The Activities of Carrying the Da’wah

The following is the translation of an Arabic leaflet.

There are many issues in a person's life which take over his intellect and take up his time. Hence he would constantly exhaust his efforts, on various levels, in order to perform the onuses and fulfill the commitments which these issues entail.

                             

If we were to contemplate these issues to which a person dedicates his life, we would perceive that these take various forms and disparate incentives. These issues are strongly linked to the person's instincts and organic needs. Therefore, people's concerns towards their issues vary from one person to another and from one issue to another. This disparity would be in essence related to the different viewpoints which people hold towards their instincts. Some of them make the survival instinct the dominant factor in their behaviors, actions and concerns. This dominance could sometimes lead to the neglect of other instincts. Others make the spiritual instinct the absolute dominant over other instincts. Hence we find that the religious person, spurred by his instinct rather than his perception, would zealously engage in religiousness, not lending any attention to his other instincts.

The truth of the matter is that by looking into the Sharia'a rules and principles which organise people's relations, it would become clear that a person's engagement in satisfying one instinct would always be at the expense of another instinct, and this fits perfectly with life's requisites. However, despite all this, there ought to be a scale of priorities. It is true that Allah (SWT) has commanded the capable Muslim to work in order to support himself and his dependents, it is also true that Allah (SWT) has commanded the Da’wah carrier to perform all that which the Da’wah demands of him. The Da’wah in fact should take primacy over all other commands. Allah (SWT) has made the Da’wah at the top of the scale, for He (SWT) has made the carrying of the Da’wah the main duty of the Islamic state, also the main duty of every Muslim. The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: "I have been ordered to fight people until they profess that there is no god but Allah, if they said it, their lives and their wealth would be inviolable to me except by right, and their fate would be up to Allah." It is evident that this Hadith reflects the position of the Messenger of Allah (SAW) in his quality as head of state. As for the Hadith which reflected his position before then, this was his reply to his uncle Abu Talib when he said to him: By Allah oh uncle, if they were to put the sun in my right hand, and the moon in my left hand, in order to relinquish this matter, I shall never do so until Allah makes it triumphant or I die without it." 

Therefore, the actions performed by the Muslim would be a means to achieve one objective. This objective would be the Da’wah to Islam. This Da’wah to Islam would take various aspects, the most important and most prominent of which would be the enjoining of Ma'aruf and the forbidding of the Munkar. In the Holy Qur'an this is repeated tens of times in various Surahs, and Allah (SWT) has made it an individual duty upon every Muslim, in addition to having already made it an obligation when He (SWT) commanded the establishment of an Islamic party to fulfil this duty.

We gather from the above that the enjoinment of the Ma'aruf, the forbidding of the Munkar and the Da’wah to Islam or to the resumption of the Islamic way of life, represent a host of carefully targeted aims which result from carrying the Da’wah. It would be therefore imperative to undertake a host of specific tasks in order to achieve the above mentioned results. These tasks are not of less importance than the results themselves, for the results could not be achieved unless these tasks were undertaken.

If we were to display these tasks, we would soon realise that they could not be narrowed down nor could they be counted. However, they could be summarised in several points:

1- The Islamic commitments:

Despite the fact that the total adherence to the Islamic commitments would be to the Da’wah carrier a postulate, thus judging that it would be unnecessary to carry the Da’wah if one did not abide to the letter by the Halal and Haram, or if he did not adopt this as the basis of his discipline, his work and his thinking, even the basis of his whole life. It would be wrong to assume that the Da’wah carrier need not be reminded about these issues. This is so because the prime obligation upon the Da’wah carrier would not only be confined to nursing a genuine desire for Jannah and a genuine fear of hell fire, thus seeking the pleasure of Allah (SWT), he should rather aim at conveying this sensation practically and intellectually to the people around him. He would not succeed in conveying this unless the genuine sensation and the true awareness about this were reflected in his actions and his sayings. Hence, it would be conveyed through the actions and the thought to the people.

If the Shab succeeded in acquiring this genuine sensation of seeking the pleasure of Allah (SWT), then the first step towards establishing a nation inspired by this genuine sensation would have been achieved, and this would in turn motivate her towards sacrificing all that which is priceless in order to achieve her objective and reach the position expected of an Islamic Ummah, spreading the guidance, the goodness and the happiness throughout the whole world.

2- Tilawa (recitation) of the Qur'an:

It goes without saying that the Qur'an is the basis of this ideology which we pride ourselves with before the whole world. It is the revealed word of Allah (SWT), with which we are made to worship Him (SWT). In addition to the great reward gained from its recitation, the Qur'an is worthy of whetting the determinations and exhort the people who had set their hearts and minds in working towards making the phrase of "There is no god but Allah, Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah" reign supreme. There is no heavier burden than the carrying of the Da’wah, all the more reason for the Da’wah carrier to recite the Qur'an. For the Qur'an charges the believer with this amazing energy which revives the idle souls and turn them into dispositions who trivialise hardships and make light of all the worldly pleasures, for the sake of gaining the bliss of Jannah, or even to gain the pleasure of Allah (SWT). Why do we have to go far since we are absolutely certain that victory is from Allah (SWT)? That we have no other hope but in Allah (SWT)? So why should we not be eager to take provisions from the source of the Qur'an, ponder over its meanings and acquaint ourselves with its aims?

Therefore, it would be inconceivable for the Da’wah carrier, who feels a weakness in his soul, to seek a better remedy than reciting the verses of the Qur'an over and over again. The Holy Qur'an would never become shabby no matter how much it were recited, no matter how old it became and no matter how many the reciters were.

The Islamic ideology carries all the meanings of strife and struggle, thus it would be wrong to separate this ideology from strife and struggle. Since there were no better incentive than the Qur'an to help carry the burden of struggle and strife, for the Muslim Ummah had become a nation of Jihad and sacrifice since she interacted with the Islamic ideology, and this was only thanks to the eternal Book of Allah (SWT).  To neglect the recitation of the Qur'an would therefore be interpreted as a decline in the perception of the Islamic ideology which ought to be at all times reflected in the high scale of sacrifice and struggle.

3- Contacting people:

There is no doubt about the fact that contacting people represents the general aspect of carrying the Da’wah. Therefore, how could we call ourselves Da’wah carriers if we did not establish contacts with people and if we did not acquaint ourselves with their current affairs. It would be inconceivable to enjoin the Ma'aruf and forbid the Munkar if we did not find people to command and forbid, nor would it be conceivable that we would be able to explain and convey the thoughts and rules of Islam if we were to remain in isolation from other people. The Da’wah carrier would not be worthy of this title simply because of his party affiliation, because the party affiliation is subjected to the administrative rules drawn on paper. The affiliation is in fact no more than an administrative matter. Therefore, the precept would lie in the contacts, and the familiarisation which the Da’wah carrier establishes with people. The precept would also lie in the actions which the Da’wah carrier undertakes, in terms of studying people's state of affairs, dealing with their sensations, reconditioning their thoughts with the thoughts and rules of Islam.

If we were to stand in awe of anything, it would be of those who had known their exact positions in the fierce battle they are engaged in against the Kufr and its systems, and yet they plunged into a deep slumber, hence forgetting, or pretending to have forgotten that they are fighting at the first line of defence. We have never known throughout the history of the Islamic Da’wah a person who had embraced the Islamic ideology and then lived in isolation from other people. Abu Tharr Al-Ghafari (R) embraced the Islamic ideology, then the Messenger of Allah (SAW) ordered him to return to his folk, but he refused to depart from Makkah before crying out the two Shahadas within earshot of the Mushrikeen of Makkah, thus enduring a beating under which the strongest of men would succumb, and at the time he knew from Islam none save for the two Shahadas.

Islam is a collective and universal ideology, not an individual one, an ideology whose natural environment is within the masses ,as a ruling authority and in the international arena. As for those whose desire is to confine Islam to the darkness of prayer rooms and minarets, they are in fact assisting the Kuffar and their agents, intentionally or unintentionally, in their quest to isolate Islam from temporal life and current affairs in a way which would leave it devoid of the streak of Islam. The truth of the matter is that Hizb-ut-Tahrir was the first political structure to be established on the basis of Islam for many centuries. The hope is pinned on the party that Allah (SWT) would grants the Muslim Ummah the great victory at its hands, for a simple but a very important reason, which is that Hizb-ut-Tahrir carries Islam to the masses and aims at generating a public opinion based on the awareness of the rules of Islam. Anyone who chooses to be with the party should undertake to follow the party in all its phases and its steps, and his collective spirit should also be developed. In order to achieve this, it would be sufficient to adopt the Islamic ideology soundly. However, if the Shab continues to lay an isolating siege around himself, away from people, this would have no other explanation but the fact that he did not adopt the ideology in a sound way. This is so because isolation in fact is a blend of cowardice and despair. In other words, the cause of isolation could be interpreted as cowardice, or despair, and these should never find their way to the believer's heart. As for the other causes which may be imagined, these would be in fact excuses rather than causes; and he who searches for many excuses would eventually resort to lying a great deal, we seek Allah's refuge from this. Therefore, there would be no excuse for the Da’wah carrier, once the party has clearly and elaborately explained the thoughts of Islam, to make these thoughts his private entailment and not convey them to others.

4- Reading:

What we mean here by reading is the reading of the books which contain the party culture and those which contain the general culture, be it Fiqhi, intellectual or political. One may however ask: "Since the party had already put its culture in books which it adopted or published, and since the Shab adopts what the party adopts, so why do we concern ourselves with searching and investigating other books? In answer to this we say that we are indeed obliged to propagate the thoughts which we had adopted and we are not obliged to propagate other than that. However, we are aware of the fact that the books adopted by the party are deep and enlightened and they do not exceed the fact that they are a host of rules related to certain realities, thus it would be wrong to be satisfied with learning and quoting the rules, for these could not be separated from the realities which apply upon them. Indeed the party explains some of the realities in its books, but this was an abridged explanation which serves the purpose of highlighting the rule, however, this explanation would not be sufficient to make one understand the true nature of the realities, thus the other books represent the realities and therefore they should be referred to and they should be read, so that our perception of the party culture is coupled with awareness and not exposed to storms. Therefore, the Shab who frequently reads and researches would always remain in a better position to understand and perceive the thoughts and the culture of the party.

Besides, he who is eager to influence other people, should acquire sufficient awareness about what these people carry in terms of thoughts, opinions and Mathahib (schools of thought). Therefore, we would not be far from the truth if we said that the Shab who had acquired a greater deal of knowledge and study, would be capable of influencing people's thoughts and relations. For Instance, when we say that the Khilafah system is a distinguished system, which is unlike any other system, that no other system is like it, and that it is the only system valid to redress people's state of affairs, for it is a system revealed by He Who knows better about the human being than the humans themselves, i.e. Allah (SWT); and when we also say that the democratic system cannot bring happiness to humanity, but it is in fact just like the other systems, the cause of the humanity's anxiety and instability, for these systems are systems of disbelief, i.e they are man-made systems, and the human cannot establish a system for himself, let alone establish a system for other people and implement it upon them, unless he does this by force. When we say this we are here satisfying ourselves with the party culture, and this understanding would remain nearer to the theoretical rather than the practical understanding. 

What makes it an influential and practical understanding, close to the heart and the mind, would be our study of the Kufr systems and more specifically the democratic system, this would enable us to practically acquaint ourselves with the corruption of these systems and their inability to bring happiness to those who come under their line of fire.

This study could be acquired from the books which talk about the various political systems of the world. The party books would only give the judgement concerning these systems, but they do not sufficiently diagnose the reality of these systems in a way that would allow us to understand their elaborate details.

The same thing could be said of the Sharia'a rules adopted by the party, which are subject of difference among the Mujtahideen and the scholars. Therefore, the study of the evidences listed by those Mujtahideen and scholars, with the aim of ascertaining the extent of their validity would strengthen our confidence in the evidences which the party relied on. This study would be found in the books of the distinguished scholars.

We can list tens of examples to prove that reading other books, be it political or intellectual, as well as the party books, would be indispensable for the Da’wah carrier. We do not wish to say that reading would broaden the perceptions and develop the mentalities, nor do we wish to say that reading would set the reader on the first steps towards political awareness. What we wish to say is that carrying the Da’wah could not be achieved in an efficient and influential way unless reading and study were taken up.

5- Pursuance:

We mean by pursuance the follow up of current affairs and daily news, for this would be different from reading, even though it is connected to it. Pursuance would specifically include the reading of political newspapers and magazines and the listening to the news and anything similar. The pursuance of news represents the basic elements of politics, for there would be no politics without it. When we say pursuance or following we mean exactly that. It means to continue diligently and relentlessly, and not to break even for one single day. This is so because the daily events are a long running chain of events that are interlinked together. Therefore, it would be essential to pursue this long running chain so that the understanding of news and events is perfected, and so that we put ourselves in a position to pass on these news and events a true judgement. We are not in this context trying to highlight the importance of political work and its effects in establishing the Islamic idea within the field of implementation and transactions, this is because we are supposed to have surpassed the stage of realising the importance of political work, to reach the stage of getting involved in political work and to perform its various commitments. The point at issue in this context is to realise the importance of pursuing the news and the events in the political work. Analysing the news would undoubtedly be an important matter, so would be the voicing of one's opinion regarding these news, and linking the Islamic viewpoint to that opinion is most important. However, all this would firmly depend on the pursuing of the daily news and events. Events do not wait for the one who pursues them, they tend to take place and leave their marks even if no one pursued them, thus we ought to obtain the news as they occur, and make sure that no event is passing us by without knowing about it and analysing it, and by Allah, how could the one who has no firsthand experience in pursuing events be able to make events happen in the not too distant future Inshallah? 

The pursuance leads the pursuer to live the events, and turns him into a person pulsating with energy, for he could live in the heart of society and catch their attention. This would enable him to attract them and lead them. It would be wrong to ask whether the daily reading of a local newspaper or the listening a news bulletin in the radio would be sufficient to follow the events; this question should not be asked because the precept lies in the obtaining of the news from its most likely places, regardless of whether the source were a newspaper or a radio. This is so because one could read a newspaper everyday without fulfilling the purpose of pursuance, for most of the time, reading the newspaper would not compensate for the listening to the news bulletin on the radio, and sometimes, the same thing could be said about the radio as well. The main point would be not to allow the events to pass us by without at least acquainting ourselves with them.  

These five matters, the Islamic commitments, Tilawa of the Qur'an, contacting people, reading and the pursuance of news, should be given ample care and attention in order to meet their requirements, and in order for the Shab to fulfil the criteria of the Da’wah carrier. These actions are not a difficult and intractable matter, and they do not require the Shab to extricate himself from all his worldly activities so that he could perfect them. If the party had set a time for the performing of these actions, it did not intend by this pushing the Shab to reduce his working hours in order to concentrate on the Da’wah, what was intended was for the Shab to perform these action in person, to motivate and constrain himself to perform these actions. The whole issue could be down to one single and specific question: Have we made of the Da’wah the cornerstone in our life and our concerns? He who has placed the Da’wah at the heart of his action and his thinking would not be tired of coming up with ploys to perform these actions, whereas he who has not made of the Da’wah the centre of his attention and concern, he would undoubtedly find the world too small for him, and he would come up with the most trivial of excuses. Eventually, he would become a victim of life and her temporal bliss. May Allah make us from those who carry His trust in the best manner, He is Al-Sami'i Al-Mujib. Ameen.

First Published : 2nd August 1975