This document discusses dawah, or calling others to Islam. It explains that dawah involves connecting people to Allah and propagating the message of salvation to all humanity. The document outlines some realities of dawah, including that it is an obligation and involves reaching beyond traditional methods. It also discusses challenges of dawah in the West, such as Western attitudes towards religion and attitudes among some Muslims. The document concludes by providing tips for effective dawah at both the personal and collective level.

1. -MASUD ALI
DAWAH
REALITIES & CHALLENGES IN WEST

2. Content
Understanding dawah
Realities of dawah
Challenges of dawah
Tips for dawah

3. “There is no god worthy of worship, except Allah,
and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”
“This simple statement is the most powerful
declaration ever devised!
For beyond the words themselves, lies a powerful
concept and a compelling ideology.
Whole societies, cultures, and empires have been
elevated with its application, or ruined by its
rejection.”
- Yahya Emerick, in his book How to tell others about Islam.

4. Dawah: A State of Mind and Way of Life
“Dawah, prior to everything, is a state of mind, a
world view, an attitude to life, indeed a kind of life.
The critical prerequisite to Dawah is a
consciousness, personal and collective, imbued
with a true vision of Dawah in Islam.”
- Khurram Murad

5. Understanding Dawah: Islamic perspective
It is the process of connecting other with Allah (swt).
It is the process of propagating the massage of salvation.
Dawah is for all human being.
Dawah is about change and revival in the hearts and
intellect of the society.
The spirit of Dawah, or calling others towards the Truth,
comes only from within.
Perfection is not the pre-requisite for Dawah.
Success = sincerity
It is a win-win situation.

6. Reality of Dawah
Dawah is an obligation, not an option.
Dawah is not just about handing out pamphlets on
streets, schools, or prisons.
It is not only the quality of the ‘philosophy’ or
‘religion’ that matters. Quality of the ‘deliverer’ of the
massage is a vital factor in dawah.
Dawah is to ‘reach out of box’, not ‘feeling comfy
within the box’.

7. Reality of dawah
An attempt to change the attitude of a person
towards life (philosophy of life).
In modern psychology this subject is covered under
COMMUNICATION & ATTITUDE CHANGE
Some author discussed this under
OPINION CHANGE

8. Dawah activities: 2 parties involved

9. Probability of Change
Deliverer
ReceiverIt has been found that a deliverer who is
perceived as highly prestigious is more
influential in changing attitude than on who
is held in low esteem.

10. Qualities of ‘Deliverer’
Dignity
Confidence
Poise
Education
Intelligence
Consistency
Precision in speech
Moral

11. They initially oppose the
message
Convinced easily
Open to debate &
discussions.
Mostly educated.
Highly prejudiced.
Socio-economically
stable persons.
Who initially agree
with the content of the
message.
Group primarily
composed of
uneducated individual.
Victims of
discriminations.
‘Receiver’
Basically 2 types

12. Attitude/Opinion change
The attitude/opinion changes when:
A person receives new info from others or media
(idea)- Cognitive change.
Through direct experience with the attitude object
(emotion)- Affective change.
Force a person to behave in a way different than
normal (action)- Behavioural change.

13. Persuasion

14. Challenges of Dawah in west
Around our shelf:
 Western attitude towards religion
Within our shelf:
 Fellow Muslims’ attitude towards religion

15. Western attitude towards religion
Western are taught that it is impolite to discuss
religion in public.
Western are cynical. So better practice what you
preach.
Most of them equate Islam with Muslims.
Do not think that they know much about
Christianity, Trinity, Original sin etc.
Youth turning towards cults.

16. Fellow Muslims’ attitude towards religion
Religion is a private matter.
We are already Muslim- what is the big fuss?
This is a western country, we have nothing to do.
We have not much to do.
Youth turning towards violence, drugs, etc.
New converts- confused.
Back-home traditions.
Back-home politics.

17. Collective attitude towards religion
Feel more comfortable in doing work for community
itself. (Building mosque, Islamic schools, Conferences etc.)
More ethnic oriented.
Scarcity of dawah tools. (Media, TV, Islamic literature etc)
Minority feeling.
Lack of unity.

18. Tips for dawah: Personal
Make your intention sincere towards dawah
Broaden your vision
Practice what you preach
Increase your knowledge
Build your attitudes towards dawah
Acquire qualities of daee
Broaden your dawah field

19. Tips for dawah: Collective activities
Revisit the vision for dawah
Broaden the field for dawah
Let’s move out of our “boxes” and “loops”
Enrich the dawah tools
Cultivate a environment of hope among Muslims and
also non-muslims. (especially youth)
Show that Islam is relevant today and it is for everyone
on this earth!
Play a positive role in mainstream politics and social
reforms.