Urgency of The Da'wah

Dawah Is something that is seriously lacking, while where I live at least. We have days where the mosque will have an open house and once a year the MSA will put on an Islamic Cultural expo, but I think we need to do more, classes on Islam should be held at community centers not just at expensive universities. Mosque's should have community events, not just for the Muslim community, but for the general population of the community. I grew up going to Sunday school in the church and have seen all that they do to welcome people to Christianity, fairs and weekly charities were a common thing and attracted many people. InshAllah one day the mosques will do the same, for now I found this article very interesting, enjoy!
Urgency of The Da'wah
Allah (swt) says: "Say, This is my way: I call to Allah with sure knowledge, I and whosoever follows me. and Glorified and Exalted is Allah. And I am not of the Mushrikeen" [Yusuf:108]Carrying the Da’wah is the task of Prophets. It is of the best and most honourable deeds. Allah (SWT) says: "Who is better in speech than the one who calls (men) to Allah, works righteousness, and says I am one the Muslims ?" [Fussilat:33]For the believers who possess the Islamic Aqeeda, the current world we are living in should agitate them to carry the guidance that they posses so that it becomes established and removes the evils that are drowning the world. This will lead to a blazing passion and urgency for the Da’wah. Our lowly situation will not be reversed without our actions, it is the actions of the Da’wah that lead to change and open the path to revival. When our mothers and sisters cry out in Iraq or Palestine from the pain inflicted upon them by the aggressors, when a fighter cries out in Chechnia and Afghanistan due to being bombarded, when the child in Darfur has tears of pain and hunger streaming down his face. It us that must respond to this call because today there is no Khalifah like al-Mu'tasim to rescue the women of the Ummah, there is no Umar bin al Khattab to send food for the hungry, there is no Salahudeen to protect the Islamic lands. Rather today it is us who are the guardians of this Ummah and who are responsible to bring back the protection, honour and might to this Ummah by re-establishing the Khilafah, the shade of Allah (swt) on the earth.Allah (swt) entrusted us to be the witnesses over humanity, He (swt) says: “We have made you the best nation to be witnesses over mankind. And the Messenger as a witness over you.” [Al-Baqarah:143]Indeed it is a great responsibility, the entire world and its problems rests upon our shoulders. But remember together with responsibility comes reward and with reward comes Jannah.Hasan al Basri narrated that Allah's Messenger (saw) said: "He whom death overtakes while he is engaged in acquiring knowledge with a view to reviving Islam with the help of it, there will be one degree between him and the Prophets in Paradise." [Al-Tirmidhi]Anas narrated that our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) said: "There is some people in my Ummah that they are rewarded like the reward of the beginners of this Ummah; this is because they are forbidding what is wrong" [Musnad Ahmad] Let us be these people by enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. The Da’wah should never become a tiny flickering flame in our hearts so that we become slow in carrying it. The burning urgency of the situation of the Ummah generates the roaring fire in the heart of the believer, this should never dissipate turning us into passive beings hesitant in the actions of the Da’wah rather than being the inspirational leaders of it. This disease is one implanted by the Shaytan, it is his call to transform the energetic into the lazy, the active into the passive and the Da’wah carrier into the lifeless drone. Indeed laziness, isolation, despair and defeatism are among the calls of Shaytan and he is trying relentlessly to lure the Da’wah carriers away from the Deen and the Da’wah. Allah (swt) mentioned that the Shaytan, Iblis said: "I will make the wrong fair seeming to the believers".Therefore we must banish the Shaytan and all his whispering from our hearts and minds. Allah (swt) says:“Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind, the King of Mankind, the God of mankind, from the evil of the sneaking whisperer who whispers into the hearts of mankind.” [An-Naas: 1-5]The pace of the Da’wah must be faster than our heart beats as it is more important than our interests and our blood, it is something that should awaken the sleeping and make the walking run.The Prophet (saw) was most truthful when he (saw) said: “The grinding wheel of Islam is turning. So, turn with it wherever it turns.” [Tabarani]
Abu Ismael

Are Islamic Forums Really Islamic? Do Muslims Act UnIslamic?

I have been a Muslim for over two years now. Whilst I am deeply satisfied with Islam on an intellectual and theological level, much too often I have been far from happy in my experiences with fellow Muslims on a practical level. I have faced considerable difficulties in my attempts to develop as a Muslim. Although I have made the acquaintance of many Muslims, this has been mostly only on a superficial level. I have to admit when I first converted to Islam the first thing I did was look for friends and information online. I went to "Islamic forums" and joined some yahoo groups thinking it was the best way to find the Muslim community. Well I should have gone somewhere else because both of these online communities turned out to be a very big mistake. In the yahoo group I joined I found myself sticking up for a new sister who had a dog, only to be attacked by another member who said I wasn't a Muslim and should say my shahada over again because nothing would be accepted of me, the moderators of that group let this woman publish all her hatred towards me and my opinion not even caring that I had just become a Muslim a few months back and was still learning. The forums if anything were much worse. The first forum I ended up joining was not moderated and had people putting Islam down using the most unintellectual words I have ever heard in my life, as well there were people airing their dirty laundry around about their husbands or boyfriends and that was coming from Muslims!!!! I went back to that site to see if anything has changed, only to find out it was closed, thank God!! You see even though that was a horrid site, I did meet 2 wonderful people there, unfortunately one of them I completely lost contact with. I moved on to other forums, I will not name them but I will say that it became very disheartening when I was seeing topics called "Deviated Sects, And Callers" and threads such as "Protect Yourself Against Suffism and Sufis", and "What Happens to Women Without Hijab".
There are many excellent sites out there, but I would caution the new Muslim not to accept the information on all sites blindly, particularly if they have an arrogant, strident or unpleasant tone or stray from plain facts and concentrate on controversial opinion or on an overtly political agenda. I would also urge new Muslims to avoid email forums or chat rooms about Islam absolutely. There are some nasty people lurking there - self-styled pseudo scholars preaching hellfire, doling out personal abuse and decrying sincere Muslims as non-believers. I was left utterly demoralized at one time and very, very angry on several occasions. I have now unsubscribed from all such forums. New Muslims should keep in mind the Hadith: "Verily, Allah is mild and is fond of mildness, and He gives to the mild what He does not give to the harsh." (Muslim) If a website or e-group you come across is far removed from the above, then remove yourself from it! There are also nice, well-meaning people who offer advice about matters of faith and practice without being in any way qualified to do so. If they get things wrong, they could unwittingly be leading the uninitiated astray and doing more harm than good. Be wary of accepting anything without a quotation from the Quran or authenticated hadith to back it up. Having said that, if it is one of the nasty brigade who has come seemingly armed with references, firstly check the actual quotation in your Quran. Have they really only quoted what is there or have they embellished it with their own interpretation? It happens. And, if the quotation is genuine but sounds harsh to your ears, then use a commentary to become aware of the context in which the verse was revealed. Read widely. For every hard-line, unpleasant interpretation, there is usually a mild one from a serious writer or scholar. Based on my personal experience, my advice either to new Muslims or anyone considering the possibility of accepting Islam would be simply to judge a religion not by its adherents, many of whom may fall far short of the ideal in a variety of ways (and I include myself in that!), but rather by the theology and teachings of the religion itself. Only a handful of people have been of any help to me and quite a few hard-line politicos and joyless, uptight puritans have been a real hindrance. However, despite my great disappointment at both the lack of organized support available to new Muslims rather than God-centered Islam so prevalent today, plus my intense dislike of the nasty behavior and attitudes of some of the Muslims I have encountered in person but mostly online, I have most definitely found in the religion of Islam an intellectual and theological satisfaction that I never knew in Christianity. And at the end of the day, one's beliefs about God are what truly matters.