Da’wah and Da’ees: Where do we stand? – by Nisar yusuf

by Nisaar Y. Nadiadwala on  January 20, 2011

 

In one of his talk, Ahmed Deedat said ” I offered thousands of dollars to Readers’ Digest  to print one advertisement of The Holy Qur’an but they flatly refused” . Readers’ Digest has millions of readers including Muslims , yet it has written lengthy articles about ‘ Fanatic Muslims ‘like  thousands of other newspapers and periodicals in most of the languages of the world.

Notice the miracle of The Qur’an ,that today it is lucky enough to get itself advertised on the covers of International Magazines, satellite channels, absolutely free of cost. No one except Islam gets so much time slot on International media and attracts maximum TRPs world wide.Allah can get Da’wah done through the very same people who are trying to malign Islam.

Yet Many Muslims think Da’wah is risky. In that matter everything is risky. Even crossing  a street, if you have not learnt how to do it…driving a car is also risky even if you have learnt how to drive….So what do we do? we learn and be careful but we don’t give up .

Then why is Da’wah not taken up as a skill to learn or done passionately by a majority of Muslims the way they follow the other rituals of Islam? Why is Da’wah not included as a compulsory subject in the schools run by Muslims or thousands of Madrasas across the globe? How many books can you find with subjects like “10 Great ways to Attract Non Muslims to Islam ”  or  ”Da’wah made Easy”  or ” A Guide to Everyday Da’wah” ? There are very few scholars who  are excellent speakers or can lock horns in debates on Islam in the media. These lessons are rarely taught on professional level by experts.

More astonishing is that, no body is questioning or raising up the issue . May be because :We assume that a mere degree in Qirat or Hadith or Arabic Language or a few books is  enough to qualify one to hold a dialogue with fellow Non Muslims. More ever there are no good trainers in the field as well, and very few actually have practical experience in “Field  Da’wah”. In fact there are many Da’ees who are non Madrasa products but are getting good results in the field of Da’wah.

One of the reasons  why Da’wah is not taken as a serious subject is that many people fear that it does not bring good returns, unlike a product which grows when advertised. How many rich Muslims would be ready to sponsor a Daee’s project or his training in media skills for Sawab e Jaariya?

But the good news is that now we are changing. Our attitude towards Da’wah. Mark my words, Da’wah is growing into a big industry like movement. It is being one of the fastest adopted as a  parallel  career by Muslim youth from Alaska to Tokyo, and Moscow to Colombo. Many  Masajid in the West are returning back with their role as a place for Interfaith dialogue. Alhamdolillah the Muslims have finally realized that Da’wah can no longer be taken casually, rather it is mandatory, for some as full time and the rest as at least part time.

Author : Nisaar Nadiadwala studies, analysis, speaks and writes on soio- edicational issues from Islamic perspective. He can be reached at nisaar_yusuf@yahoo.com