In this 4th episode, we discuss the some of the personal requirements of the one who invites to Allah’s religion.
1 Being sincere in one’s dawah
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Actions are (judged) by intentions …” ~Bukhari & Muslim~
2 Knowledge and Sharing
- Share – The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Convey (my teachings) to the people even if it was a single sentence, …” ~Bukhari~
- Having an understanding of what is being conveyed.
- Being truthful and refraining if one doesn’t know.
3 Dawah etiquette
“Invite to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and kind advisement, and only debate with them in a most courteous manner …” ~Quran 16:125~
“It is out of Allah’s mercy that you (O Prophet) have been gentle with them. Had you been stern or hard-hearted, they would certainly have withdrawn from you …” ~Quran 3:159~
4 Speak with people according to their level of understanding
5 Refrain from extremism
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “… beware of going to extremes in religious matters, for those who came before you were destroyed because of going to extremes in religious matters.” ~Nasa’i~
Conclusion
The host discusses the importance of sharing intentions and avoiding confusion in Islam. They stress the need to be kind and compassionate when speaking to people, as it is crucial to avoid tainting the image of Islam. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of being aware of one's words and actions, as it is crucial for everyone to do so in a way that is not harsh.
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Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh peace blessings and mercy be upon you all. And welcome
to the fourth episode of Dharma Thursdays. In our episode today we are going to look at a very
important aspect in Bella and that itself is the characteristics of a dwarf. The first
characteristics I want to focus on is the concept of sincerity when it comes to performing Dhamma.
And it we love it Prophet peace and blessings be upon him said in Hadith Bukhari and Sahih was that
actions are judged by intentions. Now, what this means is that every act that we perform in this
life will only be judged by the intention behind that action. So even every action of goodness or
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righteousness, if the intentions are impure, that we will not necessarily receive the reward of that
action itself. And only this lies with Allah Subhana Allah to Allah to declare and to define. Now
oftentimes, it's very good to reevaluate the intentions for specific actions. To give you guys an
example of this. You guys are watching this video, I had to spend time in order to create this
video. But the question is, what is my intentions in creating this video? Is it fundamentally just
to teach you about Dawa? Or am I doing this for Allah subhanho wa Taala to glorify Him through
sharing this knowledge to be able to disperse that knowledge to others that he sees fit. Now,
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ultimately, we reach the same goal. I'm sharing that knowledge with you. But fundamentally, the
intentions are completely different. They are two different intentions here. The one is to please
the audience and the other one is to share this knowledge to glorify and worship Allah subhanho wa
Taala. And to thank him for the knowledge that he's blessed me with. Now fundamentally, we might
perceive that this has the same end result you watching this video, but fundamentally, it isn't the
same. Because if I do this glorify Allah, He will ensure that whoever needs to watch this video is
currently watching it right now. He will ensure that this knowledge is installed within the heart
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suppose it is supposed to be installed in if this is in accordance to his law in accordance to his
decree and his work. So what does this mean for us in the field of Dharma, fundamentally, if we go
out there to invite people towards the way of Islam, if my intentions are just to go out there to
get a Shahada tele to see how many people we can get to embrace Islam, the intentions are not pure.
But if we go out there, because we love for others, we love ourselves and we love Allah subhanho wa
Taala more than anything in this life, we go out there to share his message to share the knowledge
he has blessed us with, to glorify and worship His name in that action, then my intention is to
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glorify Allah. And in that we will share the message in that local people towards Islam. If it is
the courage and the will of Allah Spano. That's the second characteristic that is very important is
the concept of knowledge. Now there's a beautiful Hadith where the Prophet peace and blessings be
upon him declared, that convey from me, even if it is one idea. Now in this there are two very
important points that we need to understand. The first one is that we are instructed to convey the
message of Islam. Whenever knowledge we have to go out there and to share it. The second point to
understand which is very important is that data is not based on ignorance, emotion, or unknown.
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Therefore, it is very important for us to have knowledge about the things that we convey. Don't ever
go out there to share something that is not truthful. And if somebody comes and they ask you a
question regarding something that you do not understand, say that I do not have the answer for you
right now. Give me an opportunity to research this question that you've asked me and I will come and
I will convey that message to you. The reason why it is so important to not share misinformation
with an individual is that that individual might go out and they might research the question that
they are asked you. And they might find the true answer to that question. And then they will turn to
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you as a person that is not truthful. And having shared more information with that person, they
might see that you are untruthful, and they might doubt everything that you've taught them. And also
understand that you are representative of Islam. And if you share something that is not truthful, or
something that you don't understand, then fundamentally you will taint the image of Islam as well in
the process. Another point that is very important is our character. If we go out there, we need to
be kind, we need to be gentle, we need to be soft and compassionate. And when we speak to people, we
need to do it in a way that is not harsh. For instance, as it says within the Holy Quran in chapter
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16, verse 125, invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching, and argue with
them in a way that is better. When you go out there and you perform Dhamma and you get into a
conversation with an individual that turns into a debate. It's very important for us to do it in a
way that is best and most gracious. So if a person raises their voice, be sure that you do not raise
your voice. If they have domineering body language, be sure to retract to them. Because
fundamentally, if we do this, if we do it in a way that is soft and compassionate, that person will
see it and they will realize that you're not there to dominate or to dictate what you're there to do
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just to share knowledge with them. It is very important when we performed our to have good manners
and a polite time when we speak to people. And this all is invalid within soft heartedness. And
there's a beautiful body
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Within the Holy Quran, I would like to share with you in chapter three was 159. And it reads as
follows. And by the mercy of God who dealt with them gently, and had you been severe and harsh
hearted, they would have broken away from you. And this is truly something that we find in the field
that as soon as you are harsh, and as soon as you want to offensive, and as soon as you are trying
to attack another person based on their faith, you're building a wall between you and that
individual. And you can forget about doing that with that person, because they will not want to deal
with you. And as soon as you apply an ego, whenever you speak to people within the field, you need
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to understand that it will be a barrier between you and that individual. And it prevents from
connecting with others. because fundamentally, what your ego and your pride is projecting to them is
that you are better or that you perceive that you are right and that the other person is wrong. It
doesn't matter what you know, as factual truth, do not bring that into the field of dharma. Be
compassionate, be soft hearted, speak in a way that is best and have good manners when you speak to
individuals. Another characteristic that is very, very important is that you should speak to people
based on their level of understanding. Now you won't walk up to a person that you know doesn't
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necessarily have a high education, and use profound language with them, or start talking to them
about the intricacies of the Quran itself, you will speak to them in a way that is simplistic and
easy to understand. For instance, once we look at the concept of God, there are two arguments that
we are going to use to speak to people about the existence of God, the one is very intellectual, we
would break down the possibility for existence. And the other one is rather simplistic, where we
speak about the characteristics, the names and attributes of Allah. The final characteristic I would
like to focus on within the new art is that one should never go into the extremes, refrain from it
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and reject all forms of extremism and hate speech, both in your actions and the things that you say.
And we know that our beloved prophet also spoke about this because he said that we were of extremism
in religion, because the only thing that destroyed those before you was extremism in religion. So
when you are out there in the field, be sure to share the message of peace and compassion with all
of humanity and implement some of the things that you have learned. I hope you enjoyed today's
episode. And if you have, please leave a like and share this message and I look forward to seeing
you at the next episode. All the best Blessings to you and your loved ones.
