by Raiiq Ridwan
Among the most wonderful deeds that a person can do in this world for their benefit here and hereafter is the work of dawah- calling others to Allah. After all, it is among the most beloved deeds of Allah. And how can it not be among the most beloved deeds to Allah, when all Prophets and Messengers (peace be upon them all) were sent with the sole mission of proclaiming the message of Allah to their people?
How can it not be among the best of deeds when Allah asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) to narrate to the world, “Say: This is my way. I call to Allah with insight. I and, those who follow me.” [Quran 12:108]. And when the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “If Allah guides a person through you, it is better for you than all that is on the earth.” [Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim]
Our aim in this article is to make dawah simple and easy. What I like to call the KISS technique- Keep Islam Sweet and Simple. For many of us dawah seems like a very difficult task. But if we use the methods that Allah Himself used, and utilize the Quran to give dawah, things will become a lot easier insha Allah. In this article we will look at how we can use Surah Ikhlas to give dawah. This will also make us part of the hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him), “The best of you are those who learn the Quran and teach it.” [Narrated by Bukhari]
Say: He is Allah, One and Only
The first point of dawah that we always need to focus on, regardless of what we are talking about is that Allah is One. Allah is free of any partners or intermediaries both physically and metaphorically. For non-Muslims it is important to use this to make it clear to them that God cannot have a son, and that there can be no other “demi-gods” besides God. God is One, and He is the Only one. Many of the disbelievers believe in Allah, but they believe in other gods as well. This teaches us that Allah is One. He is the One and ONLY God worthy of our worship and devotion. He is the One who is above everything and should be above everything in our lives as well. Our life should be devoted to Allah, because it is He who is deserving of it. The Creator, the Sustainer, the Nourisher is One and Only, al-Ahad, and so the first part of dawah is clarifying to the people the importance of placing Allah as the most important Being in our lives. No one- parent, child, spouse, idol, Jesus or anything else is more important or as important as He is. And so who is He?
He is as-Samad
He is as-Samad, the One who is free of any need but upon whom all of creation depends on. Many a times many people understand that Allah is One, and that He is deserving of worship, but then say “oh well, what is the point? I don’t need God in my life at the moment!!” For them, it is important to remind them, and to remind ourselves that He is as-Samad. He is not in need of us, but we are fully dependant on Him. For whatever we want in this world, Allah is all that we have. Every day, every second, we are in deep need of Him. It is important to make people understand the necessity of obeying Allah, and to love Him and worship Him. It is important to understand not only the necessity for this life but also for our eternal hereafter!
He begets not, nor is He begotten
Many religions and ideologies, even amongst so-called Muslims have attributed sons and daughters to Allah. This one verse nullifies that. It is a clear indicator that Allah is separate from His creation. He doesn’t have a father or mother, and He doesn’t have a son or a daughter. He is separate from His creation, and He is independent of any human-like properties
And He is incomparable to anything
This is the last verse of the Surah and is an emphatic denunciation of any and every comparison made about Allah. He is not like anything or anyone we compare Him to. He is not like Jesus, He is not like any idol, not like any saint or a rock or a tree. He is not comparable to what is on the Earth, and in any of His creation. Allah is the One and Only, who is free of need, and incomparable to anything and everything else. Because the world and all of creation depends on Him. That is a short message and a short introduction to who Allah is. Surah Ikhlas is a very easy and quick way of giving dawah to the general masses of the people, regardless of their knowledge.
Surah Ikhlas is part of the lessons in Understand Quran Academy’s 50% of the Quranic words course. Learn the Arabic and you can delve into even more depth about the Surah.
