The Meaning and Levels of Da’wah

Literally da’wat means to invite, but in the shar‘ee context it means to call people to Allah Ta‘ala completely and correctly. This is a broad definition and one will need to know how it will be applied in different situations. There will be different levels and different types of people: (1) To invite a person who is out of Islam into Islam. This was done during the entire lifetime of Nabi (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). (2) A person has just come into Islam. How should he be introduced to Islam and educated? (3) One who is already in Islam and Muslim by birth, but he has no motivation and spirit, and he does not have any commitment. One will need to understand how to create motivation and enthusiasm in such a person to remain committed on Deen. (4) A person has commitment, but his commitment is incomplete and not consistent at all times. For each of the above there is a different type of da’wat and a different way of working with the person. In all of this the Hadith teaches us “yassiroo wa laa tu‘assiroo” – take it easy with the person and do not be overbearing. Allah Ta‘ala forbid, if you are overbearing and the person begins to dislike Islam or some part of Islam, then upon whom will the sin fall?

Source: Al-Haadi