Da'wah & Tabligh - The Work of Acceptance

We must understand what Da'wah and Tabligh is. The Ulama of Haqq who carry this work as the mission of their lives have studied this work based on evidences from the Qur'an, the Ahadith and the lives of the Sahabah RA. In this day and age people carelessly say that there are so many ways or preferences. How is it such a high work has no standard? or tertib? or methodology? Yet it is not so sophisticated or complex to understand, or require rgeat ability and skill.

The thing is, this work is the work of Allah SWT. And in this work, it does not depend on how talented a person is. Rather, in this work, the most important thing is that how can a person be accepted by Allah SWT.

Acceptance is the criteria for this work, not the talents and not the abilities. And because we do not have this in our environment, so what we think is:

"...let's bring people i.e. the people who are talented to do this work."

But the reality is, this work is for those people who are accepted by Allah. It happens to that point, that a person who does not have any qualities or any abilities or any talents, so what? When he comes through the way of acceptance of Allah, he becomes so talented and Allah gives him so much that he exceeds those people who have talent. And if Allah wishes - those who have talent cannot even utilise or take benefit from their own talents. This is the way of acceptance of Allah; this is how Allah Ta'ala accepts a person. And it happens that when Allah Ta'ala desires to accept a person, this person has to go through different tests and trials. Different decisions and circumstances are put on this person. This person has to go through these circumstances and conditions. And while passing through these different tests, trials, and conditions, this person reaches a level that he becomes acceptable to Allah Ta'ala.

Because Allah Ta'ala chooses; He says:

"[...from the people he wants to do the work."

So when Allah Ta'ala chooses a person, that person has to go through various tests and trials, so that different benefits can enter the person. He goes through all that, so that through that, different qualities become embedded in the person. And because of these qualities, this person becomes accepted by Allah.

Allah Ta'ala mentions about the Prophet Ibrahim AS that he underwent so many tests, and Ibrahim AS passed all those tests. And when he passed all those tests, Allah Ta'ala chose him as Imam, as Imam of the
Millat (belief), and Imam of the Deen. Allah Ta'ala chose him. This is what the acceptance of Allah Ta'ala is; that when a person goes through this process, then Allah chooses him and selects him. And this is the most important thing - i.e. how can a person get accepted by Allah Ta'ala?

First of all, every worker of Deen must assess his personal life. This is very essential and very important. Shaykha Muhammad Ilyas Khandalwi RahA used to say that Allah Ta'ala will protect this work with such people that have the qualities to carry out this work. The people with such qualities and such attributes that they will carryout this work, then through them, Allah will protect the effort.

As such, there are four things that must come in the life of a human being;

the first is 'Ibadah,

then Akhlaaq,

then Mu'amalat, and

then Mu'asharat.

Ibadah is between a person and Allah.

The rest - Akhlaaq, Mu'amalat and Mu'asharat- i.e. the character of a person, the dealings of a person, the social life of a person; this is between a person and other people. Between a person andAllah, there is just one aspect; between a person and other people, thereare three aspects.

That's why, Shaykh Muhammad Yusuf Khandalwi RahA, in Hayatus Sahabah, has written a chapter where he has written how through the Akhlaaq of the Sahabah RA, Allah SWT gave Hidayah to other people. Their Akhlaaq, their character, their dealings and their Mu'amalat became a means of Hidayah for other people. The first thing which a person is tested is in his patience.

One Jewish scholar once came to Rasulullah SAW, and he wanted to test Rasulullah SAW in his patience, to see if he was really a nabi, and to see the dealings of Rasulullah SAW. And he dealt with Rasulullah SAW very harshly, and very rudely. But as harshly as he dealt with Rasulullah SAW, Rasulullah SAW showed even more patience. Patience and forbearance are signs of prophethood. He showed more patience, because Ambiya AS are given this quality of patience. They had so much patience, that whatever conditions come upon them, they would make Sabr and have patience on those conditions, until the decision of Allah Ta'ala comes forth. They tolerated those conditions and had patience so that Allah Ta'ala can open the doors of Hidayah for them.

The temperament of a Da'iee is one of patience and tolerance, and thus these must be adopted in the lives of every worker of Da'wah and Tabligh. The life of Rasulullah SAW before Prophethood was such that he was considered "Sadiqul Ameen", that he was truthful, pure, and trustworthy. Rasulullah SAW had all these qualities, even before prophethood, because he was in a position where he frequently had to deal with people. That is why we are told again and again that we should read Hayatus Sahabah, and we should carry out this effort according to the temperament and the methodology that is shown through the lives of the Sahabah. If we carry it out in this manner, then our efforts will be accepted. But if we do not read it, or keep these examples in front of us, and the life of Rasulullah SAW is not in front of us, then we will deviate from that path.

So if we are not guided, then how will we carry out this work with what? With cheating with one another, lying with one another, betraying one another, hating one another. And we will carry out the work in this manner. And what will happen next is that the work will be destroyed. People leave the work because of the lack of example they see around them, and the worst thing happen - they don't get involved in the work. They only become Abids, in their own spiritual comfort zone, which is also wrong and sinful, because this work is the work of all - scholars or non-scholars.

That is why it is very necessary to recognise that the first quality that the Ambiya AS developed was the quality of patience, and we have to bring this quality inside ourselves. And the more a person has patience, the more Allah SWT will use him as a means of Hidayah. There is a chapter in Hayatus Sahabah which mentions those qualities of Rasulullah SAW which were linked to the Hidayah of other people; among those, the first quality mentioned was that of patience. So we must bring this quality inside us. If we spend three days with full tertib, InshaAllah we will gain guidance.