PEACE MISSION A Report by Mohammed Wajihuddin

have not succeeded had he followed a violent method for spreading God's message. Makkah was a major commercial and religious centre since Abraham, his wife Hajira and son Ishmael created a sanctuary in the middle of a desert. Abraham conveyed the message of God here. Centuries later Muhammad too utilised the precincts of the Kabah in Makkah to tell people about God's creation plan. Revenge and Dawah are poles apart. A daee, one who gives Dawah, is bound to fail if he preaches revenge. Many so-called modern daee’s exhort their followers to avenge real or imagined injustice. Hafiz Saeed's ‘Jamat-ud-Dawah’ in Pakistan allegedly carried out an armed struggle against the people or state it deems anti-Muslim. This violenceoriented work cannot be called dawah. It is a political interpretation of the Islamic message of dawah. Political interpretation of an Islamic term is inherently dangerous as it involves violence, while a spiritual interpretation is harmless and peaceful. Political interpretation of an Islamic term is inherently dangerous as it involves violence, while a spiritual interpretation is harmless and peaceful. A spiritually-oriented person creates positive vibes around him, while the one who is politically motivated creates jealousy and enmity. A daee cannot afford to be politically oriented as jealousy and ambition will make his message look hollow. People involved in true dawah work consider the whole world their audience. They cannot be selective. A divine message has universal appeal and it should be shared with every human being, irrespective of caste, creed and gender. "Nobody is your enemy', declares the Maulana. Instead of seeing others as potential enemies, people doing dawah work see everyone as potential friends. Animosity cannot be the basis for spreading divine message. It can be only spread through friendship, mutual love and trust. Conspiracy theorists are enemies of dawah work. Those who feel and always blame that some people are conspiring against them are not ideal dawah workers. And a workshop like the one Maulana addressed showed dawah is a peaceful mission which has no place for conspiracy theorists, rabble rousers and doubting Thomases. o