THE MISSION OF THE PROPHET

It is the responsibility of Muslims to convey to people the divine knowledge preserved in the form of the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet.

What is the mission of the Prophet? The prophet’s mission is to convey God’s message to his servants, to convey to them the message of monotheism, that there is no god but one God. Those who regard worldly matters as the ‘be all’ and the ‘end all’ must be told they will be reborn in the Hereafter. Everyone must be told that he is not free to do whatever he wants in the present world; he is under the command of God. He must lead a disciplined life despite having freedom of choice. The divine knowledge preserved in the Quran and the Prophet’s traditions must be communicated to everyone so that in the Hereafter, no one might say he was unaware. (Quran, 4:165)

This is the real responsibility of the Muslims as the followers of Prophet Muhammad. But this is the most important duty to which the Muslims of the present times are totally oblivious. The greatest reason for this is that the minds of the present Muslims are obsessed with their community problems. That is why they have become oblivious to communicating the divine message to others.

During a visit to an Arab country, I met a highly educated Muslim. During our conversation, I told him that the main duty of Muslims is to convey the message of Islam to non-Muslims. He immediately retorted that today’s Muslims are beset with their own set of problems; then, how can they perform dawah work among other nations?

This answer tells us of the psychology because of which the Muslims of the present times have abandoned dawah work. They are obsessed with their own problems. They think that their very existence as a nation is in danger. That is why they have paid full attention to the front of the defense. This thinking so dominates their psyche that they are not even aware of their dawah responsibilities. On the other hand, some Muslims have come to regard their community activities as Islamic dawah.

This thinking is totally un-Islamic and un-Quranic. According to the Quran, the problem, or the issue of the security of the Muslims, is also linked with dawah work. God has guaranteed the security of Muslims as a community based on their performance of dawah work. (Quran, 5:67) If they fail to perform this task, then their national security is not guaranteed. The history of the Muslims of the past is proof of the former. And the history of the present Muslims is proof of the latter.