Dawah For Dummies.

by HijabMan :: posted 11 December 07

The Arabic word, dawah, as it is used currently in mainstream Muslim circles has come to mean ‘attempting to convert people to Islam.’

Back in Syria, I lived in a house full of Muslims from all over the world. Imagine an all-male, Muslim version of the MTV reality series “The Real World,” where seven languages are spoken, and you’ve got a pretty accurate image of my life in Damascus.

When a German, Christian guy who biked from Germany to Syria stepped into the house and we all came to greet him, the first thing out of my housemate Muhammad’s mouth was how much sawab or “reward” we would get if we converted him.

All I could do was laugh, but inside my head I was heaving those heaves right before a good cry. The ones that arrive when you are exhausted by dealing with a community that doesn’t seem to get it… pardon me, for my occasional negativity. I am not interested in converting people to Islam.

My preferred way of looking at dawah [which also happens to be its literal definition] is ‘to invite,’ in this case, it is an invitation to God, and good. The best way, in my opinion, to do that, is to lead by example. Not to preach, as some do, but to just be a good person, and lead a principled life.

In this way, any act of good becomes dawah. For instance, the act of smiling is an invitation to good. Smiling is dawah. Working collaboratively on a project to benefit humanity is an invitation to good. dawah. Eating healthy food? dawah. Being good to your guests, feeding someone, doing jump-n-jacks? dawah, dawah, – and debatable, but since we’re on a roll – dawah.

What are you waiting for?

dawah party.

Partially inspired by “Faith In Humanity” over @ ZenHabits.

Aisha at 11 December 07 :: #

How much do I LOVE zenhabits. So cool.

That shirt you featured. i bought it for my little brother who has a lot of Christian friends who are really really sweet kids and are always trying to convert him :) He wore this with them and the next day they all made shirts that said “Christians love Muslims too” LOL, it was really cute how the shirt helped create togetherness :) Don’t you feel oh so proud?? :)
HijabMan at 12 December 07 :: #

:-) not proud. just grateful for the opportunity.
bb_aisha at 12 December 07 :: #

I agree. I find it arrogant in a way that we want to immediately convert someone. I have many friends who’ve converted & they came to Islam in their own way, not because someone shoved it down their throats & proclaimed it superior.
yaser at 12 December 07 :: #

well, ideally what you’ve described is the true da’wah. but our folks have warped it into some kind of weird evangelism instead.
HijabMan at 12 December 07 :: #

bb_aisha. Agreed.

yaser. We is warped for sure. what’s with your canadian uncle killing his own daughter? wtf.
javi at 13 December 07 :: #

well…. you know jose’s and my background – so you know full well that we totally agree with you on this entire issue. There is no compulsion in religion – and no one should be put in a position where they are barraged by (even well meaning) muslims who are out to convert people. As you said, the best way is to lead by example :)
Incognita at 14 December 07 :: #

Well said.
More importantly, no one can ever “convert” anyone to Islam. Only Allah puts the belief in the heart of a person and the person him/herself makes the choice.

So to have a lets-convert-people- marathon is quite gelastic.
homeinkabul at 18 December 07 :: #

my good friend who is non-muslim used to get constant pressure to convert by another muslim friend. He thought he would get sawab points (seriously, he thought in the point system). I always wanted to tell him that I should share in the points because I’m the other Muslim that she is a close friend. :)

Oh and this post of yours has made you my current blog spotlight…
Chaoyang at 19 December 07 :: #

Hey Hijabman, I’m pretty sure jumping jacks is dawah, too. It was in my “how to do dawah” list, item #27, Elementary Principles of Islam study book that we all learned as 7 year olds in Sunday School.
homeinkabul at 19 December 07 :: #

Ooh, my 2nd to the last sentence doesn’t make sense, does it? I meant to say: I should share in the points if she ever converts because I’m the other Muslim she knows. Come to think of it, she knows alot of Muslims…With the point division, I don’t think I’d get enough points for her conversion…
;)

Welcome! This site serves two main purposes: to entertain and educate the Believing and curious community, and to generate a bit of cash—God willing. But there’s a lot more about HijabMan.

Dawah For Dummies.

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