Dawah on social media has become a mess. People with no training or qualifications are put on pedestals and promote Islam in the most vulgar and harshest of manners. Their self-serving methods create a toxic culture of sectarianism, hatred, and cults of personality.
Dawah is not a free-for-all, in which anyone can say anything however they wish to say it. There are principles that govern Dawah. These principles are derived from the Quran and Sunnah and include the following:
1) Focus on the pleasure of Allah. Results, numbers, and conversions are secondary. The pleasure of Allah is everything.
2) Mercy and compassionate should be your standard approach. The foundation of Islamic Dawah is to be merciful and compassionate in your interactions with people. Harshness should be the exception and only when wise to do so, not the norm.
3) Seek to understand before presenting your position. You cannot reach people and guide them back to the straight path, if you do not understand how they reached their current ideas.
4) Do not write people off. Anyone can be guided back to Allah if Allah wills. Do not write people and claim that anyone is beyond guidance.
5) Always give people hope of a way back to Allah. No matter what sins or wrong ideas people have fallen into, there is always a way back. Find ways to guide people back, and do not write them off.
6) Call people to Allah, not to yourself, your sect or your channel.
7) When you do not know, then state that you do not know. Do not answer without knowledge
8) Mockery, slander, and verbal abuse does not produce any positive results.
9) Be clear and honest, but also wise and compassionate in how you present your message.
10) If you find yourself out of your depth, then take a step back and leave it to the experts.
A lot needs to be done to move away from this modern toxic culture that has developed online, but grounding our Dawah in the above principles is a good first step back towards the Sunnah methodology.
