– Dr Shazia Nahri
Balance and moderation are the hallmark of our Ummah. The Prophet ﷺ has laid a lot of importance on this in every sphere of life. We shall see how and why these qualities in a dāʿī, make his daʿwāh efficient and successful. We shall discuss some examples from the life of our beloved Prophet ﷺ in which He demonstrated these qualities, and we shall try to analyse how they contributed to efficient daʿwāh in that situation.
Allah has called our nation ‘ummatan wasatan’, the middle nation (al-Baqarah, 02:143), signifying the appreciation of moderation and balance of our Ummah. The Qur’ān has emphasised moderation and balance in many places (al-Isra, 17:27, 29, 110). Staying away from the extremes of inflexibility and neglect in Islam are important in all aspects of life, especially so in daʿwāh.
Calling a person to abandon his ingrained beliefs and habits to enter the fold of Islam is a delicate matter, this person would definitely judge the dīn by the actions of the dāʿī. In fact, the dāʿī is an ambassador of the Prophet ﷺ himself. Following his instructions is thus important. He has said, “Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately…constant even if it were little.” (al-Bukhari 6464, 81:53)
Being rigid in secondary issues for example; a dāʿī cannot afford to present too stringent a picture of Islam, this will scare people away. An example is tarāwīḥ prayer in Ramaḍān, it is not obligatory, but fasting is obligatory. Undue pressure specially on young Muslims may scare them away from fasting too. The Prophet ﷺ has instructed, “Make things easy for the people, and do not make it difficult for them, and make them calm (with glad tidings) and do not repulse (them).” (Sahih-Bukhari 6125, 78:152) The other extreme is those who may be too lenient in primary matters. Moderation does not mean compromise. A dāʿī who follows the balance succeeds in generating interest of people, yet not letting them become negligent.
A balance is needed in gentleness and firmness. Humility and softness definitely appeal to people. Allah comforted the Prophet ﷺ after some companions disobeyed at Uhud and informed him that his gentleness is a boon, people disperse away from the hard hearted, harsh people, “It is out of Allah’s mercy that you O Prophet have been lenient with them…certainly abandoned you.” (Aal-Imran, 03:159)
Mohammad Shafi explains in his tafsīr of this āyāh that “harshness, in conduct or language, is sheer poison for da’wah.” (Shafi, 2024) On the other hand, some people are so soft that they are not taken seriously by others, maintaining one’s respect for a dāʿī is essential, as he is associated with Islam.
Another aspect is fear and hope, which have been called two wings of a bird by ibnul-Qayyim. Some dāʿīs scare away people with descriptions of hellfire, others present a picture of Allah’s mercy to such an extent that people don’t deem it necessary to follow the required aḥkām. Moderation is imperative here as well.
Balance is needed in dress and appearance too. Too much humility in appearance may reduce one’s impression, while the other extreme makes one appear vain and shallow.
Some people insist that daʿwāh by character alone is sufficient, but it is not. Many a time, an actual verbal invitation forces people out of their status quo, and makes them consider a serious change. Some dāʿīs insist on argument to an extent that people feel humiliated by them, this drives them away, one needs to balance his zeal with wisdom, “Invite…with wisdom and kind advice…in the best manner.” (an-Nahl, 16:125)
Some examples from the Prophet’s life:
Example 01:
Shaikh al-’Uthaymeen has quoted a beautiful ḥadīth of the Bedouin who urinated in the mosque. Muhammad ﷺ allowed him to relieve himself by advising the ṣaḥābāh to cool down. He then made people clean the area in the presence of the Bedouin, then counselled him gently. This made him realise his mistake and change from within. The Prophet ﷺ was not so gentle with another man who wore a gold ring and asked him to remove and throw it. The difference between the two cases was that one person committed the mistake knowingly while the other in ignorance (al-’Uthaymeen, n.d.).
Example 02:
Thumama bin-Usaal, the head of Banu-Hanifa, king of Yemen, was a staunch enemy of the Prophet ﷺ. He killed his ambassador and attempted to kill the Prophet ﷺ himself. He got caught by the ṣaḥābāh and was brought to the Prophet ﷺ. Here, he was tied to a pole of the mosque for three days and was offered good food and respect by him. He saw the Muslims first hand, and accepted Islam. He said that his hate for the Prophet ﷺ changed to sheer love. The Prophet did not leave Thumama free to harm the Muslims, he was bound to the pole, yet, he was given kind treatment and an opportunity to witness goodness. His conversion amounted to the conversion of his whole tribe (Sulaiman, 2024).
Example 03:
al-Haadi highlights how the Messenger ﷺ used a balance of different methods for propagating the message. He first invited his closest family, then his kinsfolk, then he announced the message to those around him (al-Haadi, n.d). He employed methods like daʿwāh by character, along with methods like inviting for feasts, announcing to hājis, confidential teaching, etc. in Makkah. In Madinah he sent envoys, gave Khutbās, invited delegations and much more (Jamal & Rukhsana, 2014). He did not adhere just to one method, but balanced between many ways.
Example 04:
An example of moderation in firmness and leniency was with the delegation of Thaqif, who were resisting Islam till 9H. They were made to stay in a tent in the mosque to let them listen to the Qur’ān. Even after that they laid absurd conditions for accepting Islam like allowing alcohol, fornication and usury and not to destroy al-Laat, their idol. These were against the primary principals of Islam, hence, Prophet ﷺ did not budge to these demands. Later, when they relented and requested that someone other than them be made to destroy al-Laat, he relented too and allowed it (Mubārakpūrī, 2008).
Example 05:
Abu Sufyan’s acceptance of Islam at the conquest of Makkah is one more instance of moderation. Abu Sufyan was a staunch enemy of Islam and was responsible for wars against it. However, when he was utterly humiliated and lost and later accepted Islam, his hesitation and reluctance to accept it wholeheartedly was noticed. The Prophet ﷺ understood that his ego needed some satisfaction, hence, he specially announced safety for those who entered his house and gave him the respect due towards a leader (Haykal, 1976).
To summarise we can say that extremes in anything are harmful, even in religion and daʿwāh. We have been guided to take the middle path as it is helpful in duniyāh and akhirāh. Moderation and balance in a dāʿī shows that he understands Islam and also it confers efficiency to his endeavour. This principle of moderation and balance has been demonstrated in the daʿwāh by the Prophet ﷺ himself, on multiple occasions.
[This Aurangabad-based writer is a graduate from the International Online University, Gambia. The university, founded by Bilal Philips as the Islamic Online University in 2007, offers degree programmes in Islamic Studies]
