A Short History of, Dawah work

A Short History of, Dawah work

1988 10 October 24-23 A Short History of, Dawah work (2386) The Muslims are Ummah – followers of the Final Prophet – a status which carries with it the individual and collective responsibility which at God’s behest, has been laid on the shoulders of the faithful: to call mankind to God. No further Prophets will come to this world. That is an absolute certainty. It is a matter of equal certainty that there must be no falling off in the work originally undertaken by them, so that it is the bounden duty of Muslims to carry on the divine mission which in ancient times was the Prophet’s, special task. With the end of prophethood, it is the Muslims themselves who have been delegated to take the place of the Prophets, so that their work may continue unabated. No lesser an effort than this will justify their calling themselves by the name of Ummah.

The mission with which the Prophets were entrusted was to communicate God’s message to those of His servants who went their way in ignorance of His existence. It was their duty to explain to those who were caught up in the worship of many gods that there was, truly, only One God, and to call on them to worship Him alone. They had also to inform those who thought of this world as everything that there would be a last Day, which would be of crucial importance to them. Furthermore, it was for the Prophets to impress upon their fellow men that they were not free to do as they pleased in this world, but were subject to God’s commands; they then were meant to lead life, not of license, but of discipline. And so that no one should attempt to plead ignorance, and use it as a shield on the Day of Judgement, the Prophets were required to enlighten all mankind on the subject of God’s revelations, as they were originally set down in the scriptures. To this day, this revealed knowledge has been preserved intact in the Quran and the Traditions of the Prophet.

The torch of enlightenment has been placed on the hands of Muslims by God. To make its light shine upon the world is their greatest task in life in their role of Ummah. Yet it is this duty, more than any other, which they have chosen to neglect. The main reason for this is that they are so obsessed by their own nationalistic issues, that they do not even perceive it as their duty to communicate the word of God to the other nations of the world.

Once, on a journey to the Arab world, I happened to meet a highly educated Muslim who confirmed my fears that the former zeal of Muslims in spreading the word of God was nowadays greatly diminished, or even non-existent. I mentioned that I thought the real duty of Muslims was to communicate the message of Islam to other nations of the world, his immediate rejoinder was: “The Muslims of today have no time to think of anything but their own problems. This is what prevents them from carrying on the dawah work amongst other nations.” His reply was symptomatic of the mentality now prevalent among Muslims – a mentality which has led them into a serious dereliction of duty. Problems of their own security have taken precedence over the preaching work, for they consider their very existence as a nation to be threatened. This has inclined them to concentrate all their efforts on self-defence, thereby losing sight of their responsibilities in the field of dawah. This diversion of their energies into wrong channels has caused many Muslims to attach to the protection of purely nationalistic interests the false label of “Islamic dawah.”

This line of thinking runs counter to the teachings of Islam, the Quran makes it clear that the security of Muslims is entirely dependent upon their successful performance of the task of dawah. It follows that as long as they continue to call mankind to God, they can rest assured that their national interests will enjoy His protection. Once they neglect this duty, they can no longer have any legitimate expectation that the Almighty will safeguard their interests. In days gone by, the Muslims, zealous as they were in the field of dawah could rightly feel entitled to, and did actually enjoy such security. But nowadays, if Muslims feel that God no longer keeps them safe, it is because they themselves have shirked the responsibility entrusted to them by God of communicating His word to the other nations of the world.

“Apostle, proclaim what is revealed to you from your Lord; if you do not, you will surely fail to convey His message. Allah will protect you from all men. He does not guide the unbelievers.” (Quran, 5:67)

There are a number of Traditions related in the books of Hadith concerning the circumstances under which this verse was revealed. For instance, Abdullah ibn Abbas relates how the Prophet explained that when he was sent by God to preach His word, he felt a certain hesitancy in proclaiming this message, for he feared that there would be a section of the people who would disbelieve him. It was at point that God revealed this verse. There is another Tradition which tells how, prior to the revelation of this verse, the Prophet always had guards around him. On receiving this revelation, the Prophet leaned his head out of his chamber and told his guards that they might go on their way “for God has taken me under His protection.” (Safawat at Tafaseer, Vol. 1 p. 355.)

This clearly shows that the secret of being protected from the malice of others is to call them to God. Once the Prophet was launched on his mission, there was no further need even to consider the necessity to guard him, for the carrying out of his mission itself ensured his safety. This promise was made directly by God to the Prophet of Islam, but it applies likewise to his followers, albeit indirectly.

All our affairs should, therefore, be considered in the light of this fundamental principle. We must also accept the fact that, conversely, if the security of the followers of Islam is under threat from other nations, it simply means that the Muslims have failed in their duty of calling people to God. When, on the other hand, they rise to this task, they can certainly count on God’s protection from all apprehended dangers. There is no need for them to take additional measures to protect themselves. All they need do is communicate the word of God; this in itself will suffice to, defend them against all hazards.

The Quran illustrates this principle with the story of a true believer who lived at the court of Pharaoh in the time of Moses. The exigencies of his situation had led him to keep his faith a secret, but a time came when Pharaoh declared his intention to have Moses put to death. Hearing this, the believer was no longer able to keep silent. He delivered an address to Pharaoh and his courtiers on which he spoke up on behalf of Moses and communicated to them the full message of his faith. In so doing, he was placing himself in extreme jeopardy, for Pharaoh’s enmity for Moses was a matter of common knowledge. Clearly, Pharaoh would mete out the same violent treatment to Moses’ supporters as he would mete out to Moses himself. The believer nevertheless gave first importance to his duty to convey the message of truth. The Quran records his entire speech and concludes the tale with: “Allah delivered him from the evils which they planned, and a grievous scourge fell on Pharaoh’s people”(40:45).

This verse shows quite clearly that what saved the believer from “the evils which they planned” was his faithful communication of the message of truth. The only strengths he possessed were his realization of truth and his abilities to proclaim it. Ranged against him was all the material might of Pharaoh. Yet when the believer stood up to proclaim the truth, God rose along with him. God’s protection ensured that the believer came to no harm, for, despite all the power he enjoyed, Pharaoh failed in his evil designs.

God has promised that he will protect those who call mankind to Him, and there can be no doubt as to His fulfillment of this promise. It is dawah in the real sense of the word which qualifies a man for such divine assistance. Such is the power of dawah. And no other work, even if we are at pains to label it dawah, will make us deserving of divine protection.

The Confirmation of History

It is quite astonishing to see how history confirms this promise given in the Quran. Throughout Islamic history, there have been occasions when the security of Muslims was thrown into jeopardy, and on all such occasions, what averted the danger was the Muslims having delivered the message entrusted to them by God. It was in so doing that the Muslims proved themselves worthy of divine protection.

The form which this protection took has varied over the centuries. Sometimes it has happened that in spite of the believers conveying God’s message to the full, their hearers have denied its truth and rebelled against it. On such occasions, God has taken matters directly into His own hands, and has sent spiritual succour to the believers, thus enabling them to overcome their enemies. The stories of the Prophets Hud and Lot provide examples of such divine intervention.

It has been generally observed that when God’s true religion knocks on the door of the heart, an echo is sure to come from within. In fact, the voice of divine truth has so resounded in human nature throughout the ages that those who are in earnest about listening for it will immediately bow to its authority. But even those who hear without immediately accepting this truth, will still look with favour upon those messengers of God who have managed to strike a chord in their souls. Likewise, those who differ in viewpoint from God’s emissaries are generally persuaded by the latters’ sincerity of the moral and humanitarian necessity of being of assistance to them. This is just another form which divine succour can take, a practical illustration being the story of the Prophet Joseph.

The third and most powerful form of divine assistance is to be seen when the essential impact of the message of truth is so awe inspiring that its hearers are immediately convinced, and are ready to make a full acceptance of Islam. This is a form of divine succour which has been availed of many times in the course of Islamic history, when it has automatically removed all problems. This was, in fact, the order of divine succour accorded to the Prophet of Islam, the course taken by his dawah mission is eloquent testimony to its ultimate power.

An Acknowledgement

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) has paid tribute in his book, The Hero as a Prophet, to the capacity of the message of Islam to win over peoples’ hearts, and in order to banish misconceptions about the Prophet’s method of conveying the divine message, writes:

“Much has been said of Mahomet’s propagating his religion by the sword. The sword indeed; but where will you get your sword? Every new opinion, at its starting, is precisely in a minority of one. In one man’s head alone, there it dwells as yet. One man alone of the whole world believes it; there is one man against all men. That he take a sword, and try to propagate with that, will do little for him” (p. 23).

It was not the sword, but the inherent strength of the message of Islam which won people over to its side, and, in the following pages, we may touch on certain episodes from Islamic history which will satisfactorily prove this point.

Man proposes, God disposes

The Prophet Mohammad stayed in Mecca for nearly thirteen years. Towards the end of this period, the idolaters decided to rid themselves for all time of the problem he posed. Their leaders offered various opinions as to how this was to be accomplished. The Quran makes a scathing reference to their conspiracy: “And remember how the unbelievers plotted against you. They plotted, but God plotted also, and God is most profound in His machinations”(8:30).

The idolaters imagined that in one or other of these ways, they would remove the Prophet from the arena. But, as is stated in the above verse of the Quran, God, with His machinations, – which excelled any plan they could devise – brought their vicious plans to naught. What was this plan which God had put into action? History tells us that, just when this plot to eliminate the Prophet was being hatched in Mecca, two Muslims were dispatched to Medina, where they began to preach the message of Islam. As a result of their preaching, the majority of Medina’s inhabitants entered the fold of Islam. At this point, the Prophet quietly moved from Mecca to Medina. It was to this move that the Prophet alluded when he said: “I have been commanded to move to a town which will consume all towns.” (Bukhari, Muslim)

The above-quoted verse of the Quran clearly shows how superior divine “machinations” are to mere human conspiracy. Human plots operate on the level of imprisonment, murder or expulsion from the land, while God’s scheme centers on winning over people’s hearts through the preaching of His word. There is a tremendous difference of scale and quality. Where the human mind can go only so far as to suppress the activities of an opponent, – an action which does not necessarily eradicate his ideas – the Almighty follows a course which opens people’s hearts to His message, and He does this in such a way that it is strong and permanent in its effect. He does not adopt the sudden, brutal methods of the human executioner, but sends out believers to preach His word in the towns and villages, so that the people gather around the banner of His true faith. In this way true religion gains so much in strength that no plot which its enemies can hatch can ever weaken or dislodge it. (to be continued)

Paying for Wisdom

1988 10 October 24 Paying for Wisdom (90) “It is costly wisdom”, says Roger Aschan, “that is bought by experience.”

There is no doubt that the wisdom acquired as the result of experience could be acquired less painfully if we accepted the good advice and proffered knowledge of those more experienced and wiser than ourselves. But there are very few people in this world who will accede to this without first having tasted the bitterness of experience themselves. Most people come to understand that it is better to learn from other sources only after suffering great personal loss.