An example illustrating the state of most preachers today.
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The Shaykh : And here is a joke from Syria, in our country, which is told—it is a joke to lighten the mood a bit, and because it is a reality, unfortunately:
"They claim that a non-Arab man, enthusiastic about Islam and uneducated, neither a scholar nor a student of knowledge, met a Jew on the road. He took out a knife or a dirk and approached him, saying: 'And you, convert to Islam or I will kill you.' The Jew said: 'What am I supposed to say?' He replied: 'By Allah, I do not know.'" This is the extent of his knowledge; the poor man is calling him to Islam and threatening him with death, but he does not know how to say: Say, "There is no god but Allah." This is an approximate example, not a specific one.
The important point is that calling to Allah must be based, above all, on knowledge[Fussilat 41:33]: If one is not a worker with knowledge, he will not be a righteous worker. As it was said in the past, one who lacks a thing cannot give it. Therefore, the one who should be a caller to Allah must be a scholar. Then this is not sufficient; he must be a scholar of the Book and the Sunnah, not just of some late jurisprudential opinions, lest he fall into the kind of analogy you heard earlier, where he compared the free disbelieving maidservant to the slave disbelieving maidservant, and the difference between them is vast. This is first: that he be a scholar.
Second: that he be a scholar of the Book and the Sunnah, and upon the methodology of the righteous Salaf.
Finally: that he act upon his knowledge. For calling to Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, even if it is one hundred percent correct, will not have the desired effect on the masses if it is not accompanied by the action of this caller. This is because people are more concerned with following the scholars and the people of virtue in their actions than in their words. This is what pertains to the path of calling to Allah.
"They claim that a non-Arab man, enthusiastic about Islam and uneducated, neither a scholar nor a student of knowledge, met a Jew on the road. He took out a knife or a dirk and approached him, saying: 'And you, convert to Islam or I will kill you.' The Jew said: 'What am I supposed to say?' He replied: 'By Allah, I do not know.'" This is the extent of his knowledge; the poor man is calling him to Islam and threatening him with death, but he does not know how to say: Say, "There is no god but Allah." This is an approximate example, not a specific one.
The important point is that calling to Allah must be based, above all, on knowledge
And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allah and does righteousness and says, "Indeed, I am of the Muslims."
ومن أحسن قولًا ممن دعا إلى الله وعمل صالحًا وقال إنني من المسلمينSecond: that he be a scholar of the Book and the Sunnah, and upon the methodology of the righteous Salaf.
Finally: that he act upon his knowledge. For calling to Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, even if it is one hundred percent correct, will not have the desired effect on the masses if it is not accompanied by the action of this caller. This is because people are more concerned with following the scholars and the people of virtue in their actions than in their words. This is what pertains to the path of calling to Allah.