Calling People to Tread the Path of God
Who speaks better than one who calls to God and does good works and says, ‘I am surely of those who submit’?
—The Quran, 41:33
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CALLING PEOPLE TO TREAD THE PATH OF GOD
No calamity or affliction, howsoever serious, can wipe out the Muslim community, for their continuing existence is part of the divine promise enshrined in the Quran (15:9). Just as the final Book of God must remain in existence till the last day, so also will the preservers of that Book continue to exist until the last star is snuffed out, and the scales of Divine Justice are put in place.
But it should be borne in mind that this promise, made by the Lord of the universe, relates only to the existence of the followers of Muhammad on earth, and not to their salvation in the Hereafter. Man’s salvation in the Hereafter depends entirely upon his own actions in this life. God’s law in this regard is so inflexible that, let alone the Prophet’s followers, not even the Prophet’s wives and children are exempted from it.
What does ‘action’ imply? It implies the fulfilment of God’s demands on us in two capacities in this world: firstly, as the servants of God and, secondly, as the followers of the last Prophet. In the first capacity, every Muslim, individually, is expected to be a ‘righteous man,’ thus testifying to his bond with God, while as one of the believers in the last Prophet, he must feel inspired by the necessity of acting as the Prophet’s representative, i.e. he must convey his message to the people. God said: “I have imposed the same duties on the followers of Muhammad as I imposed upon My messengers and prophets.” (Wahab ibn Munabbeh)
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was ordained Messenger of God for the whole world, and his followers were similarly ordained on his behalf for the communities into which they were born. The ordainment of the Prophet was to be kept alive after his death by his people. Mas’ud bin Makhrama relates that the Prophet came to his companions and said: “Verily, God has sent me as a blessing for all peoples. Convey this on my behalf to other people.” (Tahzeeb Seerat ibn Hisham, Vol. II, p. 141). When Rustam asked Rabi bin Aamir why they had come to his country, the latter said: “God has sent us here so that we may, to whom He wills, show the path leading away from the worship of man, and towards the worship of God, from the insufficiencies of this world to divine abundance, and from the tyranny of religions to the justice of Islam.” (Tabari, Vol. III, p. 33).
The conveying of this message is so important that all other interests can and should be sacrificed to it. For example, in the sixth year of the Hijra (628 a.d.), when the treaty of Hudaybiyyah was concluded, one of the conditions laid down by the Makkans in this treaty was that when they had to pass through Madinah to carry on their trade with Egypt, Syria and Iraq, their safety would be guaranteed (Bukhari and Muslim). That is to say that the Prophet thus allowed the enemies of Islam full freedom to carry out their trading activities within Islamic territory. This, and similar provisions, were, in a sense, economic and political concessions designed to pave the way for his Dawah work.
If we fail to warn those around us of the Imminent Day, we must live in fear of being held responsible. This applied even to a prophet if he failed to carry the message to the people to whom he was sent. God did not accept even the ‘fast and worship’ from a prophet who left his people in the grip of polytheism or in a state of unbelief and did not convey the divine message to them. Then how can our individual observance of Islam be acceptable when we have around us millions of people who have never been told the truth of life, or the ways they must adopt in order to achieve real success in the life to come.
A prophet who failed to fulfil his responsibilities in the world was doubly at risk of divine retribution (17:75). This was because a prophet had two distinct duties: one, to become a believer himself and, two, to proclaim God’s message to people throughout the world (5:67). With the end of the prophethood, the people of Muhammad must now act in his stead, having been selected by God (22:77) to carry His message to mankind. Thus, Muslims have two duties: one, to live to the full a life of belief and, two, to testify to God’s truth among mankind. According to the Quran, the followers of the Prophet are duty-bound to call people to the path of God, just as the Prophet was so bound. (10:108). The hadith says: “You are God’s witness on earth.” (Bukhari)
As we all know, when a man dies, he does not cease to exist, but is transported to another life where there is eternal heaven or eternal hell. This is a very serious state of affairs: for, if one remains unaware of God’s creation plan in this present life, and dies in ignorance, without having followed God’s will, one will suddenly, after death, find oneself doomed to everlasting torture, with no possibility of escape. Worldly people may find other things more important, but truly, the most important thing in God’s eyes is for man to learn this truth.
To save man from this horrifying danger, God began the chain of prophets since the time man was created. Every human settlement and every community received God-sent ‘warners’ who arrived in succession (23:44). The purpose of sending prophets was so that mankind might have no excuse before God. (4:165). It was not enough, therefore, for the prophets to obey God’s commandments in their personal lives; it was also essential for them to convey God’s message to the whole of mankind. The Prophet Yunus communicated God’s message to a hundred thousand people in Nineveh (Iraq), but he inadvertently committed the error of leaving his people before his task was fully completed. God considered this mistake so grave that he caused a fish to swallow him, and he was not released until the realization finally came to him that he must return to his people.
The truth is that a prophet’s prophethood is not genuinely established until he has performed the duties of prophethood to the letter. (5:67) Similarly, a community (ummah) will be entitled to be called the people of a prophet only if they become his representatives, passing on God’s message to the world as brought by the prophet. There is no doubt that the followers of the prophet have the same responsibility as the prophet has: the only difference is that the prophet is responsible as an individual, while his followers are responsible as a group. The prophet has personally to bear the burden of such responsibility.
It is not incumbent upon each individual from amongst his followers to perform the duty of calling upon people to accept the Truth. If a group sets itself calling people to the path of God then the rest of the people may be exempted from this task. But these people will certainly be required to support the da‘i, in whatever way possible. If they, far from supporting the da‘i, create obstacles in their path, they will certainly be punished by God.
The Quran asks: “Why, then, does not a party from every group come (to the Prophet) in order to acquire a deeper knowledge of religion and to warn their people …” (9:122)
The responsibility of bearing witness to the truth before the world, under the guidance of the Prophet, is clearly established by the Quran:
“Thus We have made you a middle nation, so that you may act as witnesses for mankind, and the messenger may be a witness for you.” (2:143/22:78)
On the Day of Judgement when all human beings are gathered in the Divine Court, these people (da‘is) will be brought as witnesses before those to whom they had conveyed the divine message. This is expressed thus in the Bible:
Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified; or let them hear and say, “It is truth.” “You are my witnesses,” says the Lord, “and My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me.” (Isaiah, 43:9-10)
The Prophet was so deeply involved in his responsibility as a witness to the Truth that God had to say:
“It may be that you will destroy yourself with grief because they will not believe.” (26:3).
Similarly, if Muslims were to become conscious of the fact that, after the Prophet, it is they who have been ordained to work in his stead, they would, with this realisation, be unable to sleep soundly at night or to rest properly during the day. For a duty of this nature implies that either they fulfil it, in which case they must bear witness to the Truth before all the nations of the world, or be apprehended as defaulters by God on the charge of having failed to inform people of what they will have to face in the next, eternal life. It would be correct to assume that if Muslims do not proclaim the Truth that God intended for the good of mankind, they definitely incur the risk of having the Quranic decree—such as was applied to the previous keepers of the divine books—applied likewise to them. As the Quran states:
Those who conceal the evidence of the truth and the guidance We have revealed, after We have made them clear to people in the Scripture, will be rejected by God and so do others. But from those who repent and mend their ways and make known the truth, I will certainly accept their repentance. I am the Ever-Relenting, the Most Merciful.” (2:159-60)
If God’s will is what He has expressed in His Book, the Quran, it can be concluded without doubt that if Muslims individually do not reform themselves, and do not ask for forgiveness from God and fail to communicate God’s religion to non-Muslims—to their own compatriots as well as to people at the global level—they will not be able to escape divine retribution, even if they continue to worship day and night and never miss their additional morning afternoon prayers. The notion that the way to heaven does not pass through God’s creatures is highly erroneous. It should be clearly understood that the gates of heaven cannot be opened to us unless we have tried our best—even at the risk of undergoing the most undesirable trials—to close the doors of hell to the millions of non-believers who live around us.
As we learn from the Quran regarding the prophets and their followers:
Do you think that you will enter Paradise without having suffered like those who passed away before you? Affliction and hardship befell them and so shaken were they that the Messenger and the believers would exclaim, ‘When will God’s help come?’ (2:214)
The following has been stated in the Quran in the words of the Prophet: ‘This Quran has been revealed to me so that through it I may warn you and whoever it reaches.’ (6:19)
Those who shall warn the people of the Day of Judgement in this world, will stand as God’s witnesses against them ‘on that Day’ (40:51). Now the question arises as to who today stands witness to the peoples of the world, so that he may, as a follower of the Final Prophet, bear witness in the Divine Court that he had warned the people of the reality of life. Is there any group in the whole Islamic world which can be said to be performing the task of warning the nations of the world? If this is not the case, then does it mean that God has dispensed with the sending of His witnesses to the nations so that He may decide the future of these nations on the basis of the witnesses’ testimony? Certainly, God’s sunnah can never be abrogated.
CONTENT OF THE CALL
What is the message we must convey to the people? In a phrase, it is ‘the oneness of God,’ that is to say, to believe in one God and make Him the centre and pivot of our lives. According to the traditions, when Makkah was conquered and all kinds of people, young and old, men and women, thronged to the Prophet, for the oath of allegiance, he accepted their oath on two counts: Islam and shahadah. (Baihaqi).
Aswad relates that on the day of the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet was taking the oath of allegiance. He asked him what is meant by shahadah. The Prophet replied, ‘To bear witness that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.’ (Baihaqi)
The concept of monotheism is not just a philosophical issue, but is a test paper for man. In this respect the Hereafter becomes an essential part of the call of monotheism. When a preacher tells people of the oneness of God, he also informs them that God will not always remain invisible as He is today. After death, we shall have to present ourselves before our Master to hear His judgement of our actions in this world, where we will be held accountable to God for all our actions in this world.
In the matter of the call of Islam, it is vital to keep in view the delicacies of the interrelationship of the different parts of religion, otherwise we shall not be able to do it justice. Under normal circumstances, making a direct call to accept Islam would appear to be unwise. That is why those who want to work in this field have different opinions regarding the question of the method of the communication of the message: some people think that Islam could be presented to non-Muslims as a scheme of social reform, or as a better system of communal living; others think that Islam should be presented as the upholder of universal truths, common to all religions; yet others have attempted to give it a philosophical form, that is to say, man’s moral awareness should serve as a basis for proving the necessity for divine law, etc. But all these approaches have a common deficiency; none of them exempt us from the obligatory duty of testifying to the truth, for the most important aspect of bearing witness is to warn people of the Day of Judgement.
The reason for the question arising as regards the method of dawah work, is that we seek its answer from history, rather than from the life of the Prophet. Psychologically, we are the inheritors of post-Islamic history, in which the regular call to accept Islam used was ‘Accept Islam! O People.’ That is why the moment we think of the call of Islam, this form of address comes to our mind. But, in the Prophet’s dawah life, we find a clear gradation in his approach to dawah. The direct call to accept Islam was first used during his stay in Madinah. Prior to this, in Makkah, the wording of the call was as follows: “O people, say, ‘There is no god but God,’ and you will succeed,” “I have come to warn you of the coming day of horror,” etc. All his addresses made in Makkah were cast in this mould. His later style of address, “Become a Muslim, and be saved,” was adopted only in Madinah. In the early Makkan days, when he made his appeal to Abu Bakr, he said: “I am God’s Prophet, I invite you to come to Him.” But then after the Fall of Makkah, he made the same appeal to Abu Bakr’s father, Abu Quhafa, in these words: “O Abu Quhafa, become a Muslim, and be saved.” That is to say, the invitation to join an organized religion started in Madinah after the general introduction to Truth had been accomplished in Makkah and Islam had been placed on a sound footing. Prior to this, the essence of religion, rather than an organized form of religion, had been the basis of the Prophet’s call.
If this basic point about the form of address is kept in view, all doubts come to an end. Without fear of any psychological complication on the part of the madu, the creation plan of God, in principle, may be presented as the essential element in the call to accept the Truth. According to the creation plan of God, man shall have to give an account of himself ‘whether you disclose what is in your minds or keep it hidden.’ (2:284), when ‘men’s hearts will leap up the throats and choke them,’ (40:18). This day has also been referred to in the Quran as ‘the Day of Gathering’ (42:7), and ‘the Day of Meeting.’ (40:13). This is the subject that dominated the verses revealed in Makkah, that is, during the dawah period.
1. We cite below some examples to show the difference between calling people to accept the essence of a religion and inviting them to join an organized religion. Chapter 102 of the Quran revealed in Makkah reads: ‘Greed for more and more distracted you [from God] till you reached the grave. But you will soon come to know. But you will soon come to know. Indeed, were you to know the truth with certainty, you would see the fire of Hell. You would see it with the eye of certainty. Then on that Day you shall be questioned about your worldly favours.’ It was this chapter which had initially made an impact on the German neo-convert Leopold Asad.
2. When the Prophet was ordained by God to invite people to accept Islam, according to the Arab custom, he climbed the Mount Safa and addressed those who had assembled there. According to Ibn Abbas, the speech was as follows: “Tell me, would you believe me if I were to say to you that there is an army behind this mountain, heading towards you to destroy you?’ The people gathered there exclaimed, ‘Yes!’ Then the Prophet said, ‘I warn you of the imminence of a severe punishment.’” (Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah, Vol. III, p. 38)
Once the Prophet conveyed the message of Islam to Abu Sufyan ibn Harb and Hind bint Utba in the following words: “By God, there will come a day when you shall die. You will be thereafter raised from your graves: the virtuous will then enter heaven and the evil will go to hell. What I have said is the truth, and you two are the first among those I am warning.” (Ibn Asakir, from Muawiyah)
3. Umar Farooq once said: “Woe to the ruler on earth on the day he meets the Ruler in heaven. Only he shall be spared who decides with justice and truth and not in self-interest, or in the interests of relations, or out of fear or greed, and who keeps before him the Book of God like a mirror.”
Fortunately, this subject has acquired a new significance in the present age, giving rise to the new discipline of thanatology, which makes a scientific study of the subject of death. Not so long ago, discussions regarding death formed the subject matter only of particular kinds of religious books. Suddenly, the topic of death has become exceedingly popular, and has even become a subject for academic specialization. The university of Minnesota takes pride in having established a centre for thanatological studies and the U.C.L.A. has established a laboratory for the study of life endangering circumstances. In gatherings, the subject of death as a topic of conversation has surpassed even the evergreen subjects of sex and politics. A review which appeared in the American monthly, Atlantic, says that thanatology has given us a whole new literary genre. Given these new circumstances, there can be no better way of calling man to accept God than to warn him about death and the Hereafter.
The warning about the Hereafter should be considered the central point in Dawah, for that is man’s greatest problem. The fact that man, after death, shall have to face the consequences of his deeds on an eternal time-scale, makes death and the life after death the most vital of issues on which his attention should be fully focussed.
Dr. Billy Graham (b. 1918) writes of how a man—one of the richest men in the world—sent him an urgent invitation to come to his home. From the letter of invitation it appeared that no time should be lost. Dr. Graham accepted this invitation and left for his home immediately. After dinner, his host took him aside and said, “While at the moment I am in good health, my age tells me that I do not have long to live. I have never thought much about death before, but now I find my mind preoccupied with it, and the idea frightens me. I need help. I am going to take a fateful leap into the unknown. Young man, can you give me a ray of hope?” (Reader’s Digest, December, 1972).
This is the greatest personal problem for all human beings, for everyone has to die. The experience of thousands of years has produced no exception to this rule. There being no appointed time for death to take place makes the problem even more immediate. Even a man with the greatest riches at his disposal knows that he can neither postpone his death—regardless of his resources—nor buy success in the next world. And this makes him frightened. This niche in human nature is the best vantage point from which to go straight to people’s hearts with the invitation to accept the Truth. This is the unguarded door which is always left open. Whenever a da‘i knocks this door, he will find it open.
