The Three Punches
The major pillars of da’wah are to deliver a punch in the face (with good manner, behaviour and character), a punch in the stomach (to be generous in food, gifts and different things) and a punch in the heart, which is the spinal cord of da’wah: to supplicate to Allah to accept your efforts and embed the message in the other person’s heart. This is returning the matter to the Owner, because who is the better doer rather than the One you are inviting others to?
If Allah makes you the cause of guiding one person, it is better than the earth and what it contains. If Allah opens for you, the gift is better than the whole world. If we believe this, what do we have to worry about, and what is the need to accumulate in dunia? If we do not invite to Allah, what kind of loss will we suffer as a result?
This is why we should always supplicate to be the ones who spread mercy, light and goodness in Allah’s kingdom, to leave a good reminder on earth and to work day and night, because no one deserves worship more than Allah. Insha Allah we should discharge this duty in the right way, with Allah’s ability, power, support and guidance, without which we are incapable of doing anything.
Priorities in life: Allah v Shaitan
When we watch a game or concert, we are willing stand in line for hours for a ticket. Even if there is delay in the start, we do not mind waiting. We can memorize the names of the different players and performers, and we know all the details of their lives. Yet, what can these people do for us? How much happiness can they give to themselves and to us? In matters concerning Allah or Islam, do we have the same patience to bear a bit of discomfort or waiting time purely for the sake of Allah? Do we research as much about the lives of Islamic heroes as we do our favourite singer or team member?
Even this article is a form of da’wah, because if you are reading it, you have already been invited. What are you inviting others towards, and what are other people inviting you towards? What topics overwhelm you to invite others towards? At any given time, we are either the inviter or the invitee.
There is the internal invitation, which is generated from our desire and from Shaitan, and the external invitation from the community, family, friends, companions and surroundings. Human beings are a reflection of their companions and friends. Look at who your companions and friends are.
This is a principle from the teacher of mankind. If you are packed with hate, envy and jealousy, Shaitan will not only invite you towards increasing these characteristics, but will also recruit you as his soldier and invite others to have the same diseases. Each of us, is an inviter to Allah or to Shaitan at any given time. Who are we are inviting others to, Allah or Shaitan?
For example, if you are connected to Allah, Allah will supply you with a high speed “ilahi” connection. Your supplications and prayer will be answered, and your talk will be filled with the beautiful blessing from Allah which will radiate to the environment with the “wi-fiilahi” which spreads hidayah, rahmah and noor by the message of Allah.
If you have a disease of the heart, Shaitan will make you radiate “Shaitanwi-fi” spreading gossip, jealousy, nonsense talk or just inviting people to dunia life and competition.
The tricks of Shaitan
Shaitan will not directly order you towards him or to disobey Allah, but will persuade you to invite others towards this life, to accumulate, build monuments and chase success in this life in order to feel peace and security. The same trick was utilised with Adam AS, where Shaitan invited him to an eternal lifetime free from need and suffering. Shaitan made him forget Allah’s promise, and persuaded Adam AS to eat from the tree in order to gain everlasting life.
Allah has already given the correct advice to us, but Shaitan makes us forget the message, and replaces it with his own corrupted format. He keeps going on until we are deep into our own corruption, misery and misguidance.
Which message should we follow: the message of Allah or the message of Shaitan? Assess who we follow, who our friends are and who we are spending our time with. This is one of the main cores to make us realise what we are striving for in life.
Shaitan makes us forget our duty to Allah and makes us concentrate on our dunia tasks, money, career and dedication to earn more money and status. He makes us forget that it was Allah who gave us all these bounties and provisions in the first place.
We forget that we are the ambassador of Allah on earth, and Allah gave us all the material life as a means to be living on this earth, either to carry His message, believe it, be a role model and invite to it, or be attracted and misled by the material life and Shaitan, and now we are abusing all the means and bounty that Allah gave us.
Glimpse of the Revelation
Allah gave the revelations to Muhammad SAW over the course of 23 years, starting from when he was 40 until he died at the age of 63. Muhammad SAW never set foot outside the Arabic Peninsula, but Allah already said that he was a messenger for all mankind. How can the message be for the whole of mankind until the Day of Judgement then? How will it spread?
This is because Muhammad SAW was given a definitive book aimed at all the mankind. Once one embraces Islam, submits and surrenders to the will of the Creator, he has received the message. Once received, he has a duty to pass the message to the others. Muhammad SAW has the final ummah of mankind to continue relaying the message. The message will not be delivered by itself: we have the book but someone has to deliver it.
The Prophet SAW has passed away, but the message will never die. The message is preserved in the Qur’an, which is protected until the end of time. However, the Qur’an does not invite itself. This is the invitation to Islam, when we invite others to the Qur’an and Allah. Today, when we invite others to Islam, we tend to give them the whole book first. This does not work. First you have to invite with your manners, behaviour, intention, character and devotion.
You are an inviter to Allah and this is a full time job. Even when you are sleeping you should be yearning about what you can do to spread the message. This falls upon the shoulders of every Muslim, but only the successful ones will be chosen to carry on the message. No one is exempted.
We are in a state of sins unless our intention is purely for the invitation to Allah. The seeking of provision should not be our main intention, but only a means to support us in our mission and purpose in life to take mankind from darkness to light. How do we do it?
The only way to understand is to be convinced of what we are doing. People who love soccer believe in it and spend day and night following it. People who are passionate about baseball discuss baseball all the time. Whatever resides most within your heart will reflect how you engage your time. This is why, we cannot invite towards Allah unless we believe in Allah. That is the first step. The more you believe in Allah, the more you will invite towards Allah. You cannot invite unless you live it out.
It is a struggle to reach Allah – we have to believe in the whole landscape of dunia, akhirah and the unseen. If we don’t believe in it, our invitation will be useless. This is why today, with what is going on in our localities, the message not spreading.
We are in a state of sins, heedlessness, running after the material life, and so occupied with it that we forget the purpose of our existence and the honour of the noble job that Allah has granted to us as the ultimate gift to any ummah, which has never been given to any nation before, except the ummah of Muhammad SAW. The seeking of provision should not be our main intention, but rather how to take mankind from darkness to light.
Any God-fearing scholar will confirm that a Muslim has no right to stay in a non-Muslim country unless he is inviting towards Allah, or seeking useful knowledge, or he fears for his safety and seeks tranquillity in another land, in order to develop his own faith, or staying temporarily for business and then leaving.
For example, if you live in a non-Muslim country, sharing the resources of the non-Muslims, achieving success with the help of those who fulfilled your rights, do you ever ask yourself if, in return, you have given them what they need, in the way that Allah wants, and not in the way that you want? Every person that you deal with will ask you on the Day of Judgment on what you have done in terms of showing them Islam. How much of the right manner and character of a Muslim do you carry and how much do you take care of your neighbours and colleagues? Today, we are eager to give abundant gifts of flowers, chocolates and even wine to make our non-Muslim acquaintances happy, but do we give them the most important thing they need in this life and the hereafter, which is the mercy of Allah and the pleasure of Paradise?
O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment. Indeed, we offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, and they declined to bear it and feared it; but man [undertook to] bear it. Indeed, he was unjust and ignorant. (Al Ahzab 70-72)
That means that we already carry the trust whether we like it or not, to carry the message to ourselves, our neighbours, locality and to mankind.
[It was] so that Allah may punish the hypocrite men and hypocrite women and the men and women who associate others with Him and that Allah may accept repentance from the believing men and believing women. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful. (Al Ahzab 73)
Hence we are to believe, say the right word, and to carry out the trust, which means leave the message and invite others to it. If we do not fulfil this command, we might be the hypocrites.
Say, “This is my way; I invite to Allah with insight, I and those who follow me. And exalted is Allah; and I am not of those who associate others with Him.” (Yusuf 108)
Can we do that when we are pointing fingers to the non-Muslims, looking down on them, name calling, accusing and not inviting anyone? Can the message be spread without us being merciful, kind or generous?
