Dr. Asya AL Riyami
What is determined by the notion Da’awah is Da’awah ilaa Allah “Say: This is my way and I invite to Allaah with certain knowledge.” (Soorah Yoosuf, 12: 108) and Da’awah ilaa Allah indicates to an organized, a determined, and a constant effort targeted at calling mankind and jinn to the belief of their creator and sustainer, Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa), as a superiority number one of the Daa’iyah, approaching to accept Islam as a way of life as well as persuading them about the necessity and importance of placing the Deen (religion) of Allah in the heart of their societies, with the only purpose of winning the joy of Allah (Zaidaan 2001). Thus, calling mankind and jinn/demons to Allah suggests calling them to the religion of Islam “Who is better in speech than one who calls to Allaah, does righteous deeds and says indeed I am among the Muslims.” (Surat Fussilat, 41:33).
Nevertheless, there are some notable notions of Da’awah ilaa Allah that are being ignored nowadays by numerous Du’aat (caller/Proselytisers). Here are several of them:
(1) It is a prime priority of living: calling (people) to Allah must be the highest priority in the destiny and life of a Daa’iyah. It demands free hours of life and not the tired ones. If it is not so, justice will not be completed by Da’awah and its priorities. Number of times, Da’awah activity suffers due to the fact it does not get the priority it justifies in reality. This is the problem in almost all Da’awah activities around the globe. Consequently, Da’awah is very often placed at the bottom of the list of living priorities. This deleterious situation must be changed;
(2) It is a duty: Da’awah is a mandatory obligation of every Muslim man, or woman, especially if Islam is not the prevailing religion on the face of the earth “Let there arise among you a group inviting to all that is good, enjoining righteousness and forbidding evil. Those are the successful ones.” (Soorah Aal ‘Imraan, 3: 104);
(3) It is an organized effort: a collective and concerted effort must be realized to deal with Da’awah activities in a planned and organized way, not in a chaotic and disordered manner. There must be a leader for a well-projected Da’awah program, with sufficient Da’awah literature and a crew of dedicated and faithful workers to reach out to the people;
(4) It is a constant effort: it is not an irregular operation. It is a life-long chase and follow up. It has to be organized and determined till the contactees deny the important message of Islam or accept it as a way of life, then the Daa’iyah must proceed on selecting new faces for Da’awah contact from the community in a constant way while dismissing the rejecters of religion;
(5) It is a determined work: to convey the message of Allah, even under unfavourable conditions, with wisdom and to stay cool and calm under all types of inducements with a grim will to proceed the Da’awah so far as possible where the Daa’iyah either abandon his/her life in that chase or the invitees accede Islam as their convention;
(6) It is the beginning and the end: the above remarkable features have shown the start and the finish of Da’awah ilaa Allah. The beginning is to invite mankind to the belief of Allah and the end occurs when Islam converts dominant in the complete spectrum of human society, in both personal and collective aspects of the world. Therefore, any shortcut theory of Da’awah neglect the ultimate aim of “establishing the religion of Allah” and as such it will not be successful or beneficial to the extent that it can cause any shift in modern society.
References
Zaidaan, A. 2001. Usul ad-Da’awah (Foundations/Rules of Da’awah). 9th ed. Beirut: Muassasah Ar-Risaalah.
AL Bayayouni ,A. 2007. AL Madkhal Ela Ilem AL Da’wah. Beirut: Muassasah Ar-Risaalah.
Uthaimain ,M. 2006. The Islamic awakening: Al Hidayah publishing.
Al-Ghazali, M. 2005. Ma’a Allah: Dirasat fi al- Da’wah wa al- Du’at, 6th ed. Cairo: Nahdat Misr.
Da’awah to Allah part (2) :
