Page 45 - Beauties for Life in the Qur'an

QUR'ANIC METHODS FOR COMMUNICATING ISLAM 43

crossed by the methods presented in the Qur'an, people become
ready to concentrate on the message of Islam and are more open
to it.

Refuting False Beliefs
After eliminating the concerns and prejudices of those to
whom Islam is being conveyed, the next step is to refute their ir-
rational and false beliefs. Explaining the erroneous nature of
their beliefs should be done clearly and logically, for people will
abandon their beliefs only after being convinced that their be-
liefs are mistaken. In order to remove the concerns that blur
one's mind, Allah presents a method: Disproving false beliefs
through rational, scientific, and visual methods by providing
satisfactory explanations as to why the unbelievers' systems do
not work. The method used by the Prophet Ibrahim (as) to
spread the message to his people sets a good example:
When he asked his father and people: "What do you worship?"
they replied: "We worship idols, and will continue to cling to
them." He asked: "Do they hear you when you call, or do they
help you or do you harm?" They said: "No, but this is what we
found our fathers doing." He asked: "Have you really thought
about that which you worship, you and your fathers who came
before?" (Surat ash-Shu'ara': 70-76)
The Prophet Ibrahim (as) asked his people such questions in
order to address both their reason and intelligence, and gradu-
ally made them realize the invalidity of their own beliefs.
Meanwhile, with each question he appealed to his people's con-
sciences and ensured that they would acknowledge the illogical
nature of their beliefs. He followed this method because his
people, who had been worshipping stone idols inherited from
their forefathers, had never thought about it. However, once he