NUML Dawah action
This significant University tucked in the corner of Islamabad was the scene for an epic 2-3 hour dawah action.
The Islamabad Street dawah team, which has been building depth of members for a few years turned up with a good number and strength.
I witnessed young duaat passionately engaging with students and calling to Allah. These are all volunteers.
Bukhari/ Muslim
The question from this young chap was can we totally rely on these books. Now this is not my area of expertise but I wanted him to appreciate the sophistication of the system of Hadith. I mentioned jarh wa tadil, the scrutiny of the matn and the isnad. The vigorous checking of all narrations. Does any other world knowledge have this level of scrutiny
I told him to Study uloom, study Hadith critic.. study’s for a few years then ..
Feminism
Our stalls always create a mini crowd. Amongst this was a sister who had some questions. She wanted to ask what was wrong with feminism.
I firstly stated that there are indeed women who are suffering in Indo-Pak. This cannot be denied. It’s an hidden oppression and gets sidelined. I then went on to say that feminism cannot be the solution for a number of reasons. If we look at all the ‘waves’ of feminism then all of them have presuppositions that are weak. Feminist writers have various agenda’s including racial ( 19th Century America for example) and then major figures like Simone de Beauvoir who had differing views to others. So which feminism should we adhere to? I then said if we truly believe in Allah and Islam is a perfect way of life and has solutions to everything, then why not seek divine help. I cited the example of Emily Pankhurst and the suffragette movement. They had to chain themselves to the fence just to be able to gain the vote, where as in Islam this right was divinely given 1400 years ago. The sisters were surprised at hearing this. I encouraged them to read in depth comprehensively about women’s rights in Islam. She was sincere and promised to research further.
These two discussions especially, were satisfying for a budding daee like me because I get to practise what I learnt. The Londoniyyah classes and content from Sapience Institute & the workshops about Hadith I attended a few years back helped immensely Alhumdulillah.
Other than this, it was a crisp afternoon/ evening. I was in full mood. Joking with the guys walking by, complimenting their attire and making them laugh.
A situation happened when I asked the team to above a quick huddle to debrief our stall. I asked a A random student, poor guy who was hovering around us to join in and he did. He didn’t have a clue when I asked him analysis of todays dawah.. we all laughed, made him laugh, and perhaps he wil remember us Maulvis by this moment.
These light hearted moments and key for YC style dawah. Informal and relaxed. I think all dawah teams need to include humour and laughter as a way of building rapport and leave a good impression.
