Dawah

The third requirement for this continuation of the Prophetic mission is dawah work. That is, to communicate the message of the Prophet to all people in all ages.

Though this dawah work is carried out by human beings, it is, in fact, a divine task. That is why the Quran has called it nusrat of God i.e., helping the Almighty (3:52).

According to the Quran, dawah work means to make oneself nasih and amin, that is, an honest and sincere well-wisher of all. (7:68)

In short, it is to become wholly honest in relation to God and to feel and evince total goodwill towards all of one’s fellow men. Dawah work can be properly performed only by meeting this standard. One important condition for the performance of dawah work is patience. This virtue was exemplified by the conduct of the early da‘is: “We will exercise patience regardless of the harm inflicted upon us.” (Quran, 14:12)

This verse of the Quran tells us of the character of the da‘i. The da‘i in relation to the mad’u adopts the attitude of patience unilaterally. He continues his process of da’wah work in a peaceful manner despite provocation from the other party. This is an extremely essential condition. If the da‘i is provoked by the behaviour of the madu, the normal atmosphere between da‘i and mad’u will be disturbed,—and the whole process of da’wah work will be ruined. It goes without saying that a conducive atmosphere is necessary for the successful carrying out of dawah action.

The most important aspect of this dawah work is that through it, God’s message continues to be communicated to people in every age. Another aspect, no less important, is that people from different spheres continue to enter the fold of Islam. It is like the introduction of new blood into the believer. In this way the Muslim community saves itself from the natural process of degeneration. This is the only way of keeping the Muslim community revitalized at all times. On the other hand, the more the true message of Islam spreads through the da’wah process around the globe, the more its textual, ideological and practical preservation is ensured, and the more Islam gains from the enlightenment and genius of freshly initiated minds—a factor which will keep its teachings updated for the generations to come.