The Da’wah To Islam by Sheikh Ahmad Mahmoud

The deen has been perfected and the favour has been completed.

He 􀀬 said; “And the Word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice. None can change His Words. And He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.” [TMQ 6:115].

Indeed, it is a favour of Allah 􀀬 on His servants that He has perfected their deen and completed His favour upon them. He 􀀬 has guarded the Qur’an and protected it from change and alteration. He 􀀬 said; “Verily without a doubt it is We Who sent down the Dhikr (ie the Qur’an) and surely, We will guard it (from corruption).” [TMQ 15:9]. He 􀀬 preserved it so that it is a proof for mankind until the Day of Judgement.

Since the Messenger 􀁕 was the good ear that received the last revelation from the heavens to the earth, then the Muslims are obliged to take charge of the prophethood in the best manner; holding onto the Qur’an and biting onto the Sunnah with their teeth, as they have been ordered.

Then they will be on what the Messenger 􀁕 and his Sahabah were on.

Numerous evidences have come proving this point.

Since the Muslims, through the conveying of the da’wah, came into contact with the other nations to whom they offered the pure deen, the deen of ration and fitrah (nature), the other nations used to offer in response, even if only in defence, their religion to the Muslims.

Sometimes some Muslims used to be affected by their ideas without realising. This used to have a negative effect on their understanding and on the da’wah. However, after a while the Ulama’ began to alert the Muslims; those Ulama’, whom Allah 􀀬 has made as minarets and milestones, by which the truth is recognised. Hence they removed from the deen that which had become mixed with it, and was not originally part of it. They prevented fabrication and invalidated deception, so the deen returned shining. So the Muslims were moving between good and bad, until the evil of our times today. So how do we rescue ourselves from this?

Our situation today demands that we return to the causes at the goodness of the beginning of the matter, so that we can return Islam to its first course.

So that we can purify Islam from every doubtful thing, reject every fabrication and invalidate any deception, we must first free ourselves from this corrupt mentality that we have inherited from The West. That mentality, which makes us measure the affairs of the da’wah with the criteria of benefit, whims and desires; where whatever agrees with our whims and desires, we take, and whatever conflicts with them, we leave.

Then we interpret the Shar’ee texts in a manner that agrees with our views. After that we quote texts to show the correctness of the view we have taken. The correct Islamic mentality is based on the fact that the command is only for Allah 􀀬. It is not allowed when trying to understand the rule of Allah 􀀬, to involve our tastes or inclinations in that process.

Nor should we allow our desires to dominate it. Just as we should not be fearful of our enemies, the people’s alienation, the rulers’ rejection of the deen, and the circumstances and surrounding conditions. It is also like using the absence of benefit as a justification for the da’wah carriers to lighten the conveyance and ease matters for the Muslims. Allah 􀀬 is the All-Knowing, All-Informed. He knows the nature of mankind and what they need, and what they are able to do, the reality in which they live, who the enemies are and how they should be dealt with, and more than all that.

The only correct method of Ijtihaad, as we have explained previously, is based on first understanding the reality that one wants to treat, and then solving the problem with the Shar’ee texts according to their indications.

This leads to gaining knowledge of Allah’s 􀀬 rule, purely on this reality.

In other words, when we proceed according to this method it is like saying this is the hukm for the reality in which we live, includings its surrounding conditions and circumstances, difficulty and hardship, and the interest that we aimed to achieve in it. Regarding this matter, Allah 􀀬 says; “O you who believe! Do not put (yourselves) forward before Allah and His Messenger, and fear Allah. Verily! Allah is All-Hearing, All -Knowing.” [TMQ 49:1] He 􀀬 says; “It is not (fitting) for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he has indeed strayed in a plain error.” [TMQ 33:36] The difference between those two mentalities is what led to this wide difference in understanding the rules, by which the Muslims wished their situations to be solved.

However, the mentality that has been influenced by the western thought, has been responsible for the suspension of some definite texts, and their abandonment for the sake of others for which there is no evidence, under the pretext of the circumstances, surrounding conditions, benefit and preventing the harm. The rule regarding usury for example, is a definite prohibition with an explicit expression that is not open to interpretation and devoid of any ta’leel (reasoning). The reality, circumstances, surrounding conditions, and the ideas of acquiring benefits, and repelling harms, have come to affect their thinking and made them come out with different rules regarding the permissibility of dealing with interest.

Some groups have been established on this mentality, and they have come out with rules that have no support in the Shar’a. Rather they contradict the Shar’a in a severe way. That is why they claimed that Democracy was from Islam, while it is the opposite of that as we have explained previously. They also claimed that participating in Jaahili regimes is permitted according to the Shar’a, and it is the only path available to the Islamic movement working to establish the Rule of Allah 􀀬. Even though this completely contradicts the verses of the Qur’an and the Sunnah of His Messenger 􀁕.

When we explained the corrupt idea of gradualism in applying Islam, or calling for it, we actually explained at the same time the corruption of the thoughts that relate to it, such as participation in a kufr ruling system.

However, we are forced to pause here a little to refute the doubts related to this issue, so that no excuse remains for the one who advocates such ideas.

We also know, that as long as the mentality of these groups in understanding the Shar’a is not rectified, then advice will be of no use.

This is because if we were able to convince them of the corruption of power sharing, and they still had this mentality, we will see them searching for an alternative to it using this mentality. Therefore, we must be very careful with this type of mentality that the Shar’a does not approve of.

This kind of mentality is the soil in which these misguided thoughts grow.

Today, what does power sharing mean, and what are the justifications presented by its advocates?

Sharing means that the Muslims participate in ruling that is not on the basis of Islam, and rule with other than the rules of Islam. That is done by playing the game of Democracy and entering parliament for the sake of carrying them and their opinion into power, and with time assume the power exclusively. This will be through gradualism or stages, which according to their view, Islam approves of.

The justifications that permit power-sharing in their view, are rational and by Shar’a. As for the rational justifications they are as follows:

* The historical picture of Islam assuming power does not seem to be possible today. This is because all the regions of the Islamic world are under the control of powerful central authorities, supported by various international powers that possess awesome material and non-material forces (respect, influence etc). They are monitoring the movements of those who are working for Islam, and attempting to contain them and prevent their success. That is why, in their view, making analogy to the past is non-existent.

*The Islamic da’wah used to be organised to include all the Muslims, it used to be the community of the Muslims, while the current jama’ah only includes a group from the Muslims. This is what places the current jama’ah in a difficult position, since there is a broad base of Muslims who are not subject to its leadership. The Jahili regimes derive many diverse benefits from this. That is why the modern Islamic movement places itself on the party path, followed by modern parties, if it wants to reach power.

The methodology of the modern political parties is based on styles through which they reach power. These styles are either through the democratic game or via the military coup or a popular armed revolt.

The doors have been closed in the face of the modern Islamic movement such that it cannot obtain a military force from within the armies of their countries that enables it to stage a military coup. The door of popular revolt has also been shut under the shadow of the current despotic regimes. It is only the third option that remains for the modern Islamic movement, which is the path of the political party work, which leads to participation in non-Islamic ruling.

They add: In the process of achieving this great objective, which the Islamic movement was established to achieve, it is not possible to argue against the objective using partial matters that conflict with it (the objective). This is because in case there is a conflict between the juz’i (partial) with the kulli (whole), then the kulli is weightier. The flexibility of the Islamic Sharee’ah together with its practicability, would not be possible if the realisation of the great objectives was prevented because of partial conflicts. Likewise, it is not right to get the Muslims into difficulty, and restrict them to assuming the power only through one route, even though this route is impossible in some circumstances and situations. In case it was unfeasible to apply the first way, it is possible to move to the second, third, or fourth one. It may even be good (in the maslahah), at some stage, to proceed along these four ways in parallel, until at the end one of them is decided to be better.