THE DUTY OF MUSLIMS TO MANKIND A Neglected Responsibility

THE DUTY OF MUSLIMS TO MANKIND T HE mission of Muslims is dawah or the communication of the Word of God. It is in its performance that they will be held deserving of being raised in the Hereafter as the followers of the Prophet of Islam. This is expressed in the following verse of the Quran: O Messenger, deliver whatever has been sent down to you by your Lord. If you do not do so, you will not have conveyed His message. THE QURAN 5: 67 Although this verse is addressed to the Prophet Muhammad, his followers are included in it. The fi rst thing that this verse tells us is to convey the divine revelations to the people. This is the task which God wants Muslims to perform. According to the Quran, God has made the Muslims a middle nation, so that they may act as witnesses over mankind, and the messenger may be a witness for them. (THE QURAN 2: 143). This status of Muslims has been explained thus in a hadith: “You are God’s witnesses on this earth.” All the problems which Muslims face in this life have a common solution — in the form of calling people to God. It is a known fact that when a person is appointed to any position of responsibility, his future depends on how well or badly he carries out the duties which that post entails. If he satisfactorily performs the duty for which he has been appointed, he will be held deserving of all kinds of rewards. But if he neglects his duty, no other work done, even if it is on a larger scale, will make him deserving on any honour in the eyes of his Creator. In this matter, Muslims must pay heed to this warning which was given to the previous people of the Book, when they stopped conveying God’s message to mankind: God made a covenant with those who were given the Book to make it known to people and not conceal it. But they cast it behind their backs and bartered it for a paltry price: what an evil bargain they made! Those who exult in their misdeeds and love to be praised for