The da'ee (caller) is intelligent and eloquent in his preaching,
wise in the way he calls people to the truth, and gentle in the way he teaches
them the rules of Islam. In all of this, he is following the words of Allah
(subhanahu wa ta`ala):
Invite [all] to the Way of your Rabb with wisdom and beautiful preaching ... (Qur'an 16:125)
One of the most important qualities of those who call others to
Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala) is that they should know how to reach people's
hearts and endear faith to them, without saying anything that may turn them
away, hurt them or offend them. So the da`ee does not impart all his knowledge
in one go; rather, he presents his knowledge in stages, and avoids overwhelming
his audience or boring them. This is what the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa
sallam) used to do in his own preaching, as the great Sahabi `Abdullah ibn
Mas'ud (radhiallahu `anhu) tells us. He used to preach a little at a time to the
people, every Thursday. A man said to him, "I wish that you would teach us
everyday." He said, "What prevents me from doing so is the fact that I would
hate to bore you. I show consideration towards you by choosing a suitable time
to teach you, just as the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) used to do with
us, for fear of making us bored." (Bukhari and Muslim)
One of the Prophet's effective methods in dawah was not to make
his khuthah too long, especially when he was addressing a large crowd which
included elderly and sick people. Keeping the khuthah short is an indication of
the khatib's understanding both of his message and of the psychology of his
audience. This is the teaching of the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam)
which 'Ammar ibn Yasir (radhiallahu `anhu) told us about:
I heard the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) say:
"A man's making the prayer long and keeping his khutbah short is a sign of his
understanding, so make your prayers long and your khutbah short." (Muslim)
One of the methods of wise, intelligent dawah is to be gentle with
the people one is calling, and to show patience towards their ignorance,
mistakes and many tedious questions, and their slowness in understanding. This
is the way of the supreme da`ee, the Seal of the Prophets, who used to open his
heart to those who asked questions, and was always gentle in his answers to
them. He approached them with an attitude of love and an earnest desire to guide
them, correct them and teach them, so he would keep explaining a matter to them
until they understood it and dispersed content with the lesson they had
learned.
An example of this gentle approach is the account of the Sahabi
Mu`awiyah ibn al-Hakam al-Salami who said: "Whilst I was praying with the
Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam), one of the men in the congregation
sneezed, so I said, 'Yarhamuk Allah (may Allah have mercy on you).' The people
glared at me, so I said, 'May my mother be bereft of me! What are you staring at
me like that for?' They began to strike their thighs with their hands, and when
I realized that they were telling me to be quiet, I fell silent. The Prophet may
my father and mother be sacrificed for him, finished the prayer, and I have
never seen a better teacher than he, before or since. By Allah (subhanahu wa
ta`ala), he did not rebuke me or strike me or insult me. He merely said, 'This
prayer should contain nothing of the everyday speech of men; it is just tasbih,
takbir and the recitation of Qur'an,' or words to that effect. I said, 'O
Messenger of Allah (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam), I am still very close to the
time of Jahliyyah (i.e., I am very new in Islam). Allah (subhanahu wa ta`ala)
has brought us Islam, yet there are some among us who still go to soothsayers.'
He said, 'Never go to them.' I said, 'And there are some who are superstitious.'
He said, 'That is just something that they imagine; it should not stop them from
going ahead with their plans."' (Muslim)
The Prophet's gentle approach in his calling people to the truth
reached such an extent that he did not directly confront a wrong-doer with his
deeds, so that he would not hurt his feelings or cause him to lose face.
Instead, he would denounce the wrong deed indirectly, and gently draw the
person's attention to it. This method is more successful in reaching people's
hearts and dealing with errors and faults.
`A'ishah said,
"When the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) heard that
someone had done something wrong, he did not say, 'What is wrong with so-and-so
that he says (such-and-such)?' Rather, he would say, 'What is wrong with some
people that they say such-and-such?'..." [Hayat al-Sahabah 3/129]
Another feature of the successful da`ee is that he speaks clearly
to his audiene and repeats his words, as Anas (radhiallahu `anhu) said:
"The Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) used to repeat things
three times when he spoke, so that they would be understood. When he came to a
people, he would greet them with salam three times." (Bukhari)
`A'ishah said:
"The speech of the Prophet was very clear. Everyone who heard it
understood it." [Reported by Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi with a sahih isnad]
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