Explanation of the Three Fundamenta Principles

Conclusion on Da’wah to Allah

In conclusion, after you hear all that, there is a difference between a real flower that gives us a scent and a plastic flower that looks good but only carries the name flower. There is a difference between the two. The real flower, you put it in your house, it has a nice scent, it looks better. But you also got a plastic flower, it looks very good, but there is a huge difference between the plastic and the real flower. The Muslim with no Da’wah, the Muslim who does not ordain the good and forbid the evil, is like that plastic flower. Looks good, he is still Muslim, we are not saying he is not Muslim, looks good too because a Muslim is always good Inshaa Allah. However, he is like that plastic flower. The one who ordains the good and forbids the evil and does Da’wah like those we mentioned, the task of the Messenger, the task of the Sahaabah, the task of the Jinn and even the task of some of the animals. The one who does Da’wah is like a real flower that has a scent and it is more delightful to look at and it is more preferred to have in your house than a plastic flower.

A believer who engages in Da’wah, who takes that task upon him, is like a running water. There is a difference, running water is more pure than still water. You know about water? Running water is always more pure than still water. If water is still, if it is in a pond or in a pool, over time what happens? You got to look at the matter over time, over time what happens? It may stay clean for a while, in your pool or your pond or any type of still water, even if it is big. For some time it is going to remain clean, but after a while, it gets tainted. Unlike running water that runs into the oceans and it is more pure and more clean. Not ordaining the good or doing Da’wah, if you do not ordain the good and you do not do Da’wah, you are like the still water. You might get tainted after a while.

There is no neutral grounds in Da’wah, no neutral grounds, especially for us in the West, there is no neutral ground. That is how it is, take that as a rule, there is no neutral grounds in Da’wah zone, you cannot say I am just neutral to myself. You are either giving Da’wah or you are getting invaded in your belief. The water gets tainted over time, especially in the circumstance that we are in. Be like that clean running water with Da’wah to Allah, that clean running water. A believer does not want to be still with his religion, he always wants to move and convey and teach others because that is among the noble tasks, the tasks of the Messengers.

With this we will conclude, there is a little bit more I wanted to talk about but I think this is sufficient for this matter, Da’wah to Allah. Next week Inshaa Allah, we will go to the fourth aspect and that will be the final aspect of the four introductory aspects. I know we stayed long, but we can take questions. I do not mind staying if anyone wants to stay until we answer the last questions, so go ahead.

Class Ten

This is what is supposed to be, or considered our tenth class on Al-Usool Ath-Thalaathah. We took the four fundamental introductory principles that the book starts off with. The first one was knowledge and its definition. The second one is applying knowledge. The third one is, which we took and finished last week, conveying knowledge. And what we will take today is the fourth one, then Inshaa Allah we will take the proof. We most likely are not going to finish it today so we will probably have today and next week on the fourth one, Inshaa Allah Ta’aala.

The Fourth Introductory Matter: Patience

The fourth one is patience. The author says:

اَلْمَسْأَلَةُ الرَّابِعَةُ : الصَّبْرُ عَلَى الأَذَى فِيْهِ

Patience in attaining knowledge, of course you need patience for that. Attaining and conveying knowledge, you have to have patience for that. That is why a lot of people fall off the wagon. Abu Ubayd spent forty years writing his collection Ghareeb al-Hadith. Ibn Abdil-Barr spent thirty years writing his book At-Tamheed, the book you know. Fath al-Bari that we quote a lot, by Ibn Hajr, he spent twenty three years writing and revising that book. So you need patience in attaining and conveying knowledge. You need patience in application of knowledge, the second one. You need patience in Da’wah to Allah. Patience goes to all that, however, the statement of the author here is geared a little bit more specifically to patience in Da’wah to Allah.

The third matter, the one we just mentioned, because he says patience in harm that you endure. And usually, the harm that you endure, usually, comes when you start giving Da’wah to Allah because a Daa’iyah he calls people unto changing, liberate themselves from their desires, the desires that are embedded within them. Some evil traditions that have become part of them, they have become part of them like their flesh and blood. Their parents, grandparents and great grandparents were doing it. A Daa’iyah calls people unto leaving the evil matters and follow regulations set forth by Allah, and that is always difficult to do. Sometimes they never even heard of them before, it is difficult for people to change their nature so what they usually do is resist and oppose and take it on the messenger that is trying to convey that to them.

Therefore, a Daa’iyah, a real Muslim for that matter has the option, I will leave Da’wah or I will leave aspects of my Islam. That is an option, which of course is not an option to a believer. So leaving aspects of your Islam like a Niqaabiyyah or Hijaab or beard or Salah, because one is ridiculed or mocked or something happens to him in that matter, that is not an option for a believer. And likewise, leaving Da’wah is also and should not be an option.

The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said in Sunan at-Tirmidhi:

الْمُؤْمِنُ الَّذِي يُخَالِطُ النَّاسَ ، وَيَصْبِرُ عَلَى أَذَاهُمْ ، خَيْرٌ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِ الَّذِي لا يُخَالِطُ النَّاسَ وَلا يَصْبِرُ عَلَى أَذَاهُمْ

The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, a believer who mixes and mingles with people, for Da’wah, teaching them, and he is patient over their harm, because they are going to harm him, is better than a believer who goes into solitary in his house and is not patient over their harm.

So the other option is, the solution is, the cure to the matter is to get acquainted with something called Sabr.