Foreword

The age of the prophets began with Adam, the first human being and the first prophet—this period ended with Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Abdul Muttalib, the last prophet. The Quran mentions twenty-five prophets, while the Bible mentions more prophets who belonged to the Israelites. However, out of all the teachings of the prophets, only the teachings of Prophet Muhammad—the Quran and Sunnah—are preserved. This makes the religion brought by the Prophet Muhammad the only authentic source of divine guidance till Doomsday.

The mission of calling people to God is, in essence, a divine task performed by human beings. According to Ibn Ishaq, Prophet’s earliest biographer, one day Prophet Muhammad came to the Companions and reminded them of this divine task, saying: “God has sent me to the entire world as a blessing, so you should carry out this responsibility on my behalf. God will show His mercy to you.” (Seerah Ibn Hisham, Vol. 2, p. 607)

Prophet Muhammad was undoubtedly the messenger of God to all humanity. In his lifetime, the Prophet performed this duty directly. After his demise, the call to God must be carried forward indirectly by his followers, the Muslims, generation after generation. That is why the Quran refers to the Muslim community as the ‘The Middle Nation’ in this verse:

“Thus We have made you a middle nation, so that you may act as witnesses for mankind, and the Messenger may be a witness for you.” (2:143)

This verse of the Quran speaks of the role of Muslims as conveyors of God’s message to all humanity. It explains that Muslims have received the divine religion through God’s Messenger. Therefore, they now have to communicate the divine message to every generation at every age. This can be done by introducing man to God and His message. As such, calling people to God—dawah work—means introducing man to his Creator, and the Quran—the Book of the Creator of the Universe that makes him aware of the creation plan of God and introduces him to God’s religion.

There are two aspects to the religion of God—monotheism and peace. Monotheism is the discovery of the Creator of the universe and moulding one’s whole life on God-oriented lines. All the Prophets whom God sent brought this message of monotheism. Peace is the social demand of the religion of God. Peace is maintaining the normal, natural state of human society that allows all the constructive activities of life. God loves that peace prevails in human society. Peace accords with God’s creation plan, while violence goes against it. Chapter 10 of the Quran has this to say: “God calls man to the home of peace.” (10:25)

According to a tradition, God desires that His Word should enter all homes, big or small, on this earth (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 23814). This has become entirely possible today in the 21st century. Through a process, God ushered in changes in the modern age to facilitate the call to God. There are two aspects to this. One is a high level of realisation, i.e., the attainment of superior realisation of God and His religion in the light of newly discovered realities. The second is dawah, which propagates the Islamic call globally through modern communication and technology.

People today are yearning to find the Truth. They want to understand their purpose in life. A generation of seekers has arisen, especially after the Coronavirus pandemic. Opportunities exist today in the form of peace and an abundance of resources to communicate the word of God globally. By establishing a digital centre at a local place, the word of God can be taken to the world. The 21st century has opened all the opportunities for global dawah. What is required now is that some believers stand up and avail themselves of the opportunities to perform their God-given role of taking the divine message to all humanity.

Wahiduddin Khan

April 2020
New Delhi