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Dawah is mercy for all of mankind
1-27-2021
The subject of Dawah is beyond the scope of these editorial and for any one Islamic scholar to talk about. No amount of literature can do the justice on the topic of Dawah let alone fulfill the rights of Dawah.
Dawah in Islam is a sacred and a noble action. There were approximately 124000 messengers that were sent by Allah Almighty to remind human beings about his existence. Did you know that there are only 25 Prophets that are mentioned in the Holy Quran and their stories highlight how they did Dawah and how they were ridiculed and mistreated?
Allah says in the Quran, “And no messenger would come to them except that they ridiculed him.” (15.11)
In the Qur’an, the word “da`wah” and its derivatives are used in different contexts over a hundred times.
“Invite all to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and kind advice, and only debate with them in the best manner.” (An-Nahl 16:125)
Inviting people to Allah, inviting people towards good and prohibiting against evil has been challenged since the time of Adam (AS). For any sincere Daee- one who invites for the sake of Allah towards Allah, Dawah will always test ones patience.
“So endure this denial, O Prophet, with beautiful patience. (Al Ma’arij 70:5)
A daee must prepare himself and bear patience to hear the comments made by people who are being addressed however inappropriate it may be. Our sincerity is in question if we expect to hear nice and pleasing words to our ears for our efforts in the path of Allah.
If we just focus on the few verses of the Quran in mind when assessing any inappropriate situations, we would realize that our actions and calls for shaming individuals is not the way Allah expects us to invite people to Islam, and certainly not the way of our Prophet (PBUH) practiced it.
“It is out of Allah’s mercy that you O Prophet have been lenient with them. Had you been cruel or hard-hearted, they would have certainly abandoned you.” (Al-Imran 3:159)
The stories of Prophets give us an insight into how a job description of a daee should be. A daee will remain anonymous just like the 123975 that are not mentioned in the Quran. Speaking in the language of the social media generation, even Batman and SpiderMan do not care to reveal their identities while uprooting evil.
The job description of a daee has not changed just because we are in 2021. Nouman Ali Khan in a message on his social media message reiterates by saying, “Do justice to delivering it the way the messengers did justice to delivering it”. The Quran is the same. But the messengers today have defiantly changed. Nouman Ali Khan further says, “We take a very shallow simplistic view to how to deliver the message of Islam.” In describing the Prophets qualities, he reminds us, “If you do not have these qualities then you should not be doing it.”
Our cry and plea to all our Muslim brothers and sisters is not to make Dawah look like a joke, loose cheap propagation as it has become unfortunately in some incidents. Today we have people eating doughnuts handing out Quran on streets and then counting how many copies were distributed while seated warmly in a Tim Hortons thinking they have done justice to Dawah. Shouting slogans of praise in private Muslim social media groups and being rewarded by likes and thereby getting more encouragement to further this practice of unguided Dawah initiatives only to bring fitnah instead of Hidayah that Dawah was supposed to bring.
Allama Iqbal who is known as Shair-e-Mashriq ("The Poet of the East"), and Hakeem-ul-Ummat ("The Sage of Ummah") captures this phenomenon beautifully in one of his poetry. Once there was a quarrel between Hindus and Muslims over a small mosque near Shah Alami Chowk in Lahore Pakistan. The Muslims built a mosque there overnight. This mosque still exists today. Allama Iqbal states in urdu translated below;
Masjid To Bana Di Shab Bhar Mein Iman Ki Hararat Walon Ne,
Mann Apna Purana Papi Hai, Barsoun Mein Namazi Ban Na Saka.
Iqbal Bara Updeshak Hai, Mann Baaton Mein Moh Leta Hai
Guftar Ka Ye Ghazi To Bana, Kirdar Ka Ghazi Ban Na Saka
Though the mosque was built overnight by the believers
Our heart being old sinner for years devout (one who prays) could not be
Iqbal is a good advisor, fascinates the heart in moments
He did become hero in talk, but one in deeds, he could not be.
Immature acts of shaming individuals who do not agree with our dawah is against the usool of dawah. The prophets only complained after finishing their duty and only then Allah sent his punishments.
By resorting to shaming individuals the message is very clear to those who have a skewed version of Islam, views such as Muslims are intolerant to criticism and Islam was spread by the Sword. By shaming individuals we can never remove any misinformation and misunderstanding about Islam. A non-Muslim who is being invited to Islam will only judge us by our actions which speaks louder than the values we are propagating.
Trials and tribulations faced during dawah are reasons for Hidayah to spread provided it is endured with sincerity and patience without seeking sympathy.
The yard stick for successful dawah is definitely not a count of the number copies Quran distributed. It never was and should never be. The measure was always how much of the Quran was in the character of a Daee.
In Talking with AlameenPost with regards to dawah in our community, Dr. Ali Mihrig the President of Iqra Islamic School states, “I agree with the views, Dawah must be conducted in the best of manners otherwise results could be very negative. However, Dawah could face arrogant or racist individuals who may become abusive... I personally disagree with this way of Dawah like making a stand on the street and talk to passing by people. It is much better to invite people to Masajid or public lectures. Some people here are so ignorant that they may easily misunderstand the whole idea of Dawah when it is done like Jehovah’s.”
We fully agree with Dr. Ali Mihrig that dawah of Non-Muslims should only be conducted by established mosques and under full guidance of our local Imams who are far more qualified to lead us in this noble cause. Shaming individuals should never be an end result of any dawah initiative.
Muslim community can not absolve itself from the abuse of non-Muslims and new Muslims who have been taken for a ride by Muslim preachers and their followers. This may come shocking to many who have not been around for long. Our community has experienced incidents in the past and we are well aware of non-Muslim sisters who were enticed in to Islam only to be married for Immigration or to divorce their wife only to marry the one they have just converted etc..
If the ultimate goal of dawah is reformation then perhaps lets start by meeting a Muslim and doing dawah in a few bars and pubs around the city. Do we shame Muslim’s who patronize this places with their future wife and refuse dawah? Nor should we shame the Muslim sisters who were caught drunk and driving in just one night. There are times Muslims have treated Dawah workers far worst then non Muslims yet we do not wish to shame them because they are Muslims.
The trials and tribulations faced by Ambiya are in no way compared to what any daee will endure today.
In closing let us remind ourselves with the story of the old lady throwing garbage on our beloved Prophet (PBUH) on a daily basis. The lessons we learn from the story is about how the dawah of the Prophet’s compassion and mercy for all became the source of hidayah for the old lady.
We can only Ask Allah to forgive us for our shortcomings since we failed as a community for not fulfilling the rights of dawah and hope and pray that Allah give Hidayat to all the people out of his mercy.
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