Ibn Bazz: Inviting to Allah with kindness, wisdom, and fair preaching

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Inviting to Allah with kindness, wisdom, 

and fair preaching 

All praise and thanks are due to Allâh, the Lord of the ‘Alamîn (mankind, jinn, and all that exists). May peace be upon His servant, Messenger, and Prophet whom Allah entrusted with His revelation, our prophet, Imam and master Muhammad bin Abdullah, and upon his companions, family, and whoever follows his guidance till the Last Day. 

I thank Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) for giving me this opportunity to attend this meeting with my brothers who preach; the Du`ah i.e. inviters to Allah, and Imams of Masjids in the Holy House of Allah to advise one another and recommend to the truth and cooperate in doing goodness and piety. We listened to speech of the General Secretary for Awareness on the inviters to Allah, their work and the great good they have achieved. They include those who enjoin the good and forbid the evil and their cooperation with governmental bodies. We were really pleased with that. We thank Allah and ask Him to provide all with guidance, success, and assistance, and make us all channels to good and eliminators of evil. May Allah guide them and reform their hearts and deeds! 

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Undoubtedly, it is obligatory upon us all to cooperate in righteousness and piety. Similarly, Du`ah have to cooperate with those who enjoin the good and forbid the evil. Governmental bodies also have to cooperate with everyone in this matter, as cooperation in goodness and piety results in great good, and achieves the mission and objectives intended. Thanks are due to Allah for that. 

The detailed address of Shaykh Muhammad Ibn `Abdullah Ibn Sabil the General President of the Holy Mosque and Prophet's Mosque Affairs on the Da`wah to Allah and Du`ah. It was a good address. The general president explained in details what is necessary. I confirm his declaration that Du`ah have to enjoin the good, forbid the evil kindly, with no toughness. Likewise, preachers should choose the way needed to attain what is required, remove the evil, move hearts towards the good, and make them hate what is evil. There is no doubt that preachers have to invite to the good, carry out what Allah commands, forbid what Allah forbids, and do so in all possible ways and means. 

We also listened to the address of the Shaykh Sa`id Ibn Musfir about the Du`ah. In this address, the shaykh pointed out clearly what is needed to be clarified (may Allah reward and bless him). No one ignores the fact that inviting to Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) is the duty of messengers and their followers in fairness. In their invitation to Allah, they paid much attention and checked what is good and what is bad. They did their best to achieve what is good and push away the evil. They insisted on bearing calamities, as they are the most patient of all people 

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and they are the most afflicted people and the best examples in every thing. 

Du`ah, preachers, others, princes, and rulers have to be patient in this regard and fulfill their duty in their words and deeds. They have to make priorities and pay much attention to what people need in their religion and life, warn against the spread of evil and illegal sexual intercourse. Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) says, Verily, those who like that (the crime of) illegal sexual intercourse should be propagated among those who believe, they will have a painful torment in this world and in the Hereafter. Up to the end of the Ayah (Qur'anic verse) of Surat Al­Nur. 

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Whoever conceals (the defects of) a Muslim, Allah will conceal him (his defects) in this world and in the Hereafter''. Reported by Imam Muslim in his Sahih.It is necessary 

to prohibit the existence of these things, warn against doing them, urging people to repent from them, urge them to apply Allah's Commands and to hasten in doing so. If the believer knows that a Muslim commits a sin, he has to advise him in secret, direct the advice to the people in general, and advise the people and show them what Allah forbids. 

Inviters to Allah (Exalted be He) whether they are preachers, public speakers, lecturer, or those who enjoin good and forbid evil have to pay attention in their Da`wah to what achieves the requirements and invite to the good and forbid the evil. It is well­known that denying evil has four ranks: 

First: To remove the evil with legal ways. This must be done as soon as possible. 

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Second: To decrease it but it is not removed completely. This stage should also be done as soon as possible like the previous one. 

Third: To remove the evil but another equal evil takes place. This stage is a point of controversy. If one perceives that if he removes this evil, the evil that would replace it would be less, he should remove it but if not, he has to stop. 

Fourth: To remove the evil but another worse evil takes place. In this case, one should not prohibit it, as that would result in worse evil such as prohibiting a sin that leads to falling into major Shirk (associating others with Allah in His Divinity or worship) or prohibiting drinking wine that would result in murder. 

The encyclopedic scholar Ibn Al­Qayyim (may Allah forgive him) points out these four phases in his book Ighathat Al­Lahfan. If any one contemplates the Holy Book and the Sunnah, he will know this truth. Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) says, And insult not those whom they (disbelievers) worship besides Allâh, lest they insult Allâh wrongfully without knowledge. (Surah Al­An'am: 6:108). It means that the one who enjoins and commands has to consider what is closer to good and further from evil. 

In this regard, one should not preoccupy himself with people's defects whether they are big or small. One has to mind only the existent evils, warn against them, and call people to remove them with wisdom and a good way to eliminate them. So, one has to mention the existent evil and call the organization 

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and the inviters to Allah to denounce that. He should call the society to denounce it and warn against such things like usury, drinking alcohol, Ghibah (backbiting), Namimah (tale­bearing), free intermixing (of men and women), listening to songs, playing, and other existing evils such as lingering to perform the congregational prayers, filial ingratitude, cutting the ties of kinship, hurting neighbors, and other things that Allah (Exalted be He) and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbid. 

In some countries, it is not wise for Du`ah to start with denouncing the evil by hand but it is better to communicate first with those in charge, argue with them, and invite them to Allah so that they would remove the evil. Du`ah shall spread in the society, and advise, and direct people so that the government would not send them to jail, hurt, or torture them but it should help them to spread the Da`wah to Allah with wisdom and fair preaching and to argue in a way that is better. In this way, the Du`ah to Allah shall keep their activity and strength in inviting to Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He). 

Killing, beating, or insulting people are acts against what Allah (Exalted be He) says. They cause many problems and result in loosing time. They oppose Allah's saying, Invite (mankind, O Muhammad صلى االله عليه و سلم) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islâm) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Revelation and the Qur’ân) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. To the end of the Ayah ofSurah Al­Nahl.Allah also (Glorified and Exalted be He) says, And by the Mercy of Allâh, you dealt with them gently. And had you been severe and harsh­hearted, they would have broken away from about you This verse is inSurah Al­`Imran.So a Da`y i.e. a caller to Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He), should follow the way of 

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the Prophet (peace be upon him), his companions, and followers in fairness (may Allah be pleased with them). The Prophet (peace be upon him) stayed in Makkah Al­Mukarramah for thirteen years in which he never punished or killed any one. He invited to Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) along with his companions with wisdom and fair preaching. He did not denounce the evil that may lead to Fitnah (sedition) and evil. He did not beat, kill, or send to prison anyone till Allah (Exalted be He) made him take over after the emigration to Madinah and when he went to Makkahto perform `Umrah and they prevented him. He chose the best way and accepted to make peace with Quraysh to attain the great and best outcome. So, he agreed with them to a matter that Muslims could not bear. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was patient in this regard in order to attain the benefit for all Muslims and for anyone who would like to embrace Islam. Likewise, the Du`ah should take the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as their good example. 

Thanks to Allah, we are in a Muslim country that enjoins the good, forbids the bad, invites to Allah, and apply His Shari`ah. So the people should cooperate with it to do the good, forbid the bad, and remove evils wisely and sincerely. They have to work ardently to heal the situations needed to be tackled in legal ways as much as possible between us and rulers (may Allah guide them) through writing and speech in cooperation with scholars. Du`ah in all countries have to tackle different conditions that go against the pure Shari`ah in wisdom, good way, and fair preaching. They should also cooperate with rulers to do good, recommend to patience in a gentle way, and cooperate with the country so that the Du`ah would not be 

hurt and that the invitation to Allah would not be delayed. Inviting to Allah (Exalted be He) should be in a way 

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that is good and to cooperate to do the good and piety as the way to remove the evil or reduce it. Inviting people to resort to Shari`ah for judgment is the most necessary matter in this regard. This is the only way to strive for good treatment and reform even if only some aims are attained. Some good may happen and the government that they blame may cooperate and reduce evil and make the good abundant. 

So wisdom is necessary in inviting with knowledge. Knowledge invites people to be gentle and to give priority to the best and the most important and then to what is next to it. 

If inviting people to remove evil would result in worse evil, it must not be done. It should also not do anything that would lead to another worse thing. One must seek to do more good and reduce evil, keep away from worse and dangerous evils that may lead to major Shirk (associating others with Allah in His Divinity or worship) in your country or others, with presidents and rulers, princes or others. It is a must to cooperate with them in removing the evil, reducing it and removing what is against the Shari`ah as much as possible. We have to work according Allah's Book and to His Prophet's Sunnah, to be guided by them and to consult one another. If we find any thing difficult, we have to discuss it collectively and report it to those in higher ranks to remove the evil and help the good prevail. 

Advising one another and cooperation only result in the good. Hastiness leads only to more mistakes. We, knowledge seekers, inviters to Allah, and those who enjoin the good and forbid the evil, have to find the best means to reach the good and choose the best ways in our enjoining the right, forbidding the wrong, inviting to Allah, and in all our conduct to please Allah and come closer to Him to attain what is required to 

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please Allah, remove the evil, and attain the good. We have to be keen on doing that, cooperate in doing it, and compete in this regard. If there is a necessity for power, the matter must be reported to those in charge to remove this matter and follow it till it disappears. 

I advise my brothers in this country and everywhere to follow the way of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his companions in word and deed and to be good example in their words and deeds, to start as good examples in every good and to forbid every evil so that they would be a practical example in their deeds, conditions, ethics, gentility, mercy, and benevolence. They have to pay attention to this matter. They should be gentle, for it is better to mistakenly let people escape punishment than to punish them unjustly. 

May Allah guide everyone to useful knowledge, good deeds, and make hearts and deeds good! May Allah guide all preachers and scholars everywhere to the best, provide them with more faith and knowledge, and guide their leaders to all that pleases Allah, make their advisors good, keep them away from any evil, make them guided, guide them to judge by Islamic law, remove whoever hates or refuses that, and replace them with better than them! Allah is (Glorified and Exalted be He) the All­Generous, All­Gracious. May peace and blessings be upon Muhammad, his family, and companions!