Questions on da'wah, alienation, and books
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I heard some callers say: When a person calls upon Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, in his own land, Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, may send guidance to another land.And their statement: These books are the words of the religion, not the religion itself.Meaning: The religion is the action.And their statement: Alienation today is calling people to Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He.They say: The alien today is not the one who prays, fasts, and performs Hajj, for there is nothing strange about that. Rather, the alien today is the one who calls to Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He. What is the validity of these statements?
There is no validity to that.Because if you supplicate to Allah with a specific supplication, you say: O Allah, guide these people. O Allah, guide the people of this town. Either Allah will answer your supplication and they will be guided, or He will avert from you and the people of the town a great evil, or He will store up for you their reward on the Day of Resurrection. As for a group in another place being guided when you did not supplicate for them, your supplication is not the cause of their guidance.
The questioner: O honorable Shaykh! I only meant visiting them in their homes and calling them to Allah, not supplicating for them?The Shaykh: How is that? How, if you call, for example, the people of a specific town, how would a group you did not call be guided?The questioner: Is it inferred that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called the people of Makkah, and then the Ansar found guidance in Madinah?The Shaykh: This is not correct. The guidance of the Ansar had a cause other than the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) calling the people of Makkah. The cause was that there were Jews among them, and the Jews had a book and knowledge that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would be sent in Makkah and would migrate to Madinah. They knew this as they know their own sons, as mentioned in the Qur'an. The Ansar (the Aws and the Khazraj) had interaction with the Jews in Madinah and used to hear this. So when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent, they traveled to him and pledged allegiance to him at the Pledges of Aqabah. This matter is well known. The cause of the Ansar's guidance was that they knew the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would be sent and that his time had come, so they went to him and pledged allegiance to him.
As for the second issue: Their statement that these books are the words of the religion, and that the religion is action and calling to Allah, means that perhaps someone from the university comes and reminds people, but they do not benefit, because what he said was the words of the religion. But if you take a person and travel with him and move with him, perhaps there is the desired benefit in that action.
This is also ignorance on his part. The book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, the Qur'an, is the noblest of books. Allah the Exalted named it a book, and there is no doubt that it is the religion. Reciting it is religion, reflecting on its meaning is religion, and acting upon it is religion. These books are a means for people to learn the religion. Your reading of the Qur'an is religion, your reading of books that contain benefit is religion, and your reading of means that guide you to the meanings of the words of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and the words of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), all of it is religion.
As for action, yes, it is part of the religion. Righteous action is undoubtedly part of the religion.The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (Islam is built on five: testifying that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establishing prayer, giving zakah, fasting Ramadan, and performing Hajj to the House of Allah) although Allah said: [Al Imran: 19] This is Islam. But stating that books are not part of the religion is an error and a deficiency. They are religion because they point to the religion.
The questioner: It is said that the aliens today are the people of da'wah or the callers; because the one who prays and the one who performs Hajj are not aliens, and the one who fasts is not considered strange among people now. But the caller is the one to whom people's attention is directed in a strange way?The Shaykh: Now, praise be to Allah, there is no strangeness to that in our lands. The caller calls, the one who prays prays, the one who gives charity gives charity, and the worshipper worships Allah, and there is nothing strange about that. But there may be in some Muslim lands those who find it stranger that one prays in congregation, or that one gives charity now. So alienation means the strange thing, like a man who is not from the country, who is considered an alien. And alienation in our lands, praise be to Allah, does not exist, neither in da'wah nor in prayer.
As for the matter of people's gaze at him, people often look at the one who gives charity, and the one who prays is often looked at and respected, and so on.
There is no validity to that.Because if you supplicate to Allah with a specific supplication, you say: O Allah, guide these people. O Allah, guide the people of this town. Either Allah will answer your supplication and they will be guided, or He will avert from you and the people of the town a great evil, or He will store up for you their reward on the Day of Resurrection. As for a group in another place being guided when you did not supplicate for them, your supplication is not the cause of their guidance.
The questioner: O honorable Shaykh! I only meant visiting them in their homes and calling them to Allah, not supplicating for them?The Shaykh: How is that? How, if you call, for example, the people of a specific town, how would a group you did not call be guided?The questioner: Is it inferred that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called the people of Makkah, and then the Ansar found guidance in Madinah?The Shaykh: This is not correct. The guidance of the Ansar had a cause other than the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) calling the people of Makkah. The cause was that there were Jews among them, and the Jews had a book and knowledge that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would be sent in Makkah and would migrate to Madinah. They knew this as they know their own sons, as mentioned in the Qur'an. The Ansar (the Aws and the Khazraj) had interaction with the Jews in Madinah and used to hear this. So when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent, they traveled to him and pledged allegiance to him at the Pledges of Aqabah. This matter is well known. The cause of the Ansar's guidance was that they knew the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would be sent and that his time had come, so they went to him and pledged allegiance to him.
As for the second issue: Their statement that these books are the words of the religion, and that the religion is action and calling to Allah, means that perhaps someone from the university comes and reminds people, but they do not benefit, because what he said was the words of the religion. But if you take a person and travel with him and move with him, perhaps there is the desired benefit in that action.
This is also ignorance on his part. The book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, the Qur'an, is the noblest of books. Allah the Exalted named it a book, and there is no doubt that it is the religion. Reciting it is religion, reflecting on its meaning is religion, and acting upon it is religion. These books are a means for people to learn the religion. Your reading of the Qur'an is religion, your reading of books that contain benefit is religion, and your reading of means that guide you to the meanings of the words of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and the words of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), all of it is religion.
As for action, yes, it is part of the religion. Righteous action is undoubtedly part of the religion.The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (Islam is built on five: testifying that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establishing prayer, giving zakah, fasting Ramadan, and performing Hajj to the House of Allah) although Allah said:
Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam
إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الْإسْلامُThe questioner: It is said that the aliens today are the people of da'wah or the callers; because the one who prays and the one who performs Hajj are not aliens, and the one who fasts is not considered strange among people now. But the caller is the one to whom people's attention is directed in a strange way?The Shaykh: Now, praise be to Allah, there is no strangeness to that in our lands. The caller calls, the one who prays prays, the one who gives charity gives charity, and the worshipper worships Allah, and there is nothing strange about that. But there may be in some Muslim lands those who find it stranger that one prays in congregation, or that one gives charity now. So alienation means the strange thing, like a man who is not from the country, who is considered an alien. And alienation in our lands, praise be to Allah, does not exist, neither in da'wah nor in prayer.
As for the matter of people's gaze at him, people often look at the one who gives charity, and the one who prays is often looked at and respected, and so on.