The Da’wah To Islam by Sheikh Ahmad Mahmoud

When the Kaafir West managed to impose its way of life as the way that people should follow, the Muslims lived through intellectual, social, economic and political conditions that were the envy of none. The Muslims lived according to thoughts that contradicted their ‘Aqeedah. Hence, they lost the correct orientation and their personality when they tried to reconcile their thoughts, that emanate from their ‘Aqeedah, with the western thoughts about life, which emanate from a foreign thought that the Ummah did not accept. This falsehood penetrated their minds owing to their ignorance, and inability to take matters from their foundations. They reconciled the irreconcilable, between Islam and that which contradicted it. They made perceived benefit the goal of the Sharee’ah. They were content to accept any interpretation and justify any fabrication. Owing to this, the economic and social life of the people became full of contradictions. The political forces were intent on concentrating these foreign thoughts at the expense of the original thought of the Muslims.

It was in the shade of this very bad situation that Islamic groups and parties started to emerge, in order to face these hordes of erroneous thoughts and concepts, deviant emotions, and political circumstances shaped by the foreigner.

The party or group was supposed to have the antidote or the healing balm. They were supposed to draw out the straight line that the people should follow under its guidance, alongside the crooked line whose fire will burn the people. They were supposed to say to the people; “And Verily, this is my Straight path, so follow it, and follow not (other) paths, for they will separate you away from His Path.” [TMQ 6:153] The group or party was supposed to have qualities that would enable it to achieve the aim. These qualitites are the clarity of thought, the will to achieve the aim, preparing an aware collection of people, preparing the Ummah and adherence to the rules of the method.

In terms of the idea, it is supposed to assume the highest position in the group. In the view of the group, the idea is the truth, which all the people should turn to, and it is the guidance that lights the path for mankind. It is the gifted mercy from Allah 􀀬 to His servants. It is the light that takes mankind out of the darkness of desire. It is the one that fits man, agrees with his natural disposition, convinces his mind and gives his heart tranquillity. It is the one that gives happiness to life and creates hope. It has the depth and comprehensiveness that makes it capable of answering all of man’s questions about the life that he lives, and links him properly with what is before life and what is to come after it. It links him correctly with his Creator, such that he understands his objective and brings him happiness until the end.

The group or party that believes in this idea, also believes that when it is not prevalent, that munkar and falsehood will spread freely; whims will be followed, oppression will occur, and darkness will spread. A narrow difficult life will leave the people sleepless, so you will never see them contented. Neither will their nature be at ease or their minds in a state of contemplation.

The foremost issue that the group must be concerned with is to arrive at the Fikrah (idea), which will form its spirit and reason for its existence.

It will look after it, preserve its purity, and remove anything that is not from it. It will not allow it to be mixed with foreign thoughts and it will not decide its position regarding other calls and ideas proposed on a foreign basis. Perhaps the purity of the idea requires clarity of vision for the group. The clarity of vision will be by understanding the Shar’ee rule via a correct deduction, and the rule should be based on the Islamic ‘Aqeedah.

When the idea loses its clarity, purity, crystallisation and distinctness, it would have lost its special character, and it will no longer be the light, guidance or the gifted mercy. It would have lost its reason for existence and become like the other movements; defeated in the face of the reality, which could affect it instead of it affecting the reality, and reshaping it instead of it reshaping the reality into what it should be.

The more the idea is crystalised in the minds of its people, the more the method of delivering it practically is crystalised. The clarity of the objective comes from the clarity of the idea. The method for achieving the objective consists of regulated Sharee’ah rules, like any other Shar’ee rules.

The ideological group or party adheres to the ideology in every situation. That is because the ideological Fikrah prevents the one who has conviction in it and calls for it from taking anything from any other source unless the Fikrah approved it. Since it is a fundamental idea, it begins with the study of matters from their basis and it gives a distinct answer to the meaning of man’s existence in this universe. Every peripheral thought is taken from this fundamental thought and emanates from it. Then man’s thoughts about life, concepts about things and judgement on actions will all be of the same type as the fundamental thought.

The structure of Islam is complete and has nothing missing even if it is a single brick. Everything in it is in complete harmony with everyting else because it emanates from one constant intellectual basis that agrees with the norms of life and nature of creation.

So whosoever believes in Islam, the halaal and haraam become the criteria of his actions and his viewpoint towards things, and not benefit.

This is because the concept of benefit is in harmony with the idea that man is the one who legislates and not Allah 􀀬. Happiness for the Muslim is when he attains the Good pleasure of Allah 􀀬, and not the greatest amount of enjoyment. His life becomes one of servitude to Allah 􀀬 and surrender to His command, and not a life based on the idea of freedoms, which would make him free from any constraints. Whoever accepts the basis must accept whatever originates from it. Whoever wishes to change, must start with the basis and observe the harmony between the peripheral thoughts and the basis. This is the ideological Fikrah and ideological da’wah from which the group must start. Hence it is not acceptable that the Muslims, their systems or groups mix Islam with something else. Likewise, it is not acceptable from the current regimes to make Islam one of the sources of legislation, along with other non-Shar’ee sources, such as customs, or to make Islam the main source amongst others. In addition it is not acceptable that Islamic groups take a mixture of things, like being established on Islam as well as other western thoughts that are foreign to Islam. This is nothing short of defeat, which Allah 􀀬 and His believing servants do not accept.

That is why all the Islamic groups whose ‘Aqeedah is established on the basis of ‘Laa ilaah illallah muhammadur rasoolullah’ - there is none worthy of worship or obedience except Allah 􀀬 - are not allowed to go to the east or west to adopt their rules about life. One must ensure that every thought emanates from the ‘Aqeedah, and that it is taken from the authentic Shar’ee sources, and deduced from their detailed evidences.

How can ‘Laa ilaah illallah muhammadur rasoolullah’ be in harmony with the statement that socialism is from Islam, even though it is established on the idea that ‘there is no god, and life is just matter’? How can it be in harmony with the statement that Democracy is from Islam, even though it is established on the idea of ‘separation of religion from life’ or the view that nationalism and patriotism are from Islam even though they are based on tribalism, which Islam has shown to be despicable?

How can ‘Laa ilaah illallah muhammadur rasoolullah’, which means legislation is only for Allah 􀀬, be in harmony with the view that we should participate with others, or others should participate with us, in legislation?

How can ‘Laa ilaah illallah muhammadur rasoolullah’, which is established on humility, subservience and worship to the Lord of the worlds, be in harmony with the idea of freedom that is present in the western systems, when it makes man the sovereign in everything? He does not submit to a God, except according to how much this agrees with his whims, desires and benefit.

Indeed, guarding the Islamic ‘Aqeedah means guarding whatever emanates from it. Otherwise, the character of the group would be lost in the grip of reconciliation, which Allah 􀀬 and His servants do not approve of.

In order to preserve the idea in terms of clarity, purity, distinctness and crystallisation, it must be removed from the effect of the reality, and from surrendering to its circumstances, and it should be placed far away from any fabrication, alteration and bargaining.

Just as the da’wah carrier wishes to change the society according to his vision, society has its own erroneous concepts and thoughts, political conditions and social order. This puts pressure on the da’wah carrier and on the group that he works with for change.