The Way to Carry the Islamic Da'wah (invitation)
The following is an excerpt from the book Nidaam al-Islam by Sheikh Taqiudeen an-Nabhani. It explains the carrying of the da'wah and the necessity to build this da'wah upon emulating the da'wah of the Messenger (saw) in his pursuit to make Islam the basis of state and society.
The Muslims did not lag behind the world due to their adherence to Islam. On the contrary, their regression commenced the day they abandoned this adherence to Islam and they allowed the foreign culture to enter their lands and the Western concepts to occupy their minds. They declined when they abandoned the intellectual leadership of Islam, neglected its da’wah and misapplied its rules (aHkaam). Therefore, the Muslims must resume the Islamic way of life if they want the revival (nahDah) to occur. However, they will not be able to resume the Islamic way of life unless they carry the Islamic da’wah by carrying the intellectual leadership of Islam, and establish, by this da’wah an Islamic State that in turn will carry the intellectual leadership of Islam by carrying the Islamic call.
It should be noted that carrying the intellectual leadership by carrying the Islamic da’wah in order to revive the Muslims is undertaken because Islam alone can reform the world, and the true revival cannot be achieved without Islam, whether for the Muslims or others. It is on this basis that the da’wah should be carried.
The da’wah must be carried to the world as an intellectual leadership from which all systems emanate, and upon this leadership all thoughts are built, and from such thoughts emanate all the concepts that influence one’s viewpoint in life, without exception.
The da’wah should be carried today as it was delivered in the past and should proceed in compliance with the example of the Messenger (saw), without the slightest deviation from that method in its general and specific details. No regard should be given to the difference in time, for this difference amounts to nothing more than the changes of the means (wasaail) and forms (ashkaal). However, the essence and the reality of life have not and will not change, regardless of the passing of ages and changing of peoples and places.
Thus, carrying the da’wah demands frankness, courage, strength, thought and to challenge all that contradicts the fikrah and Tareeqah (idea and method) of Islam by facing it and exposing its falsehood, irrespective of the situation and its consequences.
Carrying the Islamic da’wah necessitates that the ultimate sovereignty (siyaadah) belongs to the Islamic ideology, regardless of whether it agrees or disagrees with the masses and whether they accept it or reject it and oppose it, or whether it is in accordance with the people’s customs or not.
The da’wah carrier (Haamil-ud-da’wah) does not flatter the people, is not courteous to the authorities or cares for the people’s customs and traditions, and does not give any attention to whether the people will accept him or not. Rather he must adhere to the ideology alone and solely express it paying no regard to anything except the ideology. It is not allowed to tell the followers of other ideologies to adhere to their ideologies. Instead, they are invited without compulsion to embrace the ideology (of Islam) because the da’wah requires that there be no other ideology alongside Islam and that the sovereignty be for Islam alone.
"It is He who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and deen of Haqq, to prevail over all other religions even though the idolaters may abhor it." [TMQ 9:33]
The Messenger (saw) came to this world with his Message and openly challenged the whole world. He (saw) believed in the Truth he (saw) was inviting the people to and declared war against the red and black (people) i.e. everyone, irrespective of their traditions, customs, religions, doctrines, rulers and masses. He (saw) paid no attention to anything other than the message of Islam. He (saw) commenced the da’wah by discrediting the false deities of Quraysh. He (saw) challenged them in their doctrines, discredited them while he was alone, isolated, with no helper and no weapon except his unshakeable and deeply rooted conviction in Islam to which he was inviting. He (saw) did not care for the Arab customs, traditions, religions, or doctrines. In this respect, he (saw) was not courteous nor gave them any regard.
Similarly, the da’wah carrier has to challenge everything. This includes challenging the customs, traditions, erroneous thoughts and concepts, the public opinion when it is wrong even if he has to struggle against it. He has to challenge the doctrines and religions despite the fact that he might be exposed to the fanaticism of their followers and the hostility of those who stick to their distortions.
Delivering the da’wah requires a concern for the complete implementation of the rules of Islam without the slightest concession. The carrier does not accept any truce nor concession, negligence or postponement. Instead, he maintains the matter as a whole and definitively settles it immediately. He does not accept any intercession that would obstruct the truth. Rasool Allah (saw) did not accept the request of Thaqif’s delegation to be allowed to retain their idol, Allat, for three years before it was demolished, neither did he exempt them from prayer, as pre-conditions for embracing Islam. He refused also to leave Allat for two years or for one month, as they had demanded. He refused this request firmly, and decisively, without any hesitation or leniency. This is simply because man has to either believe or not, after all, the result is either Paradise or Hell. However, Rasool Allah (saw) did accept their request not to have them demolish their idol by their hands. Instead, he asked Abu Sufyan and al-Mughirairah ibn Shu’abah to demolish it. He definitely did not accept anything less than the complete ‘Aqeedah and what it requires of implementation. As for the means and forms of carrying this implementation, the Rasool of Allah (saw) accepted them because they are not connected with the nature of the Islamic ‘Aqeedah. Therefore, care must be taken in delivering the Islamic da’wah to preserve the completeness of the idea and the completeness of its implementation without any compromise in the fikrah and Tareeqah. There is no harm in using any wasaa’il (means) it demands.
Carrying the Islamic da’wah necessitates every one of its actions be undertaken for a specific objective. The carrier should always be aware of this aim and work towards achieving it, exerting himself relentlessly to fulfil it. Therefore, the carrier would not be satisfied by thought without action and would deem it to be a hypnotic and fanciful philosophy. Likewise, he would not be satisfied by thought and action devoid of any objective, considering this to be a spiral motion that ultimately ends in apathy and despair. Instead, the da’wah carrier has to insist upon connecting the thought with action and uniting the two in working for a specific objective that will be fulfilled in a practical manner and be brought into existence.
RasoolAllah (saw) carried the intellectual leadership of Islam in Makkah. When he realised that the society there would not make Islam the system of society, he began preparing the society of Madinah. In Madinah, he established the State, thereby implemented Islam, carried its message, and prepared the Ummah to convey it after him and to proceed in the same way he had traced. Therefore, carrying the Islamic da’wah in the situation where there is no Khaleefah, should include the call for Islam and the resumption of the Islamic way of life by working to establish the Islamic State which implements Islam and carries its message to the world. Thus, the da’wah is transferred then from a call within the Ummah to resume the Islamic way of life to a call to the world carried out by the Islamic State, and from a local da’wah within the Islamic world to a universal da’wah.
The call to Islam should clearly include correcting the prevalent doctrines, strengthening the relationship with Allah (swt), and it should provide solutions for the problems of the people, so that the da’wah becomes vivid in all fields of life. The Messenger (saw) would recite to the people of Makkah the following verses:
"Perish the hands of Abu Lahab." [TMQ 111:1]
"This is verily the word of an honourable messenger. It is not the words of a poet. Little it is that you believe." [TMQ 69:40-41]
"Woe to those who deal in fraud, those who when they have to receive by measure from men, exact full measure, but when they have to give by measure or weight to men, give less than due." [TMQ 83:1-3]
"For those who believe and do righteous deeds will be gardens beneath which rivers flow; that is the great salvation (the fulfilment of all desires)." [TMQ 85:11]
In Madinah, he recited:
"Establish prayer and practice regular charity." [TMQ 2:110]
He also recited:
"Go forth (whether equipped) lightly or heavily, and strive and struggle with your property and yourselves in the cause of Allah." [TMQ 9:41]
And he (saw) would recite:
"O you who believe, when you deal with each other in a debt for a fixed period of time, reduce it to writing." [TMQ 2:282]
"In order that it does not become (merely) a circuit between the wealthy among you." [TMQ 59:7]
"Not equal are the Companions of the Fire and the Companions of the Garden. The Companions of the Garden are the victorious." [TMQ 59:20]
Accordingly, the Islamic da’wah should carry to the people the system by which they are to solve their daily life’s problems. This is because the secret to the success of the Islamic da’wah is that it is vivid and addresses man in a comprehensive manner as a human being, thereby bringing about a comprehensive and radical change in him.
It is impossible for the da’wah carriers to carry out the responsibility and to effectively discharge their duties unless they rooted within themselves the motivation towards perfection and completeness. They should constantly search for the truth, continuously scrutinize all that they know in order to purify their understandings (of issues) from any alien thoughts, and remove away from these understandings anything close to them (in meaning) that might incorrectly be associated to them. This will keep the idea they carry, pure and clear. The purity and clarity of the thoughts is the only guarantee for Islam’s success and the continuity of this success.
The da’wah carriers have to carry this duty as an obligation from Allah (swt). They have to embark upon it enthusiastically and delightedly expecting the pleasure of Allah (swt). They must not seek for their work any worldly reward or expect praises from people. They must acknowledge nothing except the pursuit of the pleasure of Allah (swt).
The Muslims did not lag behind the world due to their adherence to Islam. On the contrary, their regression commenced the day they abandoned this adherence to Islam and they allowed the foreign culture to enter their lands and the Western concepts to occupy their minds. They declined when they abandoned the intellectual leadership of Islam, neglected its da’wah and misapplied its rules (aHkaam). Therefore, the Muslims must resume the Islamic way of life if they want the revival (nahDah) to occur. However, they will not be able to resume the Islamic way of life unless they carry the Islamic da’wah by carrying the intellectual leadership of Islam, and establish, by this da’wah an Islamic State that in turn will carry the intellectual leadership of Islam by carrying the Islamic call.
It should be noted that carrying the intellectual leadership by carrying the Islamic da’wah in order to revive the Muslims is undertaken because Islam alone can reform the world, and the true revival cannot be achieved without Islam, whether for the Muslims or others. It is on this basis that the da’wah should be carried.
The da’wah must be carried to the world as an intellectual leadership from which all systems emanate, and upon this leadership all thoughts are built, and from such thoughts emanate all the concepts that influence one’s viewpoint in life, without exception.
The da’wah should be carried today as it was delivered in the past and should proceed in compliance with the example of the Messenger (saw), without the slightest deviation from that method in its general and specific details. No regard should be given to the difference in time, for this difference amounts to nothing more than the changes of the means (wasaail) and forms (ashkaal). However, the essence and the reality of life have not and will not change, regardless of the passing of ages and changing of peoples and places.
Thus, carrying the da’wah demands frankness, courage, strength, thought and to challenge all that contradicts the fikrah and Tareeqah (idea and method) of Islam by facing it and exposing its falsehood, irrespective of the situation and its consequences.
Carrying the Islamic da’wah necessitates that the ultimate sovereignty (siyaadah) belongs to the Islamic ideology, regardless of whether it agrees or disagrees with the masses and whether they accept it or reject it and oppose it, or whether it is in accordance with the people’s customs or not.
The da’wah carrier (Haamil-ud-da’wah) does not flatter the people, is not courteous to the authorities or cares for the people’s customs and traditions, and does not give any attention to whether the people will accept him or not. Rather he must adhere to the ideology alone and solely express it paying no regard to anything except the ideology. It is not allowed to tell the followers of other ideologies to adhere to their ideologies. Instead, they are invited without compulsion to embrace the ideology (of Islam) because the da’wah requires that there be no other ideology alongside Islam and that the sovereignty be for Islam alone.
"It is He who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and deen of Haqq, to prevail over all other religions even though the idolaters may abhor it." [TMQ 9:33]
The Messenger (saw) came to this world with his Message and openly challenged the whole world. He (saw) believed in the Truth he (saw) was inviting the people to and declared war against the red and black (people) i.e. everyone, irrespective of their traditions, customs, religions, doctrines, rulers and masses. He (saw) paid no attention to anything other than the message of Islam. He (saw) commenced the da’wah by discrediting the false deities of Quraysh. He (saw) challenged them in their doctrines, discredited them while he was alone, isolated, with no helper and no weapon except his unshakeable and deeply rooted conviction in Islam to which he was inviting. He (saw) did not care for the Arab customs, traditions, religions, or doctrines. In this respect, he (saw) was not courteous nor gave them any regard.
Similarly, the da’wah carrier has to challenge everything. This includes challenging the customs, traditions, erroneous thoughts and concepts, the public opinion when it is wrong even if he has to struggle against it. He has to challenge the doctrines and religions despite the fact that he might be exposed to the fanaticism of their followers and the hostility of those who stick to their distortions.
Delivering the da’wah requires a concern for the complete implementation of the rules of Islam without the slightest concession. The carrier does not accept any truce nor concession, negligence or postponement. Instead, he maintains the matter as a whole and definitively settles it immediately. He does not accept any intercession that would obstruct the truth. Rasool Allah (saw) did not accept the request of Thaqif’s delegation to be allowed to retain their idol, Allat, for three years before it was demolished, neither did he exempt them from prayer, as pre-conditions for embracing Islam. He refused also to leave Allat for two years or for one month, as they had demanded. He refused this request firmly, and decisively, without any hesitation or leniency. This is simply because man has to either believe or not, after all, the result is either Paradise or Hell. However, Rasool Allah (saw) did accept their request not to have them demolish their idol by their hands. Instead, he asked Abu Sufyan and al-Mughirairah ibn Shu’abah to demolish it. He definitely did not accept anything less than the complete ‘Aqeedah and what it requires of implementation. As for the means and forms of carrying this implementation, the Rasool of Allah (saw) accepted them because they are not connected with the nature of the Islamic ‘Aqeedah. Therefore, care must be taken in delivering the Islamic da’wah to preserve the completeness of the idea and the completeness of its implementation without any compromise in the fikrah and Tareeqah. There is no harm in using any wasaa’il (means) it demands.
Carrying the Islamic da’wah necessitates every one of its actions be undertaken for a specific objective. The carrier should always be aware of this aim and work towards achieving it, exerting himself relentlessly to fulfil it. Therefore, the carrier would not be satisfied by thought without action and would deem it to be a hypnotic and fanciful philosophy. Likewise, he would not be satisfied by thought and action devoid of any objective, considering this to be a spiral motion that ultimately ends in apathy and despair. Instead, the da’wah carrier has to insist upon connecting the thought with action and uniting the two in working for a specific objective that will be fulfilled in a practical manner and be brought into existence.
RasoolAllah (saw) carried the intellectual leadership of Islam in Makkah. When he realised that the society there would not make Islam the system of society, he began preparing the society of Madinah. In Madinah, he established the State, thereby implemented Islam, carried its message, and prepared the Ummah to convey it after him and to proceed in the same way he had traced. Therefore, carrying the Islamic da’wah in the situation where there is no Khaleefah, should include the call for Islam and the resumption of the Islamic way of life by working to establish the Islamic State which implements Islam and carries its message to the world. Thus, the da’wah is transferred then from a call within the Ummah to resume the Islamic way of life to a call to the world carried out by the Islamic State, and from a local da’wah within the Islamic world to a universal da’wah.
The call to Islam should clearly include correcting the prevalent doctrines, strengthening the relationship with Allah (swt), and it should provide solutions for the problems of the people, so that the da’wah becomes vivid in all fields of life. The Messenger (saw) would recite to the people of Makkah the following verses:
"Perish the hands of Abu Lahab." [TMQ 111:1]
"This is verily the word of an honourable messenger. It is not the words of a poet. Little it is that you believe." [TMQ 69:40-41]
"Woe to those who deal in fraud, those who when they have to receive by measure from men, exact full measure, but when they have to give by measure or weight to men, give less than due." [TMQ 83:1-3]
"For those who believe and do righteous deeds will be gardens beneath which rivers flow; that is the great salvation (the fulfilment of all desires)." [TMQ 85:11]
In Madinah, he recited:
"Establish prayer and practice regular charity." [TMQ 2:110]
He also recited:
"Go forth (whether equipped) lightly or heavily, and strive and struggle with your property and yourselves in the cause of Allah." [TMQ 9:41]
And he (saw) would recite:
"O you who believe, when you deal with each other in a debt for a fixed period of time, reduce it to writing." [TMQ 2:282]
"In order that it does not become (merely) a circuit between the wealthy among you." [TMQ 59:7]
"Not equal are the Companions of the Fire and the Companions of the Garden. The Companions of the Garden are the victorious." [TMQ 59:20]
Accordingly, the Islamic da’wah should carry to the people the system by which they are to solve their daily life’s problems. This is because the secret to the success of the Islamic da’wah is that it is vivid and addresses man in a comprehensive manner as a human being, thereby bringing about a comprehensive and radical change in him.
It is impossible for the da’wah carriers to carry out the responsibility and to effectively discharge their duties unless they rooted within themselves the motivation towards perfection and completeness. They should constantly search for the truth, continuously scrutinize all that they know in order to purify their understandings (of issues) from any alien thoughts, and remove away from these understandings anything close to them (in meaning) that might incorrectly be associated to them. This will keep the idea they carry, pure and clear. The purity and clarity of the thoughts is the only guarantee for Islam’s success and the continuity of this success.
The da’wah carriers have to carry this duty as an obligation from Allah (swt). They have to embark upon it enthusiastically and delightedly expecting the pleasure of Allah (swt). They must not seek for their work any worldly reward or expect praises from people. They must acknowledge nothing except the pursuit of the pleasure of Allah (swt).
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