Grow the beard! How to Give Dawah and Not Scare Muslims Away
A while ago when I first started this blog, I wrote a post about why growing the Beard for a brother and wearing the Hijab for a sister is beneficial.
I provided some proof and like every post, I was faced with criticism. To me it is what it is, if something is clear in the Qur’an and Sunnah then we should follow it. Haters? uhh well they are always going to come.
However on the other end of the spectrum, we have a problem with many Muslims today, who have a weird way of spreading Islam and encouraging people to follow the Sunnah and the commandments of Allah (swt).
To me it’s so backwards, I often see brothers with this failed method of giving daw’ah. What I’ve come to notice is some brothers and sisters only focus on appearance when it comes to Islam. So if they don’t see a brother with a beard or a sister wearing Hijab, all of a sudden that person is eliminated from their interpretation of “believers”.
Now what begins to happen is people become arrogant because all of a sudden they feel like they are too religious to give attention to a particular person or spend time with them.
Not only do they look at you like your an alien, but all of a sudden your not being invited to Islamic events or offered to pray salat in congregation just because you don’t look “religious”.
The other day we were getting ready to pray Salat, and the brothers were looking around to see who leads. One brother grabbed me and “said you lead you have a beard”. Since when did that become the criteria for leading the salat? Chill yo.
Alot of non Muslim men have beards, so take it easy. Before you give up on the potential of any Muslim brother or sister, try talking to them with sincere advice and just give them time. For different people, different experiences can change them. Don’t be so quick to jump into the deen and expect everyone to follow, it’s an evolving process and insh’Allah if the person is guided by Allah swt and is exposed to clean environments, they will be able to make a rational decision as to what will benefit them in this life and in the next.
As far as the beard is concerned, that’s not the priority. The other day I saw a Muslim brother tell another Muslim brother “Where is your beard”?, instead of offering him Salam or asking him did you pray Salat?
How do you expect people to listen to you if you have no relationship with them?
See this is the problem, people have their priority’s backwards when they call people to the deen.
So while you may think your following the Sunnah, your actually going against it. Their is etiquette in everything.
This is clear in the Qur’an when Allah swt says:
“Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knows best, who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance.” (An-Nahl: 12)
Ahh, what a relief. I had to get this off my chest, Instead of getting all emotional, use wisdom.
In conclusion, practice the Sunnah for the right reasons and study the Seerah, don’t get all authoritative on people without properly speaking to them, you know what I mean by that.
No one is saying don’t speak the truth, but use the proper methodology. Educate, don’t Alienate!
Chill Yo Islam Yo!