Request to the Shaykh to author a book on the etiquette of debate

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : The question: When it was suggested during our sitting with you last night, and previously as well... a matter... Praise be to Allah, we benefited greatly from the tapes and other things...

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you.

The questioner : You mentioned in passing an issue, which is the issue of the style of argumentation and dialogue... and the brother completedAbu Layla : that some people come in with one issue and leave with another, and end up in the end with nothing. Yes, I asked the brother Waleed if he wroteThe Shaykh : a thesis on the etiquette of debate

The Shaykh: No.

The questioner : Why?

The Shaykh : I am not free for this!

The questioner : O our Shaykh, the recordings are from forty or thirty years ago, and they began with the atheists and the communists and the disbelievers and others, and have reached even the students of knowledge, and there are many areas in between. So, in terms of quantity and quality... if you were to write a thesis on it... and it is, if Allah wills, not a great burden on you, a summary you write...

The Shaykh : There is a saying the Syrians use: "He who has not tasted the glue does not know what the story is." Do you know this?

The questioner : Explain it to me.

The Shaykh : The "maghraiyah" in the Syrian dialect is the container in which the glue is heated. Do you know glue? Because carpenters, from old times, used to heat this glue to make the wood stick. Now there is cold glue that requires nothing. So in the past, they had to heat the glue, and since glue is sticky, if it was heated and spilled on a part of the carpenter's body, it would burn him more than fire because it sticks. So there is a saying: "He who has not tasted the glue does not know what the story is." May Allah reward you, there are dozens like you, and pleasing people is a goal that cannot be reached. All these people who are like you, their suggestions are irrefutable, but there is no room to implement them. What is the reason? I do not find this free time. May Allah reward you. I am now turning away from my scholarly projects due to such arguments and discussions, which not only force me, out of necessity, to agree against my will, and you say "my nose is up"! Why? Because the believer, first of all, is gentle and soft. So if someone is advising, like your story here, a person must possess these qualities, perhaps there is good in it, perhaps this, perhaps that. There is no power nor strength except with Allah...

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : We gather, and then we are surprised by something contrary to what we expected and what we thought, and then we are afflicted by the fact that instead of responding to us, he writes a thesis. Now someone else will say, "You are not saying it now, but someone else will say you must respond to this." And there are many such distractions. So when will I write a thesis on the principles of debate and discussion? When will I implement advanced suggestions? When did you practice this science, which is the science of tracing, authenticating, and weakening hadiths, and read the science of terminology and applied it practically? So write us a small thesis. What is your opinion of this suggestion?

The questioner : ... it kept me busy, I did...

The Shaykh : The important thing is that there are many suggestions...

The questioner : One on the phone... What Allah wills, he is patient!

Another questioner : Peace be upon you...

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Welcome. How are you?

The questioner : Gentle and soft.

The Shaykh : Yes, by Allah, we ask Allah to make us and you so.
The caller: Later, O our Shaykh, a little of your time... what is the thesis you are writing on debate and discussion?

The Shaykh : If they would just leave us alone!

Another questioner : Yes, my Shaykh.

The Shaykh : If they would just leave us alone.

Another questioner : You can leave them, saying, Allah says:

The Shaykh : But we need to see if they are among the ignorant or not, that is the problem...

Another questioner : They are among the most ignorant of the ignorant...

The Shaykh : Allah is the Helper.

Another questioner : How are you?

The Shaykh : I am going to see you today.

Another questioner : By Allah, if Allah wills, when are the brothers leaving from Amman?

The Shaykh : Around six o'clock

Another questioner : Six o'clock.

The Shaykh : Around that time.

Another questioner : Can I speak to one of them?

The Shaykh : Yes, please go ahead...