When someone challenges your beliefs

[Captain_Obvious]

Re: When someone challenges your beliefs

@BarbieCue

How do you respond?

I honestly have no interest in engaging in debates with someone who has zero understanding of my beliefs. In the virtual world, out of boredom, I’ll entertain a few posts every now and then but in real life - never.

I just sit there, nod and smile because (1) they don’t mean to disrespect my way of life, they just don’t agree with it, (2) they have zero interest in learning more about the topic at hand and (3) I don’t want to come across as a preacher. They’re only expressing their honest views and I listen to them chup chap se. Is this wrong? I feel like I have a duty to respond because we’re asked in the Quran to “argue with them in ways that are best”. So when I let go of this opportunity to pass on whatever limited knowledge I have of my religion, I do feel uneasy. Then again, living in a non-muslim country, where people simply don’t care about this knowledge of yours, why even bother?

Practically, I have hardly been challenged/questioned about my faith. People wanting to learn more have asked me questions, and these I can answer to the best of my knowledge. Though I can’t think of any particular incident right now, if I’m questioned about something I don’t have sound knowledge of, I politely tell them that I’m not qualified to answer their question and if they like, they could simply refer it to an aalim. There have been cases where I’ve responded to people with simple logic, without needing to get into theology.