Fasting Prepares Believers for the Dawah Mission

FASTING PREPARES BELIEVERS FOR THE DAWAH MISSION According to the Quran, ‘the call to God.’ (41:33) is called dawah ilallah. Calling people to God means communicating the message of God—Quran and Islam—to all mankind. The call to God aims at bringing people closer to their Creator and Sustainer, and therefore, inviting them to adopt the Godoriented life, and warning man of the consequences of the self-oriented life. Calling people to God is telling them that the only right way of life for them on this earth is to become true believers in God. Primarily, the purpose of dawah ilallah is to acquaint man with the creation plan of God. As we learn from the Islamic history, calling people to God was the greatest goal of the Prophet of Islam. It was for this purpose that the Prophet Muhammad was sent as the messenger of God to the whole of humanity as mentioned in the Quran: “We have sent you forth as a mercy to all mankind.” (The Quran, 21:107). However, Prophet Muhammad lived in this world for a limited period of time and now the question arises as to how, after the Prophet’s death, the prophetic responsibility had to be discharged. In his lifetime the Prophet performed this duty directly. After he had gone, this mission had to be carried forward indirectly by his followers, the Muslim ummah. It is, therefore, incumbent upon Muslims as the Prophet’s followers to carry out this mission from one generation to the next and, in presenting the preserved message of Islam to people of every age and time till the Last Day. Ibn Ishaaq, the Prophet’s earliest biographer, said that when the Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him) came to the Companions and reminded them of their responsibility of dawah ilallah, he said: ‘God has sent me to the entire world as a blessing, so you should carry out this responsibility on my behalf. God will show His mercy to you.’ (Sirat ibn Hisham, Vol. 4, pp. 268-269)