THE
BASIC POINTS OF DA’WAH
After this
preliminary stage of Da’wah, a long spell of persecution and torture started at
Makkah in which the Holy Prophet (SAW) and his companions suffered all sorts of
hardships and ordeals. Some even lost their lives as a result of grievous
injuries inflicted upon them by the callous and ruthless opponents. This is a
long chapter of the missionary life of the Holy Prophet (SAW) and calls for
detailed and independent treatment. I shall not pause here to do that.
As I
said at the beginning, I would confine myself in this discourse to the
preliminary stages of Da’wah. I do want, however, to narrate at this juncture
one of the sermons of the Holy Prophet which definitely relates to the early
period of his Prophetic mission. This sermon very graphically and clearly tells
us the basic and fundamental themes to be developed and emphasized in Da’wah
work and Islamic preaching in its initial stages. In numerous collections of
the sermons of the Prophet this has been reported thus:
“0 People you know
very well that the guide of a caravan never leads it astray.
I swear by God
that, even if I could mislead others, I would not have misled you (as you are
my own tribesmen).
Even if I could misinform others, I would not misinform you.
I swear by Allah the only God to be worshipped that I am Allah’s messenger to
you in particular and to all humanity in general.
I swear by God that one day
you will all die as you daily go to sleep.
Then surely you will be awakened as
you wake every morning after sleep.
Certainly you will then face the Day of
Judgement, you will be rewarded for your good deeds and punished for the evil.
The reward is the permanent abode in paradise and the punishment is eternal
burning in hell-fire.”
In this address the
Prophet (SAW) has very wisely compared a Divine messenger to the guide of a
caravan (Raid in Arabic) who was usually the most trusted person and during a
long journey through a desert, he used to decide about the suitable halting
points. He knew the best camping sites where water and other necessities were
available. It is obvious that the safety and welfare of the entire caravan
depended on the truthfulness and sincerity of the guide. A slight neglect or
misdemeanor on his part could endanger the whole caravan.
Quite similar is the
position of a Prophet. He informs the caravan of this world about the ultimate
destination that lies in the Hereafter, and warns those who are neglectful or
ignorant about their doom and peril on the Day of Judgement.
After explaining
in a telling manner, his role as a Divine Prophet (SAW), he informed the people
of Makkah about the oneness of the Creator and his call to prophethood. Then he
warned them most vehemently about the eternal life after death in which they
were going to account for each and every action of theirs, however small and
insignificant it might be. Whereas good and virtuous deeds would lead a man to
the blissful life of paradise, bad deeds would lead to eternal and severest
torture of the hell. This itself amply shows that the basic and fundamental
points of Islamic Da’wah are the following three:
1. Belief in the unity (or oneness) of
God.
2. Belief in prophethood or Divine
guidance through messengers.
3. Belief in the Day of Judgement and
the life Hereafter.
But even amongst
these, initially more emphasis should be placed on reckoning of deeds in the
Hereafter and warning about the eternal punishment and glad tidings about the
eternal blissful abode in
paradise. The whole of the
Qur’an
and, in particular, the surahs revealed at Makkah bear witness to
this. This first order given to the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) regarding Da’wah in
these words:
0 thou enveloped in
thy cloak arise and warn (74:1-2)
also proves this
conclusively and without a shadow of doubt. The implementation of the Islamic sharia
(legal system) and the enforcement of the total Islamic way of life at the
global level is certainly the ultimate goal and objective of Islamic preaching
and Da’wah. But it is important to bear in mind that this is rather a distant
and final objective.
The primary and immediate goal, however, is that of the
salvation and deliverance of humanity in the life Hereafter. This truth is
authenticated by one of the sayings of the Prophet (SAW) in which he described
himself as one trying to pull out those who were bent on falling into a deep
ditch of burning fire. Again it is quite understandable that the individuals
who are loved most are approached first in this regard. That is why the Holy Prophet
(SAW) used to assemble his closest family members and addressed them thus:
‘0 Fatima, the
daughter of Muhammad (SAW), act in order
to be saved from hell on the day of reckoning, as I shall have no authority
before Allah Almighty in this respect.’(Tirmizi)
‘0 Safiyya, the aunt
of Allah’s messenger, I would be of no avail to you in front of Allah, and 0
Fatima the daughter of Muhammad (SAW), you can ask anything from my belongings
but I have no authority to benefit you before Allah.’(Bukhari, Muslim)
In the above lines I
have made a modest attempt to present before you very precisely and
systematically the fundamentals of Islamic Da’wah and salient features of its
methodology. Fortunate and blessed are those who decide henceforth to work for
the propagation of Islam, keeping in view the above mentioned guide lines. In
this way they will also truly follow the practice of the Holy Prophet (SAW)
with regard to calling people to Allah.
I have deliberately confined myself in
this discourse to the initial stages of Islamic preaching and Da’wah because I
am convinced that until and unless centres for Da’wah work on this pattern are not established in
all cities, towns, and villages of our lands, we cannot struggle to attain the
higher and culminating stages of Da’wah, i.e., the establishment of the Deen of
Allah on the earth in its totality. And only in this way the Ummah as a whole
can execute its duties and obligations to the rest of humanity.
On the
contrary, if a group of Muslims engaged in Islamic revivalist work prematurely
start making big claims like “the International Islamic revolution” and “the
establishment of the Islamic way of life”, they are not likely to succeed in
their mission. Such attempts must be preceded by Da‘wah work at a very large scale
both at the grass-root level and at the highest intellectual level, in which
salvation of the Hereafter is truly emphasized and not just cursorily
mentioned.
