Mirza Yawar Baig – How to do Dawa
AI: Summary ©
The importance of friends in Islam is emphasized, along with the need for genuine interest and avoiding harming others. Pr practicing religion is also emphasized, along with showing compassion and kindness. Personal principles and practices are also emphasized, including showing respect and admiration for Muslims and bringing personal examples. The importance of learning to handle one's effort and avoiding offense is emphasized, along with avoiding disrespectful comments on Facebook.
AI: Summary ©
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين
والصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء والمرسلين محمد رسول
الله صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم تسليمًا
كثيرًا كثيرًا My brothers and sisters, a very
dear friend of mine said to me that
I have sent out these daily reminders on
conveying the message of Islam and he said
if you can tell me two or three
main things that I can do then you
know do it simply then that will be
helpful so this is for him and for
all who want to know the basic fundamental
principles of how to give dawah.
I call it my three-point rule.
Number one, before you come to the rule,
please understand that conveying the message of Islam,
the work of dawah, is a long-term
project.
It's not instant coffee, it's not hit and
run, it is not something that you know
you're going to throw in somebody's face and
they will accept it.
It is a long-term project that you
are taking on for the pleasure of Allah
and you're going to stay there and stick
on there until one of two things happens.
The person comes to Islam or one of
you dies and we hope it's the former.
So you stick in there as long as
it takes.
With this in mind, we come to my
three-point rule.
Three things you need to do.
Number one, make friends.
Please remember, like we say in sales, and
dawah is sales, dawah is selling.
You can only sell to friends, nobody else.
So you want to sell, make friends.
Now making friends means that you do what
needs to be done to get close to
the other person, not in a manipulative kind
of way, but because genuinely, out of genuine
interest, out of genuine friendship, genuinely being nice
to somebody.
Remember, it's not play-acting, it's not deception,
it's not entrapment, it's not seduction.
It is genuine interest in another human being
and interest enough to make sure that they
go to Jannah instead of Jahannam.
True interest in their akhirah.
There is no other better reason to make
friends than to invite them to Islam.
So make friends.
Now in that process, sometimes people ask me,
well, what if I am making friends with
this person, but this person is engaged in
something which is haram?
Now this is where your second part will
come in, which is demonstrate to them, like
you do in selling.
You make friends and then you give the
person a sample.
So demonstrate to them a sample of what
Islam is.
And a sample of what Islam is, is
that you will not compromise on your principles.
So you will not eat haram, you will
not stop praying, you will not go into
a place where it is prohibited for a
Muslim to go, and so forth.
You will not lie, you will not cheat,
you will not indulge in backbiting and slander.
You will not compromise your Islamic principles for
any reason.
But you will not do this belligerently, you
will not do this in an inhumored way.
You will do this kindly, you will do
this with a big smile on your face.
And you will do that with complete confidence.
Remember, if you have no confidence in your
product, and in this case the product is
Islam, you cannot sell it.
Nobody can sell something that they don't feel
confident in themselves.
So this confidence in this case is not
demonstrated by giving speeches about it, but by
living it.
So now you are with this friend and
you are making friends with them.
So you are with them and maybe they
are interested.
One way of making friends is to see
if you share some interest.
So you share an interest, say in sports,
so you are playing soccer or something with
them.
Now first and foremost, how do you dress?
You don't wear shorts.
You wear things that go beyond down to
the middle of your calves.
You do not leave your knees bare.
You don't run around without your shirt.
Doesn't matter if you have a six-pack
or an eight-pack.
That is between you and Allah.
It is not to be shown to the
world.
So you dress in a way which is
dignified.
They will notice.
People notice.
Let them notice.
We want them to notice.
Then you are playing the game, and in
the game you will play also with compassion,
also with kindness.
You will not make fouls.
You will not try to do something to
hurt somebody else.
You will put your life and soul into
it.
You will be the first person on the
field.
You will come an hour before everybody else
and practice.
You will pass the ball to somebody who
is in a better position to score the
goal, even though it means that you will
not score the goal yourself.
It doesn't matter.
You will pass the ball to the other
person who was in a better position to
score the goal so that your team wins.
You will not try to win at the
expense of the team.
You will always, always, always be polite.
You will never be rude.
You will never use foul language.
You will do all of this stuff.
When you go back to the stands and
you are in the shower room and so
on, you won't walk around naked like others.
You will practice your Islam in all of
these ways.
Then when it is time to pray, you
will pray.
You don't have to stop in the middle
of the game and pray in the middle
of the field to show the world that
you are a great, pious person.
No.
There is a time for the Salah and
there is a time slot, but you will
not miss the Salah.
If it looks like the time is going
to be missed, then you will ask permission
from the coach and the referees, and you
will pray to one side on the side
of the field, but you will pray.
And if there is time to pray after
the game is over, you pray after the
game is over, but you will pray.
You will make sure that you pray within
the time of the prayer.
Again, please understand this.
You are doing this for the sake of
Allah SWT.
You are not doing this to show the
world.
So do it with dignity, but make sure
that you show that.
Then you win the game.
Everybody is in the party.
You will not go to the party.
You will say, sorry, I don't participate in
these kinds of things.
Don't sit there pompously and say it as
if you're looking down on people.
Just say, my religion does not permit me
to go to a place where there is
alcohol, where there is music and dancing and
girls and so on.
So sorry, I won't join you guys here.
I'll meet you after the party is over.
So you make sure that you practice your
religion, but you play.
And remember, believe me, those of you who
think that if I'm not going to do
that, I won't be popular, believe me, the
most popular person on the team is the
person who helps the team to score the
most goals.
Nothing else matters.
Nothing else matters.
Today people remember somebody like, I'm going from
soccer to basketball, but just for the example,
today people remember Kobe Bryant, not because of
whether he drank or he didn't drink or
he went to a party or didn't go
to a party.
They remember him because of his brilliant professional
competence and capability which he demonstrated on the
court.
They remember him for the fact that he
would be up three hours before the team
to practice.
They remember him because after winning a game,
he would come and everybody would go home
and he would go to the court and
he would practice 500 times the one throw
that he missed in the game which the
team won.
People remember you for your professional competence.
So don't worry about popularity at the expense
of your religion, no.
So make friends and then point number two,
give them a sample of Islam.
Let them see Islam in action and that
Islam in action they will see when they
see you practicing as a Muslim.
And the third thing is be prepared to
answer questions and people will ask questions.
People will ask questions and if they don't
ask questions, open the door to questions by
a couple of things.
One is when you are doing your own
Islam stuff, people will ask you questions.
If they don't ask you questions, go a
step further and say this is the reason
I'm doing this.
Now again, don't accost them in the street,
don't shove it down their throats, no debating,
no clever answers, no making fun or mocking
of their gods and their beliefs and their
superstitions and their anything.
You present your picture in the best possible
manner.
So answer questions.
Bring the person to a question, make him
ask a question and then you answer the
question.
The key thing is that a person is
much more willing to listen to an answer
to his question rather than exactly the same
thing if it is told to him without
him having asked a question.
He never asked you anything but you are
telling him something but the same thing he
asks you and you tell him, he will
listen to you more because it's now a
response to his question.
And that's the trick or the knack or
the talent.
How can I make somebody ask me a
question?
One of the most straightforward ways is do
you want to know?
Shall I tell you?
Shall I show you a trade which will
save you from a very painful punishment and
so on?
So ask people, do you want me to
show you this?
Shall I tell you about this?
Do you want to know?
But that's one way but other ways is
where you do something in a way where
a person will automatically ask a question.
If they don't ask then try different ways.
So three things, make friends, give them a
sample of your product which is Islam itself
by showing them in your own life.
And I gave you examples in the game
but other games also, right?
Your honesty, your integrity.
Take them home.
Let them see what your house looks like.
Let them see what your room looks like
if you are in college and university.
Let them see a room which is where
the bed is made, things are put in
the right places, not a room which looks
like a trash can.
Let them ride in your car.
Your car shouldn't look like a trash can
on four wheels.
Make sure that your Islam is visible in
all its beauty, in every aspect of your
life, not only one.
You go with them to a restaurant, make
sure they see how you treat the waiters.
Thanking people, pulling somebody's chair for them, let
them sit down.
Being polite to people, serving people, standing up
and showing respect for elders, right?
In today's world and especially in this country,
I see Muslims, young Muslims, brothers with big
beards, sisters with hijab and so on but
zero manners.
Don't do that.
Don't do that.
Your beard cuts no ice with anybody except
maybe the Baba, right?
You need to show your akhlaq.
If you don't have politeness, if you do
not respect your elders, if you do not
show consideration to people, you can have a
beard like we were living here.
Who cares?
So show your manners.
Demonstrate Islam.
Show them how Islam is superior to whatever
they are practicing.
And then let the questions come in and
answer the questions.
And then final point.
Stand in the light and cry before Allah
asking Allah to give hidayahs to the person
that you are talking to.
That last one is something we forget because
we are so focused on our own effort.
We think that we can do it.
We can't do it.
Allah said to Rasulullah himself, لا تهدي اما
نحبب ولكن الله يهدي من يشعر Allah said
you cannot give hidayahs to whoever you like.
Allah will give to whoever He likes.
So stand before Allah in the night in
tahajjud.
Make tahajjud farz on yourself.
If you are serious about dawah, make tahajjud
farz on yourself.
Anyone who did dawah did tahajjud.
Allah gave this to His Nabi.
يَا يُوَى الْمُسْزَمِنِ لُقُمِ لَا إِلَىٰ إِلَّا فَلِيلٌ
Allah said get up and stand in the
night.
So stand in the night.
Beg Allah to give hidayah to the person.
Say to Allah, Ya Rabb, there is nothing
I can do because that person's heart is
in Your control.
Change their heart.
Fill their heart with the nur and the
love and the glory and the majesty and
the khashiyat of Yourself.
Remove me from between that person and Yourself
and You guide them.
Make the du'a.
Beg Allah.
Cry before Allah.
This is what the Nabi did.
They worked in the day and they cried
before Allah in the night.
We do the work sometimes but we forget
about this.
Cry in the night before Allah.
And then finally if Allah gives you that
and may Allah give you great success, may
Allah make you the means of guiding thousands
of people, millions of people to Islam.
When that happens, when the first person accepts
Islam, thanks to your effort, fall in sujood,
thank Allah and make istighfar.
Astaghfiru.
Allah says, Then what?
Tasbih bi hamdi rabbik.
Astaghfiru.
Make tasbih of Allah and make istighfar.
Make istighfar.
Beg Allah for forgiveness because otherwise kibur comes
in.
You think you have done the job.
You have not done the job.
Allah has done the job.
Allah has done the job.
The Prophet said, Not me.
Alone.
You have defeated the people.
You have defeated the enemies of Islam.
You have defeated shaitan.
You have defeated all the forces of evil
and misguidance.
Not me.
That is the lesson for us.
So, beg Allah for forgiveness.
Don't post it on Facebook.
Don't post videos.
Don't post it on Instagram.
Please stay far away from that because remember
all your effort.
One posting you make, that effort has gone
down the drain.
You pulled the flush on it.
You flushed it down the toilet because all
your effort went down the drain because now
you put it on Facebook and say, Oh,
this is what I did.
Finished.
Gone.
Don't destroy your own effort.
You need this.
If Allah gives that to you, this is
the greatest asset you can have with yourself
from the Day of Judgment.
Don't lose it by propagating it.
Don't lose it by publicizing it.
Don't lose it by making videos and posting
it.
Don't do that.
Don't let somebody fool you and say, Oh,
but you see, this will give Hidayat.
No, it will not give Hidayat to anybody.
It will destroy your good deed and all
your work will be trashed and will have
no meaning before Allah.
Don't do that to yourself.
Ask Allah to grant us the joy of
doing His work for His sake alone and
the joy of Him being pleased with us.
Al Fatiha.