Thursday 13 March 2008

Responding to a Questioner

Some advice for myself for better responding to a questioner:
  1. Allow the questioner to fully complete their question;
  2. If the question or purpose of the question is not too clear to you, play back the question to the questioner how you understood it and check with them that you have properly understood the question;
  3. Think, understand and acknowledge the concerns underlying the questioner/question. Make the acknowledgement verbally, e.g. "I appreciate your concerns...";
  4. Thank the questioner for putting forward the question;
  5. Answer the question.
And Allah knows best and I do not know, and as with any advice, it is easier said than done.

3 comments:

Wayfarer said...

Salaam,

Sounds like Dr. Zakir Naik's Da'wah Training Tips - masha'Allah.

Wayfarer!

adil said...

Funny, I wrote it after mishandling the question you posed to me last Wednesday. I was kicking myself for not giving your question due respect.

A few kicks down the line and thinking back to instances where I had flopped for similar reasons, I thought to myself, I can continue kicking myself or I can stop and extract lessons to share with others.

I chose the latter.

Wayfarer said...

One of the wise men (yes another one of my wise men) of the past once said:

"Good questioning is half of knowledge!"

I’m glad my rather meaningless speech has resulted in such meaningful action – Allah is Merciful!

Wayfarer!