Messengers of the 20th Century

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    Bismillāh ar-Rahmān ar-Rahīm
    In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

    Alhamdulillah, All Praises to Allah Most High for giving me the opportunity to attend a workshop organised by Darul Arqam this week. I have benefitted a lot and I hope & pray that I would be able to share whatever that was learnt insyaAllah.

    The speaker was Syed Raziuddin Ali – an old but wise & learned man. He is still active in conducting workshops around the world and also mosque tours at the beautiful Al-Fateh Mosque in Bahrain (where he resides).

    alfatehmosque

    Having done da’wah work to particularly non-Muslims for the past 22 years, he has a wealth of experience that he was most generous to share. Although his workshop was targeted particularly at mosque staff, volunteers and docents, there were several things that are relevant for anyone interested in doing such da’wah work.

    Firstly, he talked about the intended result for da’wah. Da’wah means invitation. Although the general understanding is to convert others into Islam, he said that it is important to remember that guidance only lies in Allah’s hands and not ours. Da’ie (people who are engaged in da’wah) has to remind themselves of this endlessly because not all our efforts would bear fruit (or at least bear the fruit that we expect.) It would come in other way.

    • He said that at the very least, people should leave having a positive image of Islam.
    • A higher level would be to be our defenders and ambassadors. For tourists that come to mosques for tours, they might have come from places having been exposed to only negative representations of Islam. But if we leave a good impression and do our job well, they might just be defenders of Islam back in their countries!
    • Ultimately, embracing Islam is a deep hope we have for them.

    One of the beautiful things he shared that I felt was really beautiful was when he went through “Who are non-Muslims?”. He called them our brothers and sisters in humanity. He said that Allah used the term “Bani Adam” many times and thats how we should treat them. Brother Syed Ali said that although they are our sisters and brothers in humanity, they are ignorant of the Creator of All (Allah SWT), the benefactor of humanity (Prophet Muhammad SAW) and the guidance for our lives (Qur’an).

    Allah is not just the god for Muslims but He is their god too.

    Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind.”
    – Surah an-Naas 114:1

    Prophet Muhammad SAW was sent not just to us, but for them too.

    And We have not sent you (O Muhammad SAW) except as a giver of glad tidings and a warner to all mankind, but most of men know not.”
    – Surah Saba’ 34:28

    And the Qur’an is guidance for humankind, not just Muslims!

    “The month of Ramadân in which was revealed the Qur’ân, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion (between right and wrong).”
    -Surah al-Baqarah 2:185

    He said that there will be no more prophets or messengers after Prophet Muhammad SAW, and therefore we are the ones who have to continue spreading the message, in whatever way we can. Brother Syed Ali said that instead of calling them non-Muslims, they should be referred to not-yet-Muslims. 🙂 InsyaAllah!

    A second article is on the way to talk about HOW we should go about doing it, the tips he gave and also things to avoid while doing da’wah. Till next time insyaAllah.

    Wabillahi Tawfeeq wal-Hidayah,

    amee

    Ameera Begum Aslam
    [email protected]

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    2 COMMENTS

    1. Hey Ameera,

      Glad you could make it for the workshop and thanks for reporting those stuffs we missed!!

      I had a very gd masjid tour in KL and ABIM have very good bring-home pamphlets in all sorts of languages (Japanese, Korean etc) for the visitors to know more about Islam in their own language and in bite-sized-easy-to-digest info!

      I heard Darul’s coming up with Masjid tours for tourists as part of their outreach program. Hope they can do those pamphlets!

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