Hidayah from Allah only comes through effort. This is apparent from the Quran, in the last verse of surah al-ankabut (29:69)
But the question is, what kind of strive/effort is this verse referring to?
The effort that is being referred to would logically be the effort done by the Prophet Muhammad PBUH (Peace be upon him).
And what was the effort done by the the Prophet Muhammah PBUH?
As the prophet knew he was the final prophet and no other prophets were to come after him, his effort was to prepare a nation (or what we refer to as an Ummah) on an effort that would bring deen in their lives and also the lives of others. An effort of such that would spread virally to all nations up to the day of qiyamah.
This effort is non other than the effort of Dawah.
The Effort of Deen is the only way to bring guidance in one’s life
The ayah quoted previously explicitly mentions that only through this effort (which we have established as the effort of Dawah) would bring guidance in one’s life.
As the Quran is the direct word from god, the statement from god is thus clear and one should establish a firm belief that this is the ONLY was to bring deen in one’s life.
It is implicitly feared that this also means that any other effort to try and bring deen in one’s life, other than through dawah, would bring misguidance.
The Ulama (Maulana Saad in 2009 World Ijtema KL), has mentioned that having the slightest doubt about this would cause a person’s effort to obtain guidance from Allah SWT. To have This full conviction on the effort of Dawah is termed as Istikhlas.
How does the Effort of Dawah bring deen in one’s life?
As we have established that the effort of Deen is the apparent effort of dawah, how does Dawah bring deen in one’s life?
The connection is done by two parentheses:
- Firstly, Deen can only come in one’s life though belief (or the correct term is Iman).
- To bring the practices of religion/deen in one’s life, one needs to bring in belief of the supernatural being who is imposing and enjoining these practices
- Secondly, Belief can only come in one’s life through dawah.
- A person who promotes about the existence and manifestation of the powers of god would naturally himself be convinced on the existence of god.
The correction of a person’s Iman is the most important need in one’s life.
The correction of a person’s Iman should be the prime effort of a muslim’s life. This is achieved through the effort of deen which is Dawah
With Iman, a person should believe that everything that happens, has happened and will happen is due to Allah SWT. This is the deeper meaning of a muslim’s prime article of faith, ‘Lailahailallah’ (meaning there is no god but Allah)
By means of dawah, a muslim’s speech and thoughts should be in congruence with this article of faith. For example, in a muslim’s day-to-day speech there should be no utterance of the phrase ‘its a coincidence’. A muslim should believe that everything comes from Allah. The assumption of ‘coincidence’ in nature is a sign of the weakness in one’s iman.
This change in perception is what every muslim needs to endure.
Allah SWT has commanded muslims to bring iman in their life
The commandment for muslims to bring iman in their lives is mentioned in the quran on surah Alnisa verse 136 (4:136)
We have established from previous discourses that to bring iman in a muslim’s life, the effort of Dawah is required.
The corresponding above ayah also construes the misconception that dawah is only for non-muslims. Dawah is for Muslims as this is needed to increase the iman in a muslim’s life.
Reformation of a Muslim’s Iman
We have established that the reformation of a person’s Iman is done through the effort of Dawah which was the apparent effort done by the Prophet Muhammad PBUH and his companions
