Da'wah, Da'wah Da'wah

Its taken me a long time to write this post.... I've tried to write it a couple of times with no success...I think that there are so many things that I want to say that I just get stuck. Anyway, here goes...

I've heard that the best way we can give da’wah as a Muslim is to provide a good example of what Islam really is. We can do this by living as a Muslim should, and showing kindness and respect. Part of the reason that people don't understand Islam is because they fear what they do not know. All they see is what is portrayed on the news, and we can all agree that this is not what Islam is all about.

Now on to the hard part... There are other ways of giving da’wah. I've experienced a few of them recently. One being by posting to a forum. I have a feeling that this will never really be a good source of da’wah. It is too uncontrolled, there are too many people arguing and too much 'my opinion is' kind of stuff. The people that volunteer to moderate the forum are good people, but no experts in Islam. The other issue (and I hate to say it) is that some of these da’wah forums are not specific to a sect of Islam and there are some Sufi or shia influence in there. This can be more confusing than anything. Personally I don't like the labels that the sects give to themselves. I try to follow Quran and Sunnah. I'm a Muslim. That is how I identify myself. If I were a non Muslim looking at these forums I would never be able to find what the real meaning of Islam was. Then there are the people that come to an Islamic da’wah forum who just want to stir up trouble. I never understand why someone who has NO interest in Islam hangs about the forum so long. Inshallah they are guided to the straight path.

Another way of giving da’wah would be through lectures and conferences. I went to ICNA's convention this past July and we were able to take my father in law to a lecture specifically for non muslims. Yusef Estes was the speaker and he did an excellent job. I can't say as much for the rest of the conference. There were some good speakers and I enjoyed seeing some of them, but they also had some people that I totally disagree with. People that spread the wrong message of Islam. Anyway that is another post entirely. Getting back to lectures. I think that its a great thing to have events that allow non Muslims to learn about Islam from an expert. They can ask questions and get true and HONEST answers. This avoids the issues of forums where they are getting answers from people that may be based on opinion and not quran and sunnah.

Finally there is interfaith. I'm not sure really what this means. If we are to just come together with people of other faiths and all agree to disagree, I wonder what the point is. Personally I know more about Christianity now than I did when I was a Christian, so I really don't need to learn anything from anyone. So what really is the point of an interfaith event? I don't think its a horrible idea or anything, just not my thing I guess.

In times such as these portraying Islam in a positive light is a challenge. May Allah guide us all.