Guidelines

We all have the freedom to partake whatever portion of Dawah through whatever means that Allah has provided us. But more important is the Spirit behind the effort, not the actual means and reach.


Young Muslims have a strong desire to invite more people into the fold of Islam or for that matter, invite more Muslims to strengthen their faith. During this process, they are bound to feel disappointed, depressed or even disgusted by the lukewarm response.


It is typical of what we all feel when we are very young and idealistic, but I guess it takes time for one to realise that we have to look inside more than the results outside.... at that age we are more in the mood to change the world and we believe that we can really do that... that is the beauty of the whole thing..... I think maybe after a few failures and disappointments and other forms of rejections, does one start to search for an anchor and finds it within himself, as it is constantly with him, unlike other things which tend to leave you, fail you, ditch you or simply disconnect from you. One finds that he is always carrying a world within himself, it is his brain, his emotions and thoughts and his dreams and convictions.... If one can work on these things and learn to influence them by conscious thought, eventually he will not need the company or use of external materialistic things to create the feeling of satisfaction and contentment. He will find that it is perfectly possible to make yourself sad or pessimistic, even when you are living in the best of conditions.... and likewise, it is really possible to be happy and content even without a shirt on your back.... (remember the famous Akbar Birbal story). But I am sure that unless Allah swt, has given this gift of insight to the person right at the beginning, on it’s own course, it usually takes a few decades to start working on this path to self realisation. The question before youngsters will be.. how to get these guys to come closer to Islam, how to get these guys into the lecture hall, how to make these guys realize that life is a serious thing,. how to beat some sense into these people, Why do these guys have such a relaxed view of life, Why can’t they realize that we have limited time, Why are they wasting time, Why can’t we DO something about it??????????


There are many organisations which are involved in Dawah. One of them has certain elements in it’s system and method, which in my opinion constitute the actual spirit of the Dawah and the reason for it’s success is obvious. The element of sacrifice, leaving your home for a few days for the sake of Allah, living in Masjids, travelling with bare minimum articles, meeting others only for the sake of Allah, learning the intricacies of Islam through personal interaction and a single minded focus on the betterment of the Ummah, atleast for few days in a month, are perhaps the qualities which, in my humble and layman opinion, constitute the best form of Dawah, physically possible... Ofcourse, there are some inherent drawbacks, like all human forms of Organizations will have and some defects too. Alternatively, it would be foolish to consider that all Muslims would be able to follow one single path of Dawah... I think we all have the freedom and right to partake whatever portion of Dawah through whatever means that Allah has provided us. I think the more important point here is the Spirit behind the effort, not the actual means and reach.... that is beyond human domain..Sometimes even I feel that I am simply wasting time, writing letters and reading books and all this, instead I should just go out, grab hold of people and beat the dawah into their heads with a stick... but then I’m happy that such bouts of insanity are short lived.

The question before youngsters will be.. how to get these guys to come closer to Islam, how to get these guys into the lecture hall, how to make these guys realize that life is a serious thing,. how to beat some sense into these people


Also if you look at society as a whole and obviously find that people at all functional levels are as important as the next one, and this is a form of working organization, then we can better appreciate that even this form of dawah… writing and publication has some role to play in the overall scheme of things....


I know many people who are sure that Thinkers, Philosophers, Writers and Preachers are simply a waste of time. They say —They do this because they don’t want to work, they simply say many things which they don’t follow themselves, they are out of touch with reality, these guys build castles in the Air.... and so on.... but I disagree with them.... only physical activity does not constitute work, only physical structures do not constitute success.... what these thinkers do, is not visible in the physical form, if I can somehow influence your way of thinking... I have done nothing... yet I have done everything.....I cannot prove it.. and also after sometime the new thinking becomes so much part of yourself, that one always imagines it to be the original.... it’s like saying, I was always having this thinking... but now it is more clearer....... this is human nature and cannot be changed, but I dread the thought of a world, wherein there are no thinkers or philosophers or preachers, people doing things without the benefit of contemplation and deeper insight... a society of doers only.......what will they do.... to whom....


(The writer can be reached at sskhan@gawab.com)