We Muslims are so often complaining about how there is a lack of Muslim presence in the media (especially on TV) to counter all the negative stuff that's put up against us. In particular, whenever people like Irshad Manji or Ayaan Hirsi Ali are on TV and giving their usual diatribe against Islam and Muslims, we gnash our teeth and moan about how they never give real Muslims a chance to answer their arguments.

But then we have another problem... whenever 'real Muslims' ARE given a chance to debate the likes of Hirsi Ali and her brethren, they often end up screwing it up. See Ali Eteraz's post here.

The fact is, we Muslims suck at debating. We have no real debating skills. When we're brought on TV or interviewed or whatever, we often end up making big mistakes and sometimes even doing more harm than good - or at least, not doing as much good as we could be doing if we just knew how to deal with all those questions the right way.

We need to deal with this. Letters like Ali's, politely pointing out where and when things could have been answered differently (and better), are great - but it doesn't really help after the fact. What we need is to be able to prevent these types of gaffes.

Here in the West, we Muslims REALLY need to brush up on our language/communication and debating skills. We've seen far too often how the lack of the aforementioned skills has had a negative effect on our PR. We've seen far too often how great opportunities to repair our damaged reputations have been messed up and as a result, the non-Muslims who initially took an interest in the issue at hand end up dismissing us as uneducated, illiterate, etc.

We need to deal with this ASAP. The people who are being given these opportunities to speak for the Muslims on TV, need to realize that it's a serious matter that they need to handle carefully, and that they're going to have a lot demanded of them. To meet those demands, their language, communication, and debating skills are going to have to be up to par.

Two things are required: Islamic knowledge; and good language, communication, and debating skills. To have one without the other, and to be on TV representing the Muslim community(which is exactly what Muslims on TV are doing, whether they like it or not), will cause serious problems... which none of us want or need!

So how do we do it? I think that workshops would be a good idea, wherein attendees could learn how to seize the opportunity provided in an interview (or whatever) and use it to refute the person you're debating, in a way that can get YOUR message across in clearly and concisely.

But what other solutions might there be? Ideas, anyone?

Your little sister in Islam,
Mouse