DAWAH or NO DAWAH

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Permalink Reply by Jawad Mustafa Meyer anNaqshbandi on April 1, 2009 at 6:08pm

I agree, I think that usually the best dawah is done be being a good person and following the teachings of our shaykhs. People have come to islam after just seeing mawlana's picture on a mureeds desk at work. Sufis have always been the ones who have spread Islam, not by knocking on doors or handing out pamphlets or free literature, but in the simpelest way. They feed the poor, help the needy, give to those who have not, they become a source of barakah in their communities and people become attracted to this light that they carry. sufis have always spoken to the hearts of people, unfortunately most of the time when I see people doing "dawah", they get into intellectual debates why christianity and everybody else is wrong, which automatically shuts the person down and puts them in the defensive, either this or they will hand out free literature rather than talk to the person, i've seen it, this is what people do. however, the biggest problem i see that most of the time, the dawah aimed at other muslims! this isnt even dawah, when you are guiding muslims who maybie went astray it's commanding the good and forbidding the evil. in texas, there's even an annual event called the Texas Dawah Convention. all it is really is a bunch of seminars about why salafism is right and everybody else has gone astray by celebrating mawlid, belief in shifa'a, tawassul, etc. furthermore salafis believe that you should hate the nonmuslims because the quran says not to take christians or jews as friends or you will be amongst them, however for the sake of dawah, when you are making dawah you can be nice to them, how silly is that? salafis are always screaming dawah dawah dawah because according to them, that is your only escuse for living in a nonmuslim land.
if you want to learn dawah, study islamic history, take a look at how a few sufis would go into different areas of the world, often times without even knowing the language of the people, and end up converting entire nations.
that's my 1 1/2 cents lol

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Permalink Reply by Elle Yilmaz on August 13, 2010 at 10:41pm

I agree.. One of the things that breaks my heart in this ummah is that many times Muslims are more concerned with 'catching converts' and 'buying their ticket to heaven' vs. taking care of the needs of those already in the Muslim community. It's so sad when you see these new converts, 'captured' and then made a fuss over, and then when the novelty is worn off.. The community dumps them and goes back to their cultural communities. The converts are left floundering and lonely, and many of them eventually leave Islam from loneliness, falling prey to overly strict (such as salafi) interpretations, an overload of rules without the necessary love of God behind them, etc. It's a very sad situation I've seen played out many times. There are also many just hanging on by their fingernails. You often sometimes see 'covert operation' conversions where they try and 'catch' converts though deception.. I also don't agree with this. The best way in my humble opinion to 'win' converts is through being shining examples ourselves and taking care of our own first and foremost while not discriminating against the non-Muslim individuals in the communities in which we live.

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