The Master Key

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

An article in an Arabic magazine headlined Al-Miftahul Azim (Master Key), citing dawah power as the greatest of all Islamic strengths, says that if in the past, Islam achieved its universal victories through dawah, today, it can turn its defeats into victories by the same method.

Dawah is very much under discussion these days among Muslim writers and speakers. Its exponents, however, spend more time unraveling the plots and conspiracies hatched against them by non-Muslim nations than in practicing what they preach. That is to say that, on the one hand, they exhort Muslims to assume the role of da’is while, on the other hand, they assure them with great vehemence that as far as the Muslims are concerned, all the nations of the world have turned into rapacious wolves and, as such, must be fought against and annihilated.

Both these utterances are made in the same breath, without any awareness of their contradictory nature, the one spelling peace and the other spelling war. And who are these nations who, day in and day out, are labeled oppressors and conspirators? They are those very non-Muslim nations who are the potential recipients of dawah. They are our mad’us. The Muslims are the da’is and their neighboring nations are the mad’us. Now, when da’is are constantly having it bored into them that the mad’u is a cruel predator, there can be no arousal of any sincere missionary spirit as described in the Qur’an: the da’is is truly a well-wisher of his mad’u.

Dawah is wholly an experience of love. The da‘i must be fully committed to guiding his mad’u. Only then can the process of dawah be meaningful. The da’is must ignore the antagonism and combativeness of the mad’u; he must erase all adverse impressions of the mad’u from his heart, so that he may spontaneously begin praying for the mad’u’s guidance.

People talk of dawah without ever realizing its prerequisites. They want the credit for being da’is without ever fulfilling its demands. They want the credit for communicating the divine message to man without paying the price for it.

This is true not only of the weak Muslim minority in non-Muslim countries, but also of the Muslim majority living in Muslim countries. The only difference between these two categories is that the former have endless grievances against the local non-Muslim authorities, while the latter blame their woes on international non-Muslim powers such as the Jews, Christians, Orientalists, and so on.

In Islam, the most important consideration of all is dawah. All other considerations, no matter how serious and important they may be, can be legitimately passed over in its favor. The Sunnah of the Prophet gives such clear guidelines on this subject as leaves no doubt in the mind of a lover of Truth.

Shortly before his migration to Madina, the Prophet visited Ta’if. There, scorned by the inhabitants, he was subjected to the worst kind of humiliations details of which can be had from Sirah books. The Prophet later told his wife, Aishah, that he had never had a harder day than the one in Ta’if. It was when the Prophet left Ta’if in great grief and sorrow that he was visited by the angel of the mountains at God’s command. He said to the Prophet, "God has heard what your people had said to you. I am the angel of the mount. If you ask me I can crush their settlement by these mountains". The Prophet replied, "No, I am still hopeful that there will arise people among their following generations who will worship God without associating anything with Him." (As-Sirah an-Nabawiyya li Ibn Kathir vol. II, p. 153).

It is quite plain that dawah is the master key. But it takes a great heart to make use of it. It takes a character of the utmost sublimity—khuluqin azim, as it is described in the Qur’an. Only those who possess such qualities can recognize and utilize such opportunities as come their way.

God has made dawah the master key for believers for all time. Whatever the Muslims gained in the first phase of Islamic history was through dawah. Any future gains will likewise be through dawah, for the revolution brought about by the Prophet and his companions in world history is still making its impact. It has facilitated the process of dawah and invested them with great power. It is still the super key to meaningful achievement in the world of religion.

In modern times, the latest methods of communication have provided new avenues for the propagation of Islam. But even more important is the development of various branches of scientific research which have quite finally established the veracity of Islam. What was formerly achieved by our predecessors in circumstances fraught with great difficulty because of poor, or non-existent communications, and a lack of scientific proofs, can now be accomplished with comparative ease.

Dawah is certainly the master key for believers. But it will prove to be so only when true Islamic prerequisites are kept in mind.