The Intellectual and Political Struggle in the Methodology of Da'wah

(Translated)

Allah the Exalted says,

[ادْعُ إِلَى سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ وَجَادِلْهُمْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنْ ضَلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِهِ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ]

“Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best. Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has strayed from His way, and He is most knowing of the rightly guided.” [TMQ Surah An-Nahl: 125].

The best explanation and interpretation of this noble verse is the Seerah of the Chosen One (saw), for he is the bearer of the Risaalah message and the one who conveyed it exactly as Allah (swt) willed him to convey it—in idea, method, and methodologies. We have drawn lessons and insights from the Seerah of the Chosen One (saw), including:

Carrying the da'wah must be clear, with no ambiguity or obscurity. Allah (swt) said,

[قُلْ هَذِهِ سَبِيلِي أَدْعُو إِلَى اللَّهِ عَلَى بَصِيرَةٍ أَنَا وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَنِي وَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ]

“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’.” [TMQ Surah Yusuf: 108]. This clarity is what absolves one of responsibility, for the purpose of carrying out the works of Dawah is to fulfill one’s Shariah obligation. Therefore, the idea must be conveyed clearly and evidently, without hesitation, obscurity, flattery, or consideration for society and people - their ideas, customs, traditions, opposing thoughts to the Dawah, their rejection of the thoughts of the Dawah, or their reluctance to carry the Dawah as the Dawah carriers do.

Clarity in carrying the Dawah does not contradict wisdom or good conduct. Wisdom lies in presenting the thought, explaining it, and confirming it with Shariah evidences that affirm its truth until the Dawah carrier rallies people to carry it. This requires not sparing people’s feelings if they hold an idea or custom that opposes what was revealed, and those who carry the Risaalah message of the Dawah. Flattery in this context comes at the expense of the Dawah. This is precisely what enraged the disbelieving Quraysh regarding the Prophet (saw) in the shade of the Kaaba: they placed the filth of slaughtered camels on his back, and Abu Jahl threatened to trample the head of the Prophet (saw) if he performed Salah in the precinct of Al-Kaaba courtyard. Yet this did not deter the Prophet (saw). Instead, he (saw) continued to perform Salah openly and defiantly against the will of the Quraysh disbelievers, and the shirk (polytheism) prevalent in the society surrounding Al-Kaaba Ash-Sharif.

The nature of the Dawah, which came to revive the Ummah by uprooting all the misguidances, corruption, and flawed understandings imposed upon them, inherently demands confrontation and struggle. Thus, the summary of the methodology of the Prophet (saw) in carrying the Dawah is the concept of “intellectual conflict” and “political struggle.” Just as political struggle is a conflict between the Dawah carriers and regimes that do not rule by Islam - contending with them for power to wrest it from them - so too is the intellectual conflict: refuting people’s erroneous or corrupt concepts, and compelling them to adopt and embrace the correct ideas of the Dawah. Therefore, it cannot be imagined that replacing falsehood with truth would occur easily and smoothly without struggle and conflict.

The Dawah carriers attempt to take a middle path - carrying the Dawah clearly and directly while simultaneously accommodating people's ideas and opinions - is doomed to failure. It undoubtedly imposes a centrist, or pragmatic, approach to Dawah, meaning a deviation by the Dawah from the correct method and sound idea. The Dawah carrier must not think that taking the middle path is wisdom or good conduct. Instead, it is a concession on the Dawah and bargaining over it. In the end, the Dawah carrier will face a choice: either commit to carrying the Dawah as it absolves responsibility, or appease people through concession, refraining from good deeds of the Dawah, or distorting the Dawah to satisfy them without provoking them.

The atmosphere of intellectual struggle prevailed at the first entry into society and interaction with it, lasting for several years. However, today, the ummah's condition has changed: it has become loving of Islam and receptive to Dawah, aware that any thought other than the thought of the Dawah is corrupt, and the picture has become clear to all. The Ummah now recognizes the corruption and invalidity of Western civilization and what it has produced of thought, mercenary agent rulers, and corrupt systems. The Ummah seeks a path to salvation in Islam. Thus, the role of the Dawah carrier is confined to filling the intellectual and political vacuum existing in the Ummah. Therefore, Dawah carriers must be confident that their message is in demand by the Ummah, so they must not hesitate to present and explain it purely, clearly, and directly. They must be assured that people will embrace them and their Dawah without hesitation, by the Permission of Allah (swt).

The only group that continues to reject and fight the da'wah is exclusively the regimes, their men, and those who act in their stead - government scholars, mercenary thinkers, and beneficiaries of corrupt systems. Thus, the Dawah carriers must not be confused if one of these corrupt ones rejects him. He must know that they do neither represent the Ummah nor speak of the people’s condition. They are one thing, and the Ummah is another; they are in one valley, and the Ummah in another. Even if they speak in the name of the Ummah or Islam, their speech on behalf of the people and claim to represent the Ummah is usurpation of the Ummah’s thoughts and emotions, deception and misrepresentation of the Ummah. It is exploiting the ignorance of the masses regarding general and detailed Shariah rulings, and ignorance of the political reality of the regimes and their allies. As for the masses, the sincere faction, the thinkers, and the influencers - who are the elite of the Ummah - they await the Dawah carrier and what he brings with eager anticipation. Allah (swt) said,

[وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَى لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا يَعْبُدُونَنِي لَا يُشْرِكُونَ بِي شَيْئًا وَمَنْ كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ]

“Allah has promised those who have believed among you and done righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession to authority upon the earth just as He granted it to those before them and that He will surely establish for them their Deen which He has preferred for them and that He will surely substitute for them, after their fear, security, for they worship Me, not associating anything with Me. But whoever disbelieves thereafter—then those are the defiantly disobedient.” [TMQ Surah An-Nur: 55].

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Bilal al-Muhajir – Wilayah Pakistan