Rude people and fasting

[Slave of Allah]

Asalam alaikom ya Sheikh

A non muslim girl said that "fasting is crazy" and I have replyed to her that "its not crazy how many people do not eat until late at night it's just like other people say how come you wake up that early in the morning to go to pray in the mosque and I reply to them well how come alot of people go to work at that time". Then she asked "even if it was 40 degrees" I said "yes". Then I have explained to her that fasting teaches us fear of Allah which will prevent us from harming other people but she pretend it that she was not listening. was that the right thing to do? 
 
 

[Aslam AbuIsmaeel]

Wa alaikumusalaam wa rahamatullah

Although I wasnt there at that time, I wonder if this conversation turned out into an argument perhaps?  Argument mentaility is best to avoid because the person would then be arguing with us for its sake and not for truth.  If a person becomes argumentative then I prefer to leave the discussion for another time till they calm down and perhaps in a more private setting as a public discussion can some times turn into a battle for egos and not truth.

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When that girl said, "fasting is crazy", may be she didnt mean crazy in that sense and wasnt being rude actually, maybe by crazy her meaning was - just that its amazing.

When she mentioend about goind to masjid so early in morning, we could try perhaps to mention how nice we find it to be and that it is worth the while and we want to do it again and again because its so nice.

When she asked about even if it is 40 degress, it is a genuine concern she has. May be we can try to mention that, although we're still required to fast, but we are allowed to make our environment as though it is not 40 degrees!  So we are allowed to take a shower if need be, keep ourselves cool with wet cloths, fans, air conditioning, shade, etc etc.  So she'd hopefully appreciate that the goal is not to torture in extreme weather but we're allowed to minimise discomofort due to the weather while still trying to get the benefits of fasting.

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Inshallah, you can hopefully take up the topic with her another time when she is in a different frame of mind!

Allah reward you for your efforts, just dont get let it end up as an argument for the sake of argument and be careful you understand what she's trying to say - of course she might not have expressed herself well, or we may have misunderstood!!

Waffaqakallah

Wassalamu alaikum