Friday Nasiha

Al-Nahl (The Bees)
Chapter 16: Verse 125

Different Ways of Conveying Islam
"Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair exhortation and argue with them with that which is the best. Lo! your Lord is best aware of him who strays from His way, and He is best aware of those who go right."

The two aspects of inviting to the way of Allah are clear from the above ayah - how much freedom the one who calls enjoys and where it comes to an end. How far he can go and where he should terminate his endeavour.

"Invite to the way of your Lord"

The ayah does not ask us to 'invite' the people towards faith (iman), true belief, prayers, good example or call upon the people to respect human rights. No such thing has been mentioned in particular since all these aspects are covered in the phrase.

Invitation is not bound by rules

The word 'invite' has a very wide implication. It is not binding that the 'invitation' be made through spoken words, writings or public talks. It covers all these methods. One who calls can utilise this advice in performing his duties - lectures, discussion or writing as required in a given situation. He can adopt other methods of propagation also - in fact, all of those means which are permissible and effective.

The freedom of the caller

The words hikmah (wisdom), maw'izah (exhortation) and ahsan (best, most beautiful) used in the Glorious Quran are full of meanings:

• In Maududi's words, "Counselling people in such a manner that one's deep sympathy, compassion and concern for the people in question does not go unnoticed by them... Moreover the argument should appeal to good sense. Likewise, the statements made in the course of the discussion should be so couched as not to arouse obstinacy."
  
• Imam Razi thinks that broadly speaking there can be three kinds of people. There is a kind of people that is of good knowledge, good nature. All that this class needs is a call blended with wisdom. A second kind is the corrupt, argumentative and hardened one: these people should be argued out, with arguments better than theirs. Then there is a third kind, in between. They are neither scholarly, nor argumentative. They need to be addressed with goodly exhortation.
  
• But Alusi and others have emphasized that the message of the verse is to call to Allah's path with words that penetrate the heart (hikmah), in the spirit of an admonition (maw'izah) said with extreme sincerity in an objective style (ahsan).

The limitation of 'Invitation'

As soon as one realizes that the other party has been so provoked as to cling, out of sheer obstinacy, to his viewpoint, one should put an end to the discussions. For continuing it any further might cause the other person to deviate even further away from the truth.

Yusuf Ali comments, "It may be that the caller sometimes says to himself, 'What is the use of teaching these people? They have made up their minds, or they are obstinate; or they are only trying to catch me out.' Let him not yield to such a thought. Who knows how the seed of the Word of Allah may germinate in people's minds? It is not for man to look for results. Man's inner thoughts are better known to Allah."

Source:
"Inviting to the Way of Allah" - Sayyid Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi, pp. 9-11
"Towards Understanding the Quran" - Sayyid Abul Ala Mawdudi, Vol 4
"Tafsir Ishraq Al-Ma'ani" - Syed Iqbal Zaheer, pp. 287-290
"The Meaning of the Holy Quran" - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Worldly Travails

Very often it happens that a man is so weakened by his troubles that he becomes pitiful; or so strengthened by his successes that he becomes tyrannical. But the intelligent believer should not go astray, nor should he exceed the proper bounds; he should persevere in his practise of Islam in both adversity and prosperity.

No man, as long as he remains alive, will ever be wholly free of trial. This is simply the nature of things in this world. Suffering uncovers human frailties and literally pushes the reasonable person to his knees, so to speak, at Allah's door, in quest of relief and the mercy of his Lord. The true believer is expected to seek refuge in Allah in every trouble which befalls him, regardless of how insignificant it may seem. The Prophet of Allah, upon him be peace, said:

"Let each of you turn to Allah in every troublesome matter; even when you are pained by the throng of your sandal, for even that is a trial."

Source:
"Remembrance & Prayer" - Muhammad Al-Ghazali, p. 91

When you enter a home whether as a visitor or an overnight guest; do not closely examine its contents as an inspector would. Limit your observation to what you need to see. Do not open closed closets or boxes. Do not inspect a wallet, a package, or a covered object. This is against Islamic manners and an impolite betrayal of the trust your host has accorded to you. Uphold these manners during your visit and seek to cultivate your host's love and respect, may Allah bless and protect you.

Imam al-Muhasibi in Risalat al-Mustarshidin said: "The duty of sight is to preclude forbidden sights and not to try to see what has been hidden or covered. Likewise Dawud al-Tai'y said: 'I was told we would be accountable for our minor gazes, as we are accountable for our minor deeds.'" The Arab poet, Miskin al-Darimi said:

My neighbour need not worry if
his door was not closed