On Thursday we hosted an Instagram live session with dawah mentor, Nadeem Ashraf. The topic was, “Dawah 101: Common Controversies in Islam”. We have summarized the live session into a few points.
First and foremost, what is dawah? Nadeem explains that, “Dawah is calling to Allah (swt) and talking about his glory”. We focus so much on the misconceptions of Islam and the things that don’t matter but we need to focus on what’s important.
A few major misconceptions about Islam as discussed by Nadeem include but are not limited to:
- Shariah Laws
- Extremism/Terrorism
- Quraish, enemies of the Prophet (PBUH)
- Polygamy
Nadeem says, “Our own ignorance and lack of action has affected us. We have summarized Islam into two categoreis, do’s and don’ts. Islam is so much more than that and that’s what we need to focus on”. What does it mean to convey Islam? Conveying the fact that we make wudu and pray is so important. We expect people to understand and accept our ways but we aren’t willing to explain it to them. Nadeem says, “Let’s be confident and tell people we are Muslims. Conveying Islam is the first step, dawah comes second”. Just tell people about Islam. They may not accept it but at least they will understand it.
Muslims can ask questions just as non-Muslims can.``We now have to, in this day and age,, always be ready for questions. For people to ask questions, it's actually a good thing. We shouldn’t react like ‘oh my goodness why are you asking questions’”, said Nadeem.Don’t tell them to go make wudu and pray for forgiveness. It’s okay to ask questions”. Acting this way towards Muslims who have questions can be very dishearanting and actually put that person off Islam. Understanding the foundation of Islam is essential in order to sucessfully answer any questions.
If you give dawah to someone with compassion,and tell them about Allah (swt), his glory and names/attributes and they accept Islam you will be rewarded. Nadeem says,“If you guide someone to Islam by giving dawah and they accpet Islam and then they give dawah to someone who also accepts Islam, you will be rewarded for all of their future good deeds, sadaqah, and dhikr”. Prepare yourself for the Day of Judgment. Nadeem says, “This is the best investment you can make''.