10. Ignoring the Problems, Availing the Opportunities

In chapter 74 of the Quran, addressing the Prophet God said:

‘O, you, wrapped in your cloak, arise and give warning! Proclaim the glory of your Lord; purify your garments; shun uncleanness.’ (74:5)

The etiquettes explained in these verses are that of dawah and not that of manners. In these verses the Prophet has been commanded to arise and invite the people to one God. That is, to use all the available opportunities of dawah work avoiding the evils of the people.

For the purpose of dawah a da‘ee has to go to the people. In ancient Makkah, Kabah was the gathering place for the people. There they gathered to worship the idols placed inside the sacred house the Kabah.  In the Kabah, the idols of each tribe of Makkah were placed. And it was due to those idols that the people from almost all over Arabia used to gather there. In that situation, the Prophet was commanded to avoid uncleanliness like the worship of the idols and make full use of the gatherings for dawah purpose. That is the same principle called ‘Ignore the problems and avail the opportunities.’

This wisdom of ‘avoiding the problems and availing the opportunities’ was not for the period of ancient Makkah only rather it is required today also. The basic thing is that a da‘ee needs a gathering of people for dawah. And such type of gatherings will not be organized for dawah purpose rather they will be organized for different purposes and on different occasions. For example, the purpose of the people gathering around Kabah was to worship the idols placed therein. In this case, the proper method is that the gatherings and the purpose of gatherings should be looked upon separately. A da‘ee should never look at the purpose of gathering. Their target should be the gatherings.

At Makkah, the Prophet went almost daily to the Kabah, recited the verses of the Quran to the people gathered there and called them to Islam. This prophetic tradition clearly shows that if the people have gathered for the purpose of even idol worship a da‘ee should avoid the aspect of rujz or unleanliness and perform dawah work making full use of the presence of the gathering. However, whatever may be the purpose of a gathering it provides a considerable number of audience to the preacher. A da‘ee should strictly follow the principle of avoidance in this matter. That is, he should totally ignore the undesirable aspects of things and only make full use of the gathering by participating in them. This is the only proper way of doing dawah work .

This wisdom is very useful for the purpose of spreading the message of God. The fact is that without adopting this wisdom one cannot perform the task of spreading the divine message of Truth.