The Art Of Dawah- Preparation And Knowledge

[FADIA BINT ISMAIL]

One of the highest forms of Service to Allah is to invite his creation to his oneness and that in Islam is called Dawah.

 

The person who is intending to invite people to Islam must make preparations because if he has not prepared the banquet he is only going to turn his guests hungry, he is also going to ruin his own reputation and lose his trust.

 

One of the important factors of Dawah is Quality of service and preparations. Like the quality of one's character which is a very important factor in inviting people to the oneness of Allah. Dawah requires calmness of character and wisdom.

 

Dawah is a very difficult yet delicate job and it requires alot of wisdom and quality. We cannot set an agenda to what we want and rush to bring people to the level of perfection, as a Da'ee we should take them step by step until they develop a level of maturity and strength.

 

One of the many qualities that will enable you to be prepared when going out and calling people to Islam is truthfulness. Truthfulness will lead you to be prepared and you will be more alert to your surroundings and this will lead one to the pillar of talking.

 

A Da'ee should always be prepared and the necessary knowledge is also required in order to face the difficult challenges that you will face. If you are going to speak for one minute for example you will need 30 minutes to prepare and to speak one hour you need 10 hours to prepare. That is why when you have truthfulness and you are sincere you will be more thorough in your preparation because you will know that whatever you convey is an Amanah from Allah for which you will be questioned upon.

According to some of the companions of the Prophet (SAW) he never taught them more than 3 to 5 verses per day and that he use to repeat himself in order to emphasize a point.

 

A successful speaker has three elements. Substance, Body Language and way of addressing oneself.

 

the most important quality a Da'ee should have is to study the Sunnah of Allah so you will know what to expect in certain situations and conditions and how to deal with them. This belief and knowledge will help perfect your character as well. Character as mentioned in my previous posts is linked to preparation and knowledge because the way you act or react is driven by the attributes and knowledge of Allah and the teachings of our Nabi (SAW).

 

When you have knowledge of the Deen you will therefor also be more prepared, for example if you are addressing someone and you speak about Hijaab or Halaal and Haraam and that is your main focus, the person you are trying to invite to Islam will be so overwhelmed that they will abandon the message. The most important thing to do when you are addressing someone, you should focus on developing the faith.

 

A Da'ee is open minded and should always be on the look out to seek new and different kinds of knowledge as it will help you to have understanding of various topics. Islam is the way of life, all topics related to life are part of Islam. A successful Da'ee has knowledge about everyday affairs as well as religious knowledge.

 

Our day to day dealings are with Muslims, but our Prophet Muhammad (saws), when he used do Dawah, kept all his day to day dealings with Mushrikhs. If we are distanced from those people on whom we need to give Dawah to how can we invite people to Islam? We should maintain good relations with them with the intention of Dawah and try to understand their attitude. Using this relationship, we have to understand the misconception they have regarding Islam. They may have many misconceptions about Islam. We need to first identify them and then we need to clarify them. If you don’t know how to clarify, ask those who know about it and try to clarify the misconceptions with their help. When a misconception is cleared, a person will gain a good impression.

 

For example, because of a small misunderstanding between you and your friend, you stopped talking to him for more than 2 years. After the misunderstanding was cleared, you meet and greet each other and immediately hug each other. This strengthens the relationship. So whenever misconceptions are cleared, the person will have a new attitude.

 

There are a list of things we should have in order to give Dawa

 

Niyyah (intention)

Making Dua to Allah (swt) for His help

Preparation and knowledge along with the correct actions and mannerism

Establishing good relationship with non Muslims and Clearing their misconceptions.

Reciting the Quran before them and To do Dua for them.

 

If you follow this strategy, Inshallah you can do this work alone. You don’t need anyone’s help, but bare in mind all guidance comes from Allah and all success comes from Allah. The only thing you need is passion to do this work and love of Allah and Inshallah you will succeed.

I ask Allah (swt) to give Taufeeq to all Muslims to do this work and to forgive whatever short-comings we had in the past. Ameen.