26-The Importance of Dialogue

26-The Importance of Dialogue.
All Praise be to Allah, Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah. I also bear witness that our Master Muhammad is the servant and messenger of Allah. May Allah have peace and blessings upon Him, His family (or Ahl Al-Bayt), His chosen Companions and those who will follow their way until the Last Day.

O Servants of Allah,
I call upon myself first and all of you to fear Allah, The Almighty, I also urge you to obey Him as Allah says in the Holy Quran “O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam.” (Al-Imran:102).

O Muslims,
The Holy Quran and the Hadith of the prophet abounds with examples and parables emphasizing the importance of dialogue in human’s life. They also teach us to be good and attentive listeners. Indeed, engaging in dialogue was embodied in the Holy Quran’s story of creation when the angles asked Allah”: Behold, Allah said to angels:” I will place generations after generations on earth. “They said: “Will You place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood? –whilst we glorify You with praises and thanks and sanctify You? He (Allah) said:” I know what you know not.”(Al-Baqarah:30).

The angels consented to the Divine command:

”So the angels prostrated, all of them together. Except Satan – he refused to be among the prostrators.”(Al- Hijr:31-32). Allah, the Almighty, inquired from Satan about the reason for his disobedience. Allah says:”Allah said: O Satan! What is your reason for not being among the prostrators. Satan said:”I am not the one to prostrate to a human being, whom You created from dried clay, from mud molded into shape.”(Al-Hijr:32-33).

It is such a great lesson epitomizing (emphasizing) the importance of dialogue in our life. We also learn how to be good listeners, even to those we believe to be wrong.

O Believers,
Prophets Noah, Hud, Abraham, Shu’aib and Moses, may Allah have peace upon them, did engage in dialogue with their peoples and the Holy Quran recounts their dialogues.

O Muslims,
One of the parables in the Holy Quran addresses the life of two different men. Allah bestowed his blessings upon one of them with two marvelous gardens abounding with all kinds of fruits. He became so arrogant and forgot that what he had was from Allah and denied the Day of Judgment. Despite that, his believing companion was following the ethics of disagreement in Islam and was advising him kindly.

Allah, The Exalted, says:
”His companion said to him, in the course of argument with him:”Do you deny Him Who created you out of dust, then out of a sperm-drop.”(Al-Kahf:37).The parable ends with the man’s repentance, as Allah, Almighty recounts what he said:” Woe is me! Would I had never ascribed partners to Allah.”(Al-Kahf:42).

This successful dialogue stresses the importance of the ethics of dialogue and kind persuasion in Islam.

O Believers,
The vital role of dialogue in our life must be taught (conveyed) to our children. It is essential in all frameworks of interpersonal communications  between husband and wife, between fathers and children, and between teachers and students. In the life of the Prophet (pbuh), there is a viable example of dialogue with children. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said:”Milk was brought to the Prophet (may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him).

On his right was Ibn Abbas who was a little boy and on his left Khalid bin Al-Waleed. He said to the boy: If you permit, I shall give Khaled first.”.The boy said:”I do not want to let anyone have my share of what is left from your lips.” Ibn Abbas had milk first then Khalid.” This dialogue addresses the need to respect our kids’ feelings and to listen to their opinions.

O Muslims,
For a dialogue to succeed, we must not indulge in argumentation about matters of which we have no knowledge, no evidence and no proof as Allah, the Almighty, says:”Yet of mankind is he who disputes about Allah without knowledge or guidance or a book to enlighten them.”(Luqman:20).

If one is clear about the purpose of the dialogue, then it is necessary to resort to wisdom and the best persuasion methods and techniques.

Dialogue requires respecting the other part, exerting patience with him and avoiding interruption when he/she is defending a vision, opinion or idea. We must have good faith in the other party, and avoid useless argumentation leading to hostility. The Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) said:”The most detestable man to Allah is the hostile one.”

I urge you all to resort to purposeful dialogue in resolving all your problems and issues.

We ask Allah, the Almighty, to help us obey Him and those He has commanded us to obey in the Holy Quran:”O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger (peace be upon him) and those of you (Muslims) who are in authority.”(An-Nisa:59).

May Allah help us be of the people of the Holy Quran and of the followers of the path of the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him).

Second Sermon
Praises be to Allah, Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the only true God, The Exalted and the Glorious. I also bear witness that our master Mohammad, Allah’s servant and messenger, is the master of mankind, may Allah have blessings and peace upon Him, His family (or Ahl Al-Bayt), His companions and those who will follow their blessed path until the Day of Judgment

Dear servants of Allah,
I urge you first to fear and obey Allah. The Holy Quran approach to dialogue stresses that one of its goals is to instill positive changes or to correct misconceptions. Further, dialogue could lead to effective solutions to human issues hence creating a more coherent society. Through deep listening with compassion and positive dialogue, a stronger family unit may be built, friends may be united. Through acceptance and respect of differences, coexistence and tolerance may keep society in peace. Therefore, dialogue leads to achieving high human and ethical values.