Banning and Boycotts Only Make the Dawah Career Stronger!

The UK government have enacted a long-awaited ban on the activities of the dawah carriers. This action is born out of intellectual bankruptcy and a failed state mentality, as the world knows Khilafah (Caliphate) is near.

There are a number of key lessons that the Muslims and dawah carriers must take from this new state of affairs. The first thing is to understand exactly what is hoped from this action and how we must not fall into the traps that are set for us.

Firstly, the enemies of Islam wish to instill fear in the hearts of the believers, and the idea is to force Muslims to put dounia matters before their status in the Akhira. This is mentioned in the Quran in Surah 8:2.

[إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ اللّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُهُ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَعَلَى رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ]

“For, Believers are those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a tremor in their hearts, and when they hear His signs rehearsed, find their faith strengthened, and put (all) their trust in their Lord;”.

The tactics of force and threats against the Muslims to increase fear is nothing new. In the history of Islam, 6 years into the attempts to divert the dawah and the call to Islam, the Pagans were utterly unsuccessful. When the enemies of the past attempted to use every weapon against the Muslims ranging from temptation and worldly benefits to threatening them with removal of family ties. The fundamental principle in Islam is that we must not commit shirk and place any partners with Allah (swt).

At the time of the Prophet (saw) insults and negative public opinion mocking the Muslims was a popular practice.

[وَمِنْهُمُ الَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ النَّبِيَّ وَيِقُولُونَ هُوَ أُذُنٌ قُلْ أُذُنُ خَيْرٍ لَّكُمْ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللّهِ وَيُؤْمِنُ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ مِنكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ رَسُولَ اللّهِ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ]

“There are others who insult the Prophet by saying, "He will listen to anything." Say, "He listens for your own good. He believes in God and trusts the Believers, and he is a mercy to those of you who believe." And those who abuse the Messenger of God, will have a painful punishment.” [TMQ 9:61].

Torture and public abuse were well documented, as we know from the stories of the Seerah. Today is no different; our obligations and duties to follow the path of the Prophet (saw) must come before any aspect of the creation and its demands. We are as steadfast as the Sahaba was when they were faced with the threats and punishments of Quraysh and their supporters against Islam as we are reminded of the great rewards promised to those who are patient.

[وَبَشِّرِ الَّذِين آمَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّالِحَاتِ أَنَّ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ كُلَّمَا رُزِقُواْ مِنْهَا مِن ثَمَرَةٍ رِّزْقاً قَالُواْ هَـذَا الَّذِي رُزِقْنَا مِن قَبْلُ وَأُتُواْ بِهِ مُتَشَابِهاً وَلَهُمْ فِيهَا أَزْوَاجٌ مُّطَهَّرَةٌ وَهُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ]

“Give glad tidings to those who believe and work righteousness, that their portion is Gardens, beneath which rivers flow. Every time they are fed with fruits therein, they say:!Why, this is what we were fed with before,” for they are given things in similitude; and they have therein companions pure (and holy), and they abide therein (for ever).” [TMQ 2:25]

This leads to the second objective of banning culture, isolation, which is designed to create weakness. The strength of the faith of the Muslims today and in history is something that kuffar have always struggled with. Today they use nationalism, and all of the Muslim rulers are slaves to work against the Muslims and keep them separated. In the past, they knew that Abu Talib was a barrier to domination as he supported the Prophet (saw). They hoped would either coax Abu Talib into waiving his support and protection of his nephew and Islam. They wanted to isolate Muhammad from his clan to remove his ability to gain public opinion and make progress with the call to Islamic power. It was inevitable that any attempt to ostracize Banu Hashim would lead to a polarization of the groupings in Makkah. Everyone in Makkah would have to declare himself for or against Banu Hashim. It is this type of division that the kuffar wish to enact in the Muslim communities. Either you are with the Western governments or you are a fundamentalist enemy of the state that must be annihilated and literally thrown outside the of the social structure completely. That is why we know see how all of the modern laws of humanitarian treatment do not apply to the Muslims. Gaza is the shining example of the trend that is being set for the rest of the Muslim world. You will be alone in your death and destruction with worldly entity to help you.

We remember the stories of the Muslims when they were outcasts in the desert and were left without the basic necessities to the extent that the beloved daughter (ra) of the Prophet (saw) was starving and permanently damaged from that experience.

Thirdly, there may be a temptation to reduce the expression of one's Islamic identity by feeling shame that you're linked to something that is openly not supported by the system. The pressure to submit to public opinion and become more “integrated” into non-Islamic culture is a dangerous path that is designed strategically to have a generational impact. The Hadith and evidences clearly forbid this:

It was narrated that Ibn Umar said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

«مَنْ تَشَبَّهَ بِقَوْمٍ فَهُوَ مِنْهُمْ» “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” (Narrated by Abu Dawood).

The non-Muslim governments know that Muslims have a clear identity that they wish to pass on to their children in response to the Islamic evidence:

(and it is understood that Muslims are not interested in family planning measures to reduce childbearing). Suppose they can catch the parental generation in a moment of ideological weakness. In that case, the habits of shrinking their Islamic identity to fit in will be passed on to their offspring. This potentially catastrophic indoctrination may never be broken without radical intervention in the bloodline and training. Of course, women are the critical educators of the children, and if women can be won over to compromise their identity, this will be a victory over tens of people, not just one.

[يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا]

“O you who believe! Save yourselves and your families from a fire” [At-Tahrîm: 6].

In conclusion, the dawah carriers must take lessons from the past examples of the Prophet (saw) and the evidence in the Quran and Sunnah, and understand that we are no different in our response to boycotts and bans. The Muslim dawah carriers working in the Majal (region), where the Khilafah will be established have always worked with bans and boycotts with torture, arrest and isolation as a daily routine in their work. However, by the will of Allah (swt), they never have fear and remain consistent with their oath to Allah (swt). The Muslim knows that the promise of Allah (swt) is true, and the best of the believers look forward to meeting their Lord and exchanging their deeds for the greatest success, which is entry into the ranks of Jannat with the Prophet (saw) and the Sahabah (ra).

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Imrana Mohammad
Member of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir