Presenting Islam in the West
(Introduction)
By Daud R Matthews
UK Islamic Academy, Da'wah Resource Centre (2004 CE, 1425 AH)
Pages: 104 Binding: Paperback
This first volume of 'Presenting Islam in the
West' sets out to present the methodology of the Call to Allah (ad-da'wah
ilallah) based on the Qur'an and Sunnah. The da'i (caller) only calls to what he
knows following:
'Invite all to the way of your Lord (Islam) with wisdom and beautiful preaching,
and reason with them in the best possible way (to convince them of the Truth).'
[Surah Nahl 16:125] and
'Say, (O Muhammad): this is my way, I call to Allah with certain knowledge, I
and those who follow me. And Exalted is Allah; and I am not of those who
associate others with Him.' [Surah Yusu 12:108]
The caller gives information, Allah decides who becomes Muslim. Da'wah is
invitational, and not confrontational.
Articles are included from many referenced sources. The dai's relationship to
his listener (s) should be like that of a doctor and patient. Thus, a seed once
planted may become a tree of Eman with careful nurturing over time, insha'Allah.
When Mu`adh (may Allah be pleased with him) was
sent to the Yemen, he was told: 'Tell them about the One God, if they believe
then tell them about prayer, if they believe tell them about fasting …'So,
calling to the One God is the highest priority, which is the first part of the Shahadah.
Consider Surah 103; al-`Asr, we find it begins:
'{By time.}*
Is time important in our lives? How many times have we heard the sentence:
there’s not enough time? How many times have we heard people talking about
time management? So, what does this Surah tell us? By the passing of time,
certainly Man is a loser except for those who do four things: those who believe,
do good deeds, invite others to truth and to steadfastly persevere
About Daud Matthews
Born in 1938 in England, embraced islam in 1970, married in Pakistan in 1973,
Studied Physics. Subsequently achieved Chartered Engineer, Fellow of both the
British Computer Society and the Institute of Management., Worked initially in
physics , Moved to computer management in 1971. Lived and worked in Saudi Arabia
from 1974 to 1997 first with the University of Petroleum and Minerals,
Dhahran,and then with King Saud University in Riyadh.
- Heavily involved in da'wah since 1986.
- Have given many talks on Islam in Saudi
Arabia and the UK with a few in Pakistan.
- Presented Tafsir (in English) on Saudi TV,
when the channel started up, for six months
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