In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace.
The last few days I have been battling an essay for my Seerah course. While not the best work I have done, I thought I'd share it here as it falls nicely with the series on Seerah that I have been doing on and off. I hope it will benefit someone.
Wassalam,
Sid
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The last few days I have been battling an essay for my Seerah course. While not the best work I have done, I thought I'd share it here as it falls nicely with the series on Seerah that I have been doing on and off. I hope it will benefit someone.
Wassalam,
Sid
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The role of a da’i in today’s world is very
challenging in the light of the mistrust by non-Muslims and the association of
Islam with terrorism, whether justified or otherwise. In this paper, we will explore the role of a
da’i in this challenging environment and how we can learn from the example of
Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. in this respect.
We will first define the role of the da’i and the challenges he/she
faces. The second part is focused on
Prophet Muhammad in his role as a da’i.
The third and penultimate part is focused on how we can learn from the
Prophet by applying his examples in the current challenges before we conclude.
Da’wah literally means a call (Oxford Islamic
Studies Online, 2013), an invitation back to God, and a da’i is the person
calling. In the context of Islam, a da’i
is one who extends the invitation to Islam by conveying its message of Oneness
of God to others. In the scholars’
opinion, da’wah is a responsibility of every Muslim and therefore every Muslim
is a da’i. But more than just extending
the invitation to Islam, a da’i is also a leader in the sense that he is responsible
for influencing the person he is doing da’wah to and impacting his life through
the message. The first da’i in the
Islamic history was the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. when Islam was unknown and faced
a lot of challenges and hostility.
Today, the situation of hostility and challenges are similar. Given God’s exhortation in the Qur’an (Asad,
1980, p 642) that in him is a good example, we should try to learn from his
experience and example in applying it to our current situation.
At the advent of Islam, the Makkan society was
affluent, deriving their wealth mainly from foreign trade and local bazaars and
markets. This affluence led them to
indulging in vices such as gambling and drinking (Salahi, 1995, pp 48-49). Makkah was also in the grips of idol worship
even though they had interactions with the Jews in Yathrib and the Christians
in other part of Arabia. There were also
a few of the hanifs in Makkah itself such as Waraqah, the cousin of Khadijah
r.a. (Lings, 1983, pp 16-17, Salahi, 1995, pp 54-57) but overall, the Quraish
were no longer following the faith of Abraham and changed a lot of the rituals
of pilgrimage. Besides the worship
aspects, they were also very superstitious, such as using arrows for fortune
telling and wearing charms for protection against the jinn. In terms of social and moral values, they
treated those who have no clan protection and especially women poorly, going to
the extremes of burying alive their baby daughters (Salahi, 1995, p 51-53).
It was in this clime that the Prophet Muhammad
s.a.w. was sent to call the Quraish and the rest of the world back to God
through Islam. Though born to a noble Quraish
family, he grew up as an orphan and never enjoyed an affluent lifestyle. He also had a reputation for honesty,
integrity and good moral character and held the respect of the Quraish,
especially after the episode of the rebuilding of the Kaabah (Lings, 1999, p
42, Salahi, 1995, pp 40-46). This
reputation is actually key to his success as a da’i. John Adair (2010, p 65), in his assessment of
the vital importance of the Prophet’s trustworthiness as a leader, mentioned
“there can be no confidence without truth” and “trust, like the soul, once gone
is gone forever.” Trust is important in
any relationship and the relationship between the caller (da’i) and the called
hinges on that trust. The trust the
Quraish had in him was to play an important part in his da’wah work. In his personal life, his marriage to
Khadijah r.a. was a happy one, lasting till her death. Through this marriage, he gained a firm supporter
in Khadijah r.a. in his da’wah work. His
strategy as a da’i, whether it was divinely inspired or otherwise, was to focus
on those closest to him first, then propagating it in private and individual
basis (Al-Ghazali, 1999, p 113) until the command came to do it openly in Surah
Ash-Shu’ara:214 (Asad, 1980, p574) where it was stated
“And warn [whomever thou canst reach, beginning
with] thy kinsfolk.”
As a da’i, he faced many different challenges in
calling to Islam and in his responses to these challenges, we can learn quite a
bit. One of the first challenges he
faced was in terms the da’wah to his extended family, risking his relationship
with them (al-Ghazali, 1999, p 115). While
his immediate family embraced Islam, it was not so with his extended
family. His beloved uncle, Abu Talib,
gave his protection and support but would not accept the call till his
death. His uncle, Abu Lahab, turned very
hostile[1]:
he ridiculed the Prophet, made his sons divorce the Prophet’s daughters and
abused him (Salahi, 1995, p 89, al-Ghazali, 1999, pp 116-117). Because they were his uncles, the Prophet was
put in a dilemma. His approach in this
challenge was to persevere in the da’wah efforts and to maintain the relationship
even if it was rebuffed as was in the case of Abu Lahab. His patience in enduring his uncle’s
hostility without retaliation was not only proof of his gentle nature but also
of his awareness of the rights of kinship.
The next set of challenges was with the leaders of
the Quraish. Besides torturing and
persecuting the small Muslim community, one of their first actions with respect
to the Prophet himself was to pressure Abu Talib to make the Prophet stop his
da’wah efforts or give him up to them.
These actions distressed the Prophet who thought his uncle was going to
lift his protection but he still stood firm, not swayed from his cause
(al-Ghazali, 1999, pp 128-129, Lings, 1983, p 52). Next, they tried negotiating directly with
him. For example Utbah ibn Rabee’ah went
to him with offers from the Quraish chiefs.
The Prophet’s actions in this instance were telling of his wisdom. He listened attentively to the offers instead
of brushing them aside. When Utbah
finished, the Prophet answered with the first 38 verses of Al-Fussilat which
clearly stated the message he wanted to convey, inviting Utbah to ponder upon
the signs and accept the call. The
beauty of the verses left Utbah bemused where he then counseled the Quraish
chiefs to adopt a wait-and see policy even though they rejected it (al-Ghazali,
1999, pp 126-128, Salahi, 1995, pp 106-107).
Other negotiations which embodied the spirit of compromise and
‘live-and-let-live’ also failed due to the firmness and steadfastness of the
Prophet in delivering his message (Salahi, 1995, pp 140-143). They also started a smear campaign against
him with the pilgrims and other visitors.
Calling him a magician and a person who sows discord between fathers and
sons[2],
they impressed upon the pilgrims not to listen to the Prophet and to avoid
him. The Prophet’s response was to
persevere and continued to reach out to those who were willing to listen (Lings,
1983, pp 53-55, Salahi, 1995, pp 111-114).
These challenges were just some of what he and the early Muslim
community faced in the da’wah effort.
From the Prophet’s example, we can identify several
key characteristics that a da’i needs to develop in facing the challenges of
today. The first characteristic is that of
noble character which includes trustworthiness and integrity. It was to the point that even while they
persecuted him, the Quraish still respected him and entrusted him with their
belongings to the point that when the Prophet migrated, Ali r.a. was given the
task to return people their belongings (Salahi, 1995, p 201). As mentioned earlier, integrity and
trustworthiness are key in engendering the trust in the da’i and by implication
trust in the message. The second and
third characteristics are patience and perseverance respectively which were evident
in all the challenges that the Prophet faced.
These characteristics are the key to success in any challenge in life
what more in da’wah. In the Qur’an, God
says (2:153)
“O You who have attained to faith! Seek aid in steadfast patience and prayer:
for, behold, God is with those who are patient in adversity.” (Asad, 1980, p
32)
The Prophet embodied this advice from God for he was
steadfastly patient and was constant in prayer which should be the model for any
da’i today. The next characteristic is
wisdom and intelligence. Wisdom in
knowing your audience, knowing when to engage or otherwise and what best to say
allows a da’i to be effective in his da’wah effort. Intelligence helps the da’i in creating his
da’wah strategy just like the way the Prophet strategized by focusing on those
closest to him first. This led him to
build a core circle of followers who were not only his support but also in
helping to propagate the message like Abu Bakr r.a.
With these characteristics developed and armed with
the knowledge and appreciation of the message, the da’i is now ready to face
the challenges of today. Like during the
time of the Prophet, Islam is once again a ‘stranger’ in the global scene. While there are countries with majority
Muslims, these countries are few when compared with the rest of the world and
quite a lot of Muslims live in non-Muslim countries. As such, we see similar challenges to those
faced by the Prophet and early Muslims. For
example, the challenges of doing da’wah to their non-Muslim family are being
faced by many new converts to Islam. By
studying the actions of the Prophet in his relationship with and his efforts to
spread the message to his immediate and extended family, the da’i is able to
learn the wisdom and strategy that the Prophet applied in such situations.
There are also a lot negative press about Islam and
Muslims in the current times, similar to the smear campaign that the Quraish
carried out against the Prophet and the early Muslim community. Lessons can also be learned from the strategy
the Prophet adopted to counter the smear campaign instead of acting hastily and
emotionally as happened during the incident of the cartoons mocking the Prophet
not so long ago. The hostility which
quite a number of Muslims faced living in a majority non-Muslim countries like
in France and some parts of Australia and U.S. are again similar to the
hostility confronted by the Prophet and the early Muslim community. The Prophet’s merciful and gracious actions
together with his integrity won the hearts of many of his enemies, some
becoming Muslims and others became less hostile. Today’s da’i should also set an example by
his good actions which should embody the message and help soften the hearts of
those around him.
It therefore behoove today’s da’i to emulate the
Prophet in his characters which Aisha r.a. once described as the walking Qur’an
and learn from his da’wah efforts. There
are many parallels in the challenges faced today with those faced by the
Prophet that it is a shame not to use the guidance given to us by the
Prophet.
Reference:
Adair, J., 2010.
The Leadership of Muhammad. U.K.:
Kogan Page Limited.
Al-Ghazali, M., 1999. Fiqh-Us-Seerah: Understanding the Life of Prophet Muhammad. 2nd ed.
Saudi Arabia: International Islamic Publishing House.
Asad, M., 1980. The Message of the
Qur’an. Gibraltar: Dar al-Andalus Limited.
Lings, M., 1983. Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest
Sources. U.K.: Islamic Texts Society.
Oxford
Islamic Studies Online, 2013. Da’wah. [online] Available at http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e511
Salahi, M. A., 1995.
Muhammad: Man and Prophet. U.K.:
Element Books Limited.
