they would have dispersed from
you” 3:159.
Considering who you are giving
da‘wa to is another important factor.
Your da‘wa should begin and end
with your commitment to their well
being. Your job as a is to help
them come to a realization about
who Allah is and why He is worthy
of worship. The actual content of
your da‘wa must hinge on this. They
are human beings and as such have a
life’s worth of experience, biases and
emotional baggage. We always want
the fundamental message to be the
same, but we should try to present it
with wisdom in a way which will be
most eective. If possible, try to get
to know the person, let them talk
and listen carefully. You will learn a
lot from listening and you may even
be able to pinpoint precisely the
contentions they have with Islam.
Sometimes, there are no contentions
at all and they only needed an invitation.
There are countless Muslim
converts, who simply did not know
anything about Islam or it was so
distorted, that all it took was a basic
clarication. Non-Muslims generally
know a lot less about Islam than we
would assume.
Customizing your da‘wa for speci
c religious world views is also
important. Being obtuse in your
approach shows a lack of wisdom.
No two people are exactly the same.
If you only know and use one
argument then it may feel forced.
They may not even disagree with
your conclusion. When you only
have a hammer, everything looks
like a nail. The discussion you
have with a Christian will likely be
much dierent than one with a hard
Atheist. One will readily accept and
discuss issues related to revelation,
whereas the other might outright
reject it from their epistemology.
You shouldn’t need to prove God
exists with a Christian. The Atheist
on the other hand may require a
discussion about whether a necessary
being is possible or not. You may
end up having a chat with a solipsist
who believes we live in the Matrix.
In the eld of da‘wa, knowing the
dierent religions and ideologies is
very useful.
Is There an Actual Method of Da‘wa?
As much as we would love a ‘
book which could give
us sequenced steps in every situation,
there is no one-size-ts-all method.
Allah says it best in the Qur’an:
“Call to the way of your Lord with
wisdom and good admonition
and debate with them in the best
manner.” 16:125 Allah encourages
us to use a principle-based approach
rather than an argument-specic
one. Using wisdom, giving good
advice and debating in the best way
doesn’t give you a specic method,
rather it provides you with a
grounded approach from which the
rest of your da‘wa can emanate.
It’s important to take da‘wa step by
step and work from the foundation
up. Start with yourself. Firstly, learn
Islam from a valid source and put
it to practice. Start with the basics,
then work your way up to the level
needed for the type of da‘wa you
plan on giving. Having a strong
grasp on the Islamic Creed and
the 5 Pillars is essential. Spending
time with experts in the eld is also
invaluable. Beneting from their
experience, you will be able to see
patterns and see what is eective and
what isn’t.
Once the discussions raise above
our level of expertise, we should
send those interested in the right
direction. Advanced topics like
Islamic law and Theo-philosophical
issues should ideally be answered
by those in their respective elds. A
da‘wa-backre leaving you speechless
in from of a crowd is the last
thing you want to happen. Saying:
“I don’t know” is half of knowledge,
however, it can really hinder da‘wa
eorts. It doesn’t look good when
you are attempting to represent the
deen, but you don’t know what
you’re talking about. If you are
actively giving da‘wa, you should
invest some time in understanding
the basic and advanced topics which
are relevant. Anticipate common
objections and be able to even preempt
with robust answers. Displaying
condence (not pride) shows
the recipient that you have done
your homework and put adequate
thought into it.
In conclusion, the eld of da‘wa
is vast and cannot be contained in
this short article. Understanding the
principles and purpose of calling
to Allah is essential to all Muslims.
Embracing the fact that Allah has
placed Islam’s reputation on the
Muslims should assist us in taking
the responsibility seriously. We
should understand that Allah is the
Guide and that we can only attempt
to represent His message with the
best means available. When pressed
to answer questions about Islam, we
have to ask ourselves; are we truly
presenting a fair picture of Allah
and His chosen religion or are we
constructing our own caricature to
relieve societal pressure?
May Allah enable us to invite to His
way with wisdom and good advice
in the best way possible. Ameen.
12 September – October 2021 | AL-MADINAH