The Da’wah To Islam by Sheikh Ahmad Mahmoud

The Shar’a does not require the mere presence of a group. Rather what the Shar’a requires is the establishment of a group whose purpose is to establish this order. The evidences for the existence of the group clarify this for us.

- In His 􀀬 saying; “And let there arise out of you a group inviting to all that is good (Islam), enjoining the ma’roof (good) and forbidding the munkar (evil). And it is they who are successful.” [TMQ 3:104]. The Shar’a has obliged the establishment of a political group whose ideology is Islam and that carries the thoughts and Shar’ee rules necessary for the achievement of the aims the group was established for, which are the dominance, establishment and accession to power [of Islam]. The order is not to have a group for its own sake. It is rather to realise what was commanded, which is the da’wah and enjoining the ma’roof and forbidding the munkar. Also, it is not the da’wah and enjoining the good and forbidding the evil for their own sake. Rather the order is to realise the objective for which the da’wah and enjoining the ma’roof and forbidding the munkar exist; dominance, consolidation and accession to power.

- The Messenger 􀁕 said; “It is not allowed for three people to be on any part of the earth without appointing one of them as ameer (leader).” [Narrated by Ahmad b. Hanbal]. The Shar’a indicated that for any joint action that the Muslims have been ordered to perform they must have an ameer.

The obedience to him will be obligatory in the matter he has been made ameer for, and for the people over whom he has been made ameer. The group must comply with the order of the ameer, so that the results of this collective work are achieved according to the Shar’a.

- Since Allah 􀀬 has enjoined upon the Muslims many obligations that are entrusted to the Khaleefah only, then it has become imperative to appoint a Khaleefah in order to realise these obligations. Since the appointment of a Khaleefah and the establishment of the Khilafah cannot be achieved except by a group, then the presence of a group whose aim is to establish the Khaleefah and the Khilafah becomes inevitable. This is based on the principle:

‘That which is necessary to establish a wajib is itself a waajib.’ So it becomes clear that the presence of a group is inextricably linked to the presence of the required Shar’ee objective. Thus, it is not a group that merely undertakes the da’wah to Islam. It is not a group that conveys the message just for the sake of conveying. Rather it is a group established for the purpose of establishing Islam in the life of the Muslims, through the establishment of the Islamic State, which is considered the Shar’ee method of applying all the rules of Islam, both individual and collective.

Hence a group must exist whose purpose is to realise the aim for which it has been established.

Until the group can be considered to have fulfilled all that is required of it, it must do the following things.

- It must adopt all the thoughts, Shar’ee rules and opinions that are necessary for its work, and it should adhere to them in word, deed and thought. This is because the aim of adoption is to protect the unity of the party. If the group is established and its members have different thoughts and diverse Ijtihaadaat the group will be afflicted with splits and fragmentation, even though they may be united on the aim and on Islam in a general manner. Within it there would be other factions, leading to groups forming within the group. Its da’wah will turn from being a da’wah to others to work with it and establish the fard, into a da’wah to each other. They will start to dispute with each other, with each faction trying to get its view across to the leadership of the group. Hence, the importance of adoption and its legitimacy becomes evident. The unity of the group is necessary by Shar’a. Nothing can maintain its unity in this situation, except the adoption of all the thoughts necessary for the work, and obliging the shabab with this adoption. Accordingly the adoption becomes required in compliance with the principle ‘That which is necessary for a wajib, is itself wajib.’ As long as the thoughts, rules and opinions for the work of the group are all based on the Shar’eeah; and as long as this group has the trust of its shabab it is allowed, in origin, to restrict the shabab in the thoughts regarding the work because it is allowed for a Muslim to leave his opinion and work according to the opinion of others. Thus, in the bay’ah of ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan he accepted to take the pledge of Khaleefah on condition that he left his Ijtihaad for the Ijtihaad of Abu Bakr and Umar 􀁗, even where it differed with his Ijtihaad. The Sahabah accepted this and they gave him the bay’ah. However, this is considered to be permitted and not obligatory as is made evident by the fact that Ali 􀁗 did not accept to leave his Ijtihaad for the Ijtihaad of Abu Bakr and Umar and not a single Sahabah objected. Also, it has been authentically narrated from ash-Sha’bi that Abu Musa used to leave his opinion for the opinion of Ali, Zayd used to leave his opinion for the opinion of Ubayy b. Ka’b and Abdullah used to leave his opinion for the opinion of ‘Umar. Ahadith have been narrated that Abu Bakr and ‘Umar used to leave their opinion for ‘Ali 􀁗. This shows that it is allowed for the Mujtahid to leave his opinion for someone else based on trust in his Ijtihaad. The shabab of this group must adhere to these two concepts and they should have a be intellectual and emotional body.

- Just as the group must adopt the Sharee’ah rules necessary for its work, it must also adopt the styles to execute these rules. The style is the manner in which the Hukm Shar’ee is executed. It is a rule which relates to the original rule for which the daleel came. For example: The group is required to culture its shabab in a concentrated manner following the example of the Messenger 􀁕. This is a Hukm Shar’ee that must be adhered to. But in what manner? How should this Hukm Shar’ee be executed? There must be a specific style through which this Hukm Shar’ee can be fulfilled. The style may be through halaqaat (circles) or the usar (families) etc.

So the choice of the style is a rational selection of the most appropriate action through which the Hukm Shar’ee will be executed. It will take the ruling of ibaahah (permissibility) in terms of the basis. The Shar’a has ordered the Hukm Shar’ee, but left the style of its implementation to the Muslim.

Due to the many styles available for a single Hukm Shar’ee, the group is compelled to adopt a specific style and direct its shabab towards it.

Then the group would have adopted a style, which will lead to the implementation of the Hukm Shar’ee. Then the style will take the same rule as the work which it falls under. In other words, it becomes binding, like the Hukm Shar’ee that it falls under is binding.

When a group chooses the halaqaat system (circles) as a style to bring about the concentrated culturing, it must adopt it as a style that is binding.

When adopting the style, the group must realize the aim of this style, which is concentrated culturing. So for the halaqah style, it would adopt everything that will realise this aim. For example; the number of people in the halaqah should be consistent with the aim. If the number increases then this may be at the expense of the concentrated culturing. If the number is less, then there will be too many halaqaat and they will form a burden and obstacle to the aim. The number must be conducive to the culturing process, without excess or deficiency. So the fixing of the number is a decision for the mind. Similarly, the time period of the halaqah should be such that the students can maintain their attention in order to understand the thoughts, otherwise the comprehension will be reduced. If the time is too short then the thoughts will not be given in a complete manner. How often should the halaqah take place? Should it be daily, weekly or fortnightly? Halaqah times should not be an obstacle to the practical aspect of the da’wah. The academic aspect, at the expense of the practical aspect, should not preoccupy the Shabab. This is how the appropriate styles are adopted for the execution of the Sharee’ah rules, such that they are in complete harmony with the Hukm Shar’ee that is to be realised. What we have said about styles roughly applies to the means as well. It is allowed for the Ameer to change the means and styles according to the requirements of the work.

- Since the group will be dealing with a wide expanse of land and its reach will extend to many States, then the sheer size and volume of the work necessitates the presence of an administrative system through which the party can pursue the da’wah and realize its aims in all spheres of its work. The administration system will organize and regulate the movement of the da’wah. It will follow the culturing of the shabab and prepare the general atmosphere for the idea. It will organize the intellectual and political struggle. The party will appear to the Ummah as a body, which committed itself to realise this task. Hence, there must be an organisational structure, which is devoted to realising the aim as best as possible, so it monitors the achievements of the work and maintains them.

So the party must adopt an administrative system or an organisational structure that will enable it to organise the da’wah successfully, thus leading to the attainment of the aim.

The party must adopt an administrative law through which the body and its movement is organised, where the rules regarding the powers of the Ameer, how he runs the party and how he is selected are defined. It explains who will appoint those responsible for the areas and provinces, and what the limits of their powers are. It is the law that will organise the administration concerning every action of the Hizb and specify the mandatory powers of everyone concerned.

All of these rules will take the Hukm of the means and styles that are required for executing the Sharee’ah rules related to the work. It is obligatory to adhere to the adopted administrative styles as long as the Ameer considers them necessary, because obedience to the Ameer is waajib.

- One is obliged to adhere to whatever is adopted, so what will the party do when there is a violation? Will it deal with the violation by rebuking the person or should there be administrative punishments?

The group is obliged to adopt administrative punishments for those who violate any adopted rule or deviate from the Shar’ee course that has been drawn out. These punishments are legitimate because they are for disobeying the Ameer. Since the Hukm Shar’ee obliges the presence of an Ameer it obliges obedience to him and forbids the disobedience in the matters that he was appointed an Ameer; otherwise, there would be no meaning to having an Ameer for the group.

The Messenger 􀁕 said:

“The one who obeys me is (as if) he has obeyed Allah. And the one who disobeys me is (as if) he disobeyed Allah. The one who obeys the Ameer is (as if) he obeyed me and the one who disobeys the Ameer is (as if) he disobeyed me.” [Reported by Muslim] The administrative punishments from the Ameer should extend to everyone, even to a junior member in the movement. These punishments are for violations of adoption. The one who violates the adopted Shar’eeah rules or styles, does not adhere to the administrative body or administrative law, or crosses the limits of his powers, should be taken to account.

In this manner the intellectual framework should be accompanied by a disciplined organisational framework, which is dedicated to the precise execution of the thoughts of the work and the rules of the method. Our eyes have seen how many Islamic, and non-Islamic organisations, have failed because they didn’t pay any attention to the structural aspect.

It is natural for the group to be plagued with disagreements if it doesn’t give the concept of adoption due attention; it will proceed haphazardly and go around in circles. It will exceed all bounds with nobody to bring it to account. This will prevent the group from being able to achieve its objective.

It is natural that if the members and people of responsibility are not chosen based on legitimate and consistent conditions, but instead are chosen for reasons such as who they are related to, having a social standing or having an academic post, then the tasks will be badly distributed and the individuals will become interested in attaining particular positions.

It is natural that if there are no administrative laws to which everyone is subjected, then there will be discrimination in accounting and balance and fairness will be lost.

It is natural that if there are no administrative punishments, which do not differentiate between big violations and small violations, then disobedience will continue in the work and mistakes will increase.

Therefore, one has to pay attention to the organisational aspect and the shaping of a party body that is effective in its movement, such that the thoughts of the da’wah and its shabab are organized within it, and its work is facilitated. The structure and composition of the party or group must be in complete harmony with the aim for which the group was established.

No one should think that the structural aspect is secondary; rather it is a very important matter indeed. If the group is not well structured and does not adopt the necessary rules and make them binding, then whatever success the group has will be in danger of being lost.

Moreover, undertaking the party tasks obliges the party or group to bear some financial responsibilities. This is owing to some shabab being specially assigned a duty required by the group, for travel expenses, printing costs or other expenses necessary for carrying the da’wah. These financial costs must be borne by the party body itself, ie its shabab. The one who has given himself to the da’wah, it is easier for him to give that which is less than himself, ie financial support.

The group should be careful not to extend its hand outside the group, whether it be to an individual, to a group or to a government. This is how groups are approached. The enemies of the da’wah exploit the group’s need for money, so they begin by giving seemingly innocent financial assistance to it. Very soon, this assistance becomes assistance for a purpose.