Da’wah – An inherent responsibility of believers
What is Da’wah and it’s essence?
Anyone who knows Islam and the teaching of the Prophet of Islam (Peace and mercy of ALLAH be upon him) knows the answer very clearly. The life of the Sahaba (Companions) of the Prophet (SAW) also gives us the answer. In fact, Da’wah is the responsibility of each and every one of those who claim to be a Muslim.
There are a group among Muslims who are really interested in Da’wah who take it up as an obligation enjoined upon them. They do it with utmost sincerity and love for it, expecting only the rewards from ALLAH, The Almighty. They might often be faced with lot of challenges. The challenges include the obvious reactions of the people with whom they are talking or the inability to support them in their areas by providing them whatever is required for them once they are convinced of Islam and accepts it and things of that sort.
Islam doesn’t allow missionary mode of propagation, which means tempting people to accept Islam by offering them what they really need. Instead, what Islam teaches is, tell them about Islam, clear their doubts, help them in whatever ways possible to convince them of the pricelessness of reverting to Islam before their final breath and so on. And once they are convinced and reverts to Islam by taking the Shahadah (oath of accepting ALLAH as the only diety worthy of worship and Muhammad (SAW) as the final messenger of ALLAH), Muslims are responsible for providing help and support to them in whatever ways possible and feasible to them.
I used to listen to the debates of Ahmed Deedat and have some books and video of those. Earlier I used to watch Dr. Zakir Naik as well. After going through all these, and after gaining atleast 5% of their knowledge in terms of comparitive religion, when I look back I see like I haven’t utilized those information yet! How can we justify when we are questioned of what we did with this knowledge. I am tending to be fearful of this. Suddenly this idea of writing an article and posting it in this website, so that those who feel like this is an important topic can forward this to someone else as well. But I don’t think I can completely justify my duty just with this single article though.
Why do we need to do Da’wah?
There are a group among Muslims, who consider that there is no need for Da’wah and people who realizes the value of Islam on their own would revert to Islam automatically. This article is not really meant to address them, but they should realize that they will not hopelessly look at their children when they know that their children are in the wrong way. Similar is the case with our fellow beings. When you consider yourself to be a Muslim who considers guiding his family to good is their duty, should also guide their fellow being when you are sure that their path is not right at all. If you feel like that is not your duty, mind that you are a hypocrite or a selfish person.
When we look at the lives of the scholars of Islam of the past, we can understand that they considered it to be their duty and obligation to the Creator to guide the fellow beings to the truth and right when they are following the wrong path. They even go to the extent that they would tend to correct their contemporary respected scholars when they find them to be giving wrong Fatwas (religious rulings) on a certain issue. Thus it is clear that it becomes the duty of every Muslim to correct the fellow beings (Muslims and non-Muslims) when they themselves are sure that the fellow beings are going wrong. Don’t you think so? Or are we not really convinced of the fact that we are going to meet our Lord one day when we will be asked to answer all these questions?
Frankly speaking, I tend to talk to my fellow beings and hear their explanations and excuses, but only to a limited extent, obviously because of being concerned about the relationship or being unsure of their mode of response. It is expected that those who realize the value of Islam would definitely come to us, but those who do not understand or realize its value are not going to come to us, and we need to first let them know what Islam is all about and the need for reverting to that faith before their last breath in this world.
Addressing the fellow disbelievers
Let me first admit that I am not a Da’ee at all, but still I am trying to share a few of my thoughts of how we can do Da’wah. Of course it is true that tasting a curry is different from just seeing it, likewise I cannot just speak out methods of Da’wah without having attempted to try them. That’s why I say, these are just some of my thoughts.
If you are fearful, please stay away because what I am talking about is an important topic and you may not be able to grasp it. You just keep on saying and believing that Jesus (Peace and mercy of ALLAH be upon him) is the Lord and is a part of Trinity or Vishnu / Siva / Krishna are Gods and you are fine with worshipping them. I really intent to address those who have a feeling deep inside their heart regarding the validity or the mode of their worship.
Such people would obviously have an inner feeling which asks themselves often “am I really worshipping the real God?”. I would recommend them to open their inner eyes and start looking at things with an open eye. Then they can easily realize the vanity of what they are doing. Thus they can easily recognize the fact that there is can be no more than One God, who is Omnipotent and Omniscient, who is no more than just One. If there can be more than One God, then it means they have some inter dependability and if they are inter dependent, then that means they are not absolute, which contradicts the power of God to be Omnipotent, meaning one that is capable of doing everything.
At times, I realize the vanity of the great knowledge these disbelievers possess. Among them are great scientists, scholars, intellectuals, thinkers, etc… all of whom are really blind regarding identifying the existence of the true One God. I would go on to say that, even a faithful layman who doesn’t seem to have any renowned intellectual capability or earthly knowledge is far better compared to a disbeliever who is well known for his intellect, considering the fact that he is unable to identify the reality of the existence of the Creator and His quality of being Omnipotent.
You might want to agree or disagree with me in many matters, and you have the right to do so. I was just sharing my thoughts in this regard and you are welcome to comment on it or correct me.
Jazzak ALLAH Khire…
