The Art Of Dawah
- Introduction
- Major Elements Of Dawah
- The Key Is Inner, Not The Outer
- Justice
- Elevation
- Caution Against Exaggeration
- Hastiness In Seeking Results
- Two Fatal Qualities Quick Anger And Rushing
- Respect Of Qadr
- Ultimate Manner
- Transparency is the Key
- Eloquence Does Half the Job
- Conclusion
Introduction
Quran Chapter 51
Surah Adh Dhariyat
I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me.
[Verse:56]
This is the word of Allah SWT which declares the purpose of our
existence in this earth. If we conform our existence to the purpose
for which we are created, we can attain pure joy and happiness; but if
we try to fulfill our soul with other than what the Creator wants for
it, then we are filled with anxiety and sorrow.
One Of The Highest Forms Of Service To Allah
Is To Invite His Creation To His Oneness
And That In Islam Is Called Da’wah.
Da’wah In Arabic Means
Invitation To A Feast...
This by extension means that the person who is intending on inviting
people to the feast must have made preparations because if he hasn’t
prepared the banquet, he is not only going to turn his guests hungry,
he is also going to ruin his own reputation and lose his trust.
Another Important Factor In A Da’wah
Is The Quality Of The Service And Preparations,
Since This Is What Makes
Any Feast Or Occasion Memorable.
A person can arrange a beautiful party but if the food runs short or
its quality is low, then the feast will be a failure. Just like this,
da’wah to Allah requires a lot of preparation and quality. It requires
an untarnished character with high moral and ethical credentials.
Allah Chooses Certain People And Decorates Them
Inside Out With The Choicest Qualities
Until They Are Ready
For The Noble Job Of Inviting People
To The Creator; To His Oneness,
And To His Obedience...
This requires calmness of character and wisdom because, as history
teaches us, bearing this message is not easy; it usually generates a
lot of opposition from influential people in power, from ignorant and
prejudice masses, and jealous competitors.
By This Way We Can See That
This Job Is Very Difficult Yet Very Delicate
And Requires A Lot Of Wisdom And Quality!
In my video sessions about Da’wah, I have emphasized the most
important pillar to be that the person has to live the message,
believe in it with complete conviction, and disconnect his heart from
all except the Creator who is the owner of all quality and the one who
will be supporting him with all means possible.
Major Elements Of Dawah
Today, we will talk about some of the major elements which I consider
very important for anyone who wishes to invite others to goodness on
personal, family, or societal level.
THE KEY IS INNER, NOT THE OUTER
It Is Imperative That A Da’ee
(The One Who Invites Others To Allah)
Focuses In Building The Main Core Of The Faith
Inside People’s Hearts And Souls,
And Not To Start With The Outer Part.
He has to protect himself from being quick at making judgments based
on the way people dress or behave—this is called the fiqh of priority.
Example:
When human beings commit sins or are involved in any action or
reaction, it can be divided into two categories:
The Sins From Outside.
And The Sins From Within The Heart.
Let’s examine the first sin committed on earth: Adam AS disobeyed
Allah and ate from the tree; right away he humbled himself and went to
Allah and asked Him SWT for forgiveness.
Quran Chapter 20
Surah Taha
In the result, they both ate of the tree, and so their nakedness
appeared to them: they began to sew together, for their covering,
leaves from the Garden: thus did Adam disobey his Lord, and allow
himself to be seduced.
[Verse:121]
But his Lord chose him (for His Grace): He turned to him, and gave him
Guidance.
[Verse:122]
Allah Accepted His Repentance,
Forgave Him, Opened For Him
And Elevated Him To The Level Of Prophet-hood.
On the other hand, Iblees, who was elevated to the level of angels due
to his knowledge, plunged to the status of Satan due to his arrogance
and jealousy. When Allah created Adam, He commanded angels to
prostrate to him; everyone obeyed except Iblees who refused due to his
ego and then blamed Allah SWT of tricking him.
Quran Chapter 20
Surah Al Araf
He said: "Because thou hast thrown me out of the way…
[Verse:16]
On one hand we see adam who upon committing sins blamed himself and
sought forgiveness and allah swt forgave him; whereas shaytaan was
arrogant and blamed allah which prevented him from seeking allah’s
forgiveness...
At This Point, I Want You To Stop And Reflect:
Adam’s Sins Were Outer,
And Upon Showing Humbleness And Humility
His Sins Didn’t Mean Anything And Allah Forgave Him.
Iblees’s Sins Were Inner, [From The Diseases Of The Heart]
Which Caused His Destruction...
By this way, today a lot of people worry about the way they look, the
way they dress, and outer appearances while they ignore the inner
reality. Prophet SAW informed us that no one will enter jannah who has
an atom of arrogance in his heart.
How Many Of Us Try To Get Rid Of
The Arrogance From Our Hearts?
How Many Of Us Are Looking To The Mistakes Of Others
And Are Ignorant Of Our Own Mistakes To The Point
It Is Drowning Our Hearts In The Diseases That Can Destroy Us?
From here also, we can see that all the sins from outside are easier
to make tawba (repent) from whereas the diseases of the heart are very
difficult to change—sometimes the person is not even aware of their
existence because he is so busy focusing on the outside and blaming
others.
If we go to Qur’an we find out that from beginning to end, it deals
with the inner, not the outer; and if this is the case we have to set
priority according to how Allah prioritized. This is where the
distinction between Quran Makki and Quran Madani becomes important.
Quran Makki Is 2/3 Of The Quran
And Focuses On Developing The Inside—
Your Faith And Your Relationship With The Creator...
If This Pillar Is Strong,
Everything Would Be Strong.
Now your manner will be according to Qur’an, your criteria of dealing
with others will be according to Qur’an and now you will have justice
and good manner with everyone you deal with.
JUSTICE
Justice signifies justice of the eyes, ears, tongue, heart—in general
justice in all your actions.
This Is The Core Of Everything You Do
And Reflects In All Your Relationships!
Your Relationship With Allah,
Yourself, And Other Humans.
ELEVATION
We have to be elevated from the state of emotion and hastiness without
rational thinking and reflection to the level of wisdom, calmness,
simplicity, realistic thinking, and awareness of the consequences of
our actions.
Meaning, How To Cast Aside Emotions
And Deal With Situations With Wisdom, Patience,
Compassion, Intelligence, Knowledge And Justice...
CAUTION AGAINST EXAGGERATION
The extreme exaggeration of looking at things or dealing with them
with either too much love or emotion causes two major obstacles for
us.
It Makes Us Deny Our Thinking
And Drowns Us In Fantasy And Fake Behavior,
Or It Generates Hostility And Anger
Which Leads To Hate-filled Actions
And Reactions According To Our Emotions.
By this way exaggeration in thinking or action can cause a lot of
problems and prevents us from dealing with others with justice.
HASTINESS IN SEEKING RESULTS
Our hastiness to produce results makes us skip many steps and
generates a lot of problems. These kind of actions are bereft of the
blessing of Allah SWT. RasulAllah SAW has told us:
“CONSIDERATION IS FROM ALLAH,
AND HASTINESS IS FROM SHAYTAAN”
If we deal with other with rahma and with the intention of benefitting
them, we have to respect who we are talking to and address them
according to their level. RasulAllah SAW said:
“Talk To People According To Their Level Of Understanding.”
Bukhari
We cannot set agenda according to what we want and rush to bring
people to the level of perfection; rather take them step by step until
they develop a level of maturity and strength to the handle the next
level of knowledge.
A General Mistake That Some Muslims Make
When Inviting Others[Muslim And Non-muslims]
To Islam Is That
They Advise Them Of Hijaab Or Halaal And Haraam
Instead Of Focusing On Developing The Faith...
This can result in the person becoming overwhelmed and abandoning the
message completely. All because the da’ee couldn’t wait for the
results and hastened the da’wah.
TWO FATAL QUALITIES
QUICK ANGER AND RUSHING
These are absolutely unacceptable if you want to be an inviter. This
condition applies to your niyyah, actions and reactions.
These Qualities Can Destroy
Everything From The Base,
Even Your Niyyah.
If the inviter has quick temper and hastiness, he will have poor
judgment and will not be able to judge any situation with rationality
and wisdom. In fact, he will not be able to implement any of the
elements mentioned here.
RESPECT OF QADR
It Is Imperative For An Inviter
To Respect The Condition And Situation,
Study It According To Qur’an And Sunnah Of Allah,
And Behave Accordingly.
This makes it important for a Da’ee to study the Sunan of Allah so he
will know what to expect in certain situations and conditions and how
to deal with them. This belief and knowledge helps crystallize all the
other elements mentioned above in his character.
Ultimate Manner
This leads us to the exploration of the relationship between manner
and will-power, and the importance of dealing with things with the
ultimate manner.
The Ultimate Manner Is The Manner Of Allah
According To The Teachings Of Prophet Muhammad SAW.
Meaning The Way I Act Or React
Has To Be Driven From
The Attributes And Knowledge Of Allah
And The Teachings Of Prophet Muhammad SAW...
You have certain innate manners that you are created with, but you
also have a will; and this will is generated from your knowledge,
desire, and your goal. This will keeps changing as you grow and
acquire more knowledge, as your desires and goals change etc.
They are all linked with each other like a chain and the glue that
holds it all together is called sidq—truthfulness. Truthfulness will
lead you to be prepared, and always be alert to your surrounding and
in perpetual state of questioning and learning; and this leads one to
the pillar of talking.
It Is Said That To Speak One Minute
You Need 30 Minutes Of Preparation
And To Speak One Hour,
You Need 10 Hours Of Preparation!
Example:
One honorable scholar was requested to deliver an hour long speech, he
asked for one week of preparation time; the person asked him, ok give
me 10 minutes speech, he said you make it too difficult for me, now I
need one month of preparation.
Because Sincere People Think Very Thoroughly
Before They Talk
And They Know That This Talk Is An Amanah,
A Trust From Allah
For Which They Will Be Questioned...
Transparency is the Key
One of the traits of a believer is transparency; the need to be real,
not fake. Don’t try to be somebody you are not. This is all the more
important for a da’ee, someone who is not only representing Islam, but
calling others to it. RasulAllah SAW said:
"The Worst People In The Sight Of Allah
On The Day Of Resurrection Will Be
The Double Faced People
Who Appear To Some People With One Face
And To Other People With Another Face."
(Sahih Bukhari)
Eloquence Does Half the Job
You have to think about the benefit of what you are going to say. If
you feel it has benefit, say it; if there is no benefit, be quiet.
Prophet Muhammad SAW said:
“Should You Wish To Act,
Ponder Well The Consequences.
If Good, Carry On;
If Not, Desist.”
Ibn Al-mubarak
Have a polite, wise way of talking— neither too low, nor too high,
neither slow, nor fast; pace yourself according to your audience and
topic. Don’t make your talk too long, keep the duration according to
the attention span of the listener. This is justice and mercy.
Prophet Muhammad SAW Used To Shorten The Prayers
When Women Attended With Children
In Order Not To Discomfort Them!
Versatility Of Knowledge
A da’ee is open minded and always on a look out to seek new and
different kinds of knowledge. Versatility of knowledge and
understanding enables him to have command of various topics, which
helps him develop confidence and eloquence.
Islam Is Deen, Meaning A Way Of Life;
All The Topics Related To Life Are Part Of Islam
And A Successful Da’ee Is One
Who Has Knowledge Of Every Day Affairs
As Well As Religious Knowledge.
The more knowledgeable about life a da’ee is, the more he will hold
sway over people and the more respect he will get. Always emphasize
the message and repeat it.
According to the companions of Prophet SAW, he SAW never taught them
more than 3 to 5 verses per day. They also mentioned how Prophet SAW
used to repeat himself sometimes up to three times in order to
emphasize a point.
A successful speaker has three elements:
Substance
Body language
Way of addressing oneself
A study determined that substance is of only 7% importance; body
language is of 55% and speech is of 38% importance. What it really
means is that if you master the body language and way of addressing
yourself, you can win any speech.
Don’t Speak Too Slow Or Low
To Put People To Sleep,
Neither Speak So Fast That
You Lose Them...
Make sure to break your talk into segments; the art here is which word
or sentence you stop at and for how long—the pause shouldn’t be too
long, or too short, just enough to give listeners time to digest your
words.
The Speech Should Be Delivered
With A Clear Pronunciation In Eloquent Words!
The Words Don’t Need To Be Sophisticated,
Rather It Is Best To Use Simple Terminology...
Always have evidence of what you are saying and don’t ever say things
you are not sure of. There is no insult in saying ‘I don’t know’. If
you give wrong answers, you lose credibility and come across as
incompetent or a liar.
Conclusion
ACTIONS ARE BASED ON INTENTIONS
This Entire Talk Is Rendered Fruitless
If The Niyyah Is Corrupted
And Not Purely For The Sake Of Allah Swt...
The sign of corrupted niyyah is that the person is focused on showing
off his actions and has different personality in front of people than
when alone. This is called sincerity.
A Sincere Person Will Never Give Advice To People
That He Is Not Living Himself...
May Allah Make Us Among Those Sincere Ones Who Make It Their Life’s
Mission To Invite Humanity To The Pleasure Of Allah ; Those Who Seek
Knowledge, Live It And Spread It Purely For His Sake. Ameen!
by~Daee Ahmed Moait