the Da'wah is bigger than You

It really is bigger than all of us. Some students excel supremely in the knowledge scene; become hufaadh, mufassir al Qur'an, read every hadith book they can find, they know sharah of this, fiqh of that...mashaAllah Allah blesses them immensely and they give lectures, write books, counsel, create websites. They sit, study and sleep in the company of scholars. They are the spark that stimulates the young and old back to spirituality and back to praying Salah. Everyone knows they will be great one day and everyone is counting on them. Then...they disappear from the Da'wah. Just gone! Utterly vanished. They aren't in class, not in a single meeting. They can't be found at any conference, not even at the the Masjid! What just happened?

(a) They got married. This is an obvious right? It takes time for the couple to adjust, especially if there are responsibilities at home like the in-laws or looking after the kids. The wife is toast! As for the husband, he can still put a few hours in Da'wah only if he doesn't decide to work extra to get a promotion and buy a bigger house with 3 bedrooms and a garage and vacation with his family every Winter, March Break and Summer.

(b) Sins - the greater one's knowledge and one's claim to imaan, the harder are one's tests. Just as a thief will always try to rob the richest house, shaytan will only strikes the person who is conscious of Allah, and who has made a commitment with Allah. So by making serious people fall into sin, shaytan slaughters the only source of Da'wah and gives strength to all things sinister. Sins put out the flame of imaan and with imaan the spirit of decency and Da'wah also dies out. Meanings, sins deprive a person from Allah's mercy. The more one increases in sin, especially after receiving the right guidance, the more debased the become and the more they fall into despair. The righteous people in the past would say that if they missed Tahajjud one night, they would rebuke themselves for the sins they committed the previous day because of which Allah distanced them from this good deeds. So in the past if you were righteous, today you are reduced to a rotten state on account of your sins. 

(c) Jealously - the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said, “every person given a blessing is envied”. The most evil of all emotions is exasperation over the expertise of others. Many times it's the Masjid board of directors and the Masdra's Management that are malicious towards the young Muslims who have the potential to modify and improve the system. Their resentment and rage runs the Du'aat out who deposit their Islamic education and enthusiasm back on the shelves and go back to being sluggish and shallow.

The Da'wah is bigger than us. Yes, after marriage family life becomes a lot more hectic. You have to run the house and raise your kids all by yourself. Cooking, washing, vacuuming and shopping are some of your many time consuming responsibilities. However, these can be capped if your goal at the end of the day is to give Da'wah and not be a domestic slave. Some chores need to be discharged daily, like making the beds but others can be put off till the end of the week or even month. Plan tactfully and save yourself from surrendering to frivolous indulgences. Do only that which is necessary and devote the rest of your energy in studying and teaching. Like when my mom goes in the kitchen to make us a gourmet meal, I pull her out because we don't need to have nehari and naan everyday. We can survive on salad and sandwiches. Allah created us to worship Him and not work the stove. So make a blueprint of the classes you need to take and what classes you can lead. If you are involved in Da'wah, your children will learn from you but if you do nothing to disseminate the Deen, your children will be the first deprived of it. 
 

Understand that Shayatan is the most sickening sadist; he will search you for your every shortcoming and destroy you piece by piece until there is nothing of you left. The sins that we are obsessed with now, will only end with shame and scars. The leisure and lightheartedness will leave us feeling lame and loathing ourselves for being such a losers. Of what benefit is facebook, twitter or orkut? Except for just chatting, checking videos and commenting on pictures? I mean like are there no books that we can read? Have we memorized the entire Qur'an, learned Arabic, studied all the scholarly works on Hadith that now we have nothing better to do than just sit and slander? SubhanAllah! What about movies till midnight and munching at McDonalds 5 times a day? Or driving around and going out of town every weekend for no other reason than just to have fun? If we amuse ourselves to death then what do you think awaits for us in the afterlife? Heaven is for the hard working, not the haphazard. فَأَمَّا مَن طَغَىٰ وَآثَرَ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا فَإِنَّ الْجَحِيمَ هِيَ الْمَأْوَىٰ وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ وَنَهَى النَّفْسَ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ فَإِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ هِيَ الْمَأْوَىٰ "So as for he who transgressed and preferred the life of the world, then indeed, Hellfire will be [his] refuge. But as for he who feared the position of his Lord and prevented the soul from [unlawful] inclination. Then indeed, Paradise will be [his] refuge." [Qur'an, 79:37-41]
 

So if anyone gets jealous of your excessive reading and writing, your speaking skills or your insight, let them be....they won't be with you in Paradise. Everyone studies and spreads the Deen according to the strength that Allah has given them. If someone is articulate or artistic, it is not their fault, this is how Allah made them. And with their skill, they are only doing what Allah has commanded them so don't fret over people who are mashaAllah successful in their Daw'ah. Find the talent which Allah has blessed you with and tread your own path to triumph. And in case others are bent over backwards to destroy your efforts, don't let their detestation depress you. إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا "Indeed with hardship will be ease." [Qur'an 94:6] Go somewhere else, Allah's land is spacious and searching for more du'aat. Like it killed me to go to university. I didn't want to leave my Qur'an class to go and spend many hours reading bakwaas. But alhamdulillah in university, I learned a lot about myself and the world around me. If it wasn't for going to university and taking the courses that I did, I probably would have never started a blog or read at least 50+ books, or take the bus alone or give Da'wah to professors. Just think of the sahaba (r.a), they scattered all over the globe with the message of Islam. If all remained in Medina, who would have brought Islam to Spain and Portugal, to China and Chechnya?

Though Islam is labeled backward and barbaric, ostracized because of it's oppression against women and its beliefs are publicly banned and burned, it continues to grow as the fastest religion in the world and claims the highest number of committed youth followers.  This is nothing short of a divine miracle. Islam doesn't need us, it is bigger than us and as Allah promised, Islam will prosper and prevail. We are in need of it, we are nothing without it. Just ask yourself, what is your life worth without Islam? What do you have in your life, if you are not a Muslim? Marriage, money, malls, meals, movies, Masters Degree - all for what? Struggling and scuffling every day, why? When you will die and leave all these things behind then is it really worth living for them?  Allah says, أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ  حَتَّىٰ زُرْتُمُ الْمَقَابِرَ كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ "Competition in wordly increase diverts you. Until you visit the graveyards. No! You are going to know." [Qur'an, 102:1-3] I guess a majority of us won't come to our sense until we die. When we are laid in dust, alone with only a shroud, then we'll realize the purpose of life was not love or chasing after livelihood ... it was Da'wah!

Let me tell you about Aisha (r.a). She was 18 years old when the Prophet (s.a.w) passed away. She was young, beautiful and very intelligent. Don't you think she wouldn't have wanted adventure in life, some excitement and enjoyment? Which girl wouldn't? Allah and the Prophet (s.a.w) even offered this to her, 

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُل لِّأَزْوَاجِكَ إِن كُنتُنَّ تُرِدْنَ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا وَزِينَتَهَا فَتَعَالَيْنَ أُمَتِّعْكُنَّ وَأُسَرِّحْكُنَّ سَرَاحًا جَمِيلًا

O Prophet, say to your wives, "If you should desire the worldly life and its adornment, then come, I will provide for you and give you a gracious release.

وَإِن كُنتُنَّ تُرِدْنَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَالدَّارَ الْآخِرَةَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ أَعَدَّ لِلْمُحْسِنَاتِ مِنكُنَّ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا

But if you should desire Allāh and His Messenger and the home of the Hereafter – then indeed, Allāh has prepared for the doers of good among you a great reward." [Qur'an, 33:28-29]

What did she choose? Urwa ibn Zubair (r.a) said about her, " I did not see a greater scholar than Aisha in learning of the Qur'an, obligatory duties, lawful and unlawful matters, poetry, literature, Arabic history and genealogy." She memorized over two thousand ahadith, she was well versed in medicine and mathematics. Many sahaba like Umar (r.a), Abu Musa al Ashari and Taba'een studied from her. Even Safiyah and Umm Salamah (r.a) where scholary women. Imaam Nawawi and Ibn Hajar wrote a treatise praising their superior knowledge. And guess who were the teachers of Imaam Malik, Imaam Shafa'i and Imaam Bukhari? Aisha the daughter of Saad ibn Abi Waqqas (r.a) tutored Imaam Malik in Islamic sciences. Nafisa, the granddaughter of Hussain (r.a) lectured Imaam Shafa'i. And Imaam Bukhari (r.a) studied from none other than Umm Darda, the wife of Abu Darda (r.a). These women learned enough to actually leave a legacy behind. After we die, who have we prepared to shoulder the message of Islam? In 10 or 20 year's time will we have inspired people to become like Imaam Ahmed bin Hambal and Imaam Shah WaliAllah Muhaddith Dehalvi? If we really desire the home of the Hereafter then let's really do احسان in our Da'wah.