Topic 4: Importance of Dawah
Top 10 excuses Muslims give for not doing Dawah
By
Yahya Ahmed
This article is especially for
those Muslims who are living in non-Muslim countries. In General, it is for all
those who have any contact with non-Muslims.
Definition of Dawah and Islaah:
Da’wah means a ‘call’ or ‘invitation’; which
means to invite non-Muslims to Islam as well as the Muslims to the true
understanding and practice of Islam, but many a times, in context, it refers to
the invitation of Islam extended to those who are yet to believe in or accept
Islam.
‘Islaah’ literally means ‘to repair’ or ‘to improve’. In an
Islamic context, it refers to efforts to improve Muslims or to correct
them.
Difference between
Dawah and Islah:
Dawah in
Arabic actually means an invitation and an invitation can only be given to an
out sider. And in Islamic terminology, Dawah ul Islam means an invitation
to Islam. When we speak about Islam to a non Muslim inviting to Islam it’s
called Dawah.
Many people even think when we
speak about Islam to Muslim it’s called Dawah and they
use this term Dawah for both types of talk. Basically
when we speak about Islam to a Muslim calling him closer or letting him know
more about Islam the more appropriate word is Islah,
- I do not have enough
knowledge to do Dawah
This is one of the most common
excuses given for not doing Dawah. The Prophet (pbuh) said
“Convey (my
teachings) to the people even if it were a single sentence” (Sahih Bukhari, Vol.4, Hadith 667)
In those days, times were
different. The access to knowledge was difficult. They did not have the media,
there were no books written at that time on Islam. Today the times have changed
and access to knowledge has become very easy. There are
countless number of books written by Muslims. There are so many websites
available. There are so many videos available. Every Muslim at least knows one
verse, but you can do the job more efficiently if you master on one topic
initially to simply begin. Lets say a topic like “Is Jesus God?” or “Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) in the Bible” or other religious
scriptures or some other topic depending upon the person with whom you are doing
Dawah. If you are interested, you can do it very
easily its no big deal. All the material you can get for doing Dawah on this site. Or you can browse through the Islamic
links section to find out more.
http://www.answering-christianity.com/links.htm
- My own deeds are not too
good, how can I do Dawah with others?
This is a nice statement to
hear. This shows that how humble a Muslim is.
For those Muslims, who are not
very good Muslims, doing Dawah will surely help you
become better practicing Muslims. When you share something with others, you have
the inclination to practice it yourself.
Your deeds are not really bad.
The Christian missionaries who come to missionize the
Muslims and people from other faith, they drink alcohol. Do you drink alcohol?
No ! So who is better, Are they better or you? They
gamble. Do you gamble? No! So who is better, are they better or you? They are
promiscuous. Are you promiscuous? No! So who is better, are they better or you?
When they can do the job, what
is wrong with you? They have the falsehood with them. You have the Truth of
Islam with you. So why can’t you do the job? The non-Muslims today want to know
about Islam especially after September 11, 2001. The situation has turned in
favor of Islam. So do not miss the wonderful opportunity that you
have.
Note: When I say about
missionaries, I do not mean all of them but many of them do indulge in such
things. Generally, Muslims are more moral than the missionaries especially those
who come from the West.
- First we should make our
own Muslims better Muslims, then we should do Dawah
This is one of the most common
excuse given by Muslims who live in Muslim countries.
Making Muslim, a better Muslim is called “Islah”. It is important to make a Muslim a better
Muslim, if he is not of the right track. Converting people is not in your hand.
I know of “Muslims” who will not practice Islam even
after you bring countless evidence and proofs to them. So you mean are you going
to stick to them only and not move forward? Your job is to deliver the message
to others. The Quran says
“Therefore do thou give
admonition, for thou art one to
admonish. Thou art not one to manage (men’s) affairs. But if any
turn away and reject Allah,- Allah will punish him
with a mighty Punishment, “ (Quran
88:21-24)
Dawah
and Islah both are important at the same
time. In Medina, at the time of the Prophet (pbuh)
there were Muslims who did not use to come to the compulsory Prayers and the
Prophet said “I feel like setting their houses on fire”
Even in Medina, there were such
Muslims who were not good practicing Muslims. The Prophet (pbuh) did not say that I’ll just make them good Muslims and
stick to them only. Yet he wrote letters to other non-Muslim kings, asking them
to embrace Islam.
If you say that, first I will
make Muslims better Muslims and then invite non-Muslims. That time will never
come. That time will not come in your entire life, nor will it come even in your
next ten generations.
I am not saying that you should
only do Dawah. Dawah and
Islah both are important. But if you have less time
than Dawah is MORE important because the non-Muslims
are involved in the sin of shirk i.e
associating partners with Allah. This is the most henious of sins. The Quran says
“Allah forgiveth not that partners should be set up with
Him; but He forgiveth anything else, to whom
He pleaseth; to set up partners with Allah is to
devise a sin Most heinous indeed.” (Quran 4:48)
So if you see a person who is
involved in such a sin. He is going to hell for sure. If you are not going to
stop that sin, then he’ll surely go to hell. So doing Dawah is a compulsory duty upon every Muslim and is very
important task.
- My Dawah will not be affective.
As I mentioned, our job is not
to convert people. Our job is to deliver the message of Allah. It is he who
gives guidance. The Quran
says :
“Therefore do thou give admonition, for thou art one to
admonish. Thou art not one to manage (men’s) affairs.” (Quran 88:21-22)
Allah (SWT) will not question
you on the day of judgment whether they became Muslims
or not. But he will question whether you delivered the message or not.
- Doesn’t the Quran say “There is no compulsion in religion”
The Quran does say so. But it’s not right to quote the verse in
bits and pieces. The verse reads
“Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands
out clear from Error:” (Quran 2:256)
Your job is to deliver the
message with wisdom and beautiful preaching. (Quran
16:125). Your job is not to convert people. A Muslim CANNOT force anyone to
embrace Islam. You are supposed to deliver the Truth of Islam. The rest is up
to them whether they accept or not.
- Doesn’t the Quran say “To you is your religion, to me is
mine”
Again, it’s the quotation out
of context. Let’s read this verse in context.
1. Say : O ye that reject Faith!
2. I worship not that which ye worship,
3. Nor will ye worship that which I worship.
4. And I will not worship
that which ye have been wont to worship,
5. Nor will ye worship that which I worship.
6. To you be your
Way, and to me mine. (Quran 109:1-6)
The Question of rejecting faith only arises
when you present the faith in Islam to them. Your job is to deliver the message
to them. If they don’t want to accept. As a last,
resort its “To you be your Way, and to me mine.” Suppose if I see a Hindu doing
idol worship. I’ll try to convince him that it is wrong even according to the
Hindu Scriptures such as Bhagvad Geeta 7:19-23 etc. But yet he wants to do. “To you be your
Way, and to me mine”
So this is as a last resort NOT the first.
- When we do Dawah, the non-Muslim says “mind your own
business”
This is another common excuse
given by the Muslims. The reply is, it is the business
of every Muslim to mind other people’s business where faith is concerned. Dawah is a compulsory duty of every Muslim. Therefore, when
the person says, “mind your own business” He is right, that is what you are
doing. You are minding your own business only.
- The person gets hurt if
I do Dawah, it affects the friendship, and I do not
want to hurt anybody.
The Question arises, does it hurt you when you see your friend or anyone
doing blasphemy? Don’t you realize that these people are going to hell?
Doesn’t it hurt you when
they say that God has a son? The Quran
says:
88. They say: “((Allah)) Most Gracious has begotten
a son!”
89. Indeed ye have put forth a thing most
monstrous!
90. At it the skies are
ready to burst, the earth to split asunder, and the mountains to fall down in
utter ruin,
91. That they should invoke a son for ((Allah)) Most
Gracious.
92. For it is not consonant with the majesty of ((Allah)) Most Gracious
that He should beget a son. (Quran 19:88-92)
Doesn’t it hurt you when they give the worst
swearing to Allah (SWT)? The Quran says that if the
mountains had feelings and emotions like you and I have, they would fall in
utter ruin, the earth will split asunder, the skies
will burst. But what is happening to you? All you need to do is open your mouth.
Furthermore, it is a misconception that doing
Dawah will break your friendship. The point is how
your approach is. How good you are in your speech. How logical you are in your
approach. If you start insulting his religion, that can make a difference but if
you do it with wisdom and beautiful preaching inshallah you will not hurt anyone and your
friendship to Allah should be much more important than the friendship to your
non-Muslim friend. It is Our duty to remove the
misconceptions about Islam and present the correct picture of Islam.
To conclude, it all depends upon how strong
your Eeman (faith) is.
9.
It will create provocation among the non-Muslims
Provocation is likely to be created if a person
is a hater of Islam. Is this the reason that should stop you from spreading the
message of Almighty Allah?
Provocation is not the test. If this was the
test, then our Beloved Prophet (pbuh) was a failure
(Naoozobillah). The pagan leaders, who loved him
before, became his worst enemies. Did it make him stop from what Allah had
commanded him?
So provocation will be created among those
non-Muslims who are haters of Islam, that should in no means bother, instead you
should remain steadfast and practice what Allah (SWT) has commanded.
10.
If Every Muslim becomes a Daee, then who will
take other professions like Doctors, lawyers, engineers etc?
Doing Dawah is a
compulsory duty of every Muslim. In the Glorious Quran, Allah (SWT) speaks about full time Daees. The Quran says :
“Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good,
enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: They are the ones to
attain felicity.” (Quran 3:104)
Today it is a dire need of the Muslim Ummah. We have very few people who are full time Daees.
I am not saying that every Muslim should become
full time Daee, but every Muslim can do part time
Dawah e.g with your
colleagues who you meet everyday in the office, with your friends who you meet
in the school and university. While traveling, if you meet a non-Muslim or you
can do Islah with those Muslims you
meet, who are not good practicing ones. You can do it using media such as
computer, internet etc. You can do it in many ways.
The Glorious Quran
says
“Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with
wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and
most gracious:” (Quran 16:125)
May Allah (SWT) make your efforts successful!
Ameen
!