Is it permissible to call a group to Islam by gradually allowing them to practice some of their customs, and then calling them to the correct Sunnah afterwards?

The questioner : ... then teaching them some of the Sunnahs and some of the obligations. Is this action correct?

The Shaykh : It is not correct. The best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). The Messenger of Allah did not call his people to Islam by pleasing them regarding some of the customs they had become accustomed to. Rather, he called them directly to the oneness of Allah. It is a very, very grave error for the caller to begin with trivial matters, or even with recommended matters, or even with obligatory matters, while knowing that those being called are farthest from understanding the saying of Allah the Exalted: We believe, or claim, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is our model and our example in everything. We should follow him (peace and blessings be upon him) in his calling and his style of calling. It is not permissible for us to come up with a style of our own to please the people around us. For example, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not, in the beginning of his calling, call the rich and the wealthy to give from their wealth to the poor, even though they were tyrannical with their wealth and wasteful in it, and there were poor and needy people. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not focus on winning the hearts of the people, the poor, and the needy, who are usually the majority, in order to win the hearts of these people to them. Rather, he called them all, poor and rich, to worship Allah and avoid the tagut (tyranny). This style that you referred to, and similar to it, is not the style of the prophets and messengers. We all know that the first word that came from all the messengers to their people was to worship Allah and avoid the tagut. And so on. Therefore, the Muslim youth today abandon the way of the prophets and messengers in calling and invent a style of their own. This is absolutely not befitting for the caller.