Islam, a complete way that defines the innateness of existence and the total submission to the will of Allah SWT, is a religion that has been sent to mankind in the most complete form, beyond human comprehension, through the noblest of mankind, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). “This day, have I perfected for you your religion and completed my favor on you and chosen for you Islam as a religion.” (Qur’an, 5:3). The Almighty, in this honoured verse, points out the needlessness of any further bother to seek a more perfect way of worship and this, in itself, nullifies any form of innovation which is understood to be done in the claim of inventing a more perfect way to reach Almighty Allah.

Every practice of Islam, in the prescribed way they should be done, has been sent through Rosoolullah to be taught to mankind, and counter-acting towards his teachings signifies a huge disrespect to our Creator, which amounts to a great sin.

Eqaually is the propagation of the ideal/pristine Islam with firmness/strictness required, as it translates to upholding the injunctions of our Perfect Creator’s perfect religion with our own available resources. This involves unapologetically praising those who seem to truly be upon the ideal path of Islam and actively giving Da’wah to people in the realest/most original, as possible, form, following the guidance of the Kitab and Sunnah without trying to appeal to people’s emotion by adjusting the seemingly ‘harsh’ parts of the commandments of Islam which, if upheld, are of utmost benefit.

Striving in such a way, to preserve the perfected holy communion to the only true Creator, will not only show solidarity to Islam but as well come with abundant reward of great magnitude, for the determination of being steadfast upon the haqq despite all odds, inevitably spurring temptations of joining those upon innovation in their seemingly ‘pleasurable’ mode of worship. In as much as strictness is SURELY needed to spread the light of Islam – as it is only with that, one can soundly spread the true message – it should be consciously registered that our approach to such message deliverance needs to come in an appealing way, for its acceptability among folks it is dished out to.

The rigidity attributed to Da’wah should, in my debatable opinion, not be borne out of personal grudge for those on the erring side of Islam, but associated with the divine instructions and teachings that direct us to the proper mode of faith-based message delivery. Compassion could be delivered without turning truth or logic in its head. Those on the erring side already have been deeply immersed in error along a span of long or short time, depending on individuals, and calling such people out of what they hold to be the truth, will not be a matter of immediate ‘talk and do.’ Approaching in a pleasant manner, with a free mind of disposing nothing but the truth, is surely more welcoming, than further provoking the anger or hatred of such erring folks for the truth, by an unpleasant Da’wah manner approach.
Lack of fairness in the address of the errors of the people of innovation in a bid to show the authenticity and essence of the strict pristine practices of Islam, is an action that, more often than none, results in full blown enmity laced with harsh hostility among the Ummah. Trampling on the ego and pedigree of personalities, is what it is regarded as, by those been corrected and this may further result in defamation of characters, involving all sorts of derogatory nomenclature ascribed to the involved parties, and this is evident within the Social Media space of today where we see supposed scholars playing to this unfortunate card, as no one wants their personality soiled, without fighting back with negative words. SubhanaLlah!

This, by all standards set by Islam, is needless, and tranquility/moderation in Da’wah could be achieved if only the moderate approach is employed. “So by mercy from Allah, [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah. Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him].” [Quran, 3: 159]. Allah definitely wants the best achievement to come through the best or most easing process and He will never lead us to a destructive path, rather than that which will be of great benefit to us.

What has not been achieved by the use of force will surely not be possessed by the use of even greater force, but the use of a counter action which definitely does not carry force along, if we can reflect through the words of Allah. The blend of compassion in our mode of Deen Propagation is an essential tool in the achievement of the aim of gaining souls with Da’wah, but definitely NOT at the expense of the strictness in upholding the truth to be disseminated.

May Allah strengthen us with the wherewithal to keep striving upon the truth without deviation, Aameen.

Ismail Abogunde, Editor-in-Chief at The Muslim Voice, Nigeria. Contact: abogundedarey@gmail.com

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