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da'wah in the west
gift
01/31/02 at 04:05:19
[slm] here are some notes from a talk i attended. please remember that they are my notes and they may not be the exact words of the speaker. if i have made any mistake may Allah swt forgive me. [center]Dr Abdur Raheem Green Da'wah in the west[/center] Allah swt sends fitnah (trial/test/tribulation) against those who sin e.g. as was the case with the Bani Israel. The current state of affairs is not to the economic situation or a lack of unity, it is because of our sins and failure to follow the commands of Allah swt. The situation is as the Prophet Muhammad pbuh predicted in a hadith in which he said that the Muslim ummah would follow those before us to such an extent that if they went into a lizard's hole we would follow.   The Dr Green said he had watched a nature programme on the komodo dragon (a type of lizard).  In the programme he saw a non muslim scientist being followed into the lizard's hole by a muslim scientist. We will not only follow the actions of those before us, but also their deviations.  E.g. christianity is full of pagan rites such as easter, shirk and kufr.  The true religion of Isa as was a religion tawheed.  It came to contain pagan elements because people spoke about Allah swt without knowledge and innovated. We find muslims who make shirk that even the mushrik Arabs did not make e.g. those who believe that there are imams and sheikhs who control the universe.  Also there are those who believe (nau'dhubillah) that Ali ra is Allah - e.g. the Nusayriah in Syria. Gave the example of a coastal village which relied for its livelihood upon fishing.  Everyday of the week there were no fish except on Saturday, when the people were forbidden to work by Allah swt.  Rather than accepting this - they used to set the nets the day before - but this was disobedience to Allah swt because the fish were still being caught on the sabbath. When Jews came to the West the only jobs they were allowed to do was that of money lenders which involved the collection of riba' (interest) on the loans.  They circumvented the prohibitions on riba' by saying that they were only forbidden from taking riba' from other jews! Dr Green also gave the example of pig farms on stilts in Israel (because the Tawrat/Torah says the pig must not  touch the land of Israel).  Similarly many Muslims follow the most da'eef (weak) opinion because it is 'convenient'.  Many muslims are also in debt due to riba'. Going back to the story of the coastal village.  There were a group of people in the village who realised that the breaking of the sabbath was evil and they began to enjoin what was right and forbid evil, and would go to make da'wah to those who were laying the nets on Fridays.  There was another group of people in the village who, although not breaking the sabbath, would say to the first group 'why do you make da'wah to those who Allah swt will destroy anyway?'  The first group gave two reasons: 1)      to be free in front of Allah swt because they would be accountable for remaining silent when evil was taking place 2)      maybe the people who are breaking the sabbath will fear Allah swt and change their ways. Allah swt changed the people of the village into apes "despised and rejected", and rescued only one group of people.  These were those people who had enjoined what was right and forbidden what was evil.  Allah swt included those who did not break the sabbath but kept silent among those who broke the sabbath. Worst types of evil are shirk and kufr, and we are surrounded by these in the west. Allah swt has told us to travel the world and look at what has become of those who disobeyed Allah swt. Hadrian's wall is part of the ruins of the Roman Empire.  These past civilisations were destroyed because they disobeyed the commands of Allah swt. If we refuse to make da'wah to those who do evil we will be included in the destruction of those who disobey Allah swt. Sahih Muslim: Angel Jibra'il was sent to destroy a town, but he found a man worshipping Allah swt.  Therefore Jibra'il went to Allah swt and asked Him if he should save this man? Allah swt told Jibra'il to start with this man because he lived among the evil people and did not say anything, nor did a sign of displeasure cross his face. However, da'wah without knowledge is useless. Prophet pbuh sent Mu'adh Ibn Jabal to be governor of Yemen, and the Prophet pbuh said that the first thing to tell the people of Yemen  was La illaha illa Allah. Christians today are not monotheists.  Nor are jews because they have corrupted their religion and especially the fundamental principle of tawheed. Allah swt called us the best of nations because we believe in Him and enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong.  If we abandon this how can we be the best of nations? Especially with the guidance of the Qur'an - we have less excuse to be misguided than the christians and jews.  If we are misguided we are worse than them. An-Nawawi, Riyadh as-Saaliheen: if Allah swt guides one person to Islam through you it is better than all the red camels (Arabs believed these to be the best camels).  Every time a person does a good or righteous action because of you, you will get the reward of their actions without their reward being diminished in any way. The fuqaha have divided the world into 1)      dar al harb (house of war) 2)      dar al islam (house of islam) Rabi Ibn Amir said to a Persian general ' we have come to call people to the worship of Allah swt' i.e. to make the words of Allah swt the highest thing. When the Prophet saw conquered Makkah he did not take revenge e.g. did not allow Muslims to return to their homes if their homes had been taken over by the disbelievers. Purpose of jihad is to make the words of Allah swt the highest, not revenge.  E.g. the Prophet's pbuh companions radiallahu anhum were so badly tortured - yet the Prophet saw did not seek revenge. Allah swt has told us that whoever is treacherous to a covenant will not even smell Jannah. In the United Kingdom we are free to spread the message of Islam without punishment, why then do we not make da'wah? Any time a Muslim sells something haram (alcohol, pork etc), or drops rubbish - in other words fails to demonstrate the best of manners - he is destroying the image of Islam, because the Muslims should be of the best character.  We must display Islam with our actions. We must acquire knowledge in order to make da'wah to prevent us falling into weaknesses and straying as the jews and christians did before us. The companions radiallahu anhum used to often recite Surah al-'Asr [wlm]

Re: da'wah in the west
Marcie
02/01/02 at 11:23:15
As salamu alaykum Jazakum Allah Khair for sharing.  Reading such articles always helps me to refocus towards Islam and my responsibilities as a Muslim. As salamu alaykum Marcie

Re: da'wah in the west
gift
02/04/02 at 07:10:11
[slm] just to add to these notes, if anyone wants to listen to the lecture you can listen via the internet at: [url]http://www.islaam.net/display/display.php?id=542&category=13[/url] i would recommend it, this brother was an excellent speaker [wlm]
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