“I gave her endless advice, she still wouldn’t listen!”

“I told him the rulings on this, but he chose to ignore me!”

“I have been reminding you about this again and again, but what did you do?”

Frustrating isn’t it?  As much as we keep on telling ourselves, we are doing da’wah for the sake of Allah, or keep on reminding ourselves to be patient, there are times, we slipped. We are only human after all. Dealing with another creation, isn’t exactly easy.

When I first started changing my life and learning the sunnah, I felt like a Duracell bunny. You know that moment when you feel like you are finally doing something right and you just want others to feel the same way you did. During those few months, I was actively voicing out my opinion on things. I proudly labelled my energetic and enthusiastic approach as da’wah. Admittedly, I got frustrated a lot. I was angry, and keep on questioning myself, “didn’t they see what they did was wrong?”, “I have told them that, why are they still doing it?” It was eating me alive. I got myself in trouble a few times. With the little knowledge that I had, I indulged myself in debate, both online and offline.

One day, I was reading an article by an ustadh from neighbouring country. He pointed out that we are just a reminder. We do not have any power to change others. We can only remind them, and we leave the rest to Allah. It hit me. This is what I was lacking and what I didn’t understand when I did my da’wah. It wasn’t up to me. I conveyed, and the end result is up to Allah, May He Be Glorified. I was just a post-it note on someone’s desk or fridge. Whether they would keep the post-it note, or throw it away, that wasn’t up to me. I had no say in that.

After all the trouble I encountered during the first few months, I learnt my lesson hard. Da’wah isn’t simply preaching with words. Da’wah can be done by our actions, our manners. No one is going to listen to you, if you are harsh with your words. No one is going to listen to you if you start your speech with slander.  Da’wah needs patience. Who is going to listen to you, if you become angry when someone disagrees with you? Da’wah needs strategy. You don’t go to someone and accuse them of being people of innovations, when they don’t even know what they did was wrong. You don’t go to a Christian and mock their belief. Da’wah needs knowledge. One of my fatal mistake was that I preached, with no knowledge. I ended up debating on things in which the scholars differ in opinion.

I realised that during those first few months, instead of gaining friends, I gained enemies. I had people warning against me, and calling me names. Once I changed my approach, with Allah’s will, da’wah is more fun, and I enjoy explaining and talking to people. I keep on reminding myself that I am here to do the job, to convey this message, and Allah will do the rest.

We keep on preaching the importance of da’wah. What we forgot to preach is that we are nothing but a humble servant. We are a reminder. We are a reminder for our brothers and sisters. We are a reminder for our family. We are a reminder for ourselves.

“So remind, [O Muhammad]; you are only a reminder. You are not over them a controller.” (Surah Al Ghashiyah, 88:21-22)

 By Anisah Matasim,

Writer, AAT