Islamic D'awah in a Changing World

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

The world we live in is changing from day to day.  The Soviet empire has crumbled. The US
is seeking to reduce the scope of its military dominance of various regions of the world.  The
Berlin wall has been demolished by the very people who built it.  The Cold War has come to
an end.  The superpowers have put their guns down, admitting that warfare is no solution to
human problems.          

Western thinkers have coined a new term -- `endism', which means that all `isms', all
ideologies, all systems, have exhausted their credibility as modern man's ideal.          

Muslims generally see these changes as going against them, as danger, in fact, to Islam.  This
kind of thinking, as I see it, is quite wrong and is no doubt against the teachings of Islam. 
The Quran say: with every difficulty there is relief (94:6).  This means that difficulty and
relief inevitably coexist.  They have been ordained inseparable.          

Granted that modern changes have brought problem in their wake for Muslims, but these
changes have also created new opportunities.  And fortunately the opportunities far exceed
the problems.          

When we look at that matter from this angle we find many positive and hopeful aspects in
the situation, for although the modern world is witnessing great changes, those changes are
going mostly in favor of Islam.  This is the most important aspect of our new world.          

There are many examples which clearly indicate that the present changes greatly favor
Islam.  Here, we shall give just two examples, the one, theoretical, and the other practical,
which should suffice to make the point.          

At the beginning of the present century, a British scientist once gave a public lecture on
astronomy.  He described how the earth orbits around the sun and the sun, in turn, orbits
around center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy.  At the end of the lecture, a little
old lady at the back of the room got up and said: What you have told is rubbish.  The world
is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise.  The scientist gave a superior
smile before countering with "What is the tortoise standing on?"  " You're very clever,
young man, very clever," said the old lady, "but it's turtles all the way down."          

This picture of our world as an infinite tower of tortoises was seen by the scientists as
ridiculous.  But the alternatives presented by them were also a kind of infinite tower with the
difference that the tortoises were replaced by causes.  The scientists' assumption was that
there was always a cause behind every event, and so on.  Thus the chain of causes is infinite
in length.            

Then came the theory of the big bang.  With this, the theory of an "infinite tower of causes"
lost its validity, as this theory suggested that a sudden explosion had marked the beginning
of the universe rather than an infinitely continuing process of causes and effects.          

Stephen W. Hawking, a well-known scientist of modern times, has calculated the rate of the
expansion of the universe after the big bang.  Providing details of this calculation, he writes:          

"The rate of expansion would have had to be chosen very precisely for the rate of
expansion still to be so close to the critical rate needed to avoid recollapse.  This means
that the initial state of the universe must have been very carefully chosen indeed if the hot
big bang model was correct right back to the beginning of time.  It would be very difficult
to explain why the universe should have begun in just this way, except as the act of a God
who intended to create beings like us" (p.134).          

This means that the scientific study of the universe has strengthened religious belief rather
than weaken it.  Such discoveries have opened up opportunities for performing Islamic
d'awah with far greater effectiveness.          

Now take the practical aspect of the changes.  Here also we find clear indications that the
present changes are only paving the way for Islamic d'awah on an unprecedented scale.          

Let us see for instance, what is happening in the socialist world.  In one of his writings, Karl
Marx had said that religion was the opiate of the masses.  But today, the socialist Russians
are themselves saying that Marxism itself was the worst kind of opiate for the mind created
by Karl Marx.          

Just a few years ago, it was well-nigh unthinkable to carry a copy of the Quran inside the
Soviet Union.  But, today, Aeroflot has been engaged to airlift one million copies of the
Quran from Jeddah to Moscow.          

In its March 1990 issue, Time magazine gave detailed report on the religious position in the
Soviet  Union.  It said: "Some 55 million Soviet Muslims enjoy the fruits of new religious
tolerance."  The strange but meaningful title of this report was "Karl Marx makes room for
Mohammad."          

I do not feel the need to go into further details.  I should only like to say that the present
changes taking place in the world today have opened up for us great new scope for Islamic
d'awah.  But we must remain very alert in order not to miss these opportunities.          

The foregoing arguments suffice to show that the changes taking place in the present world
have opened up new vistas to Islamic d'awah.  These changes have made it possible for
Islam to be presented more forcefully and effectively to the world.  The most important task
ahead of us is to have a thorough understanding of these changes and then to avail of them in
an organized and disciplined way.          

I would propose for this the formation of a committee of scholars who would be entrusted
with going into the matter in depth, and then carving out a well-planned scheme.  All
possible resources should be utilized towards this end.          

This is undoubtedly a historic task.  History awaits the advance of certain dedicated
individuals towards this goal so that it can give them resounding credit for having spread the
message of Islam to mankind in this modern age.  Those who can prove themselves worthy
of such historic credit will be the most fortunate of men.