What is Dawah?

Allah says, “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.’” Quran 12:108 Dawah is to invite someone to the deen of Allah, it can be done to both Muslims and non-Muslims. Giving dawah to a Muslim, is important, and it is to remind them to worship Allah, encouraging one another is a form of dawah.

Dawah involves two parties, the one who invites and the the one who listens. When giving dawah it is important it politely and with the greatest of manners as people are judging your character and behaviour as a Muslim. “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 who is [rightly] guided.” Quran 16:125 There are many types of dawah:

• Social Media
• Face to face – this should always continue, as it is more persona, and should be the primary means of dawah.
• Radio Stations
• TV

Dawah is considered as a form of worship, sometimes when we want to take up dawah we may think to ourselves that we aren’t knowledgeable, however, dawah has been made easy by the Prophet ﷺ in the hadith. Narrated `Abdullah bin `Amr: The Prophet ﷺ said, “Convey (my teachings) to the people even if it were a single sentence, and tell others the stories of Bani Israel (which have been taught to you), for it is not sinful to do so. And whoever tells a lie on me intentionally, will surely take his place in the (Hell) Fire.” Al-Bukhari. People are more interested in seeing Islam than hearing about it. There are three forms of dawah:

• Behaviour in public and private.
• Dealings with both Muslims and non-Muslims in business, etc.
• Respect towards other people, how you treat them.  

A simple type of dawah is not blocking the neighbour of the mosque/musallah driveway when attending Taraweeh prayer or Jummah prayer Furthermore, you need to be patient when calling people to Allah, as it can take a long time to guide people and yourself. Some people may ignore and be rude towards you, but by being patient, relying in Allah and treating them with the correct manners, you are performing a type of dawah. Examples that we can learn from when giving dawah is Prophet Nuh, and how he called people to the deen of Allah for 950 years. Another example is Omar ibn Al-Khattab, it was said that his father’s donkey would become Muslim before he did. But through the will of Allah Omar became one the Caliphs to guide Islam after the death of the Prophet ﷺ and is one of the ten promised Jannah.   Remember to always be patient and rely on allah when giving dawah even if it isn’t saying something your actions, character and behaviour are forms of dawah which can be rewarded.