Support Provided by Secular Civilization
The scientific revolution greatly facilitated the performance of dawah work. For the first time in human history, the word of God could be effectively disseminated to the people globally.
According to a tradition of the Prophet: “God will surely provide support for this religion through secular persons.” (Al-Mu’jam Al-Kabir, Al-Tabarani, Hadith No.14640) The word ‘fajir’ used in this Hadith does not mean a wrongdoer but is used for a secular person, a non-believer, or a non-Muslim. When we study history, we find it replete with incidents where a non-Muslim or secular person supported God’s religion. For example, there was the guidance given by Abdullah ibn Arqat during the Prophet’s migration, and Quzman al-Zufri’s joining the Companions of the Prophet in the Battle of Khaybar, etc.
The most outstanding example of support given by secular persons came about in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries AD—an age illumined by the discovery of the hidden secrets of nature, thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Western thinkers and scientists, who, in the main, remained secular in their outlook. In the wake of these discoveries, Western civilization rose to great heights of technological sophistication and remained directed toward secular ends. As such, it could facilitate the performance of dawah work. As a result, for the first time in human history, the word of God could be effectively disseminated to the people of the world, a process referred to in the Hadith as ‘taking the word of God to all homes.’
No longer the communication of the message of God constrained by geographical impediments, as happened in the case of Uqbah ibn Nafi Tabii (d. 683 AD), who successfully performed dawah work traveling on horseback across Africa, only to find himself halted on the west coast by the Atlantic Ocean, which at that time no one had the means to cross. (Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh, Ibn Athir, Vol. 3 p. 206)
The new opportunities offered by Western Civilization were mainly of two kinds. One may be called the theoretical or ideological aspect. That is, the opening up of new opportunities in respect of secular ideology brought complete religious freedom into existence, fostered the spirit of inquiry at a general level, and encouraged the objective study of religion, etc. The most remarkable event in this connection was the discovery of the laws hidden in nature as a result of scientific research. These discoveries were like an unveiling of the wonders of God and made it possible to substantiate monotheistic belief by the scientific criterion established by man himself. It was this great dawah opportunity becoming a reality in the future, which was predicted thus in the Quran: “We shall show them our signs in the universe and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that this is the truth.” (41:53)
The second form of opportunity offered by Western Civilization is to communicate the divine message globally by using modern technology. An event of primary importance in this connection was the invention of the printing press in the eighteenth century. This technology made possible the transition from the verbal communication of dawah to the use of the printed word. Of even greater importance is the development of modern communications. Modern communications and digital media in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have, for the first time in the real sense, made it possible for the divine message to be communicated not only at a global level but also with such rapidity that the matter of time becomes irrelevant. In effect, now instant communication of the word of God has become a possibility. This extraordinary progress was made at the behest of God to enable the dayees (Ikhwan of the latter phase) to perform the role of spreading the divine message effectively at a global level.
