Invitation to Islam
CHAPTER TEN
INVITATION TO ISLAM
O Allah (The Exalted) grant Your blessings and your favours and Your Mercy to the Master of the Messengers and the Leader of the pious and Seal of the Prophets, our master Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), Your slave and Your Messenger, the Pioneer of Goodness and Guide to the Goodness, the Messenger of Mercy.
Allah (The Exalted) sent Prophets (upon them all be peace) to guide mankind and finally He sent our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), to guide mankind, this has to continue, and the responsibility has been left on this Ummah. Allah (The Exalted) did not have to send the prophets (upon them all be peace) he could have guided without them; however, this is the way He chose to do so. Allah (The Exalted) states:
“And let there be such a group among you, that they may call towards goodness and command what is just and forbid evil. And the very same attained to their goals.” i
Call Towards The Truth
In Makkah the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), spent thirteen years, calling people towards the worship of Allah (The Exalted) and dissuading people from worshipping others. Even after a lot of difficulties and having stones thrown at him he continued to spread the word of Allah (The Exalted) and inviting people towards the truth.
The Taif Incident
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and Zaid bin Haritha, (may Allah be pleased with him) went to Taif to preach the oneness of Allah (The Exalted) and invite people to Islam. When preaching, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), received so many injuries that he became unconscious. Not only that but the blessed shoes of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), were filled with blood as the women, children and slaves stoned the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). In spite of all these hardships and sorrow faced in this journey, not a single person embraced Islam, but the heart of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), was full of love and glorification of Allah (The Exalted).
When his people rejected him, Jibrail (upon whom be peace) came to him and said, “Allah (The Exalted) has heard what your people say to you and how they reject you. He has ordered the angles of the mountains to obey whatever you tell them to do.” The angel of the mountains called him, greeted him and said, “Send me to do what you wish. If you wish, I will crush them between the two mountains of Makkah.”
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “Rather, I hope that Allah (The Exalted) will bring forth from their loins those who will worship Allah (The Exalted) alone and not associate anything with Him.” ii
Alhamdulillah! This is exactly what happened.
Continue to Preach Islam
The position of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), was that of a caller (Da’i). By his blessing the position of his followers was too, and still is that of conveyor of Allah’s word. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), is the final Prophet1. His responsibility extended therefore, to the final Day of Resurrection. He came to communicate the message of monotheism2 to all the people coming into the world until Day of Judgement. He had to leave the world at the end of the normal human life span. Now the question arose as to who should shoulder the responsibility of communicating the divine message. There was no doubt that this responsibility was to be carried out by the Muslim community. With the Muslim community it still rests. In fact, the Muslim community has, on the Prophet’s behalf, to discharge this responsibility until the Day of Resurrection.
1 Imam Tahawi writes: “And that he is the seal of the prophets, the Imam of the God-fearing, the most honoured of all the messengers and the beloved of the Lord of all the Worlds.” (Aqidah Tahawiyah, p.7. #:30)
2 The oneness of Allah (The Exalted). 2 www.GardensOfSunnah.co.uk
Pass on The Message
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), said, “Why do I need to hold your waist and save you from fire? Listen, Allah (The Exalted) will call me and He will surely ask me whether I communicated His message to His servants. I will say, ‘Yes, my Lord, I have communicated Your message.’ “Listen, those who are present must communicate this message to those who are not present.”
Whatever a person knows, they should pass it on to others. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “Pass on from me even if it be one verse.” iii Unfortunately, the Muslims don’t have time to promote good and forbid evil. We are too busy with our families, friends and our businesses, people don’t have time to offer their own Salaah in piece but have time for other things such as following the latest fashions.
Have you seen a non-Muslim adopting the Islamic dress or any other Sunnah of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)? However, the Muslims have gone further by practising what the non-Muslims do, what a shame it is! O Muslims! Wakeup, and wakeup those around you before the angles of death takes our soul away. Allah (The Exalted) states:
“You are the best among all those nations appeared unto mankind, you command to good, and forbid evil, and keep faith unto Allah.” iv
May Allah (The Exalted) give us understanding of our responsibility and take it seriously, working towards a better hereafter, Insha-Allah!
How to Promote Good?
We can promote good and forbid evil by becoming good Muslims and making sure our actions and intentions comply with the Qur’an and Sunnah. The scholars will promote good and forbid evil with the pen, i.e. by writing books, the rulers will do it by their power and the normal public will do it face to face in a loving manner.
Promoting Good by Our Pious
Mahdi Hassan Barkaati (may Allah have mercy upon him), states, “When I used to go to Bareilly3, A’la Hadhrat Shaykh Ahmad Raza Khan (may Allah have mercy upon him) would personally bring out the food for me, and he would also wash my hands. Once, while washing my hands, he requested me to give him my ring and bangle which were made of gold4. I immediately presented them to him. Later, I departed to Bombay. When I returned to Mahrerah5, my daughter informed me that there was a parcel for me from Bareilly. I opened the parcel and found enclosed the ring and bangle. There was also a note in it which A’la Hadhrat wrote presenting the jewels to my daughter.” v
3 A city in Utra Pradesh (U.P), India.
4 For men to wear gold is forbidden.
5 A city in India.
Subhanllah! Look at the respect and wisdom that Shaykh Ahmad Raza Khan showed towards his superiors. He practised upon the law of promoting good and forbidding evil and at the same time showing great respect towards Mahdi Hassan Barkaati (may Allah have mercy upon him).
No Mercy
Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) states, “Continue to promote good and forbidding evil, if not then Allah (The Exalted) will place a tyrant ruler who will not respect your elders, neither have mercy on your young, they will ask for help but will not be assisted and will ask for forgiveness but will not be forgiven.” vi
Just take a look at the position of the world today and make up your minds. These places did not promote good and forbid evil, hence, evil spread and the cities and countries have been destroyed with millions of lives by tyrant rulers!
Punishment
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “An angle was ordered to turn a city upside down. The angle said, ‘O Allah! (The Exalted) There is a person who has never committed wrong who is present in this city.’ Allah (The Exalted) said, “Go and turn it upside down as this person did not even feel the slightest when people were sinning.”” vii 3 www.GardensOfSunnah.co.uk
Supplications Not Accepted!
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “I swear by the One who has my life in His hand (of power)! Either you promote good and forbid evil, or Allah (The Exalted) soon will sent His punishment, then you will make supplications, but your supplication will not be accepted.” viii
Respected brothers/sisters of Islam! We can see from this Hadith that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is enjoining each member of the Muslim community to continue the invitation (dawah) and mission after him until the Day of Rising. It is now our responsibility to act upon this Sunnah, as after the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), there is no other Prophet to come and what we have been taught through the Qur’an is that there is no heavenly book to come either. Therefore, in every era to promote good and forbid evil is necessary (Wajib).
“And command good and forbid evil.” ix
The Muslim believes that excersing his mind and seeking knowledge and discovering the signs of Allah (The Exalted) in the universe is an obligation, because of the saying of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace):
“Seeking knowledge is a duty on every Muslim”. x
Therefore, the Muslim must continue to pursue knowledge, as long as the breath of life remains in his body. The fact that Allah (The Exalted) has raised the status of those who have knowledge, and described them alone as truly fearing Him, should be enough to encourage the Muslim to apply himself to seeking knowledge.
Now it is obligatory on every Muslim to pray five times a day and necessary for men to pray with congregation in the Masjid. Try and call people towards Salaah and advise people to remember Allah (The Exalted) at all times. Pick a day during the week to get a couple of friends together, go and call people towards Allah (The Exalted) in a sweet and loving manner. Also, choose a day when you can learn about Islam and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Leave the dark, evil, corrupt society and enlighten all the hearts with the love of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).
Manners of Promoting Good
1. To promote good means ‘To instruct someone for Salaah’ and to forbid evil is to ‘stop someone swearing or lying etc.’ both are obligatory.
2. One should be a practicing Muslim as this will make a greater impact.
3. To seek knowledge from the books written by scholars of Ahle Sunnah.
4. When promoting good, do it in a loving manner and when forbidding evil then explain in a nice way.
5. If done with anger it will have the opposite effect and the person will hate not only you but mainly Islam due to ignorance and finding it a burden.
6. Do not rebuke someone in front of people but take them to a side on a one-to one basis and explain nicely, it will affect the heart, Inshallah.
7. The intention should be for the sake of Allah (The Exalted) and following the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).
8. The person promoting good and forbidding evil should posses’ good manners.
9. Whatever you tell others, make sure you practice it yourself.
10. It is important to have patience as you will have difficulties, problems, and obstacles in your way. Do not be heartbroken but compare it with the difficulties of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).
4 www.GardensOfSunnah.co.uk
i Surah Aale Imran, Surah No: 3, Verse: 104
ii Bukhari, Muslim, and the rest of the Sahih Sitta (the six books of Hadith).
iii Mishkat
iv Surah Aale Imran, Surah No: 3, Verse: 110
v Imam Ahmad Raza. His Academic and Spiritual Services.
vi Muqashifatul Quloob and Faizan-e-Sunnat. p. 264
vii Kimiya-e-Sa-aadat and Faizan-e-Sunnat. p. 266/7.
viii Tirmidhi.
ix Surah Hajj, Surah No: 22, Verse: 41
x Bukhari
11. Prepare yourself for making sacrifice.
12. Do not get into an argument with anyone, leave that to the scholars.
O Allah! (The Exalted) give us the ability to work towards good and forbid evil with sincerity and in a nice beautiful manner. Give us the understanding of knowledge, the wisdom behind it, to practise it and to preach it, Aameen.