The absolute response to rapid variables makes educators lose focus; their complete isolation from the surroundings leads them to be outside the history .. And the universe is established on balance.

Mr. Waleed Al-Rifai is a preacher, writer, and interested in education field. He holds a master's degree in educational psychology and served as the director of the Nama Education Academy. He has previously presented many educational seminars and courses in a number of satellite TV, forums and conferences. He also has outstanding cultural and educational production; such as the book (Skills of Educators) which consists of three volumes.

Welcome the respected Mr. Waleed in Rawahel Magazine in the fifth issue, which has the honor to meet you .

Rawahel: we often find you merge in your education and advocacy lectures and courses the legitimate evidences, traditional convictions, and emotional speech on one side and mental and logical dialogue, as well as the tools of psychological impact, thus the listener comes out with a state of overall satisfaction with what he heard, do you intended to do so ?!

Praise be to Allah, peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him…. Away from the personal aspect in the question; let us confirm that the integration between addressing emotions as well as feelings and addressing the mind is a distinctive Quranic method. It is noted that any emotional speech that is not subject to a mental logic quickly shakes and shifts; and in return, any mental speech away from emotional speech is primarily be difficult to be comprehended, especially for the non-specialized groups of people .

I resemble this to a lantern; the passion is flame of fire, and the mind is the bottle that hedges and protects it from the extinguishment, neither of them is beneficial without the other; passion is the fuel and flames of words while logic, reason, and argument is its truth, permanence and value.

Rawahel: Do you think that addressing the mind is now necessary because of the domination of material and great divergence of information and knowledge?! Is not it enough to convince and influence people by addressing them only through legitimate and emotional speech?!

In the beginning, the legitimate speech is not a purely emotional speech; it is rather a speech in which emotion is mixed with logic, but you may mean the abstract mental speech. Here, it should be stated that the superficiality (considering only superficial issues) in some of the legitimate propositions based only on emotion is – by some people – is a very serious matter; because in short, it does not protect the recipient from any suspicions arising from here or there, and it is harmful to the legal speech and to the people conception about religion primarily.

The absolute openness imposed on us requires a firm speech capable of answering questions and confronting logic logically. It is no longer useful to rely on the principle of submission under the pretext of legitimate speech; because there are those who manipulate the legal text and brings it to another incorrect course. The frank mind does not interfere with the proper tradition, this golden rule gives both mind and transport their weight, and corrects this contrived dispute between them.

Rawahel: Many of those affiliated to advocacy underestimate this mental course in addressing people. They believe – according to their belief – that the Imams of the predecessors and the earlier scholars were not interested in this speech, but rather their focus was on the legitimate evidence from the Qur'aan and Sunnah. Is this true? And what was the method adopted by the great Imams in calling for Allah, culturing people, and inculcating values ​​?!

We must emphasize that each society has its own speech and tools. Even if we conclude that the speech of the former predecessors was based on legitimate evidence and not the rational logic, this does not call for applying this to all times and situations. On the other hand, this generalization in the description is not true; since the speeches of the former Imams of religion were full of mental and logical judgments. Among the issues of which we proud in our great heritage is the great efforts that have been made and that produced knowledge helping to think logically and organize the activity and limits of mind in the Islamic sciences, such as the principles of Fiqh and the purposes of Sharia, not to mention some of the acceptable chapters of logic and philosophy.

At this point, we should not interpret the attack made by some of the predecessors against some of the scholastics and philosophers of their age as a rejection of mental speech as a whole; this is a dangerous and offending confusion. Those predecessors have rejected only those who made the (hypothetical) mind a judgment on the (peremptory) text. They rather have completely ignored the text and replaced it with judgments that cannot be describe it as mental in so far as they are a mixture of assumptions and ambiguities mixed with some incomplete mental judgments. In my view, this restrictive dualism in looking at the legacy of predecessors as being on a side completely opposite to the mind is the greatest possible misdeed which can be attributed to their heritage.

Here, we do not deny that there are quotations for the individuals of predecessors, and not for the whole of them, need to be examination and clarification and perhaps a response as well; and criticism of such statements and productions is considered a service to the legacy of the predecessors. In addition, there is no embarrassment or rejection of the total of their approach and method; as the consideration remains to the most part.

Finally, it should be pointed out here that the promotion of logical mental speech should not prevail over the principle of the submission to the legitimate text and order. Embracing Islam is correct only if it is based on submission. The legitimate speech that promotes (conscious) submission is the most urgent speech in our present age.

Rawahel: Sometimes we have some long-standing educational and advocacy projects that last for years or even decades, and finally they come with an important result of great benefit to society. However, lately we see that a state of boredom prevails many of the permanence of some projects that may not last for several weeks or months…. Is it possible that some projects in advocacy and educational activity – in particular during our contemporary age - would last for several years?! Or does the activity in which people are brought up on established ethics, values ​​and principles need permanence and continuity? How can we combine the quick needs of society that have influenced the personality of individuals and the requirements of advocacy and education?!

It is a good question; indeed, contemporary reality is imposing a faster and easier dynamism in everything; the changes that are taking place are too fast to be met so easily and indifferently. Even at the level of long-term strategic management plans; it has become very inefficient and has been abandoned by many entities and institutions, because reality is changing and constantly imposing itself. Yet, this should not prevent us from having a long-term strategic vision, while our means may change and adapt continuously.

The absolute response to the fast needs and the variables leads us to lose our focus, making us a weak and disconnected echo to our surroundings. Furthermore, the complete isolation from what is around us under the pretext of relying on long-term strategic projects sometimes makes us out of date, and perhaps causes our projects to be expired, or like the person who upgrades and improves the food he is cooking, but after the starving man died. The world is created based on balance.

Rawahel: Many of the preachers and educators have turned into a virtual field of advocacy and left the real field; where Twitter, Facebook, Snapechat and other social media become the key field for many preachers and educators, and they abandoned the work on real field in spite of possessing its tools. In your view, how does this affect the future of advocacy?!

I do not agree with lamenting certain means of advocacy, just because they are old or late. The electronic influence on advocacy is very important, especially in light of the fact that other means are so limited to reach some sectors.

But you may refer to some areas where the presence of the preacher or educator in person has a multiplier effect, in particular the educational aspects on which personal coexistence has a multiplier effect, and all the best.

Let us admit that there is a complete societal transformation taking place, the virtual world has become the master of the real world on earth, and that our emerging generations are living under the influence and impact of this virtual world with its pros and cons.

There is no longer an option of retreat, and the intrusion of these electronic worlds by the preachers and the preachers is a praiseworthy action and not an abuse, but the important issue is that access to such worlds should be conscious and influential. It should not to turn over time to a source for obtaining personal gains without real influence. The effect may even be adverse; so (what is the required by the audience and others) would be certainly predominant indirectly.

Rawahel: Many preachers have the conviction of their skills in preaching or rhetoric or other, and do not seek to develop it on the pretext that he has enough skills, despite the multiplicity, colors and types of falsehoods. Shall we become satisfied with our old methods, even if they are influential, or shall we look forward to development?! And what is the impact of this satisfaction on advocacy and educational activity?!

In ancient times, a man was confined to a narrow environment where only the elders and scientists are heard. Now the whole world is addressing the peasant through a small device he holds in his pocket. It is like a huge market where everyone displays his goods, and the predominance is for the one who is more capable of attraction.

Let us admit that the minds of our children are stolen from the hands of their parents who live with them in the same house, while they may be guided by people living in another continent. The sedition caused by some fundamentalists and the very serious impact they have brought on the minds of young Muslims is a living example.

Rawahel: Is the absence of advocacy institution is one of the reasons for the lack of diversity in the disciplines of advocacy and the adherence of the majority of the preachers to a single pattern without making use of the seed of creativity, which may be possessed by each of them ?!

The people are the sons of their communities, and our Arab societies has clearly based on the principle of personal symbolism. This has weakened many of the collective projects that have become in fact individual activity collectively, and not the contrary.

Of course we need preachers specialized in various fields; the key to excellence is specialization. As the role of the general physician is diminishing against the role of the specialist physician, the same matter applies to the preachers. Through a quick look at the advocacy field, we find the wonderful effect produced by the presence of specialized advocates such as Zaker Naik and Sheikh (Ahmed Deedat) May he rest in peace, and others .

Rawahel: How do you see the future of women's advocacy and education in our country?! Why do not we see distinguished and famous female advocates and educators as in the community of male preachers?! How can you solve this problem from your point of view?!

The distinguished female preachers are present, but due to the particularity of the women, you will not find them have the media reputation like the male preachers, but in return there is no doubt that the need is always greater than what exists.

According to my discretion, the women's advocacy speech has made her confined to the aspects of chastity and private personal affairs. This is a natural response to the attacks that target women's modesty and Hijab, but on the other hand, it resulted in deficiency in this speech, and created many free spaces that others could fill in negatively.

Women are the sisters of men, and the circle of female advocacy speech must expand to suit the needs and aspirations of Muslim women. Women throughout history are at the center of a permanent conflict between the projects of good and evil. Expanding the circle of positive influence of women beyond her personal goodness and jurisprudence is crucial. The women's efficiency within society, her self-realization, and her positive impact are free spaces exploited negatively by the abusive parties, while she is neglected and disregarded in our advocacy speech.