An Event in the life of Prophet - Calling People unto Allah

Let us concentrate here on the most fundamental and earliest Quranic injunction in this context. The Holy Prophet was ordered:

And warn thy tribe, near kindred (26:214)

Just try to think what a man will do even today if he is commanded to communicate an important message to his relatives and family members. The Prophet (SAW) took recourse to the best and most effective way ever conceivable. He invited all the members of his clan - Banu Hashim – to his place for a meal. Thus after entertaining about forty of them, he very gently started to present the teachings of Islam before them.

He had hardly started his discourse when the profane and nonsense talk of Abu Lahab intervened and the gathering dispersed without hearing Prophet’s talk. Just think how much apparently disappointing and nerve – shattering this experience might have been for him. However, there is no question of real disappointment for a person who calls people to Allah. He again arranged a feast and addressed them after the meal. We know from reliable reports that from amongst the whole gathering only one boy Hadhrat Ali vowed to help him (SAW) in his Divine mission. Just visualize the prophet calling his kinsmen and family members to Allah and no one paying heed to him except a lad! In fact Hadhrat AIi (RAA) was already his own kith, as he lived under his patronage. This means that these two feasts were really of no avail. Such were  the  occasions  on  which  numerous  Qur’anic  verses  were  specifically  revealed  for consolation and solace:

And wait patiently for the judgement of thy Lord; for assuredly thou art before our eyes. (52:48)

And endure thou with patience; and verily thy patience is possible only with the help of Allah. (16:127)

So now declare openly that which thou art commanded. (15:94)

Accordingly, following the custom of those days, the Prophet stood up on the mountain ‘Safa’ and addressed the people at the top of his voice thus: 

“0, people! I warn you of a danger; assemble  at  once.”  

When  the  people  gathered near  him,  he  delivered his  ‘Sermon  of  the Mountain’ by saying, 

“0, the community of Quraish! Will you believe me if I tell you that an enemy troop is rushing from behind the hill?” 

They all said, 

“Why not, we have always found you truthful”. 

Thereupon the Prophet said in a moving tone, 

“If you do not believe in Allah and worship Him alone, grievous punishment would befall upon you”. 

In response however, the people were very much flared up, and it is reported that on this very occasion Abu Lahab had uttered these words:

May you face perdition, you called and assembled us for this!

At this juncture the Surah Lahab was revealed to the Prophet stating that not the hands of Muhammad (SAW) but the hands of Abu Lahab had perished. The perdition of Abu Lahab, though decreed by Allah and as such a ‘fact’ of AIam-i-Amar was yet to appear after a few years in the world of temporal events. 

At the time of the Prophet’s preaching at the mountain Safa, it looked as if he were addressing and putting his message before the deaf and the dumb as not a single  one  of  them  responded  to  his  call  favourably.  If  we  analyze  this  ‘Sermon  of  the Mountain’, we come to realize that the most important argument presented in this was People’s confession of the proclaimer’s truthfulness and trustworthiness. Moreover, it also very graphically clarifies  the  position  of  a  Divine  prophet  vis  a  vis  the  People. Standing on  a mountain, a prophet can look on both sides of it; whereas people standing at the foot of the mountain are unaware of the situation at the other side. Ordinary men are short-sighted and their perception is restricted to only the phenomenal world, and even in this realm to the apparent aspects of reality. Their gaze cannot penetrate the inner and hidden core of physical entities. As the Qur’an says:

They know but the outer (things) in the life of this world: but of the end of thing (or the hereafter) they are headless.(30:7).

A Prophet - a Divine Messenger - on the other hand, not only has a knowledge of the inner reality and true significance of spatio-temporal world, his gaze even goes beyond, to have a look of other-worldly things, the objects and happenings of the Hereafter.

This is how the fold of Da’wah expanded gradually. The Prophet (SAW) addressed gatherings of people on innumerable occasions. He also approached them individually and sounded out his call of Islam. He even visited them at their places and left no stone unturned in executing this duty. Whenever he came to know that a caravan or some strangers had arrived in Makkah, he would go to meet them and present his teachings to them. This also explains very clearly and significantly the difference between the Da’wah Work on the one hand and his day - to - day teachings on the other. 

A teacher usually does not take such pains as a missionary worker i.e. a daaee (one who invites people to Allah) takes. Teacher is a person who is eagerly sought and respected by his students. Students come to him in order to quench their thirst for knowledge and wisdom. On the contrary, a daaee is always on the look out for those to whom he can preach his message. He knocks at every door and visits every hearth and hamlet in the hope that he may find a person who would listen to him sympathetically. Most of the people not only turn a deaf ear to him, they also ridicule and manhandle him. Despite all this, he prays to Almighty Allah at night with utmost humility and begs favourable change in the attitude of the people. 

It is reported that Prophet Muhammad (SAW), used to pray, “0 God I beg Thee that either Umar bin Khattab or Amr bin Hisham may enter the fold of Islam (so that he could help him in his mission).” One should also here bear in mind that a daaee has most sensitive heart in his bosom which feels misery, pain and agony over the negative attitude of the people. This was much more so in the case of the Prophet (SAW). He was so much grief-stricken by persistent rejection of his Da’wah that he started looking much older than his age. So much so that Allah had to console him as well as warn him lovingly thus:

It may be that thou tormentest thyself (0 Muhammad) because they believe not. (26:3)

Yet  it  may  be,  if  they  believe  not  in  this  statement,  that  though  (Muhammad)  will torment thy soul with grief over their foot steps. (18:6)

Ta’ Ha, We have not revealed unto thee (Muhammad) this Qur’an that thou shouldest be distressed. (20:1-2)

Source: Calling People unto Allah (A Book by Dr Israr Ahmad)

To be continued....

The Most Sublime Pattern Of Conduct - Calling People unto Allah

The Most Sublime Pattern Of Conduct

Now I would like to draw your attention to the events which took place in the life of the Holy Prophet (SAW) immediately after his call to prophethood. By doing this, firstly, the real fundamental principle and method of Da’wah will be elucidated; and secondly, it will become clear as to what type of hardships and frustrations the Prophet experienced in the early stages of his preaching. Indeed these hardships and difficulties were not different from those which are met with by any pioneering leader of an ideological movement. And he adopted those very natural methods for disseminating his message which any human initiator of a movement is obliged to adopt.

We all know very well that even before prophethood the life of Muhammad (SAW) was a perfect model of moral excellence and his character was a spotless one. He won the epithets of ‘As-Sadiq’  (the  most  truthful)  and  ‘AI-Amin’  (the  most  trustworthy  and  honest)  from  his community by dint of his probity and fair dealings. It is important to note here that he won these laudatory titles while fully participating in the everyday life and its engagements. He was not at all a hermit who withdraws himself away from the humdrum of life. He always took active part in the affairs of his society, so mush so that he even carried on business and trade at the highest level of his time. And as a matter of fact it was in this very trade and commercial transactions  that  his  real  moral  qualities  of  honesty  and  truthfulness  were  displayed. 

Afterwards when he received the revelation from Allah and called people to Islam the penetration and effectiveness of his call depended both on the fact that his teaching was in conformity with the dictates of human nature, familiar to sound discernment and right disposition as well as on the fact that the Prophet (SAW) was himself already known as the most truthful and the most trustworthy.

During the period prior to his being commissioned as the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad  (SAW)  took  to  reflection  and  meditation  and  he  became  more  and  more dissatisfied with the ephemeral and transitory character of temporal objects and sought more earnestly for the Really Real and the Truth. Accordingly Hadhrat Ayesha (RAA) is reported to have said:

“Then he (SAW) gradually became a lover of seclusion and he started to retire to cave ‘Hira’ for meditation and prayer”

The commentaries of Hadith literature (sayings of the Holy   Prophet ) explain the Arabic word “tahannus” the activity in which Muhammad (SAW) engaged in the cave “Hira” contemplating and getting revelation. God knows better how long this practice of his persisted. However the time at last came when the seeker of truth did receive the guidance, the word of Allah was brought to him by Gabrael, reality was exposed, and he was summoned to call people to the way of Allah. In the words of Qur’an:

“0 prophet! Truly we have sent thee as a witness, a bearer of glad tidings, and a warner, and a summoner unto Allah, by his command, and as a lamp that gives bright light.” (33:45-46)

Immediately after he was commissioned as the Divine messenger, Muhammad (SAW) commenced the disseminating and preaching work. Quite naturally, the persons first approached were those who were closest to him, the family members and the people who knew him and his conduct intimately, viz, his wife Hadhrat Khadija, his cousin - Hadhrat Ali, his freed servant Hadhrat Zaid, his close associate Hadhrat Abu Bakr Siddique (RAAA). They all testified  Muhammad’s  claim  of  Divine  apostleship  without  the  slightest  hesitation  and embraced Islam on the very first day. This fact also shows very vividly the most legitimate starting point from where an Islamic da’wah worker should start his campaign that is, da’wah should start from one’s own household and family members and then gradually extend to closest relatives, companions and friends.

Again,  amongst  these  ‘first  converts  to  Islam’,  Hadhrat  Abu  Bakr  was  the  most magnificent example of really understanding and earnestly following the Prophet’s practice of preaching and calling people to Allah. In compliance with the Prophet’s teachings, immediately after embracing Islam, Abu Bakr himself became an ardent advocate and preacher of that faith. And it was on account of his preaching and propagating work that the ‘foremost in faith’ - Hadhrat Usman, Abdur Rahman Bin Auaf, Talha, Zubair, Saad bin Abi Waqqas, Abu Ubaida bin aI-Jarrah, Usman bin Mazoon and many others (RAAA) - came in the fold of Islam and became members of Muhammad’s (SAW) Ummah. 

These historical facts prove beyond any doubt that the premier demand of the claim of love for the Prophet is to follow his Sunnah of Islamic preaching and calling people to the way of Allah. It is to be noted here that Abu Bakr (Siddique-i-Akbar) was  no  hermit  or  recluse.  Rather  he  was  a  man  of  wealth  and  social influence, and a well-established trader. The Holy Prophet (SAW) is reported to have said on one occasion: ‘I have paid for the benefaction of every one except that of Abu Bakr. Only Allah can repay the good which he has done to me'. The fact is that the whole of the Ummah is greatly indebted to Abu Bakr for the great service rendered to it by winning over to Islam a large number of highly devoted persons at the very early stage of his preaching and thus strengthening the ranks of the nascent Muslim community. 

Indeed this is true about all other companions of the Prophet (SAW). As a matter of historical fact, whosoever embraced Islam, instantly became himself a preacher and daaee (one who calls and invites people to Allah) of that faith.

Source: Calling People unto Allah (A Book by Dr Israr Ahmad)

To be continued....

The Gist Of The Discourse - Calling People unto Allah

The Gist Of The Discourse

What has been said above can be summarized as follows:

1.          As the very purpose and objective of the creation and existence of the Muslim Ummah is to summon people unto Allah, not only the dignity and honour of the Ummah, its very existence and  continuity is  dependent upon  fulfilling this  obligation -  the  Divinely ordained duty.

2.          Da’wah or calling people unto Allah is the most emphatic and foremost teaching of the Holy Prophet (SAW) on which he himself worked ceaselessly throughout his life. So the premier obligation which we owe to the prophet (SAW) is to follow his Sunnah of Da’wah.

3.          We observe that different religions and denominational groups usually employ a team of  workers  (which  may  be  called  their  ‘civil  service’) who  work  to  propagate and popularize their own particular sectarian point of view. This phenomenon is not only useless for any really effective work of Da’wah but is often positively harmful for the propose.

4.          The essential pre-requisites of Da’wah work are strong and staunch belief in Islam and the ensuing good deeds, and not scholarly erudition and knowledge of minor religious matters and details of Fiqh. Along with a deep conviction in the providence of Allah and a life of righteous deeds and good conduct, a Da’wah worker should be a paragon of humility and courtesy. A true and sincere preacher should have a humble disposition. Again, his Da’wah should be strictly for Allah and His Deen in order to avoid any chance of himself becoming a revered personality (which ultimately leads to the formation of a sort of personality cult) or letting his followers constitute a new religious sect within the community of Muslims.

5.          There are several aspects and stages of Da’wah work. The aim of today’s discourse is to elucidate only those primary and fundamental stages which are open to, and essential for, every moderately knowledgeable and motivated Muslim.

Source: Calling People unto Allah (A Book by Dr Israr Ahmad)

To be continued....