To fulfill his responsibility of dawah, every believer must be eager to guide other people. So the first level of continuing the prophetic mission deals with intention, that is, niyah. Specifically, it means the individual intention to participate in the prophetic mission. However, such an intention is not just some kind of verbal repetition or lip service. It is a feeling which makes the heart tremble. Every believer should become restless and tremble on seeing others being misguided. This feeling should be of such intensity that, while thinking about it, tears should flood his eyes. Moreover, he should pray for the guidance of others while contemplating in solitude.
On the second level of dawah work, believers should take every precaution not to become a hindrance in the way of the prophetic mission. They should not act in such a way as to arouse hatred or disgust for Islam in people's hearts, nor should they in any way cause annoyance on the subject. They should entirely refrain from such acts that will cause friction between the addresser (dayee) and the addressee (madu). They should take special care to conduct themselves this way, even if it means sacrificing their economic, national, or political interests.
On the third level, dawah is to be performed directly. Those who can present Islam through public speaking, writing, or modern means of communication should strive to convey the divine religion to the people. They should try to address people’s minds using arguments that make a powerful impression so that their addressees can fully understand the proper guidance.
Source: Calling People to God
The dawah responsibility of the ummah of the Prophet Muhammad is expressed in a hadith as follows: “Muslims are the witnesses of God on earth.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 2642)
The ummah of the Prophet Muhammad must engage in this task of bearing witness using only those methods that the Prophet employed. This is a divine task in which it is not permissible to include any political, communal, or materialistic aims and objectives. If any other purposes are included in this mission, it would, in the words of the Quran, be an instance of rukun or ‘tilt’, which will make one deserving of severe punishment in God’s eyes. As the Quran says: “Do not incline toward those who do wrong, lest the Fire touches you. For [then] you would have none to protect you from God, and you will not be helped.” (11: 113)
Source: Calling People to God
The primary purpose of dawah work is to introduce man to God—his Creator and Sustainer, and acquaint man with the creation plan of God. This is like telling him what his relationship with God is and how God will deal with him after death. Its objective is to awaken man from his slumber, to make him realize his servitude, and incline him to turn towards God. The task of dawah is a prophetic mission for all times. Therefore, it must be continuously engaged in every age and generation by Muslims as a duty. Responsibility of Muslims Calling people to Islam is a divine mission to fulfill the divine scheme. (The Quran, 4:165) It is, therefore, natural that God should assist man in this endeavour. It is such a difficult task that 14 not receiving divine help would be more surprising than receiving it. The responsibility for carrying on the work of dawah after the Prophet rests with the Muslims. As his followers, they have the responsibility to carry on the prophetic mission generation after generation till Doomsday. (The Quran, 22:78)
Source: Calling People to God
Tourism presents believers with opportunities to engage in global communication of the divine call without leaving their hometowns. Earlier, a dayee had to undertake very arduous journeys for the performance of this task. This global movement of tourists offers believers a great dawah opportunity. This situation demands that the believers are fully conscious of their duty and prepare themselves accordingly so that all these new opportunities may be tapped for the purpose of dawah.
Moreover, we should use these opportunities to distribute such literature as addresses the modern mind, presents Islam in the contemporary idiom, and explains that all the teachings of Islam are based, directly or indirectly, on the principle of peace. With the Grace of God, Goodword Books and CPS International have such literature. For dawah work to be effectively carried out, copies of the Quran and such literature must be made available at tourist spots and other places where people gather.
Source: Calling People to God
Calling people to God is one of the most challenging tasks. But God, by His special grace, has made the path smoother for us by making such advances in human history as have opened up new and better opportunities for us to spread His word, especially in the modern age. Today, fast travel, global communication, and industrialization greatly facilitated global movement and connectedness, and increased economic possibilities. Thanks to these changes in modern circumstances, people are traveling in great numbers, for tourism, business, service, and many other reasons.
That is why, today, Muslims are to be found in great numbers in every part of the world. It is often the case that those Muslims who have settled in different countries or keep traveling to different countries interact regularly with non-Muslims. In the course of this global interaction, the introduction of Islam continues on a regular basis, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly.
Interaction in itself is a means of performing dawah work. When Muslims meet non-Muslims in normal circumstances, for various reasons Islam repeatedly comes under discussion. In this way, the interaction of Muslims and non-Muslims itself becomes a conduit for the introduction of Islam.
The result of this interaction is very much evident, because of the widespread introduction of Islam in different forms. However, despite the increase in global interaction, the introduction of Islam is not taking place as satisfactorily as it should. The reason is that in present times, Muslims are not conscientious about performing dawah work. If Muslims were to be more aware of the necessity for dawah, the outcome would be extraordinary.
Source: Calling People to God
The modern age is the age of opportunities. This exigency has opened up the opportunity for man to perform this great divine task. Believers must stand and avail of these opportunities to take the word of God into each and every home. Those who come forward to carry out this divine mission of dawah will receive special succour in this life and will be held deserving of great honour in the life hereafter.
Source: Calling People to God
One of the commandments of the Quran is given in these words: “Believers, remember God with much remembrance.” (33: 41) According to this Quranic verse believers must remember God very much, every day and every moment. This is the greatest teaching of the Quran, and it is the highest form of worship. One who does this will be blessed with the greatest reward from God Almighty.
What is meant by ‘much remembrance’ of God? Remembrance does not refer to the repetition of some words, but it is in the sense of thinking. Much remembrance, or zikr-e-kathir, is not a kind of lip service. It is rather a high kind of intellectual activity and a sign of God realization. Remembering God much, is a result of a chain reaction in the thinking process; that is, a series of thoughts in which each thought causes the next one. Zikr-e-kathir, or much remembrance, is a result of creative thinking.
It is a product of a prepared mind. If you possess a prepared mind, then your mind is bound to get activated at every experience or observation. You will start discovering one aspect of God-realization after another. In this way a chain reaction will be initiated in your mind.
Zikr or remembrance does not refer to the repetition of some words, but it is in the sense of thinking.
It is this intellectual activity that is called zikr-e-kathir in the Quran. For example, if it is raining, a believer will very soon present his shukr, that is, acknowledgment to God. Then he will start thinking further: what caused this downpour? He will discover the natural processes that resulted in rain. He will then think that when the water was in the ocean, it was salty, but when it took the form of downpour, it turned into fresh water.
So step by step, he will discover how God created various processes which finally provided him water to drink. This is an example of chain reaction in thinking, and through this chain reaction, one by one, you start discovering aspects for realization of God. If you are a prepared mind, then this process will continue without limit.
This chain reaction of zikr will enhance your maarifah, that is, realization. It will improve your relationship with God, increasing your wisdom and power of analysis.
Source: Spirit of Islam December 2014
Remembrance of God means zikr or dhikr. Remembrance of God, is one of the basic teachings of Islam. The opposite state that of forgetfulness of God, is unpardonable negligence. Dhikr is a reality of nature. At every moment man experiences those things, which are directly related with God. He sees the sun, the moon, the rivers, the mountains, the air and the water.
All of these are God’s creations. It is but natural that all the creations that come before man should be reminders of the Creator. Right from the earth to the heavens, all things are manifestation of God’s Beauty and Perfection. With their whole existence they serve as harbingers of God’s Being.
Similarly in the world, as man leads his life, day and night, his attention is drawn at all times to God. Being influenced by God’s creation, his heart and mind produce divine feelings. Dhikr is nothing but the verbal expression of these feelings.
Throughout his life man experiences his attachment to God again and again, and when he ponders over his existence, his heart is filled with rejoicing that God created him in the most noble image and lavished upon him all the best qualities. These feelings well up in his heart in many ways. This is also a form of dhikr.
Man undergoes many kinds of ups and downs in his daily life; he has pleasant as well as unpleasant experiences of all kinds. As he goes through these experiences he repeatedly turns to God and remembers Him in different words, again and again.
Similarly, during his daily obeisance he repeats many prayers. These words of prayer are derived sometimes from the Quran and sometimes from the hadith. These words coming spontaneously to his lips are the stuff of dhikr, the remembrance of God.
Source: Principles of Islam
The concept: ‘Where there is design, there is a designer’ is the greatest evidence to prove the existence of God, as we can see the universe, which is God’s creation in front of us.
Throughout the universe, there are countless examples of superb organisation, far surpassing even the most advanced systems of man-made machines. It is simply unthinkable that the formidably complicated system of the universe could have come into existence without a Creative Intelligence being behind it. There is something utterly irrational in refusing to believe in the Organiser of an organised universe.
Nature proclaims the fact that there is one God Who, in the infinity of His Wisdom, has created and continues to sustain this universe. The very existence of the universe, with its superb organisation and immeasurable meaningfulness, is inexplicable except as having been brought into existence by a Creator—a Being with infinite intelligence—rather than by blind force.
The human mind has thus no rational grounds for denying the existence of God. We have to concede that there is a formidable array of facts in the universe that cannot be explained unless we admit the role of a superior Mind, or God Almighty.
In view of the recent advancement in scientific reasoning, true faith has proved to be as rational as any other scientific theory. Now, according to modern developments in science, one can safely say that religious tenets can be proved on the same logical plane as the concepts of science. Reason and faith are now standing on the same ground. In fact, no one can legitimately reject faith as something irrational, unless one is ready to reject the rationality of scientific theories as well.
In the pre-Einstein era, people held that the concept of God pertained to the unseen world and that since no direct argument was available to prove it, belief in God was illogical. They considered all the relevant indirect arguments as scientifically invalid since these were inferential in nature. But now the whole situation has changed. As nothing is really observable, the existence of anything can be established only by means of the inferential argument, not the direct argument.
Today, science holds the inferential argument as valid. If it is valid with regard to the unseen micro-world, it is also valid with regard to the existence of God and other religious truths. Bertrand Russell admitted the fact that the argument centering on design propounded by theologians seeking to offer evidence for the existence of God is scientifically valid. The fact is that when there is design, there must also be a designer. We see that our world is well-designed. This should lead us to believe that there is a Designer of it—God.
Claude M. Hathaway, the designer of the “electric brain” for the U.S. National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics at Langley Field writes in an essay entitled “The Great Designer” of what he thinks of the rational bases of his belief in a supernatural God. He states, most pertinently that “design requires a designer.” It may not be possible to prove the existence of God by observing Him through a telescope, but it should be remembered that we do base our arguments for His existence on the meaningfulness and design of the visible universe.
When we reflect deeply on our world, we find clear signs of planning, design, and intelligent control all over the universe. These signs lead us to believe that there is a Creator of creatures, a Designer of designs, and a Mover of all movements. In such a situation, we will be compelled to say that our choice is not between ‘the universe with God’ and ‘the universe without God’. It is not an option. The real option is between ‘the universe with God’ or ‘no universe at all’. As we cannot opt for the proposition “no universe at all”, since the universe is too obvious for us to deny its existence, we have no option but to accept the proposition of “the Universe with God.”
Those who possess taqwa firmly believe that God sees everything. This inspires in them a strong desire to perform good deeds and a hatred for all things evil. Such thinking induces righteous conduct and taqwa thus becomes the foundation of all good deeds.
One who has fear of God, or taqwa, will see his affairs in relation to God, the Almighty. Here too, the same principle applies with greater force. When one sees oneself in relation to creatures, one can rate oneself as being greater than others. But when one sees oneself in relation to God, everyone becomes small, in relation to God. No one is great. In this way the belief of a God-fearing man or woman makes him or her a balanced person.
Once an individual becomes a God-fearing person, his life changes completely. He becomes careful to avoid that which will lead him to Hell, and is desirous of anything which will make him deserving of Paradise. He loves and fears God above all.
Source: Discovering God
Two things are very important to be able to adhere to this path—sincerity and introspection. That is, to reflect upon everything very seriously and to introspect at all times. These two practices will act as a guarantee that one will continue to remain on the path of taqwa and will steer clear of non-godly paths which will lead to distraction.
Taqwa does not mean adopting some outward form of dress. It is mentioned in the tradition that taqwa relates to the heart. (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2864-a)
Those who reflect deeply on matters will be able to follow this path of taqwa. In reality, taqwa is the name of one’s internal state. If a person is not Godconscious internally, no outward form or practice can grant him the status of a person imbued with taqwa. According to a hadith, God does not see the outward form, but sees one’s heart, i.e., one’s inner state. (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2864-b)
Source: Discovering God
It is recorded in a tradition that Umar Faruq once asked Ubayy ibn Kaab what taqwa was. He replied, “Have you ever passed by thorny bushes?” He said he had. Ubayy ibn Kaab then asked, “What did you do then?” Umar Faruq said that he had gathered up his clothes and cautiously kept away from the thorns, so as not to get entangled. Ubayy ibn Kaab replied that that was taqwa. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, vol. 1, p. 75)
We learn the reality of taqwa from this tradition. Taqwa actually means that in this world, one should keep away from all kinds of trials and tribulations. It can be summed up in one phrase, a ‘cautious approach’. At all times in the world there are different types of temptations, and great and small tribulations. In such conditions, the way of taqwa is for a person to keep sedulously away from all these and adopt a cautious approach on all occasions.
Source: Spirit of Islam May 2019
In the Quran, God states: “I created the Jinn and mankind only so that they might worship Me.” (51: 56)
We learn the purpose of man's creation from the above verse of the Quran. Mujaahid Tabii, a disciple of Abdullah ibn Abbas (died. 687 CE) has explained worshipping God in terms of the realization of God. (Tafsir Al Qurtubi)
Realization or Maarifat means the discovery of God. Man is born with an extraordinary mind. Man is required to utilize his thinking capacity to reflect upon all the related aspects of existence. In this way, he discovers the truth through personal contemplation. He must take his place in this world on the basis of self-discovered truth.
Man is required to utilize his thinking capacity to reflect upon all the related aspects of existence and discover the truth through personal contemplation.
That is to say, in a world where everything is subjected to compulsory submission, man should engage in voluntary submission given his developed mind.
Self-discovered truth is no simple matter. This state can be achieved only by saving oneself from distraction, by being focused in one’s thinking and by becoming a seeker in the full sense. When a person devotes himself fully to study and contemplation, he receives special divine help. He becomes God’s chosen servant (mukhlas) and starts to receive divine inspiration.
With his experience and study, and God’s special support, he discovers the truth and thus develops a realized personality. It is such individuals who have surrendered to God of their own free will, who epitomize the true purpose of creation.
Source: Spirit of Islam September 2016
Islam means submission. The name Islam has been given to this religion because it is based on submission to God. A Muslim is one who is subservient to God in thought, word, and deed. All his dealings are done in obedience to God. He bows to God’s will in all matters. Islam is the religion of the entire universe, for all the parts of the universe are functioning according to the principles laid down by God.
The same conformity to divine principles is desired of humans also. A person has to live as God’s faithful servant just as the rest of the universe totally obeys its Creator. The only difference is that the universe obeys God as a matter of compulsion, while a human being is required to follow divine injunctions of his own free will.
When a person adopts Islam, it is, first of all, his thinking which is shaped by Islam. Subsequently, his desires, his feelings, his interests, his relations—everything become dyed in the hue of God. Then comes his daily life–his behaviour and dealings with others are moulded according to the virtues upheld by Islam. In short, both internally and externally he becomes an obedient person.
Islam is the religion of the entire universe. Just as the rest of the universe totally obeys its Creator by compulsions, man must conform to divine principles of his own free will.
Source: The Spirit of Islam
The Quran says: “Are they seeking a religion other than God’s when every soul in heaven and on earth have, willingly or by compulsion, b owed to His will?” (3: 83)
This means submission to God is the religion for both man and the universe. All the things on the earth or in space are following God’s commands to the letter. The revolution of the stars, the flowing of water, the growing of trees, in short, all things are following the same course which was determined for them by God. Nothing is allowed to deviate from the divine path. The Quran says: “The sun is not allowed to overtake the moon, nor does the night outpace the day. Each swims along in its own orbit.” (36: 40)
The same is required of human beings. The Prophet Muhammad said: “A believer with his faith is like a horse with its tether.” (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 11335)
The movement of the horse is restricted to the length of its tether. So is the case with the believer. His words and deeds are all restricted by the limitations set by his faith.
The true believer prefers to lead a highly disciplined life, always adhering to the set of commandments ordained by God Almighty. He ensures that his speech is entirely pure, his intention and thinking are subordinated to the will of God. He is always conscious of the fact that he is a servant of his Lord. The Quran depicts the true believer thus:
Source: Quranic Wisdom
According to this Quranic verse, Sajdah is the nearest meeting point between God and man. Sajdah or prostration brings man very close to God. The Quran says:
“Do Sajdah (self-prostration) and come nearer to God.” (96:19).
Sajdah is the sign of submission or surrender, for it is only in a state of submission or surrender that we can meet God Almighty. Sajdah is the final position of submission for acquiring a place very close to God.
Source: Quranic Wisdom
The Quran says, “And when My servants question you concerning Me, tell them that I am close at hand. I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he cries to Me. So let them hear My call and let them trust in Me, in order they may be rightly guided.” (2: 186). This shows that the relationship between man and God is reciprocal: man offers God what he has, then God bestows His favours in return. Man offers his Lord a gift of realization, piety and thankfulness. In return, God provides him with eternal guidance and prosperity.
Man can deal with any problem in either of two ways: the pious and morally proper way, or the way in which such values are abandoned. The correct answer to the call of God is for one to use one’s intellect to ascertain the right course of action and then follow it, difficult as it may seem. One then automatically avoids the easy, though misguided way. Sometimes one is faced with the choice between callous and unjust action on the one hand and righteous, fair treatment on the other. If one answers God’s call as it should be answered, one will not flinch from the righteous path and will refrain from oppression and cruelty. Man is free to consider what he has, within him and outside, to be the result of chance; alternatively he may look at it all as the fruits of his efforts; or he can acknowledge reality and consider it all as having come from God. A person who adopts this latter course will answer the call of God implicit in every blessing by exclaiming, “Lord, You are the bestower and You have given us everything!” When one has offered one’s mind and heart to God in this way, then God will provide one with guidance, which means a righteous life in this world and eternal Paradise in the next.
Source: Spirit of Islam June 2016
The goal of Islam is to establish direct communion between God and man in order that man may become the recipient of divine inspiration. When this communion is established between God and man, man can feel himself becoming imbued with a special kind of peace. His eyes are moist with tears. He starts receiving inspiration from God. He starts living in the remembrance of God.
The greatest source of pleasure for man is the remembrance of God. It is this reality, which finds expression in this verse of the Quran:
“It is only in the remembrance of God that hearts are comforted.” (13:28)
Here comfort means peace of mind that stems from God Almighty. For, true and lasting comfort can be achieved only through the Perfect Being. One who discovers the secret of living in the remembrance of God, has discovered a life of limitlessness.
Source: Love of God
