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Inviting
Non-Muslims to Tawhîd with Certain Knowledge
By
Dr. Norlain Dindang Mababaya
One
very important characteristic or manner that we (the Du’ât or those
who call people to Islâm) must develop is to invite people,
especially the non-Muslims, to Tawhîd based on true and firm knowledge
of Islâm. It is mandatory for us to learn Islâm based on knowledge of the
Qur’ân and the authentic Sunnah (and Ahâdîth) so that we can
successfully convey the very essence of Islâm, which is Tawhîd or the
absolute Oneness of Allâh I.
In our Da’wah, it is necessary to first invite the non-Muslims to Tawhîd
(the absolute oneness of Allâh I).
It is for their salvation that they should sincerely believe that there
is no God worthy to be worshipped but Allâh I:
Abu Hurairah. t
narrated that Allâh’s Messengerr
said, “The luckiest person who will have my intercession will be the one who
said sincerely from the bottom of his heart, “None has the right to be
worshipped but Allâh...” (Bukhari
1/98 and 8/574)
Muadh t
narrated: "I was a companion rider of
the Prophet r
on a donkey called 'Ufair. The Prophet r
asked, “O Mu'adh! Do you know what Allâh’s right on His slaves is, and what
the right of His slaves on Him is?” I replied, “Allâh and His Messengerr
know better.” He said, “Allâh’s right on His slaves is that they should
worship Him (Alone) and should not worship any besides Him. And slave’s right
on Allâh is that He should not punish him who worships none besides Him.” I
said, “O Allâh’s Messenger! Should I not inform the people of this good
news?” Her
said, “Do not inform them of it, lest they should depend on it
(absolutely).” (Bukhari 4/108)
The belief in Tawhîd in Islâm is the
most logical concept of God that every rational individual could ever think of.
Simply because, should there be two, three or more “gods”
then, the entire universe would have been in chaos as a result of the
competition of and struggle for power among “gods.” Allâh I
says:
“If
there were, in the heavens and the earth, other gods besides Allâh, there would
have been ruin in both! But
glory to Allâh, the Rabb of the Throne: (High
is He) above what they attribute to Him.” (21: 22)
“No
son did Allâh beget nor is there any god along with Him: (if there were many
gods) behold each god would have taken away what he had created and some would
have overcome others! Glory to Allâh (He is free) from the (sort of) things
they attribute to Him!” (23:91)
In conveying the message of Tawhîd, we
have to follow Prophet Muhammad r
who successfully conveyed it with certain knowledge. This is a divine commandment from Allâh the Almighty, which
we must follow:
“Say (O
Muhammad): ‘This is my Way; I do invite unto Allâh with a certain knowledge.
And whoever follows me (must also invite others to Allâh, Oneness of Allâh
with sure knowledge). Glory to Allâh! And
I am not of the polytheists.’” (12:
108)
The Qur’ân provides us the most truthful and
logical Source to convey Tawhîd to non-Muslims.
It is absolutely free from any sort of contradiction or error.
Any sensible non-Muslim who is being invited to Islâm through the words
of Allâh in the Qur’ân will, Insha Allâh, testify to the Oneness of
Allâh I.
The Qur’ân is the certain knowledge that Prophet Muhammad r
used to invite non-believers to Islâm.
It is imperative that we Du’ât must invite non-Muslims to Tawhîd
as it is the Sunnah of Allâh’s Messenger r.
In fact, the first thing he enjoined one of his Companions, which we must also
follow, was to invite people to worship Allâh I:
Bin Abbas t
narrated that when Allâh’s Messengerr
sent Muadh to Yemen, he said (to him), “You
are going to people of the Book. First of all invite them to worship Allâh
(Alone) and when they come to know Allâh, inform them that Allâh has enjoined
on them, five prayers in every day and night; and if they start offering these
prayers, inform them that Allâh has enjoined on them, the Zakat. And it is to
be taken from the rich amongst them and given to the poor amongst them; and if
they obey you in that, take Zakat from them and avoid (don't take) the best
property of the people as Zakat.” (Bukhari
2/537)
Islâmic History tells us that for ten years,
the Prophet r
invited the non-believers in Makkah to Tawhîd (to worship no
other God but Allâh I).
While in Makkah, he was raised to Heaven where he was given the divine
commandment to institutionalize the five obligatory daily prayers (Salaat). He r
performed the prayers in Makkah for three years.
Then, he was commanded to migrate to Madinah to build the first Islâmic
State ¾
to implement Islâm in its complete and purest way.
This shows how the Prophet r
stressed the need to give priority to Tawhîd, which we must also
follow in our Da’wah. This means to explain to non-Muslims the concept and
rationality of the absolute oneness of Allâh and why we need to worship Him,
before explaining other pillars of Islâm as well as the articles and other
teachings of the True and Right Religion. In
our explanation of Tawhîd and other basic teachings of Islâm, we must
try to give proofs from the Qur’ân and the Sunnah. The non-Muslims
should know that the Qur’ân teaches mankind the sincere belief and adherence
in Tawhîd (absolute Oneness of Allâh) ¾
a very sublime message for all. It
tells us that there is no God but Allâh I.
He is the Living, the Self-Subsisting, the Supporter of all (3:2), and
the One Who gives life and death (3:156, 6:95 and 15:23).
The Qur’ân tells us that belief in Allâh
requires that we refrain from assigning partners to Him (6:22, 13:36 and
60:12) as well as saying things about Allâh I
of which we have no knowledge (7:33). No
vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision; He is Subtle Well Aware (6:102,
103). He is Allâh, the One. He is not one in a Trinity (5:72), nor one of two (16:51).
He has no begotten son (2:116, 6:100, 10:68 and 19:35) nor is He begotten
(112:3). Nor does He have neither
consort nor daughters (6:100-101, 16:57 and 37:149-157). Verily, Allâh I
has no partner (6:163). There is nothing whatever like unto Him (42:12). Allâh is the One, the Eternal, Absolute; He begets not, nor
is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him (112:1-4). The Qur’ân teaches us to worship Allâh alone. Allâh I
says:
“… (This
Qur’ân is) a Book, with verses
basic or fundamental (of
established meaning) ¾
further explained in detail from One Who is Wise and Well-Acquainted (with all
things). (It teaches) that you
should worship none but Allâh.” (11:1-2)
We should therefore invite Christians to
worship Allâh instead of Jesus Christ. For
their guidance they must read the Qur’ân as it guides them to the truth about
Jesus Christ.
Jesus was no more than a servant of Allâh I
for the Children of Israel (43:59). He
was a sign to them (23:50). He
was the son of Mary (3:45) and not the son of Allâh (9:30). He was in company
and ranks of the righteous Prophets (3:46; 6:85).
He was (no more than) a Messenger of Allâh (4:171). Under Allâh’s
will, he performed miracles (3:49). Christ’s creation was like that of
Adam. Allâh I
created Adam from dust, then said to him: ‘Be’ and he was (3:59). Christ
taught no false worship (5:116-117). He taught his disciples the worship of Allâh
I
as a Way that is straight (3:51). In
blasphemy indeed are those that say that Allâh is Christ the son of Mary
(5:17). Therefore, they (the
Christians) must not over glorify him to be God for he is not Allâh (5:17).
Allâh I
guides the Jews and the Christians to the truth about Jesus Christ.
Jesus, just like Prophet Muhammad r,
was a Prophet and a Messenger of Allâh. The
only difference is that Jesus was only sent as a servant of Allâh I
for the Children of Israel, whereas, Muhammad r
was sent as the Universal Messenger of Allâh to the whole mankind. Allâh, the Most High, says:
“He (Jesus) was
no more than a servant: We granted Our favor to him and We made him an example
to the Children of Israel.” (53:59)
“Whatever good
(O man!) happens to you is from Allâh; but whatever evil happens to you is from
your (own) soul. And We have sent
you (O Muhammad) as a Messenger to (instruct) mankind: and enough is Allâh for
a witness.” (4:179)
One very important attribute of Allâh that we
must tell non-Muslims, especially the Christians, is that He is above His
creation. We must correct the idea
in Christianity that “God is everywhere”. This misconception
about God means that He can be present inside His creation. The Qur’ân tells us very clearly that Allâh is above His
creation as shown in the following Ayât:
“He is the
Irresistible above His worshippers, and He is the All-Wise, Well-Acquainted with
all things.” (6:18)
“And to Allâh
prostrate all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, of the live
moving creatures and the angels, and they are not proud.
They fear their Rabb Who is above them.”
(16:50)
It must be noted that when Allâh the Almighty
tells us that He is nearer to every human being (56:85) even than his jugular
vein (50:16) this means that He knows very well the innermost state of every
human’s feelings and consciousness.
Allâh is Ever Near (34:50) to everyone by His infinite wisdom and
knowledge because He is All Knowing, All Wise (4:11, 9:28 and 27:6). Allâh is
with us by His hearing, His seeing and His Knowledge. The Almighty says:
“Fear not for I
am with you I hear and see (everything).” (20:46)
After enlightening the Christians on the unique
and absolute qualities of Allâh as defined in the Qur’ân, it is a must that
we reiterate our invitation for them to worship Him Alone. Verily, Allâh is the
Only True God of the whole mankind. If
they reject our invitation, then we do not have to compel them to accept the
Truth. What is important is that we
have performed our duty as Muslims. Allâh
the Exalted says:
“Say: ‘O
People of the Book! Come to what is common between us and you: that we worship
none but Allâh, that we associate nothing with Him, and that none of us shall
take others as rabbs besides Allâh.’ If
they reject our invitation, then tell them plainly, ‘Bear witness that we are
Muslims.’” (3:64)
Verily, the truth is that there is no god
except Allâh I
(3:62 and 4:87): the Only Creator and Sustainer (30:40 and 40:62) of all.
To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth.
He is free of all wants, worthy of all praise (4:131).
He is the Sovereign, the Holy, (the Source of) Peace, the Secure, the
Preserver, the Powerful, the Irresistible, the Grandiose: Glory be to Allâh I
ahead of anything they may associate (with Him)! (59:22-24).
We should make it clear to the non-Muslims that
Allâh I
will never guide them if they do not believe in the absolute Oneness of Allâh I.
All their good deeds will be in vain if they continue associating
partners with Allâh I
and join others in worship with Him. Allâh I
says:
“This is the
Guidance of Allâh. He gives that
guidance to whom He pleases, of His servants if they were to join other gods
with Him, all that they did would be vain for them.”
(6:88)
“And indeed it
has been revealed to you (O Muhammad), as it was to those (Allâh’s
Messengers) before you: If you join others in worship with Allâh, (then) surely
(all) your deeds will be in vain, and you will certainly be among the losers.”
(39:65)
It is for their own salvation that they should
accept the invitation to Islâm and turn to Allâh I
for repentance. They should refrain
from associating partners in worship with Allâh I.
Allâh, the Most Forgiving, forgives all sins except the association of
partners with Him. He I
says:
“Allâh forgives
not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgives anything else, to
whom He pleases; to set up partners with Allâh is to devise a sin most heinous
indeed.” (4:48)
‘Abdullah t
narrated that Allâh’s Messengerr
said, “Anyone who dies worshipping others along with Allâh will definitely
enter the Fire.” I said, “Anyone who dies worshipping none along with Allâh
will definitely enter Paradise.” (Bukhari 2/330, 6/24 and Muslim168)
The Qur’ân enlightens us to testify that there is no God (worthy of true worship) but Allâh (47:19). Likewise, we read Ahâdîth regarding Tawhîd. Allâh’s Messenger r emphasized the importance of Tawhîd. Indeed, the Qur’ân and the Sunnah provide us the certain knowledge of inviting people to Tawhîd; therefore, there is no need for us to refer to any source such as the Bible. The two authentic revealed Sources in Islâm are sufficient for us. They can enlighten and awaken the minds and hearts of sensible non-Muslims who really seek for Truth.
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