Dawah Thinking

interaction would also be set right and, in the Hereafter, they would be held deserving of God’s blessings. The Power of Ideology In 1917 a socialist revolution was brought about in Russia. Prior to this, Russia had been ruled by monarchs called Czars. The communist party at that time waged an ideological war against the ruling Czar, which spread rapidly all over the country. Britain regarded this as a dangerous trend. Therefore, a British delegation, headed by colonel FM Bailey, was sent to Russia. This delegation, in the guise of a group of merchants, reviewed the situation in Russia, and on its return presented a report to the British government, one of the sentences of which was as follows: “Communist ideas are far more dangerous than the entire army of the Czar.” There are a number of events of this kind in history which show that the power of ideology is far greater than military power. The history of Islam is a clear example of this reality. In ancient history the success of Islam has always been attributable to its ideology rather than to the sword or military power. For instance, in the thirteenth century, the onslaught by the Tartars vanquished the Abbasid empire. This onslaught was so severe that the military power of the Muslims proved totally ineffective against it. From that moment onwards the ideological power of Islam grew in strength, and within half a century the majority of the Tartars had accepted Islam; the erstwhile enemies of Islam then became the friends of Islam. This ideological power of Islam has been described thus by an orientalist: “The religion of the Muslims has conquered where their arms had failed.”