By Saud Inam<\/strong><\/p>\n For more than a decade the Muslim community has been in a struggle to overcome negative media, misconceptions and misunderstandings about Islam and Muslims. Our approach largely has been reactive and not proactive. But, the problem with being reactive is\u00a0the Muslim community has let the Islamophobes and religious extremists dictate the narrative.<\/p>\n We unfortunately responds and reacts. As my mentor, Imam Mohamed Magid said, \u201cInstead of being firefighters, we need to start building fire-resistant homes.\u201d This analogy really hit home for me and made me think how we can get to a point where Muslims can start setting the narrative rather than letting others speak on their behalf<\/p>\n The solution to this is seen in the\u00a0seerah<\/em>\u00a0of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). When we study his biography we can learn strategies and lessons of how to solve the problem of Islamophobia and extremism.<\/p>\n Here are a couple of tips from the seerah of the Prophet Muhammad:<\/p>\n He Stuck to His Mission and Message<\/strong><\/p>\n The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had a message of peace, equality, justice and coexistence, which he stuck to through his entire life. Now at a practical level what does this mean? We must begin emphasizing what Islam is and who Muslims are rather than saying who we aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n He Didn\u2019t Let\u00a0His Emotions Control His Decisions\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) received immense ridicule, mockery and personal attacks, but in the end all the attacks were fruitless because of his superior character and his ability to stick to his message. He also did not let his emotions get the best of him.<\/p>\n If we let Islamophobes and religious extremists get under our skin, then we\u2019ve allowed them to control us. One way to control a person or to disorient them is to get them angry. We know the Prophet Muhammad advised us not to get angry. This doesn\u2019t mean never to get angry, but don\u2019t get angry to a point where you lose your decision-making abilities.<\/p>\n Miyamoto Musashi, an expert Japanese swordsman and r\u014dnin said: \u201cAnger. Control your anger. If you hold anger toward others, they have control over you. Your opponent can dominate and defeat you if you allow him to get you irritated.\u201d<\/p>\n Let the Haters Hate<\/strong><\/p>\n Abu Jahal was one of the staunchest opponents of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and fought fiercely to silence the message of the Prophet. The Prophet\u2019s message was one of socio-economic justice, equality, peace, environmentalism, rights for women, feeding of the poor and coexistence amongst many other universal values. Abu Jahal\u2019s opposition to the Prophet\u2019s message was so intense that he ordered extreme torture and oppression of all Muslims who followed the Prophet.<\/p>\n However, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not spend the majority of his time trying to convince Abu Jahal of his message, nor did he consume much of his time, energy and efforts into responding to the personal attacks, ridicule and mockery. In fact, if you study the seerah and the Quran, you\u2019ll see that the Prophet Muhammad was defended time after time by Allah.<\/p>\n The lesson from this is to let the haters hate. Imam Shafi\u2019I (R) one of the greatest scholars of Islamic history said:<\/p>\n \u2018Say what you wish in abuse of me, for my silence towards the idiot is indeed an answer.<\/p>\n I am not at a loss for a response but rather, it does not befit the lion to answer the dogs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n When we respond constantly to every verbal attack on Islam and Muslims, we leave ourselves at the mercy of others to set the narrative for us and speak on our behalf. This doesn\u2019t mean to be apathetic or stoic, but to be cognizant that verbal attacks on Islam and Muslims are merely distractions to our mission of delivering the message of peace, justice, equality and coexistence.<\/p>\n He Countered Religious Extremists by Sticking to His Message<\/strong><\/p>\n In Madinah, the Prophet Muhammad had a group of Muslim within his community called the\u00a0munafiqeen<\/em>. This was a Muslim group who were hypocrites in not only words, but in action as well. They said they believed in Islam, but would act in an un-Islamic way. Today, we see the likes of ISIS and other extremist groups wearing the garb of Muslims, but have nothing to do with Muslims or Islam. They claim to be representative of Islam, but are the farthest from it.<\/p>\n The Prophet Muhammad was cognizant that this group of hypocrites existed, but still he did not let their actions or words distract him from his mission. If the Prophet Muhammad spent his time, energy and effort on trying to explain, educate and enlighten the\u00a0munafiqeen<\/em>,\u00a0he wouldn\u2019t be able to effectively spread his message of peace, equality, justice and coexistence to the masses.<\/p>\n The best way to counter ISIS and other extremist groups\u2019 messaging is to ignore their nonsense and hatred and focus on how to explain what Islam and who Muslims are. This means we need to engage media outlets and journalists to encourage the coverage of positive stories of Islam and Muslims. If we can effectively suffocate ISIS and other extremist organizations from the free media they\u2019ve been getting, their messaging will reduce and weaken.<\/p>\n He Walked the Talk<\/strong><\/p>\n It makes no sense for Muslims to speak about the peace, equality, justice and other beautiful values of Islam when we aren\u2019t walking the talk. If we\u2019re telling people about the beauty of Islam, we need to exemplify Prophetic character and Islamic character. We can no longer use phrases like \u201cIslam is perfect, but Muslims are not\u201d to explain away the actions of religious extremists. While the statement is true, that mentality is a cop-out from taking responsibility for our actions or seeking to improve ourselves or start acting in an Islamic manner.<\/p>\n Instead of talking about Islam\u2019s beauty we must begin to exemplify that beauty we want others to see.<\/p>\n He Took Care of His Neighbors<\/strong><\/p>\n This is an important part of Islam, but so many of us have neglected this. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) took care of his neighbors and his community, who lived around him. He was concerned for Muslims and people of all faiths in his community.<\/p>\n The Prophet said, \u201cWhoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, should not hurt his neighbor and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, should serve his guest generously and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, should talk what is good or keep quiet.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Number 158<\/p>\n The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: AbuDharr, when you prepare the broth, add water to that and give that (as a present) to your neighbor.\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 Sahih Muslim, 1208<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Saud Inam is a Muslim American activist, social entrepreneur, blogger and Project Manager for Discover Islam-USA a Muslim American media company dedicated to producing high quality media about Islam and Muslims. He is a columnist for Altmuslim. Saud is always on the lookout for more opportunities to help empower the Muslim American community.<\/em><\/p>\n Stay in touch! 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