Attacking the Straw Man

Beware of those who like to create a straw man for attacking purposes in an argument. A straw man is a misleading reasoning or informal fallacy created by someone who wishes to tarnish their opponent reputation and credibility. For example:

1) Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab is alleged the founder of Wahhabi.
2) Wahhabi are against the practice grave tawasul because they believed it's syirik.
3) Ali is a devout Muslim, he is also against the practice of syirik
4) Therefore, Ali is Wahhabi
5) Attack Ali the Wahhabi

This fallacy is committed whenever someone misrepresents an opponent's claim in arguing against it. This type of deductive reasoning contains a fundamental disconnect between the premises and the conclusion. The so-called typical "attacking a straw man" argument creates the illusion of having completely refuted or defeated an opponent's proposition by covertly replacing it with a different proposition and then to refute or defeat the false argument instead of the original proposition.

A straw man argument falsifying an attribution by misquoting the opponent's words out of context. This makes the argument invalid so don't waste your time arguing with such logic. They will only attack their opponent by name calling and labeling instead of concentrating on the actual subject. They will create a false straw man imagery out of you and attack the straw man till kingdom come.

This technique has been used throughout history in polemical debate, particularly in arguments about religious matters. Devout Muslims in Malaysia are not spared by such idiotic sickening behavior either by the ignorant hypocrites. Therefore, if this ever happen to you, just smile and walk off from the debate...


Wallahu'alam

Understanding the Straw Man Fallacy

This fallacy is committed whenever someone misrepresents an opponent's claim in arguing against it. If you are presented with such fallacious arguments, you should either correct your opponent's claim or just walk away from the debate.