MaulanaMaulana WWahiduddin Khanahiduddin Khan

CallingCalling

People to GodPeople to God

Dawah work has been termed in the Quran‘the call to God.’ In other words, dawahwork aims at bringing people closer to theirCreator and Sustainer. Calling people to Godis telling them that the only right way of lifefor them on this earth is to become truebelievers in God.

Man has only two ways of leading his life inthis world: the self-oriented and the God-oriented. The self-oriented life is one inwhich all activities centre on oneself. Sucha life is lead according to man’s ownthinking. He follows his own whims anddesires. To him the fulfillment of personalinterests and ambitions is the standard bywhich to measure human success.

CALLING PEOPLE TO GOD

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On the other hand, the God-oriented life isone in which man considers himselfsubservient to God. He moulds his feelingsand emotions according to God’scommands. To such a person a successfullife is one in which one lives and dies inaccordance with God’s pleasure.

On the contrary, the self-oriented way of lifeengenders such feelings as pride, jealousy,malice and egoism. Man comes to think thattruth is what he believes and falsehood iswhat he rejects.

However, the case of the God-oriented lifeis completely the opposite, in that itpromotes an awakening of such feelings asthe willingness to serve, devotion, humility,gratitude and accountability. If in the firstcase, man becomes a self-worshipper, in theother, he becomes a God-worshipper.

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Calling people to God means warning manof the evil consequences of the self-orientedlife, and therefore, inviting him to adopt theGod-oriented life. The most authentic andreliable source of knowledge of the divineteachings on both types of life has beenpreserved for us in the form of the Quran.Calling people to God is purely other-worldly in nature. That is, it is in no waydirectly associated with national, social oreconomic issues. It is a campaign to callpeople to God. It starts in the spiritual andreligious idiom and goes on in the sameidiom and style till the end.

The mission of calling people to God is, inessence, a divine task, which is performedby human beings. It is important that itshould be performed in a spiritual way. Anywork done in a non-spiritual way will not

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be a genuine call to God, even if it is donein His name.

Calling people to God aims at directing theirattention neither to politics nor to nationalissues. It is unequivocally the task of makingpeople focus on God and must, therefore,be performed in the correct spirit.

What does ‘calling people to God’ mean?Primarily, its purpose is to acquaint manwith the creation plan of God. He should betold what his relationship with God is, andhow God is going to deal with him in future.In other words, this is like introducing manto God. Its objective is to awaken man fromhis slumber, cause him to realize hisservitude and incline him to turn towardsGod.

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The target of this work is man’s realizationof God. He should discover hispowerlessness in comparison with God’simmense power. He should ‘see’ God beforethe veil of the unseen is removed. Beforebeing directly confronted with Him, heshould have the experience of realizing Godindirectly.

The purpose of dawah work or ‘calling peopleto God’ is to awaken souls from theirslumber. It is to put a lost person on to theright path leading towards God. It is toawaken man’s insight so that he begins tosee glimpses of God in the signs of the vastuniverse. It is to unveil the Creator in themirror of His creation.

Dawah or ‘calling people to God’ is to makeman capable of bonding directly with his

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Lord, so that he starts receiving God’sblessings on a spiritual level. It is thus thathis heart and mind will become illuminatedby God’s light. His entire being will bebathed in the shower of God’s blessings.

The aim of calling man to God is that, whilestill living in the world, he may become aninhabitant of the hereafter. He will thusdiscover God’s greatness in the greatness ofthe world. He will start experiencingheavenly blessings in worldly comforts,while worldly hardships will remind him ofthe torment of hell fire.

He will be able to see glimpses of therealities of the hereafter in the beautifulscenes of the world of nature. This is thetrue aim of dawah, and the preparation ofsuch individuals is the true measure of theda’i’s success. It is said in the Quran that

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God created man in ‘the best mould’ andthen ‘cast him down to the lowest of thelow.’ 1 The process of dawah is to bring theindividual back to his original state, to helphim to gain entry into Paradise once againand to bring him under the protection of theLord’s blessings.

The example of a man who is away fromGod is like a fish which has been taken outof water and thrown in the desert. Such afish, completely out of its element, will soonface extinction. The best way to help it is toreturn it to water again.

In the same way, man is also an inhabitantof Paradise. He has a tremendous urge tofind an unknown ideal. Every man is runningafter this unknown ideal. Over and overagain, he leaps towards some worldlysuccess or the other. He hopes that this is

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probably that unknown ideal for which hehas been striving all along, but without anysuccess. Finally he leaves the world withouthaving found his ideal.

This is the place where a da‘i (the one whocalls people to God) has to perform his taskof dawah, that is, to tell man that the idealfor which he has been searching for is noneother than Almighty God and His Paradise.It is God alone who can enable him to findhis ideal and it is only by his finding Godthat this can happen. It is only after reachingParadise that man will be filled with bliss,as he will find there the world for which hehas been striving all along.

In this way, every man is the target of a da‘i(the one who calls people to God). A da‘ihas to reach out to every individual. He hasto remove the veil from every eye. In other

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words, if the world has a population of about7 billion, the da‘i has the same number oftasks to perform. He has to strive to makeall the people reach their heavenly abode.The name of this guide of humanity is da‘i—the one who calls people to God.

A da‘i is like a beacon standing by theroadside as a divine guide for the wanderingcaravan of humanity.

The Quran says: ‘O people! Worship Godand save yourself from Satan’2. In a laterchapter, it records the words of the Prophet:‘O people! Run towards God. I am on Hisbehalf an open warner for you’3. This is thereal point of calling people to God. All theprophets warned their people about thenecessity to seek out God and to shun Satan.In later generations, it will be the task of theda‘is to make people aware of this reality.

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In this world man stands in between twocalls: one is God’s call and the other isSatan’s. God is the source of all goodness,and He calls people towards all that is good.On the contrary, Satan is the source of allevil, and he calls people towards all that isevil. The test of man is that he should notfall a prey to Satan’s illusion: he shouldrather leave Satan and run towards God.

God is the source of all virtues. He lovesjustice, mercy, truthfulness, honesty andsincerity. God wants man to adhere to allsuch virtues, casting himself in their mould.

On the contrary, Satan is the antithesis ofall that is good. He is the very incarnationof all that is evil and he wants to draw mantowards evil things. Satan kindles in manevil feelings and sentiments. He rouses in

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him dormant feelings such as jealousy,egoism, anger, vengefulness, pride,selfishness and ungratefulness. In this waySatan suppresses the human qualities in anindividual and inflames and aggravates theanimal nature in him, so that man becomeslike a devil.

In the present world man stands in betweenthese two demands. Every man is standingon the edge of an inner battle. On the oneside lies the conscience which pulls himtowards God. On the other side there is hisego, which pushes him towards Satan. Hisconscience represents God, while his egorepresents Satan.

The role of a da‘i is to warn man of thisreality. He should bring about an intellectualawakening in man so that he may, in

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recognizing these two demands, be able tocontrol his ego and strengthen the subtlevoice of his conscience. Avoiding Satan’stemptations, he becomes the traveller onGod’s path, which will take him to Paradise.This task of dawah is the most importantmission out of all the works going on on theface of this earth. This was the mission ofthe prophets. Those who will take up thismission will be given a very special reward.

Chapter 7 of the Quran mentions ‘the peopleof the Heights.’ These people will be madeto stand on raised platforms on the Day ofJudgement. They will announce God’sjudgement to the people of Paradise and tothe people of Hell. This reads as follows:

A barrier will divide the two groups, andon the Heights there will be men who will

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recognize each group by their marks, andthey will call out to the people of theGarden, ‘Peace be with you!’—they willnot have entered, but they will be hoping(to do so). When they turn their eyestowards the People of the Fire, they willsay: ‘Our Lord, do not include us with thewrongdoers!’ And the people of theHeights will call out to men they recognizeby their marks: ‘What use have been yourgreat numbers and your false pride? Andare these the people you swore wouldnever earn God’s mercy?’ (And againturning to the blessed, they will say:)‘Enter the Garden! You have nothing to fear,nor shall you grieve.’4

According to al-Qurtubi, ‘the people of theHeights’ in this verse refers to shuhada’.5

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That is, those special servants of God who,in the service of the religion of God, werewitness to the deeds of the nations of theworld. Some accepted their call, whileothers rejected it. These preachers of thedivine message have been mentioned in theQuran in many different terms such as‘warner’, ‘bearer of glad tidings’, ‘thecaller’, etc. This group, originally formedof the prophets, was later made up of thosespecial servants of God who followed theexample of the prophets and performeddawah for the people of their times.

The Final Judgement on human beings,which is going to take place in the hereafter,will be based on the task performed by thewitnesses (shahadah) for the people of theworld. This task of witness divides thepeople of the world into two groups: one

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which accepts this message and the otherwhich rejects it On the Day of Judgementthese two opposing groups will be separatedfrom each other. Then according to theirdeeds, they will be judged and will bedestined to two different sets ofconsequences.

Though this judgement will be entirelyGod’s judgement, the announcement of itwill be made by those special servants ofGod who had undertaken the task of dawah(call) and shahadah (witness). This will bea matter of a great honour to them. On theDay of Judgement, high platforms will beraised for ‘the people of the Heights’ to standon. From there they will be able to seeeveryone, and will pronounce God’sjudgement to the people.

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The shuhada’ (those who bore witness topeople) and the du‘at (those who calledpeople to the truth), strove very hard in theworld to convey the message of God topeople. They dedicated their entire lives tothis mission, as if it were their own personalwork. For this reason, they will be honouredon the Day of Judgement by being asked toannounce the final result of the call of truthto the people. They ranked high in the worldaccording to their mission, and they will bereferred to as such on the Day of Judgement,according to the result of their actions.

According to the Quran, after believing inGod, a man is required in practical life tocarry out a two-fold task. One is ita‘at-e-khuda and the other is nusrat-e-khuda.Ita‘at-e-khuda means man’s obedience to allthe commandments given by God through

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His revelations to the Prophet, and hisrefraining from all such acts as have beenforbidden by God in His Book or throughHis Prophet.

Nusrat-e-khuda means ‘helping God’. Thisis an exceptional honour which is grantedonly to a true believer. It is the same preceptwhich is mentioned in the Quran as dawatilallah, or calling people to God. Since it isa task which is seen as desirable by GodHimself and is performed by servants ofGod, it is therefore called ‘helping God’.

The believer must of his own accord followthe commands of God relating to worship,morality and dealing justly with people.With this the believer proves his servitudeand becomes eligible for God’s rewards. Butthe case of dawah is different. According to

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the Quran, it is performed so that mankindmay have no excuse or argument againstGod6. Due to the exigency of putting manto the test, God wants this work to be givenspecial priority. This is a divine missionwhich is carried out by men, on behalf ofGod, and they are, therefore, rewarded forit by God in the hereafter. Here are someverses from the Quran to underline thispoint:

Believers, be God’s helpers. When Jesus,son of Mary, said to the disciples: ‘Whowill come with me to the help of God?’The disciples replied: ‘We shall be God’shelpers.’ Some of the Children of Israelbelieved in him while others did not. Wesupported the believers against theirenemies and they triumphed over them.7

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What is the meaning of helping God or beingthe helpers of God in this verse? It meansgiving oneself wholeheartedly to the divinedawah mission. It means joining oneselfwith the divine plan whole-heartedly in bothword and deed so that mankind might haveno argument against God on the Day ofJudgement.

The noted commentator of the Quran, IbnKathir, explained it in thus: ‘Who will helpme in the tak of calling people to God?’ Thefollowers of Jesus replied: “We are yourhelpers in the mission with which you havebeen sent forth, and we will be your helpersin this mission.” For this reason Jesus sentthem to Syria to the Israelites and theRomans. In the same way the ProphetMuhammad, may peace be upon him, used togo to people during the Hajj season and he

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would ask: “Who among you will help me sothat I may convey the message of God topeople, because the Quraysh are stopping mefrom conveying to people the message ofGod?”’8

The Prophet Muhammad, may peace be uponhim, was undoubtedly the messenger ofGod to the whole of humanity. But he lived inthis world for a limited period of time andnow the question arises as to how, afterthe Prophet’s death, the prophetic responsibilityhad to be discharged. In his lifetime theProphet performed this duty directly. After hehad gone, this mission had to be carriedforward indirectly by his followers, the Muslimummah. It is incumbent upon the Prophet’sfollowers to carry out this mission from onegeneration to the next and, in presenting themessage of Islam to people of every age and

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time, bring people closer to God. This messageof truth will remain preserved till the Last Day.

This issue can be further explained by a hadith,or saying of the Prophet, which Ibn Hishamhas quoted in his biography of the life ofthe Prophet Muhammad, may peace be uponhim. In this saying, the Prophet mentionsJesus as well as himself. Ibn Hisham puts itthus on record: ‘It has been narrated to methat the Prophet Muhammad, may peacebe upon him, came to his Companions afterthe Peace Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and said:‘O people, I have been sent as a blessing forthe whole of humanity. So do not differwith me in the way the disciples of Jesusdiffered with him.’ The Companions asked:‘O Prophet of God, how did the disciples ofJesus differ with him?’ The Prophet replied:‘Jesus called his disciples to the mission

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for which I am calling you. Those discipleswhom Jesus had asked to go to a nearby placemade preparations for it. But those whomJesus asked to go to a distant place becameunhappy and refused to go. Afterwards, Jesuscomplained of this to God, so those who werenot ready to go because of not knowing thelanguage of that area, miraculously startedspeaking the language of the people to whomJesus had asked them to go. Subsequently, theProphet Muhammad, may peace be upon him,sent his Companions to different kings andrulers with his message.’

Ibn Ishaq (the Prophet’s earliest biographer)said that when the Prophet Muhammad (maypeace be upon him) came to the Companionsand reminded them of the dawah work, hesaid: ‘God has sent me to the entire world as ablessing, so you should carry out this

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responsibility on my behalf. God will showHis mercy to you.’9

There could be no greater honour under thesun than to be engaged in a mission whichis directly God’s own mission. It is likeworking on behalf of God Almighty. It is indeedsuch a great honour that a greater honour thanthis one seems impossible.

God is Almighty and All-Powerful. He has theimmense power to carry out all work, whetherseen or unseen. If He had wanted, He couldhave given speech even to rocks and stones inorder to spread His divine message. He couldhave given a tongue to every leaf of everytree so that it could proclaim the message ofGod. But this is not the way of God. Fromamong all His creatures, God wants only humanbeings to spread His message, and He wantsthem to do so without removing the veil of

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doubt, in order that human wisdom shouldeffectively be put to the test.

Dawah, which in the Quran is called ‘warningand giving glad tidings’, is directly the missionof God. So that men might have no argumentwith God, this task was passed on to the peoplethemselves. Moreover, the testing ofhumankind, if it is to be deemed both effectiveand valid, should not be done by means of somemiracle, but should rather be performed byhuman agency. That is why God wants thisdivine work to be performed only by humanbeings.

This exigency has opened up the opportunityfor man to perform this great divine task. Thosewho come forward to carry out this divinemission of dawah will receive special succourin this life and will be held deserving of greathonour in the life hereafter.

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When a believer says his prayers, heunderstands that he is declaring his humilitybefore God. On the other hand, when heperforms dawah, he feels as if he is actuallyperforming a task of none other than GodHimself. There could not be a more thrillingexperience for a believer than to feel that heis engaged in God’s own work, that he isimplementing his Lord’s plan.

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The Great Responsibility

The Quran says in chapter six:

Say, ‘What counts most in testimony?’ Say,‘God is my witness and your witness. ThisQuran has been revealed to me, so that Imay warn you (people) and all whom it mayreach. Do you really bear witness that thereare other gods besides God?’ Say, ‘I myselfdo not bear witness to any such thing.’ Say,‘He is only one God, and I disown whateveryou join with Him.’10

The Prophet Muhammad, may peace be uponhim, was sent as a ‘warner’ for the whole ofhumanity,11 but he lived on for only 63 years.Now the question arises as to how, after hehad passed away, his message was to beconveyed when he was no longer in this world.The answer to this question has been given in

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the above verse of the Quran.

This verse quotes the words of the Prophet:‘The Quran has been revealed to me, so that Imay warn you (people) and all whom it mayreach.’ During his lifetime the Prophetconveyed the message of the Quran by hisown efforts. Now the question arises as towhich medium was to be used to convey themessage of the Quran to people of laterperiods. The believers, or the followers of theProphet, were and continued to be themedium through which the message was tobe subsequently conveyed. After the Prophethad gone, the Muslims were to perform thetask of conveying the message on his behalf.In every age, believers will convey the messageof the Quran to the people of their times. Thiswork will continue till doomsday.

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The Quran is a divine warning. Nowhere inthe divine revelations is it said that it should bekept on the shelves as if it were any otherordinary book. It is compulsory rather that itshould reach the maximum number of peoplethroughout the ages. If the Prophet had notperformed the task of conveying the messageof the Quran, his prophethood could havebecome doubtful in the eyes of God.12 For thisreason, the Prophet carried out this task withthe utmost earnestness, so that the messageof the Quran could reach people everywhere.Even at the end, addressing the Prophet, GodHimself said in the Quran: ‘You may destroyyourself with grief because people do notbelieve.’13

The responsibility which formerly fell to theProphet, has now to be discharged by hisadherents. The believers have to become the

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medium through which the message of theQuran may be delivered to the whole ofhumanity. The Muslims and especially thereligious scholars (ulama’) must provethemselves by becoming the well-wishers andguides of humanity. And they must do so withthe utmost earnestness. Indeed, they need toinvolve themselves to such a degree that theyshould appear to be destroying themselves intheir endeavour.

The conveying of the message of Truth toeveryone, the responsibility for which has beenplaced on the Muslims, is not like an optionalsubject, which you may either take up or makesome excuse to leave off. This is aresponsibility of such a nature that it has to bedischarged at all costs.

Just as no excuse was acceptable from theProphet, similarly no excuse made by the

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followers of the Prophet will be heard andfound acceptable by God. Even other religiousacts and deeds will not be enough for thesalvation of the believers, if they have ignoredthe responsibility of conveying the message ofTruth to all the people.

Thousands of men and women are dying everyday without having had the message of Godconveyed to them; without having had theopportunity to accept it, they have missed theirchance of improving their lives in the Hereafter.In such a situation it is the grave responsibilityof the believers to desist from making excusesand seriously take up the mission of proclaimingthe divine truth.

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Compulsory Responsibility

Chapter five of the Quran says:

Messenger, proclaim everything that hasbeen sent down to you from your Lord— ifyou do not, then you will not havecommunicated His message. God willprotect you from all people.14

The special purpose for which God had sentthe Prophet Muhammad, may peace be uponhim, was to convey to people the message andguidance which he received from God. Thiswas the Prophet main mission. If the Prophethad not undertaken this task, it would havemeant that he had failed in discharging hisdivine duties. And that being so, his prophethoodwould have come under the shadow of doubt.In other words, the prophethood of the ProphetMuhammad, may peace be upon him, could

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only stand proven in the eyes of God after hehad completed the dawah mission. And by notcompleting the dawah mission, he would havefailed to establish his real role and true position.

After the end of the prophethood, the followersof the Prophet—the entire Muslim ummah—must assume the mantle of prophethood. Thatis, they have to carry out the same task whichthe Prophet carried out in his lifetime. The verybasis of their being called the followers of theProphet is the fact of their performing dawahwork on his behalf, and their continuing toconvey the true message of the divine religionin its original form. If they failed to performthis mission, the words of the above verse ofthe Quran would become true, as it could havebecome true for the Prophet on non-performance of dawah work. That is, in theeyes of God, they would lose the true position

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of being called the followers of the ProphetMuhammad, may peace be upon him.

There are three levels on which Muslims mustperform dawah work. Every single believingman and woman must prove himself or herselfto be a preacher of Truth on one of these threelevels. Those who will not participate in thismission, will find their deeds have becomeworthless in the eyes of God. In this regard,God has the same criterion for the Prophet asfor his followers.

It is necessary for every believer to be eagerto give guidance to other people. So the firstlevel of dawah work deals with the intentionto do so. This is known in the Islamic Shariahas niyah. Specifically, it means the individualintention to participate in the mission ofdawah work. But such intention is not just

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some kind of verbal repetition or lip service. Itis a feeling which makes the heart tremble.Every believer should become restless andtremble on seeing others being misguided. Thisfeeling should be of such intensity that, whilethinking about it, tears should flood his eyes.And he should pray for the guidance of otherswhile contemplating in solitude.

On the second level of dawah work, believersshould take every precaution not to become ahindrance in the way of dawah work. Theywill not act in such a way as to arouse inpeoples hearts hatred or disgust for Islam, norwill they in any way cause annoyance on thesubject. They will completely refrain from anysuch acts as will cause friction between theaddresser and the addressee. They will takespecial care to conduct themselves in this way,even if it means sacrificing their economic,

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national or political interests.

On the third level, dawah is to be performeddirectly. Those who have the ability to presentIslam through public speaking, writing orthrough the modern means of communication,should call upon people to accept the divinereligion. They should try to address peoplesminds by using arguments which make a verystrong impression, so that their addressees mayleave the wrong path and come to accept trueguidance.

The phrase in the Quran, ‘and God will saveyou from the people,’ means that you need notmake excuses for inaction. In this situation,none of your excuses will be accepted by God.You have to leave all possible or impossibleexcuses to God and throw yourself completelyinto the mission of dawah work. In this regardno other work for the believers would be right.

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The principle of divine law for man is that hewill held accountable only for what he iscapable of. Whatever capability a manpossesses, to that extent only will he be heldresponsible. If he is lacking in capability, heshould at least pray in his heart for othersguidance.

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My Advice to the Dawah Mission Team

I would like to give you some important advice,which is the outcome of my long experience.After study, experience and du‘a, I have cometo know that the points mentioned below arethe most important ones and that those menand women who want to work with our dawahmission must adhere to them.

The Role of the Ikhwan

I have referred to the following hadith of theProphet Muhammad, may peace be upon him,many times, in which he refers to his ‘ikhwan’,or his brothers:

The Prophet said, ‘I want to see my brothers(and sisters).’ When asked by hisCompanions, if they were not his brothers(and sisters), the Prophet replied, ‘No, youare my Companions. My brothers (and

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sisters) will come later. They will believe inme without seeing me.’15

In the above hadith, when the ProphetMuhammad, may peace be upon him, spokeof his ikhwan, or brothers (and sisters), hemeant those believers who would emerge intimes to come to spread the message of Godto mankind and who would believe in theProphet without seeing him.

The word ikhwan ar-rasul has beenconsidered mysterious for more than athousand years. It was not clear as to whothese people would be and what role theywere to play in the future. But now, for thefirst time in Islamic history, this word canbe applied to a specific group, as it hasbecome clear what role this group will play.

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This hadith makes it clear that the propheticrole of dawah (calling people to God) remainsto be performed—that of spreading themessage of God (in its pure and unadulteratedform) to all mankind in the language of today,i.e.of the post-scientific era.

The dawah team of the present time are thepotential candidates for this honouredposition of ikhwan ar-rasul. Now it is up toeach and every one of you to convert thispotential into actuality by performing thisrole, first discovering Islam for yourselves—and then becoming da‘is (those who callpeople to God) in the true sense of the word.This entails imbibing the spirit of well-wishing for all mankind, so that thefollowing hadith comes true in your case:

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There will be no home remaining—big orsmall—into which God has not caused theword of Islam to enter.16

This is not a matter of being a chosen people;it is a matter of discharging one’sresponsibility. And it is only by living withthe dawah mission and dying with thedawah mission—by making it your primaryconcern and making everything elsesecondary—that you will be able todischarge this responsibility.

I pray to God to help you in discharging yourresponsibility towards God’s dawah missionand may you fulfill the role of the ikhwanar-rasul, so that the word of God reacheseach and every home in the world.

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The Dawah Mission in India

In one of the sayings of the ProphetMuhammad, may peace be upon him, we finda prediction to the effect that in later times acertain group (‘usbah) would be formed inIndia. This group would convey the messageof truth to the people of India in particular, aswell as to the world at large. They would showpeople the path to Paradise.

I am convinced of the fact that the dawahmission team of the present age is that verygroup. It is destined by God that dawah workshould be organized in India and we shouldstrive to bring people under the protectionof His mercy.

This hadith informs us that this ‘usbah, whichwill work in India, will be saved from the fireof hell. Indeed, the doors of Paradise will be

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thrown open to them and they will find a placethere for all eternity. You must engage in thistask with full conviction. Each member of theteam must consider himself or herself to be anintegral part of this group, which has been givengood tidings in advance if they discharge theirresponsibilities.

The truth is that the mission of the ProphetMuhammad, may peace be upon him, was tofree the world from polytheism and replace itwith the worship of the One God (tawhid).

This task was performed over a large part ofthe globe, but India, where dawah work couldnot be properly performed, was an exception.I am convinced that the time is now ripe forthe dawah mission team to complete thisprophetic mission in India, especially with theEnglish and Hindi translations of Tazkirul

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Quran (translation and commentary on theQuran) now ready for publication.

Dawah Mission at a Global Level

There are two ways of working for a mission,one known as the political model and the otherknown as the spiritual model. Both have minusas well as plus points.

The political model targets the crowd. Italways focuses on some negative issuerelating to the external world, for onlyexternal issues can attract people in largenumbers. The plus point of a political model,therefore, is that it very quickly assemblesthe public. Its minus point, on the other hand,is that it does not address the individualmind. This is why, with this model, thebuilding of the individual is not possible. Anymission based on the political model appears

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to be a great success in quantitative terms.But in terms of quality, it leaves much to bedesired.

In contrast to it, there is the other model, thespiritual one. The spiritual model aims ataddressing not the crowd, but the mind of theindividual. As a result, this model does not proveto be a crowd-puller. However, its approachaffords the maximum opportunities to buildcharacter. Each member associated with themission then has the benefit of having aprepared mind and a purified soul. The spiritualmodel appears less important in terms ofquantity but, in terms of quality, it is far superiorto the political model.

It would be correct to say that the politicalmodel leads to destruction, while the spiritualmodel enables construction. The dawah

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mission has, therefore, adopted the spiritualmodel and not the political model. All effortshave been made to address the mind of theindividual; to put together a team of preparedminds, who are serious-minded and who havefully learnt the art of thinking.

The natural course of the dawah mission is toform a strong team of such individuals, so thatthis team may then disseminate the messageof the mission to humanity at large.

Our dawah mission is totally non-political innature. Its aim is not to establish a government,but rather to convey, through peaceful means,God’s message to all mankind throughout theworld. We have to make people aware ofGod’s creation plan. Our call must besupported by arguments and proofs, so thatpeople may understand the reality and maketheir future plans along the right lines. Calling

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people to God is His most desired mission, andwhen engaged in such a mission, we can bemost certain of God’s succour. I am certainthat God’s promise to provide special divinesuccour to such a mission will be fulfilled.

A time will come when God’s message reachesall human beings. It is something, which thewhole of humanity has awaited for a very longtime. No other work is greater than that ofdawah—calling people to God. And there isno surer guarantee of our securing divinesuccour than our performing this dawahmission. This is God’s eternal law. And thetime is not far off when God will fulfill Hispromise in totality.

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Notes:

1. The Quran, At-Tin, 95: 4-52. The Quran, An-Nahl, 16:363. The Quran, Adh-Dhariyat, 51:504. The Quran, Al-A‘raf, 7:46-495. Tafsir al-Qurtubi, vol. 7, p. 2116. The Quran, An-Nisa’, 4:1657. The Quran, As-Saff, 61:148. Tafsir ibn Kathir, vol. 4, p. 3629. Sirat ibn Hisham, vol. 4, pp. 268-26910. The Quran, Al-An‘am, 6:1911. The Quran, Al-Furqan, 25:112 The Quran, Al-Ma’idah, 5:7613. The Quran, Al-Kahf, 18:614. The Quran, Al-Ma’ idah, 5:6715. Sahih al-Bukhari16. Musnad Ahmad

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workwork hashas beenbeen termedtermed inin thethe QuranQuran 'the'thecallcall toto God.God.'' InIn otherother words,words, workwork aimsaims atatbringingbringing peoplepeople closercloser toto theirtheir CreatorCreator andandSustainerSustainer.. CallingCalling peoplepeople toto GodGod isis tellingtelling themthemthatthat thethe onlyonly rightright wayway ofof lifelife forfor themthem onon thisthis earthearthisis toto becomebecome truetrue believersbelievers inin God.God.

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