How to present Islam

Definition of Da’wah:
Invitation . . to Islam
Is Da’wah obligatory on all of us?

• Sura Asr (103)

Most surely man
is in loss, Except
those who believe
and do good, and
enjoin on each
other truth, and
enjoin on each
other patience.
Is Da’wah obligatory on all of us?

• 16:125 Invite all to the way of your Lord

with Hikmah (wisdom) and beautiful
preaching, and argue with them in ways
which are best . . .”
• 2:143 And thus We have made you a
medium (just) nation that you may be the
bearers of witness to the people and
(that) the Messenger may be a bearer of
witness to you; . . .
 Is Da’wah obligatory on all of us?

• And not alike are

the good and the
evil. Repel (evil)
with what is best,
when lo! he
between whom
and you was
enmity would be
as if he were a
warm friend.
Is Da’wah obligatory on all of us?

Doing da'wah and

amr bil ma'roof /
nahy anil munkar are ways of
a believer to reflect and take
care of himself, and to travel
on the path to His Lord.
THEN, WHY DOES ISLAM SAY THAT THERE IS
NO COMPULSON IN RELIGION? (2:256)

 We invite people to the truth. (How our

Prophet invited others to Islam. This is where
our duty ends and we can pray to Allah for
their guidance. Any means of force,
compulsion, or deception attached to calling
others to the faith is against the purpose of
da'wah and the teachings and examples of
the prophets. We cannot use deception e.g.
(provide food and lodging to refugees) and
expect them to follow our religion out of
obligation.
Excuses for not doing Da’wah:

I am not a scholar
 I am not religious (first I have to be
religious, then only can I work on
others . . .)
 Religion is a personal thing
 Not enough time
 May lose friends or job
 I feel embarrassed
 I will do it when I am old
Excuses for not doing Da’wah con’t . .

 Might get hurt (O you who believe! take care

of your souls; he who errs cannot hurt you
when you are on the right way; to Allah is
your return, of all (of you), so He will inform
you of what you did).
(the aya commands the mu'mineen to be
steadfast and to take care of their
souls/selves, and to not be affected by those
who are misguided, and to Allah is the
eventual destination)
Excuses for not doing Da’wah cont . .

 You mix with those who are misguided

and you yourself will become tainted. You
may destroy yourself in trying to save
others from destruction.

 Allahwould have guided them if He

would have wanted to.
Intention

 For the sake of Allah

Characteristics
(non-Muslims look at people, not religion)

 Good listener

 Soft spoken and kind & gentle (never curses)

3:159 Thus it is due to mercy from Allah that you deal with them
gently, and had you been rough, hard hearted, they would
certainly have dispersed from around you;

 Never lies or breaks promises.

Surat al-saff sura 61 verses 2-3 “O you who believe! why do you
say that which you do not do? It is most hateful to Allah that you
should say that which you do not do.
Characteristics cont . .
Good student, employer, employee,
customer, citizen, husband,
son/daughter

Patient

Optimistic

Goes out of the way to help

What should you know?
 Clear concept of Tawheed (Oneness of Allah) and be able
to explain it
 Able to prove Qur’an is a Divine Book
 Prove Oneness of Allah from Qur’an, Bible and logic
 Prove the Prophet hood of Prophet Muhammad (saw)
 Able to give a clear view of Islam
 Memorize references from the Qur’an, Bible and Vedas
 Islamic History, World History, current events, statistics on
moral decline of the western society
 Be able to prove that Islam is a guidance for all mankind
and a complete way of life
How do you start it?
 Pray to Allah for success
 Appearance (how you look) invites questions
 In conversation, see issues religiously

Do/say things that invite questions:

 At prayer time, say “I know have to go for prayers”
 Say “As-Salaamu alaikum” audibly and clearly
upon meeting a fellow Muslim
 If you sneeze, say Al-Hamdu lillah audibly and
clearly
 If a non-Muslim sneezes, say “May Allah guide
you”
 Say Insha Allah when talking about the future
Caution
 Do not those who believe know that, had
Allah willed, He could have guided all
mankind? As for those who disbelieve,
disaster ceases not to strike them because of
what they do, or it dwells near their home
until the threat of Allah come to pass. Lo!
Allah fails not to keep the meeting.
This is one of the reasons why we shouldn't
occupy ourselves overly much with the destiny of
those who are misguided.
About da'wah in shi'a viewpoint:
It is an important concept in shi'ism as well but
it is treated differently than it is with sunnis.

 With typical sunnis, they believe that you

have to convince someone of the truth.
Some of the extremist sunnis, like the
wahhabis, believe that you can even force
someone to accept the truth. Regarding the
verse la ikraaha fi al-deen (there is no
compulsion religion), they believe it has been
abrogated. This may explain the behavior of
the Saudi government in imposing their rigid
interpretation of Islam upon their residents.
About da'wah in shi'a viewpoint:
 provide information
 be there as a resource
 participate at gatherings - town
meetings and interfaith discussions.
 very important point in shi'a da'wah is
that we believe hidayah, or the
guidance to accept islam, is ONLY
given by Allah (swt).
 pray to Allah to grant someone
hidayah, but the actual grant is from
Allah (swt).
About da'wah in shi'a viewpoint:
 many ahadeeth say that you shouldn't get into
arguments about matters of faith because its
not good for your spiritual growth.

 present a point of view, but do not be overly

hard to convince the person who's listening --
the truth should stand for itself. This applies
even with our discussions with sunnis.

The