Compulsory Responsibility
Chapter five of the Quran says:
O Messenger, deliver whatever has been sent down to you by your Lord. If you do not do so, you will not have conveyed His message. God will defend you from mankind.
The special purpose for which God had sent Prophet Muhammad was to convey to people the message and guidance which he received from God. This was the Prophet’s main mission. If the Prophet had not undertaken this task, it would have meant that he had failed in discharging his divine duties. And that being so, his prophethood would have come under the shadow of doubt. In other words, the prophethood of Prophet Muhammad could only stand proven in the eyes of God after he had completed the dawah mission. And by not completing the dawah mission, he would have failed to establish his real role and true position.
After the end of the prophethood, the followers of the Prophet—the entire Muslim ummah—must assume the mantle of prophethood. That is, they have to carry out the same task which the Prophet carried out in his lifetime. The very basis of their being called the followers of the Prophet is the fact of their performing dawah work on his behalf, and their continuing to convey the true message of the divine religion in its original form. If they failed to perform this mission, the words of the above verse of the Quran would become true, as it could have become true for the Prophet on non-performance of dawah work. That is, in the eyes of God, they would lose the true position of being called the followers of Prophet Muhammad.
There are three levels on which Muslims must perform dawah work. Every single believing man and woman must prove himself or herself to be a preacher of Truth on one of these three levels. Those who will not participate in this mission, will find their deeds have become worthless in the eyes of God. In this regard, God has the same criterion for the Prophet as for his followers.
It is necessary for every believer to be eager to give guidance to other people. So, the first level of dawah work deals with the intention to do so. This is known in the Islamic Shariah as niyyah. Specifically, it means the individual intention to participate in the mission of dawah work. But such intention is not just some kind of verbal repetition or lip service. It is a feeling which makes the heart tremble. Every believer should become restless and tremble on seeing others being misguided. This feeling should be of such intensity that, while thinking about it, tears should flood his eyes. And he should pray for the guidance of others while contemplating in solitude.
On the second level of dawah work, believers should take every precaution not to become a hindrance in the way of dawah work. They will not act in such a way as to arouse in people’s hearts hatred or disgust for Islam, nor will they in any way cause annoyance on the subject. They will completely refrain from any such acts as will cause friction between the addresser and the addressee. They will take special care to conduct themselves in this way, even if it means sacrificing their economic, national or political interests.
On the third level, dawah is to be performed directly. Those who have the ability to present Islam through public speaking, writing or through the modern means of communication, should call upon people to accept the divine religion. They should try to address people’s minds by using arguments which make a very strong impression, so that their addressees may leave the wrong path and come to accept true guidance.
The phrase in the Quran, ‘and God will save you from the people,’ means that you need not make excuses for inaction. In this situation, none of your excuses will be accepted by God. You have to leave all possible or impossible excuses to God and throw yourself completely into the mission of dawah work. In this regard no other work for the believers would be right.
The principle of divine law for man is that he will be held accountable only for what he is capable of. Whatever capability a man possesses, to that extent only will he be held responsible. If he is lacking in capability, he should at least pray in his heart for others guidance.
