Al-Da'wa Verse

Al-Da'wa Verse

Verse's Information
Name	Al-Daʿwa Verse
Sura	al-Nahl
Verse	125
Juz'	14
Topic	Ethical
About	Manners of treatments towards opponents

Al-Daʿwa Verse (Arabic: آیة الدعوة) is the 125th verse of the Qur'an 16 (Sura al-Nahl), which recommends three manners of treatments towards one's opponents, logical demonstration (wisdom), preaching (instruction), and a good debate.

Text and Translation

“

اُدْعُ إِلَیٰ سَبِیلِ رَبِّک بِالْحِکمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ ۖ وَجَادِلْهُم بِالَّتِی هِی أَحْسَنُ ۚ إِنَّ رَبَّک هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَن ضَلَّ عَن سَبِیلِهِ ۖ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِینَ

”

“

Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good advice and dispute with them in a manner that is best. Indeed your Lord                                         knows best those who stray from His way, and He knows best those who are guided.

” — Quran 16:125

Content

In Qur'an 16:125, God recommends three ways of treating one's opponents, wisdom, good instruction, and the best argument.

• Wisdom: It is to arrive at the truth via logical demonstrations. A logical demonstration relies on reason-based and self-evident premises with which the interlocutor finds the way to the truth.

• Good instruction: It is to remind good actions in such ways that the hearer is impressed and accepts the truth. The qualification of the "instruction" with the adjective, "good", implies that every instruction or preaching is not good.

• The best argument: It is a good debate, that is, a debate in which one does not speak in ways that the opponent is led to blind rejection and obstinacy. In his al-Mizan, Allama Tabataba'i takes "the best argument" to be a debate in accordance with the Qur'anic tradition, where God is taken as the role-model for arguments.