Muslims are responsible for calling people to God. If they rise to this task, they will be held deserving of the greatest share in God’s blessings.
Muslims are the Ummah of the final prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him). This position of the Muslims determines their responsibility as the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad in the present world. They have the responsibility to call people to God, for which the prophets used to come in the past. The coming of the prophets has undoubtedly stopped but the mission of the prophets continues. After the finality of prophethood through Prophet Muhammad (570-623 AD), Muslims have been assigned the task of prophethood. No other work less than this mission of the Prophet will suffice to qualify them for being the Ummah of the Final Prophet.
What is the mission of the Prophet? It is to convey God’s message to man, that there is no god but one God. It is to tell them that this world is not the ‘be all’ and the ‘end all’ of their life. After death, they will be reborn in the Hereafter. It is to tell them that they are not free to do whatever they want in the present world; they are under the command of God. They have to lead a disciplined life despite having freedom of choice. The prophetic mission is to communicate the divine knowledge that is preserved in the Quran and the Prophet’s teachings to everyone so that in the Hereafter, no one might say he had no knowledge of this or that he was unaware. (Quran, 4:165) This is the real responsibility of the Muslims as the followers of Prophet Muhammad.
While calling people to God is the only religious duty for Muslims, this is also the most important duty to which the Muslims of the present times are totally oblivious. The greatest reason for this is that the minds of the present Muslims are obsessed with their community problems. They think that their very existence as a nation is in danger. This thinking so dominates their psyche that they are not even aware of their dawah responsibilities. Some Muslims have gone to the extent of regarding their community activities as Islamic dawah. This thinking is un-Islamic and un-Quranic.
In fact, according to the Quran, the problem, or the issue of the security of the Muslims, is also linked with dawah work. God has guaranteed the security of Muslims as a community based on their performance of dawah work. (5:67) If Muslims fail to perform this task, then their national security is not guaranteed. The history of the Muslims of the past is proof of the former. And the history of the present Muslims is proof of the latter.
The entire history of Islam proves that the Islamic dawah is the greatest power of Islam. But for this power to materialize, all the psychological obstacles must be removed between Muslims and their addressees. The Muslims of the first phase were aware of this reality. That is why they adopted the way of tolerance and adjustment in all the countries they went to. They knew any conflict, controversy, or religious coercion would only make their addressees obdurate. Due to this feeling, they would refuse to accept something they would otherwise have readily accepted.
The truth is that Islam has the power to conquer the hearts and minds of people within itself. Islam is exactly in accordance with human nature. If it is brought to man in its original form, it directly descends on his heart and mind. It compels man to acknowledge its veracity. Islam has the inherent power to appeal to hearts and minds even today, provided the present Muslims end all national or communal controversies which they are indulging in with their non-Muslim neighbours in every country.
The truth is that there is only one religious duty for Muslims: calling people to God. Both their worldly success and salvation in the Hereafter depend upon the performance of this task. This is the work which has been destined for them by God. If they rise to this task, they will be held, deserving of having the greatest share in God’s blessings. If they do not rise to this task, there is great fear and apprehension that they will be subject to God’s wrath and chastisement. All the present activities in the name of Islam will not save them from God’s wrath.
Wahiduddin Khan
March 20, 2020
New Delhi
