A True Voice

A TRUE VOICE The task of inviting people to God is so very vital that if it is abandoned, the whole Muslim community will lose all value in God’s eyes. When this task is left undone, all other tasks, if undertaken, will prove to be ultimately futile and can never result in Muslims gaining respect and honour. T he noted Arab reformer and scholar Sayyed Rashid Rida (1865-1935) visited India in 1912 at the invitation of the Nadwatul Ulama, a leading Islamic seminary in Lucknow. He also visited the Darul Uloom at Deoband, where he spoke at length to the students and teachers of the madrasa. In his address, he drew the attention of the Ulama to the task of preaching Islam. He pointed out that there were people who worshipped idols in India, others who worshipped trees and stones, and others who worshipped the moon, the sun, stars, and so on. If the Muslims had a good team of missionaries, he suggested, they could succeed in preaching Islam among such people. These missionaries could also strive to remove misunderstandings about Islam, but he added that they needed to be well-aware of the important issues of modern philosophy. (Al-Jamiat Weekly, Delhi, February 6, 1970)