Dawah

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Glossary of Islamic terms

Islam Portal  v • d • e 
This article is about the Muslim concept. For the Tibetan phrase, see Dawa (Tibet).
For the Iraqi political party, see Islamic Dawa Party.

Daˤwah usually denotes proselytizing of Islam. The Arabic دعوة daˤwah means literally "issuing a summons" or "making an invitation", being the active participle of a verb meaning variously "to summon, to invite" (whose triconsonantal root is د ع و). "Inviting others to Islam" is considered[who?] to be an obligation for Muslims. Daˤwah is sometimes referred to as the act of "preaching Islam".[who?] A Muslim who practices daˤwah, either as a religious worker or in a volunteer community effort, is called a dāˤī (plural du'āt دعاة, often rendered as "da'ee"). A dāˤī is thus a person who invites people to understand Islam through a dialogical process, and may be categorized in some cases as the Islamic equivalent of a missionary.

Contents

[edit] In Early Islam

In the Quran (Koran), the term dawah has other senses. In Sura 30 of the Quran, it denotes the call to the dead to rise from the tomb on the Day of Judgment. When used in the Quran it generally refers to God's invitation to live according to his will. Thus, when used in the first centuries of Islam, it increasingly referred to the content of that message and was sometimes used interchangeably with sharī'a (law) and dīn (way of life). It is also described as the duty to "actively encourage fellow Muslims in the pursuance of greater piety in all aspects of their lives," a definition which has become central to contemporary Islamic thought. [1]

[edit] Purposes of dawah[2]

[edit] Invitation

In Islamic theology, the purpose of dawah is to "invite" people, both Muslims and non-Muslims, to understand the worship of Allah as expressed in the Qur'an, as well as to inform them about the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.[3] As directed to For the non-Muslims, it consists of explaining Islam through acts, discussions, and dialogue.

[edit] Strengthen the Ummah

Another purpose of dawah is to strengthen the Muslim community, or ummah. In this regard, it is the encouragement to be more observant of God and to increase the level of piety. That applies whether the person is just at the edge of Islam (applying very little of it) or someone who is already practicing well, but wants to reach higher levels.

[edit] Avoid Conflict

The Sahih Muslim hadith [1] indicates that a dawah is the first of three "courses of action" to be undertaken in attempting to avoid war with polytheistic enemies although taxation and violence are the next two courses of action ascribed [2].

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The Encyclopaedia of Islam
  2. ^ Hirschkind
  3. ^ The Encyclopaedia of Islam

[edit] References

  • Encylopedia of Islam. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill.
  • Hirschkind, Charles (2004). "Civic Virtue and Religious Reason: An Islamic Counter-Public" in Drobnick, Jim Aural Cultures. ISBN 0-920397-80-8.
  • The Multiple Nature of the Islamic Da'wa, Egdūnas Račius, Academic Dissertation, October 2004. University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts, Institute of Asian and African Studies.

[edit] External links