Yusuf Awadh Al-Azmi
“…argue with them in the best manner…” – Almighty Allah says in Quran 16:125
In any community, there is always a sideline of freedom which is populated by people who would fish for faults and mistakes. Such people are usually seeking fame, which is often fake and temporary. Majority of them do not exactly comprehend what they are opposing. To them, their fault-fishing has nothing to do with reforms; instead, it is all about seeking fame.
Unfortunately, there are those who find such behaviors easy on them. There are those who encourage them. In fact, there are lawyers who have failed in their careers and, in a bid to compensate their failures, they troll on any mistake or any controversial word used, for instance, during a television interview.Surprisingly, such people with their trolling demeanor have reached high ranks such as becoming a parliamentarian, thanks to his/her background to take advantage of for any error committed.It is said that, after more than fifty years of democracy and higher reasonable margin of freedom, there are people who have mastered the art of provocation and trolling. In fact, very few have accepted the existence of alternative opinion. Many people tend to ignore this fact; or else, how would you explain the clamor which follows every time someone makes a mistake during a television interview? Where is the concept of an argument versus an argument, or a fact versus a fact? Where is the calm strong expert opinion? Frankly, it is rare to find.Indeed, we witness weird opinions which sometimes cast doubts even on someone’s religious stance. To deal with such opinions ideally, the concept of “an argument versus an argument” should be applied by experts who are known for their knowledge. Through this, all might benefit, instead of using the approach of aggravation and provocation which benefits very few.When we follow up the names of people who are known for their trolling approach (fishing for mistakes of others with the intention of becoming famous), we will find that majority of them use trolling as an expected norm in their election campaigns and advertisements that target some nice but naïve people who could be oblivious to the actual reason behind it.This means, we are always faced with issues that are related to merely elections most of the time, or facing fame-seekers apart from very few who are sincere in pinning down the mistakes with the aim of rectification and reform. I completely support taking up misleading ideas or misconceptions related to religious issues and discussions. I consider it as the means for ensuring social reforms and mending mistakes. However, it should be in a manner that preserves the rights of the involved parties and protects then within a clear legal framework through which public interest is achieved.Who knows, this calm approach could perhaps be the reason for guiding many people and rectifying their errors. A kind word can bring people closer; however, aggravation and clamor will never solve anything but instead pull people apart.Here I affirm the role played by Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and its concerned departments in activating the responsibility of educating the society on religious matters and recruiting trustable clerics whose priorities should not be aligned with their sects. This is necessary for ensuring spread of tolerance and kindness, and for teaching people to avoid evil and wickedness. All these should be done in a manner that preserves the reverence of the state, enhances the desired freedom and contributes to increased efforts for confronting skewed ideas through calm argument and good ideas. Here is when those fishing on others’ mistakes to feed their fame-seeking lust will be left in a limbo, as they will not find anything to feed on.“Virtue and evil are not equal. If you replace evil habits with virtuous ones, you will certainly find that your enemies will become your intimate friends” - Quran 41:34.twitter @alzmi1969By Yousef Awadh Al-Azmi