Another Neighborhood Encounter
I wrote in the last post about meeting the three guys from the mosque. Well, I was walking the dog with my wife one night last week. On the other side of the street, three men in dishdashas approached. I handed the dog leash to my wife and crossed over to greet them with a traditional Arabic greeting.
They seemed genuinely stunned and pleased. They introduced themselves and said they live in the neighborhood. Then one of the men said "That was noble of you to come and introduce yourself... many people are scared of us 'guys in white' (a reference to being a Gulf Arab person in a white dishdasha)."
It seems that many expats are reluctant to make friends with 'locals' here for one reason or another. Sometimes I think they just don't see them as people they COULD get to know. Other times I do think they're genuinely afraid because of rumors they've heard about locals not being friendly.
On the contrary, I've found locals to be extremely friendly and open to friendship. If you're an expat here in Dubai or the UAE, what's been your experience? Or, if you're a local, what's been your experience with expats?
8 comments:
As an evangelical, do you see it as your number one duty to conduct religious discussions with non Christians in attempt for their potential conversion?
Hi Idu,
I'm not sure what you're getting at with this question. It seems like there's more to your question than what you asked.
And did you think this 30 second conversation with my neighbors was a religious discussion "in attempt for their potential conversion"?
I spoke with these gentlemen for 30 seconds and it wasn't about spiritual issues per se.
But to answer your direct question with a direct answer... no, I do not see it as my "number one duty" to do what you describe.
Is it yours as a Muslim?
Idu,
One more thing. I'm wondering if you are wondering about the term "evangelical". Often, people outside the movement think that this points directly and almost solely to evangelism. But it doesn't. The following list of characteristics could summarize evangelicals:
Biblicism - Through the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, the God who is objectively 'there' has revealed universal and eternal truth to humankind in such a way that all can grasp it.
Christocentrism - God's eternal Word became human in the historical man Jesus of Nazareth, who definitively reveals God to humanity.
Crucicentrism - The good news of God's revelation in Christ is seen supremely in the cross, where atonement was made for people of every race, tribe and tongue.
Conversionism - The truth of the eternal gospel must be appropriated in personal faith, which comes through repentance - that is, a discernible reorientation of the sinner's mind and heart towards God.
Activism - Gospel truth must be demonstrated in evangelism and social service.
These come from the article here:
http://www.eauk.org/about/what_is.cfm
I hope that helps.
No, I don't see it as my number one duty to have any sort of religious discussions with people I meet or know, or to drop any hints of inviting them to my faith.
I asked whether it was your number one priority because I read a journal article providing an analysis of this topic - and of people between the ages of 18 to 35 who identified themselves as practising: Evangelicalist Protestants, Catholics, Jehovahs, Mormons, Jews and Muslims - the Jews were least likely to bring up topics of religious discussion (closely followed by Muslims) and Evangelical's took the top spot.
I will find the citation for you.
Idu,
What about the Muslim's responsibility with Dawah? What does Allah ask of each Muslim with respect to that? And I'm curious... why wouldn't you invite people to your faith if you thought it was the truth?
The concept of Dawah is very different to the Christian understanding of preaching or sending missionaries and Christian funded aid in war zones and what have you.
Although Dawah does cover verbal discussions that only comprises a very tiny part of it. Being a good Muslim citizen and fulfilling your civic duties is Dawah; a lady wearing a hijab is Dawah and likewise a man with a prayer cap and a beard is performing Dawah; being good to co-workers and being hospitable is also Dawah.
Allah instruct's Muslims to propogate Islam - that is no secret. The Quran mentions explicitly to let the entire globe know of Islam. I can do that by wearing a prayer cap in Iceland. Allah hasn't set a fixed definition for what Dawah is nor has he set out an exhaustive list - therefore it ends up being a merits based approach and not a "one size fits all". No Muslim caliph sent an army to Indonesia. Indonesia became Muslim because of the honest trade techniques (Dawah in itself) of the Muslim traders who travelled there.
In my opinion its not a matter of inviting people to the truth. Its more of an issue of not intimidating people by preaching. If people are genuinely interested in my faith, I'd be happy to discuss it with them and answer their queries. But would i stand near a train station and hand out DVD's or would I buy airtime on national television? No.
Idu,
Thanks for your comments about Dawah. Would you mind if I made your reply to me a post on my blog and asked other muslims to chime in about Dawah? I'm finding the topic interesting.
I wouldn't mind.
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