Dawah’s work has been termed in the Quran as ‘the call to God.’ In other words, dawah work aims at bringing people closer to their Creator and Sustainer. Calling people to God tells them that the only right way of life for them on this earth is to become true believers in God.
Calling people to God means warning man of the evil consequences of self-oriented life, inviting him to adopt the God-oriented life. The most authentic and reliable source of knowledge of the divine teachings on both types of life has been preserved for us in the form of the Quran. Calling people to God is purely other-worldly. It is not directly associated with national, social, or economic issues. It is a campaign to call people to God. It starts in the spiritual and religious idiom and goes on in the same idiom and style till the end.
The mission of calling people to God is, in essence, a divine task performed by human beings. It must be performed spiritually. Any work done in a non-spiritual way will not be a genuine call to God, even if it is done in His name.
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The best way is to become a well-wisher for mankind. This should be the motto of a dayee, or a person who engages in dawah. He should be positive to the last extent, not get offended and be empty of negative thoughts for others.
I once met an ultra-modern person who had studied philosophy and history. He said during conversation, “If Muhammad is removed from history, what shall be lost from history?” Apparently, it was a provocative statement but I did not get provoked. I kept thinking and increased my study. After this study, I published the book, Islam: The Creator of Modern Age. The book was a result of the thinking that developed in me due to the comment made by the above person. Dawah work should be done purely on the basis of the Quran and Hadith and not on the basis of communal or national sentiment.
Source: The Seeker’s Guide
The Muslim community has been called ‘The Middle Nation’ in the Quran in the following verse of the second chapter, which states: “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)
This verse speaks of the role of Muslims as dayees. It explains that they have received the divine religion through God’s Messenger. Therefore, they now must communicate God’s message to every generation in every age. The word ‘witness’ (shahid) in this verse is equivalent to dayee.
It was the responsibility of the followers of Prophet Muhammad to pass on the truth they had received from the Prophet to others. The same responsibility devolved upon the ancient people of the Book. That is, making the message of God clear to people. (The Quran, 3:187)
Conveying God’s word to humanity, or the task of being a witness (shaahid), is neither something mysterious nor is it a matter of superiority. The Call to God is all a matter of responsibility, and without doubt, there is no responsibility more significant than this. The responsibility of the Prophet’s Ummah is far more than that of other communities. The Prophet of Islam is called the ‘seal of the Prophets’ in the Quran (33:40); therefore, no other Prophet will come after him. The followers of Prophet Muhammad have to fulfil their responsibility of conveying the divine message to their contemporaries in every age till Doomsday. It is the duty of every Muslim, and he has to perform it on a priority basis.
We should remember that conveying God’s message to humanity is to be done in a clear and understandable style to the addressees, which is retained in their minds or makes a lasting impression on their minds. In the modern era, we need to make Islam understandable to people in the language of today, i.e., modern, scientific idiom.
Only by fulfilling this dawah responsibility to our utmost can we be held eligible in God’s eyes to be called the ‘Middle Nation’.
Source: Calling People to God
In his last sermon, the Prophet Muhammad urged his followers to convey the message of the Quran ‘even if only a single verse.’ (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 3461) The Quran aims to bring people closer to their Creator. That is, to convey to human beings that there are only two ways of leading life in this world: the self-oriented and the God-oriented. A self-oriented life is one in which all activities centre on oneself. Such a life is led according to man’s thinking. He follows his whims and desires. To him, fulfilling personal interests and ambitions is the standard to measure human success. On the other hand, a God-oriented life is one in which man considers himself subservient to God. He moulds his feelings and emotions according to God’s commands. To such a person, a successful life is one in which one lives and dies in accordance with God’s pleasure. That is why conveying the message of Quran is also called calling people to God.
When one follows a self-oriented way of life, it engenders such feelings as pride, jealousy, malice, and egoism. A man comes to think that truth is what he believes, and falsehood is what he rejects. However, when one follows a God-oriented life, it awakens feelings of devotion, humility, gratitude, and accountability.
The primary purpose of calling people to God is to introduce man to God—his Creator and Sustainer, and acquaint man with the creation plan of God. He should be told what his relationship with God is and how God will deal with him after death. Its objective is to awaken man from his slumber, to make him realize his servitude, and incline him to turn towards God. The target of this work is man’s realization of God. He should discover his powerlessness in comparison with God’s immense power. He should ‘see’ God before the veil of the unseen is removed. Before being directly confronted with Him, he should have the experience of realizing God indirectly. Calling people to God aims to awaken man’s insight so that he begins to see glimpses of God in the signs of the vast universe. It is to unveil the Creator in the mirror of His creation. Then he will be able to see glimpses of the realities of the Hereafter in the beautiful scenes of the world of nature.
