Knowledge and wisdom -provisions of the caller

From the greatest favors of Allaah and bounties upon a slave is to
facilitate means and reasonsby which he becomes one who carries out
the mission of the religion and to be among those who strive and
sacrifice all that isprecious to them, to establish the laws of Allaah
on earth and inorder for the Word of Allaah to be supreme and
uppermost and the word of the disbelievers the lower most. This high
rank and honorable one is the most dignified rank and the highest
levels. It is the rank of messengers and their way, may Allaah their
mention. This same task is to be shouldered by the scholars, who
inherited this fromthe Prophets and Messengers.
Calling people to Allaah is an obligation upon all Muslim at different
levels but it differs according to the level of knowledge, wisdom,
way, rank, profession and time. This obligation is evident from many
verses that are clear in the Quran,like the Saying of Allaah (which
means): "Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting toall
that is good, meaning Islam, enjoining virtue (meaning
Islamicmonotheism) and forbidding all evil (Polytheism and
disbelief)." [Quran 3:104].
And also like the Saying of Allaah (which means): " Say, meaning O!
Mohammad, this is my way, I invite on to Allaah with sure knowledge, I
and whosoever and I follow me and glorify, and exalted is Allaah"
[Quran 12:108].
And the Saying of Allaah (which means): "Invite to the way of your
Lord with wisdom and fair preaching and argue with them in a way that
is better" [Quran 16:125].
In order for the one who is propagating Islam to achieve positive
results in his mission, he should fulfil the following two matters:
1) Propagating based on sure knowledge: Allaah Says (what means):
"Say, this is my way , I invite on to Allaah with sure knowledge, me
and whosoever follows me and exalted is Allaah and I am not one of the
polytheist" [Quran 12:108]. It is necessary for all those who desire
to call to Allaah to have sure knowledge regarding the matter and
issue of propagation and inviting to Allaah. Some people indulge
themselves in the field of propagation without possessing any
knowledge.
Some scholars said that sure knowledge is divided into three parts:
a) Knowing what one is inviting to
b) Knowing the situation of the one invited.
c) Knowing how to invite
First: Knowing what one is inviting to; the propagator must know the
Islamic ruling on the issue he is calling to, because he might call to
something thinking that it is an obligation while it is not, and thus
obligates people with something that Allaah did not oblige them with.
Or he might warn against something thinking that it is prohibited
while it is not, and so on. Therefore, knowing what one is calling the
people to is a vital issue.
Second: Knowing the situation of the invited: the evidence for the
importance of this issue is the narration of Mu'aath when the Prophet
sent him to Yemen, he said to him: "You are approaching a group form
the people of the book , so let the first thing you call them to be
the testimony that none is worthy of beiong worshipped but Allaah".
Notice that he informed him about the situationof those whom he will
be calling, so Mu'aath, may Allaah be pleqased with him, would be
prepared and be acquainted withtheir situation and how he should
approach them. It is a mistake that a person invites or calls another
person not knowinghis situation, his arguments, the kind of falsehood
he is on or what he believes in, because he (i.e. the one being
called) might present an argument which the Muslim propagator does not
havean answer to, which results in the retreat of the truth.
Third: Knowing how to invite: This refers to the methods of
propagation, as Allaah did not leave the matter up to us, but he
guided us to the ideal way. The Prophet also guided us how to
priorities things which leads us to the second issue.
2) Adopting a wise method of calling people: One of the Names of
Allaah is Al-Hakeem, which implies wisdom, and it is mentioned many
times in the Quran in connection to knowledge. Allaah knows all
matters and decrees everything according to His knowledge, based on
what is best for the given situation and what will yield the greatest
benefit to His slaves. He is the Most Wise and Most Knowledgeable in
His words, actions, sayings and rulings.
A wise person is he who places the correct matter in the most suitable
place or situation, as defeined by Imaam Ibn Al-Qayyim . This can be
attributed, in its perfect form, only to Allaah, asHe is the only One
who is All-Knowledgeable of everything and the Most Wise in His
decrees and rulings.
One of the things that reflect the wisdom of the caller to Islam is
his basing his call on knowledge, because wisdom is derived from
knowledge, as Allaah says (what means): "Invite to the way of your
Lord with wisdom…" [Quran 16:125]. What is the understanding and the
proper definition of wisdom.
Selecting the correct method along with the appropriate words is
another matter that reflects wisdom in the caller. He should address
people in a comprehensible manner, to facilitate understanding on the
part of those called.
For example, one should not talk to people about the virtue of
optionally fasting three days every month while they do not observe
the fast during the month of Ramadhaan, and so on.
Thus, a propagator of Islam should be mindful of these matters when
calling people to the pathof Allaah, lest he drives them away due to a
shortage in any of them.