The GORAP method is one of the best methods of giving dawah especially to one who is an atheist.
In this week’s best practice discussion, the speaker began by recapping on what had been discussed over
the previous weeks. He mentioned the discussion on
1. How the caller initiates a conversation
2. The commonsense agreement.
SUBBOOR: Today’s discussing is linking the God’s existence and God’s Oneness to Revelation and Prophethood.
He said ‘And then what we’ve been doing this month is the link. So, if you go back to the GORAP methodology, you’ll realize it has the initiation and premise or the commonsense agreement.’
And we have God’s existence so we talked about belief in God, our rational arguments to prove the existence of a creator.
And then we move on to the oneness which talks about the creator and creation are not the same that’s the objective of oneness then we come to the link okay so the link between the go and the wrap now I make this a point to mention because yeah, it’s here.
What we’re doing here is we’re linking the belief. We’re lining the belief of these things of God existence in God’s oneness to the need for revelation and prophethood.
Now I had the meeting with the first meeting in the moment, I did ask the question, how many of the team are familiar with link stage?
And not many of you who had been using it, not many of you are familiar with it, I think of the discussions that we had, apologies I didn’t get from the Latin America Team,
Some of the points that were mentioned in the actual and feedback was looking at the names and attributes of Allah in this section. As that helps us to give guidance and talk about and why AI has given us the guidance. And another argument that was used when it comes to this section in the link was having a manual right because it’s all about instructions.
Now I did mention and our reason I’ve mentioned this here is because I did mention during that time and that’s more when we move on to the Quran and we talk about the revelation in the wrap or then we talk about the manual having a manual and instruction manual etc.
So that’s what we do in that stage. What I did like was one of the discussions I think was the EU and the Africa meeting was on the discussion of just saying to the non-Muslim that you’re talking to. So, when we’re done with God’s oneness, God’s existence we move on to the link, we say how blessed we are and that you know we are quite blesses because of all our needs have been taken care of. Now I think this is a very good practice when we do the link stage here, because really what we’re trying to focus on here is show them how he had provided our physical and emotional needs. For example, this is what we cover in the GORAP training. Allah had provided our physical needs and has also provided our emotional needs, loved ones that we have, spouses, etc. So, this is what we’re doing here in this stage and I think it’s important to go through this stage because many of you weren’t aware of what we were talking about.
And the groups that I spoke to, what we’re doing in this stage when we talked about God’s existence that Creator exists and we’ve also talked about the oneness of a lot. Now we move to talk about just how Allah provide or this creator has provided for our physical and emotional needs. And then we move on to the existential or spiritual needs.
Has this creator also provided for these existential and spiritual needs. For example, this is the same we talk about in the dawah training. The existential questions, the big question in life, what’s the purpose of our existence as human beings? If there’s a Creator, why does it create and allow bad things happen? Why are we here? What’s it all for? So, this is the point of the discussion where we start to talk about this kind of topic.
Here we can lead them down a topic. So, when we lead then down this discussion, we then start to talk about it well in order for us to answer these questions, Allah the Creator provided us with revelation and prophethood to answer these types of questions. Where are we going? Is there life after death? All of these types of discussion are what we’re really focusing on. So, of our spiritual questions, knowing about the Creator, will the Creator help us? If so, how?
The need for showing Gratitude
Is there some way to express gratitude and thanks to this Creator? How can we express that in the appropriate way and what we’re saying to the non-Muslim at this stage brothers and sisters is the only way we’re going to be able to do this is if the Creator tells us. How does he tell us? Well, that’s what we talk about revelation and Prophethood. That’s when we move on to revelation prophethood. So, when can give an example and some of the people like this example. Why is there suffering in the world?
We say to the non-Muslim at the stage, we believe there’s a creator and we believe this creator is one. Let’s talk a little bit more about what the Creator has provided for our physical and emotional needs. What about our spiritual needs? For example, the big question is, why is there suffering in the world?
We’re never going to understand why there’s suffering in the world unless the Creator tells us. So, we can use this as a platform to start talking about this. I prefer to use the example, ‘the purpose of life’.
So, I will say something like, ‘what’s the purpose of life?’ Well, we can’t really know our purpose of life unless the Creator tells us.
Revelation and Prophethood
That’s when we start to talk about the reason for prophethood and revelation. We move on to the revelation and prophethood but this is how we’re going to get to that section. I don’t know if there’s anyone else who wants to add anything in terms of linking belief to or your best practice on this.
ALI: Regarding this discussion, please by all means you can take the mic or if anyone else has anything to add to this section please do so now.
SUBBOOR: This discussions highlights the need for revelation, the need for a prophet, the need for a lot to guide us and to show us the right way.
And this is what the prophet and the QURAN is about. The process and the current end, is all about this. So, you’re absolutely right. This is really what this stage is all about. And we can move on to that afterwards when we talk about the Quran being a manual instructor like an instruction manual that comes a little bit later but really this is what we’re about at the link stage and its very important brothers and sisters that we understand the link stage and how we use the link stage.
SALIM FROM LATIN AMERICAN TEAM: We have this discussion with Sheriff Esser last well and he actually said that and like the link is one of the most important things in the Dawah because most people will like kind of agree with you on that there’s one God. I mean there’s a cult and God is one but the link to accept a revelation from this God is the key issue because if you can get to know rational way to that stage the person will like to agree with you on the prophet and revelation of the Quran so this crucial and It has to be done in a very mindful way and getting agreement from the guy you’re talking to and there are several methods and all those questions that you just mention are like the keys that will make me open the mind of the guy to accept the need of God communicating with you.
SUBBOOR: Very good points there you’re absolutely right this link stage I think is so important which is why is important you al understand it and that’s I’ve gone through it a little bit and it’s important we move this day, use the stage to move onto the need for guidance, the need for revelation, the need for prophethood.
We’re using this stage to get to that. Like you said, some people believe in the Creator but they do not believe in what the Quran and the Sunnah or the Quran and the Prophet tell them but how do we get them to believe? we move them using this link. This link stage, to do so and again just so you can see it you know you’re linking the belief of God’s existence to the need for these other parts.
BROTHER KABIR: By linking in the revelation how can you identify that the revelation that you are reading is right? We here in Philippines we are gonna use that. It’s through the word of God by using how God send the message through Angel Gabriel to Prophet Muhammed that there’s no changing that why how we convinced them that this is real through the word of God that you gonna use because Quran has not change at all to convince that so after that I’m gonna recite surah Ikhlas to link that after I will ask other volunteers that will recite surah Ikhlas that’s why am giving example through God to give real to Prophet Muhammed to tell the generation of prophet Muhammed to our generation is still intact with the words of God I hope that makes sense?
SUBBOOR: Yeah, makes lot of sense and you’re right. I would say that this discussion when it comes to revelation when we talk revelation then we discuss these points and right now when we’re on the link stage the link is really showing them is a short stage. It’s quite a stable stage but it’s really just showing them that once there’s a Creator or the belief that we’ve shown, sorry we’ve given a logical rational articulate a lot of logical rational reasoning for the Creator and we’ve shown them that this Creator is one, then when doing that, we’re showing them that we believe this Creator exists, surely this Creator has provided for us to show guidance. It’s to guide us and how he’s shown his guidance is through revelation and prophethood.
Then we come to revelation stage, the objective of the revelation stage is to prove the Quran is the revelation from Allah. That’s the revelation stage and the P stage, the prophethood is to prove the objective of the P stage is to prove that the Prophet Muhammed is the messenger of Allah. Those stages we do cover but we cover those afterwards. At this stage is the link stage where we’re just showing them that there’s a Creator and this Creator had provided for us our physical and spiritual needs. But also for our physical and emotional needs but also our spiritual needs in order for us to become guided to the right path. That’s what this stage is particularly about, yeah just to practice the stage I think it’s really important to do that.
BROTHER FAISAL: How do I link the GO and RAP after we convince people about the guide existing and oneness? So, we give them the reason being created that Allah said he didn’t create man and jinn except for worshipping me. So, when the reason of creating is to worship God so will not let us do any kind of worship without teaching us the way of worship so it means when we worship God, we should be worshipping God the way he wants not the way we want. So that’s why God sent us revelation and Prophet because revelation is a kind of handbook like when we buy a laptop or a cell phone, we always going to see a handbook with it because when we follow the handbook of our phones or appliances our technology will be okay but when we do the opposite things on the cell phones and laptops, they are going to be destroyed. So, these handbooks that are being put in it which ours is the Quran is a thing we should be following so we can do the things Allah is asking us to do which is for our own sake.
So, the Prophet is being sent to be a guide for us because people are so hard when you tell them to read so you should be a role model or an example for us to do what is written or not to read what is written. So, the prophets are the people who are going to convince us to read and do everything that Allah told us to do.
SUBBOOR: Very good it may work very well in your context and I’ll tell you why because when you’re speaking to a lot Christians as Ali and Salim mentioned as well that many people are familiar with the term worship. So, they are familiar with the idea of worship. Now what you’re doing is and what you’ve basically said is you’re guiding them to show them how to worship Allah properly and the way we do that and this is again, could be an existential question like you know we talked about spiritual questions here like one of the questions is how do you show gratitude and thanks to your Creator? How do you worship Allah? So, people who might be familiar with the idea or the concept of worship how do you express your worship to the Creator? So am gonna give you some of the best practice I do and I hope Insha Allah it will help. So, I may talk about gratitude because if am about a Creator, this Creator exists and what I do is to point to gratitude to show them that you know and we should be grateful for the things God has given me.
For example, I give you a hundred pound or a cup of tea you will surely show your gratitude by saying thank you, so what about the one who has given us everything we have? Our loved ones or everything that we hold dear to our heart, your family, your parents, your children. Even your eyes, your arm and you will meet someone who’s blind or has lost their arm because I know someone who’s like that and it makes me more grateful but who do I point my gratitude to? The Creator. The Creator we talked about. Then I move on to the next part and again this is all part of the link and I will say how do I show this gratitude to the Creator? Some people for example they will take drugs that’s their way of showing thanks to their Creator or they might stand on one leg for years so people give their gratitude or thanks to their Creator in different ways. When we say gratitude and thanks, we are really talking about worship so, how will you express your thanks or your worship and I will say for example in the Prophet (MPBUH) I see them praying all night.
DR LAFATETTE: Just want to add few things just for the flights some of the benefits for myself and for everyone else. Some things I just want to add to some great points everybody made and I shall benefit from them but I wanted to add a few things. First of all, when we’re linking ,we’re seeing what is worship, we need to make sure in the dawah and this how I do it and just one of my best practices. I will say that only thing that could be good it can only come from Allah subhanahu wata a’ala and the teachings of Allah subhanahu wata aala through the messengers. So. good cannot be defined by any of the weight. So that’s one of the things I always add into this point and another thing I want to add is one of the brothers who was talking about I think from Malaysia was talking about cell phone and laptops so why don’t you just add something to that? Masha Allah, Thats exactly what we all do. And the law which is good but sometimes you’ll get especially in the West you find these atheists and you get dumfounded that they’ll say okay that’s fine. Cell phones and laptops and shirts and all these things have manuals. But what about all these other things like trees and stars? So, I learned this from one of the brothers I was given a workshop, Masha Allah he gave me this explanation, he said look everything and I think I said this in some of the other classes or other one of these meetings that what I learned from him he said that you know what everything has a manual even things that don’t come with the manual. Everything has an innate built-in manual. Example, if you have a tree which is an evergreen tree we live in Canada here it’s cold in the winter if we take an evergreen tree to Florida which is very hot it will die vice versa if we take palm tree from Florida to Canada it would die because it’s not ensued to its environment so that tree will tell us innately that this is not meant for this area so we will teach you because they always say you have a book you have a manual so just wanted to link and add that for the people who would like to benefit from this part. I always say that you know we need a guide we need manual for cell phones comes with a manual the laptop comes with a manual my shirt comes with a manual however things that maybe human beings didn’t create they still come with some manual and their manual doesn’t necessarily have to be something written down in a book. It could be in oral teaching and that’s how I link the innate, example, all the trees innately will tell you how it needs to operate and had a self-built-in manual.
The second part I want to add and the third and final piece I wanted to add was I try to summarize the worship in when I’m talking about worship is I tell people that worship isn’t like going to synagogue or a Church or a Mosque that’s part of worship. Yes in Islam we have rituals but in Islam we believe worship is all actions of the tongue all actions of the heart and all acts of the limbs so act so everything we say everything we do it come become worship as long as you’re following a line in the messenger of God the last and final message of Prophet(PBUH).
These are three points I just want to add. We’re all very good. Just like some really good points here. That’s interesting the way you talked about the things that have innate manual.
BROTHER IMRAN: I actually really love that example. It’s profound especially for Muslims but however my analytical brain went to work and I though in a dawah situation this may backfire because the person giving dawah may turn around and say well, I already have an in built manual. I know what to do, I know what’s right and I know what’s wrong I don’t need revelation so some people are like that. Of course, yeah but in FITRA, that’s if the it leads you to a certain level of truth or understanding of right and wrong and you need revelations to complete that.
That’s when you have to go back to Allah and his messenger.
That makes sense. I’m just thinking some of these crazy guys out there today, they are like that already. They believe they know everything and God speaks to them and they have an understanding of right or wrong
SUBBOOR: What’s any good practice from you on the link?
BROTHER IMRAN: All the stuff everyone’s mentioned, Masha Allah, you know that you need direction, you need guidance, you’re not God yourself, you know you don’t know how to live. If everyone did know then everyone would be living the same but they don’t so there’s a need for revelation no doubt.
In terms of linking the GORAP, I think using personal stories has always been effective especially trying to connect with people from an emotional intelligence so I use the story of my own mother, my beloved mother who looked after me for more than 20 years. What have I done to provide with such a lovely and carrying mother? So personal stories, it’s a very powerful way to get through to the person to understand the blessing of the Creator and appreciate that he’s the one he’s loving and carrying and he’s the one who provides for us and then I go just as he provided us our physical need, you provide that’s what we’ll need.
SUBBOOR: You’re absolutely right. Good points and you know, stories work really well in the DAWA. You’re absolutely right and stories making things personal. When you’re talking about certain things, making it personal because they can relate people can relate to stories. People can relate when you talk about personal issues personal story so yeah that’s really a good point.
BROTHER IMRAN: I just want to add that when we are combining the message linking to the GORAP. I ask that the listeners that how old are you? And they will answer that they are 60 and then you always worship and pray, but even you pray a thousand times but if you have a lot of times to pray you are not sure that the type of worship is accepted because you know you need to know what is right way, how to worship Allah by using regulation. I used the age of asking each of them that even that you are a lot of times or thousand times praying if you not using the right guidelines, you get your worship or your prayers not accepted by Allah.
SUBBOOR: Yeah, that’s a good one. It was a very good one as well to show again. This is because what we were talking about here as we said is how to have that relationship with the Creator the way the Creator wants to have it, not the way we want it to be. That’s really what we’re talking about here in this stage and there is other examples and I remember Sheikh Green talking about this one a long time ago and I think it was before the GORAP methodology but I remember even hearing I think it was something from someone I heard it from but even like you. And this might work for some of you when you meet tribal leaders. For example and I say this is a good practice as well so I will say something like imagine I’m going to meet the King of a different country, I wouldn’t meet the king however I want to meet him. I wouldn’t give him a high 5 or maybe I wouldn’t give him a hug or you know if I did that I know I would have to do it in accordance to how the king wants me to greet him. Similarly, when it comes to Allah the Creator, here we talking about. You’d want to worship the Creator or the relationship with the Creator how the Creator wans us to do it, not how we want to do it but how the Creator wants us to do it. So, another thing we can use in the link stage as well Alhamdulilah.
I think that’s everything on this discussion unless anyone else has something else.
BROTHER JUMAH: I have something to add, I think that’s a good idea for me. As a Muslim, we have to thank Allah for everything that he gives us by giving dawah to others. Alhamdulilah Allah has given us so many things in the world that we can see the sky, the sea and everything we see. This comes from Allah.
So, who’s going to say the right speech more than the one who brings people to Allah. So, the most important thing to the ummah, is to give dawah without saying anything. Insha Allah if we are going to do this particularly if we connect the alphabet of GORAP, everything in this world Alhamdulilah will be fine because the ummah needs dawah each and every day. Alhamdulilah Thank you.
SUBBOOR: Let’s close the session here Insha Allah. So we’ve gone now so you can see brothers and sisters we have now done the initiation and the common sense agreement, we have done God’s existence. We have gone through God’s oneness. We have done the link between the GO and the RAP
Next month Insha Allah we’re going to start on revelation. Our revelation is a big one and please do make sure you all do your homework on this one as well. So, revelation, what do we talk about revelation? What’s the objective of the GORAP. Is to prove that the Qur’an is from Allah, so I’d like you all next month to bring your arguments or your discussions or your points on how to show that the Qur’an from Allah.
That’s what we’re going to talk about next month Insha Allah the revelation as you might see in the group that was put up so like we said we’ve done this initiation called existence oneness the link now we’re on all for revelation and we’ll talk about that Insha Allah next month.
As I always mention brothers and sisters please go through this book. The link stage is in the book itself, I can’t remember the page it’s on but you’ll see it in the page in the book it self and anyone who’s got GORAP conversation, please do continue to share to those GORAP conversations, we can see some recordings of the GORAP in action. We’ll finish here.
Thank you all for your contributions on this topic, I look forward to next month, am sure you all got discussions am sure you all got proves why the Qur’an is from Allah so we would talk about that next week Insha Allah.
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