsehood to die out by ignoring it and they give life to the truth by mentioning it.”
Source: Kitāb al-Kharrāj 1/23
This is not to say that we should avoid debates as a whole, but rather it sets out a priority of who needs to be engaged with. You are not obliged to debate and engage with all Toms, Dicks and Harrys. If they are people of low stature with low exposure, just leave them be as engaging with them will benefit none if they are visibly engaging without intention for change. It is in fact seen as a righteous thing to give the message of the Prophet and then leave them be.
Al-Ajurri reported: Al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, said, “I have never seen a jurist indulge argumentation. The believer does not debate with the foolish, not does he argue. He spreads the wisdom of Allah. If it is accepted, he praises Allah. If it is rejected, he praises Allah.”
Source: Akhlāq al-‘Ulamā’ lil-Ajurrī 1/58
Conclusion
Needless to say, many of us spend hours upon hours and even abandon our nights of sleep in order to “prove” ourselves and “protect” our Deen to convince some Redditor with zoophilia and degeneracy in their post history or some random ItsMeMoron#2345 on Discord. I for one have engaged in the same debate trying to defend the prophet ﷺ’s marriage with Aisha r.a so many times that I have found dozens of different ways to refute them. I have grown so sick and tired of debating the same thing over and over again that I just wrote an article.
If they do not respond to the article, just strawman, mock and leave them be. That is how we should save time and use it for greater and grander purposes such as learning our religion better, learning the sciences, reading books, working towards financial independence and creating a rich network of talented and sincere people as our friends.
PLEASE READ: Why the Muslim youth don’t read and how it is damaging our society!
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