Master Key

spelling peace and the other spelling war. And who are these nations who, day in and day out, are labeled oppressors and conspirators? They are those very non-Muslim nations who are the potential recipients of dawah. They are our madus. The Muslims are the dayees and their neighboring nations are the madus. Now, when dayees are constantly having it bored into them that the madu is a cruel predator, there can be no arousal of any sincere missionary spirit as described in the Quran: the dais is truly a well-wisher of his madu. Dawah is wholly an experience of love. The dayees must be fully committed to guiding his madu. Only then can the process of dawah be meaningful. The dayees must ignore the antagonism and combativeness of the madu; he must erase all adverse impressions of the madu from his heart, so that he may spontaneously begin praying for the madu’s guidance. People talk of dawah without ever realizing its prerequisites. They want the credit for being dayees without ever fulfilling its demands. They want the credit for communicating the divine message to man without paying the price for it. This is true not only of the weak Muslim minority in nonMuslim countries, but also of the Muslim majority living in Muslim countries. The only difference between these two categories is that the former have endless grievances against the local non-Muslim authorities, while the latter blame their woes on international non-Muslim powers such as the Jews, Christians, Orientalists, and so on. In Islam, the most important consideration of all is dawah. All other considerations, no matter how serious and important they may be, can be legitimately passed over in its favor. The Sunnah of the Prophet gives such clear guidelines on this subject as leaves no doubt in the mind of a lover of Truth.