Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
1- Islam condemns isolating one’s self from people and calls to interaction with them.
2- When communicating with people, a Muslim should pay attention to common morals and values such as speaking to people kindly and gently, being humble, calling people to Islam with wisdom, and listening to what the other side has to day.
In responding to your question about communication values in Islam, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
Communication is a highly crucial area for us to consider not only in our interaction with people in ordinary life but also in conveying the message of Islam otherwise known as dawah.
This is an issue that requires detailed treatment; I can only mention a few important points here.
1- Allah tells us to speak to people kindly and gently. Allah praises Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) for his gentleness and affection in dealing with people. He said, “Allah is gentle and He loves gentleness in all things.” (Muslim)
This applies even when we speak to a tyrant; Allah ordered His chosen Messengers Musa and Harun to speak to Pharaoh gently.
2- Islam commands Muslims to be humble and avoid being boastful, self-righteous, or arrogant.
3- Islam urges Muslims to call people to Allah with wisdom.
4- While calling people to Islam, we are to speak to people in the most gracious manner.
5- If we are insulted or treated or spoken to abusively by ignorant ones we are to walk away saying peace.
6- Finally, communication values always involve listening to what the other side has to day. So, a good preacher should be a listener first before he learns the art of speaking.
Prophet Muhammad used to listen more than to speak. When he spoke, he spoke clearly and succinctly, always keeping the level of the people he was communicating with.
Thus, we read in a hadith, when the Prophet spoke to a child, the child would think he was also a child. If he were to speak to an elderly person, likewise he would think he was an elderly person like him too.
Almighty Allah knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.