Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : PAN PACIFIC HOTEL, KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 12/01/96
Tajuk/Title : THE 10TH SESSION OF THE
COORDINATION COMMITTEE OF JOINT
ISLAMIC ACTION IN THE FIELD
OF DA`WAH
I wish to express my gratitude to Almighty God, Allah
Subhanahu wa Ta'ala for His favour in making this gathering
possible; for bringing us together to exchange views on
Islam and the international Islamic da'wah. Malaysia, as
host of this 10th Session of the OIC Coordination Committee
for Joint Islamic Action in the Field of Da'wah, is honoured
by your presence and bids you all a very warm welcome.
2. That you have come from various countries to attend the
Conference is testimony to your keen interest and
determination to bring about coordination and cooperation in
the field of da'wah, a task that is enjoined upon us by our
glorious religion, Islam.
3. It is obvious from the history of Islam that Islamic
da'wah was intended to spread the teachings of Islam among
the non-believers and to win more adherents to the faith.
Today when we talk of da'wah we seem to confine it to
spreading the teaching of the faith among fellow Muslims,
those who are already believers. It would seem that da'wah
is now meant mainly to instruct Muslims in their faith with
no attention at all regarding its spread among the non-
Muslims. Indeed at times we seem not to care if in the
process of instructing Muslims, we inadvertently create an
image of Islam that is repugnant to the non-Muslims. We do
this by being unnecessarily antagonistic towards others and
by adopting a holier-than-thou attitude.
4. Perhaps we should not be concerned about what non-
Muslims think of us as long as we believe we are creating
good Muslims of the Muslims. If we are not concerned then
of course we are rejecting the injunctions of our religion
to spread the faith, i.e. to propagate it among non-Muslims.
Imagine how many Muslims there would have been at the time
of the Prophet, Peace be upon him, and now had the Prophet
not cared for those who were not yet Muslims.
5. The Malays converted to Islam some 800 years ago. They
converted because the Arab and Indian Muslim traders who
came to our shores took pains to explain Islam to our
ancestors and were rewarded by the voluntary mass conversion
of the Malays to Islam. Had the Arab and Indian Muslim
traders been solely concerned with performing only the
fardhu ain and be concerned only about how Islamic they were
and cared little for the impact they had on the non-Muslim
Malays, the Malays of today would not be Muslim. We are
grateful even if others may not be concerned whether we are
Muslims or not.
6. Indeed, if we go back further we must admit that the
Prophet, Peace be upon Him, never adopted an uncaring
attitude towards firstly, the doubting members of his family
and secondly, the idol worshippers of the Arabian
peninsular. He was concerned to explain Islam to them and
to win their adherence to the faith. And because he did
this, Islam spread among his family, his friends and
companions, the people of Madinah, and finally all the
peoples in the Arabian Peninsular and beyond. If we are
gathered here today, it is because Muslims in the past cared
enough for non-Muslims even as they seek to understand and
strengthen their own faith in the religion they were born to
or they had accepted.
7. Knowing this it would be wrong for us to disregard the
impact on non-Muslims when we carry out da'wah among us. We
may not be able to convert them but surely it is better that
they should understand our religion than they should harbour
suspicion and fear from lack of knowledge and understanding
of the truth about our faith.
8. Among the first persons to accept Islam was Bilal the
black slave. It was the kindness of the Prophet and Muslim
towards a slave which convinced him to accept the faith.
Those were the early days when the teachings of Islam were
not fully revealed yet. Such was the faith of Bilal despite
his incomplete knowledge of the teachings that he was
prepared to endure pain and punishment for his faith. Such
was his role in the early days of Islam that we honour him
to this day by designating one of the principal mosque
officials as the Bilal.
9. The quality and the completeness of the knowledge of
Islam is important to the Ummah, but the behaviour of the
Ummah is equally important in da'wah. Bilal's acceptance of
Islam was influenced by the way the Prophet treated him as
much as by the faith of the Prophet. Clearly we cannot be
effective in da'wah if our behaviour is at variance with the
profession of our faith and the goodness of its teachings.
10. We say that we are enjoined to do what is right and to
reject what is wrong. This clearly implies that it is not
just knowledge of the religion that is required of us, but
we should also be seen to do what is right and reject what
is wrong. Surely what we do is not for us alone, for our
place in the Hereafter. That would be very selfish and
selfishness is not a quality that Islam promotes. We have
an obligation to the Ummah at least, if not to those outside
our faith. But if we always do what is right and avoid what
is wrong, surely the non-believers too will respect our
faith and ourselves. Is it wrong to have Islam and the
Muslims respected even by non-Muslim?
11. And yet many of us, while carrying out our duties in
spreading the teaching among ourselves, care very little
whether Islam and the Muslims are respected by the non-
believers. Many of us are merely concerned with spreading
what we interprete as the true teachings. More than that,
we seem to regard fellow Muslims as being not Muslim enough.
We are seldom gentle in our words of advice. We seem to
demand that Muslims do nothing else except the performance
of the obligatory rituals to which we often add the
optionals and even those which we concoct ourselves,
believing that they are good and they are the pious things
to do. And if other Muslims don't do these then we
criticise them for not being good enough Muslims. We imply
that they are wanting in piety. In extreme cases we reject
them merely because they don't belong to a particular
political party.
12. We forget that the Quran has stated that we may not
criticise others as being less Muslim for it is possible
that we are less Muslim than they are.
13. We forget that Allah has decreed in the Verse of an-
Nahl, line 125, meaning:
"Invite (all) to the Way
of thy lord with wisdom
And beautiful preaching;
And argue with them
In ways that are best
And most gracious;
for thy Lord knoweth best,
Who have strayed from His Path,
And who receive guidance."
14. We should win Muslims and non-Muslims alike as much by
example as by precept. Today the Muslim Ummah cannot by any
means be regarded as examples for others to respect, much
less to follow. We may declare that the Quran says in Verse
110, Ali Imran that "We are the best of Peoples" but can we
honestly say that by example we are the best people?
15. Today the Muslim world is in turmoil. We are fighting
each other and we cannot agree even to cooperate to help
ourselves. And we are weak, unable to defend ourselves, and
are frequently forced to side with those whose good
intentions we doubt but whose support we need because we are
weak.
16. The Muslims are poor and are lacking in essential
knowledge to master the skills of a modern world. We
sometimes console ourselves by saying that this world is not
for us, that our kingdom is in the Hereafter. And yet we
know that this is not consonant with being the best people.
17. We know that poverty destroys faith but we do nothing
about it, preferring to associate poverty with piety despite
the teachings of the Quran that poverty is one step away
from loss of faith.
18. It may be that when we are spreading the word i.e.
carrying out da'wah, all we need is to explain the Quran and
the valid hadiths. It may be, but it is doubtful if the
faithful have nothing good to show as evidence of Allah's
favour for the pious Muslims. If the learned among us are
so poor that we cannot convince anyone that we are the best
people; if the Muslim countries are so weak that we are
completely dependent upon the charity and help of the non-
Muslim powers; if it is obvious that we are willing to sell
Islamic brotherhood in order to survive; if Islamic
brotherhood becomes obviously a farce as we fight each
other; can we really convince ourselves that we are
following the correct teachings of Islam? Can we really
convince others that Islam is the right path?
19. Words can be convincing but in the face of contrary
actions and obvious failures, can we expect we ourselves and
others to be convinced? Today Muslims are being slaughtered
by others who occupy their lands. They suffer untold
hardships and humiliation. Their women are raped, their men
tortured and killed. And they come to us for help. Is it
evidence of the goodness of Islam when we can offer them no
help? Is it Islam which is wrong or is it our
interpretation of Islam? Is it enough for us to make
Muslims who are already safe more pious or is it also our
duty to defend and protect our brothers? Don't we know that
while we are busy trying to make ourselves more Islamic,
many Muslims in conquered territories and those who have
been forced to seek refuge in non-Muslim land have lost
faith, have forsaken their religion and have even converted
to other faiths? Or is it that we know, but we don't care
as long as we can ensure heaven for us in the Hereafter.
Are we really sure that there will be a place for us in
heaven when we neglect other unfortunate brothers? Is
selfishness promoted by Islam that we think we can ignore
the needs of our brothers because we are busy trying to gain
merit for ourselves.
20. You are here to discuss Islam and Da'wah. Be true to
your faith and be honest to yourself. If we think we have
not sinned, then forget the realities and concentrate on
ourselves. But I feel that some of us, at least, are not
interested in being holier-than-thou but regard da'wah as
our duty to our brothers and to humanity as a whole.
21. On that note and in the hope that we can see ourselves
as we really are, in the name of Allah the Merciful and the
Compassionate, I officially open this 10th Session of the
Conference of the OIC Coordination Committee of Joint
Islamic Action in the field of Da'wah.
Wabillahitaufik walhidayah wassalamualaikum rahmatullahi
wabarakatuh.
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