What is DAWA?
Do your deeply held values and beliefs change simply because you’ve relocated? It’s not likely. You simply abide by the local laws and all is well.
Many cultures are largely compatible: Thai food for lunch, sharing a Seder dinner with a neighbour, a community Easter egg hunt, a folk fest at city hall, a dance at the Edelweiss club, Chinese New Year celebrations or a Native art show. Everyone welcome. However, it’s unrealistic to believe that the same is true of deeply held values and beliefs, especially when the two are inextricably linked as law.
Case in point, last weekend 1,100 people demonstrated in the streets of Hamburg demanding an Islamic Caliphate be established. (1) Now a caliphate means sharia which is the Islamic system of law and religion in one. Sharia divides the world into believers (the ummah) vs everybody else. More than half the Koran is about the unbeliever and it’s not good news. Unbelievers are the ‘worst of creatures’, (Koran 98:6) so ‘najasun’ (unclean) they are considered too impure to enter the city of Mecca. (Koran 9:28)
Demands for a Caliphate in Germany; underground ‘radical’ mosques in Italy; (2) and increasing jihadi violence (3) are not to be taken lightly and yet their significance and the threat such examples pose to all those who do not follow sharia is excused, forgotten in tomorrow’s news – that’s if it even makes the news. Why is that?
Dawa.
Dawa is the Islamic practice of attempting to convert others to Islam but it is much more than that.
“Islamist groups have enjoyed not just protection but at times official sponsorship from government agencies duped into regarding them as representatives of “moderate Muslims” simply because they do not engage in violence.” (4) Stealth jihad. Dawa is mentioned 15 times in this Muslim Brotherhood ‘Explanatory Memorandum’.(5)
Many people, particularly influencers, have been invited to ‘Dawa’ or ‘dialogue events’ – sometimes referred to as ‘A Common Word’. Pocket Dawa Manuals (6) instruct proponents how to present Islam as a ‘religion of peace’, and living in a non-Islamic country where they don’t have to deal with the reality of sharia, some may be fully convinced that this is so. Because Islamic doctrine is dualistic in both it’s attitude towards non-Muslims vs Muslims, and Meccan vs Medinan (jihad) verses, it isn’t difficult to select phrases that paint a rosy, albeit very limited picture of Islam. The life of Mohammed belies this rosy picture but his jihad after migrating to Medina, or acts of jihad today, will not be spoken of at these events.
This is not unlike the ‘good cop, bad cop’ scenario. And even though both have the same goal in mind (Koran 8:65), one is an obvious threat (jihad), while Dawa is just the opposite. Dawa very effectively conflates people, with doctrine. Participants are sure to leave with an excellent impression and ‘immunized’ against facts that may differ.
Dawa is a panacea for all things Islam. There is much to see here, don’t be fooled.
Sources:
Video
Koran 3:28 https://legacy.quran.com/3/28
Koran 8:65 https://legacy.quran.com/8/65
Koran 9:1 https://legacy.quran.com/9/1
Koran 9:29 https://legacy.quran.com/9/29
Koran 13:41 https://legacy.quran.com/13/41
Koran 48:29 https://legacy.quran.com/48/29
Koran 66:2 https://legacy.quran.com/66/2
Hadith (Muslim 2889a) https://sunnah.com/muslim:2889a
Hadith (Bukhari 3167 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3167
Hadith (Bukhari 3941) https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3941
Hadith (Muslim 2793) https://sunnah.com/muslim:2793
Hadith (Ibn Majah 225) https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:225
Hadith (Bukhari 3030) https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3030
Hadith (Bukhari 3053) https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3053
(1) Germany: https://www.rt.com/news/596703-islamists-rally-german-caliphate-hamburg/
(2) Italy: https://www.rt.com/news/596285-italy-rome-mosques-concerns/
(3) April attacks: https://thereligionofpeace.com/attacks/attacks.aspx?Yr=Last30
(4) Ali, Ayaan HIrsi "The Challenge of Dawa Political Islam as Ideology and Movement and How to Counter It" (p.3) Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University 2017
(5) Muslim Brotherhood Explanatory Memorandum: https://centerforsecuritypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/CSP-Explanatory-Memorandum.pdf
(6) Pocket Dawa Manual https://www.muslim-library.com/dl/books/English_Pocket_Dawah_Manual.pdf
(7) Attacks last 30 days: https://thereligionofpeace.com/attacks/attacks.aspx?Yr=Last30