Your freedom ends where my nose begins

Mr. Chairman and the members of the World Council, It is really a great pleasure to be with you Muslim brethren from all over the world to discuss matters of Islamic Dawa. Islamic Dawa is, without doubt, the most impor- tant issue upon which we can get together. I congratulate Brother Dr. M.A. Sharif and the other authorities of Jamiat Al-Dawa on having provided us with this rare opportunity. This international Islamic gathering symbolizes two great Islamic causes: firstly, united effort and secondly, orientation in the right direction. We can only achieve success by united effort, and Dawa is the only direction in which we should organize our struggle if it is to result in fruitful ends. I pray God to be with you and bestow His help upon you, so that Islam may regain its former glory. Now some words on the point of discussion. Brother Said Ali Hussain has rightly pointed out that the basic question is: from where to begin? The answer is: we should begin from literature. Producing literature is the principal task of Islamic Dawa. At this time, the field of Dawa is open all over the world. But Dawa literature, in the real sense, exists nowhere. The most urgent need of our time is to prepare Islamic literature and to publish it in all the important languages. As our Japanese brother has pointed out, the lack of Islamic literature is the most acute problem of Islamic Dawa at present. This is the same same method as was followed by the Islamic movement in the early period of its history. It is a well-known fact that the first revelation of the Quran was the verse, "Recite! Your Lord is the Most Bountiful One, who by the pen taught man what he did not know." (Quran, 96:3-4) This means that the teaching of God started through the pen, or in other words, through literature, which is the product of the pen. One might say that there is so much Islamic literature. That is true, but it is still not sufficient. Either it is not prepared in contemporary style, or it is not meant as an introduction to Islam, but only as a defence of Islam. Firstly, we need good and correct translations of Quran and Hadith in all the languages of the world, just as the Christians' Holy Book is found in all the prevailing languages of the world. Then we need a set of books in which Islam is presented simply and scientifically. Also we need some journals and periodicals in which Dawa issues all over the world are discussed regularly, and news concerning Islamic Dawa published. So, the basic task ahead is to produce Dawa literature in every language. Islamic Dawa started from here in the beginning, and it should start from here again. Thank you.