In Islam; there is no compulsion to
convert-people have always entered it willingly. The historical presence of non-Muslims
minorities among Muslims is evidence of tolerance in Islam.
Islam spread in the most populated Muslim
countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Africa through the contact
between native people and Muslim travelers, merchants who brought with them not only goods
but also values of Islam such as straight dealing, honesty, and generosity.
The impact of Muslims upon these
communities was tremendous. In Singapore, near the port where the Arab traders used to
land, the residents say that the natives used to prefer to buy from Muslim merchants
because they expected good treatment and fair prices.
In my opinion it is unfair to compare the
spread of Islam in Asia and Africa with the spread of Islam in the West, and blame Muslims
for not effectively promoting Islam in the West. Unlike the modern western world their
history was free from hostility and enmity against Muslims, and therefore, their
conversion to Islam was natural and easy.
Could Dawah Fail?
Allah will guide, through dawah, those
who are qualified for His mercy; those who have good hearts and are sincerely searching
for the truth. And, he will turn away from it those who do not deserve His mercy; those
who chose to divert from His way. All of this is decreed according to His perfect wisdom
and knowledge.
The success of dawah is guaranteed as a
fulfillment of Allah’s promises, “… and who is
more truthful than Allah” (4:87)
Allah promised to make the way for
dawah easy for Prophet Muhammad, (pbuh), and his followers alike, “We
shall ease your way unto the state of ease.” (87:8)
Allah also promised to preserve
Qur’an, His last guidance to mankind. It is forever protected from any sort of
distortion, change, or modification: “Verily we have sent
down the Reminder and We shall indeed preserve it.” (15:9)
Allah promised to make dawah prevail
and reach everywhere in the Earth so that all mankind will be aware that Islam is the
truth from their Lord: “We shall show them our signs in the
horizons and within themselves till it will be manifest unto them that it is the
Truth.” (42:53)
Prophet Muhammad, (pbuh) assured that
Islam is the religion of the future and it will spread all over the world; he said,
“Verily Islam will reach every place as the day and night reach. There is no house
(in city or desert) on Earth but Islam will enter it.”
Due to all of these reasons, the dawah
could never fail; that is why Prophet Muhammad, (pbuh), expected his followers to
outnumber the followers of other prophets. He, (pbuh), said, “None of the prophet
before me but was given (physical) miracles because of which people believed him. But the
miracle which has been given to me is indeed a revelation Allah revealed to me
(Qur’an and Sunnah). So I hope, on the Day of Judgement, my followers will outnumber
the followers of other prophets.” (Bukhari)
In order for dawah to be effective, the
caller must have sincere intentions and, above all, a strong sense of taqwa. If a Muslim
truly lives to please Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, dawah is effortless. In order to
share Islam with people, we must develop strong relationships with in our Ummah to support
these efforts with dawah centers and well-written material. Each of us has a gift from
Allah and we should not ignore our obligation in fear of rejection or failure but join
together to contribute our talents and resources to share the gift of Islam, truly a mercy
from Allah. |
