Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamu alaikum,

A learned Hafiz constantly insists on me to go to Markaz , and to tablig across the country. My question is, how this is viewed in inslam. Compared to other matters such as salah, sawm, and other obligatory acts, how important is going on tablig. He also claims that he can provide evidence that within tablig everything other aspect is included. e.g. jihad, amal, salah, etc. I am really confused. Please can you shed some light into this topic. My overall question is how important is this compared to other aspects of islam.

Allah Hafiz 

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Answer:

Importance of tableeg dawa

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imran verse 110: Ye (believers) are the best of peoples evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right forbidding what is wrong and believing in Allah.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verse 112: Those that turn (to Allah) in repentance: that serve Him and praise Him; that wander in devotion to the Cause of Allah; that bow down and prostrate themselves in prayer; that enjoin good and forbid evil; and observe the limits set by Allah; (these do rejoice). So proclaim the glad tidings to the Believers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran: Chapter 16, Surah An-Nahl Ayat 125: Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and excellent admonition and argue with people in the best manner. Your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Way and who is Rightly guided.

Dear and Beloved brother in Islam, there is absolutely no doubt that ‘tableeg’ or the propagation of the Truth to mankind is an obligatory duty and responsibility that the Lord Most Merciful has laid upon every person who sincerely believe in Him and the Last Day.

But contrary to popular belief that ‘tableeq’ is to leave one’s work and family and go with a particular set of people to a distant land to invite people to Islam for a certain number of days, is taking an extremely narrow and restricted meaning of the command! One can very well do ‘tableeg’ or invite others to the Truth of Islam from where one lives: to his family, his neighbors, his colleagues at work, his friends, loved ones, and the people he meets in his everyday life. It is definitely not obligatory for ‘every’ believer to leave his home, family, and work to travel the earth and invite people to the Truth of Islam to fulfill the command of ‘tableeg’! If some amongst the believers who have the means and the resources wish to travel the earth and invite others to the Truth of Allah, they will have their reward from their Lord Merciful.

If one studies the Seerah or Way of the Prophets of Allah, one would realize that in almost all the cases, the Noble Prophets of Allah invited their own community where they were born and grew up to the Truth of Islam. The disbelievers were witness to the whole lives of the Prophets from their birth to their youth; and only when they were appointed as Prophets by the command of Allah Subhanah the Prophets started their Mission to invite their community to the Truth of Islam.

Prophet Mohamed (saws) himself lived a lifetime of almost 40 years amongst his people before his appointment to the state of Prophethood; and the disbelievers of Makkah were witness to his life from his birth and to the fact that he (saws) never ever mentioned anything of the like of the Glorious Quran, or Guidance, or the Hereafter, or the Shariah, etc. until he was appointed the Messenger of Allah at the age of forty! This was one of the biggest evidences for his indeed being appointed as a Messenger of Allah!

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 10 Surah Yunus verse 16: Say (O Prophet (saws) to the disbelievers): "If Allah had so willed I should not have rehearsed it (The Quran) to you, nor would He have made it known to you. A whole lifetime before this have I tarried amongst you: will ye not then understand?"

It also makes common-sense that one who has lived a lifetime amongst his people, and they know his dealings, his actions, his behavior, his character, etc. it would obviously be easier for the people to listen to his ‘call’ and determine whether the person is indeed genuine in his preachings or not! But if one is a complete stranger and the people don’t know anything about him at all, and he comes from a distant place and starts inviting them to change their lives and follow what is said by Allah and His Messenger (saws), they would obviously find it difficult to digest what the person has to say!

Thus, in conclusion, ‘tableeg’ or the propagation of the Truth from the Quran and the Sunnah is indeed an obligatory duty on every believer who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day; but it is not obligatory for each and every one to leave their homes and travel to distant lands to fulfill this command. If some amongst the believers do travel and invite others to the Truth of Islam, it would suffice for the whole community or Ummah.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verse 112: Nor should the believers all go forth together: if a contingent from every expedition remained behind, they could devote themselves to studies in religion and admonish the people when they return to them, that thus they (may learn) to guard themselves (against evil).

Your Question: My overall question is how important is this compared to other aspects of islam.
The obligatory acts of Islam are divided in two parts:

‘Fard Ayn’ meaning an act which is absolutely obligatory on each and every believer.

‘Fard Kifaayah’ meaning if some amongst the believers fulfill the command, it would suffice for the community or the Ummah.

The five daily prayers, the fasts of Ramadan, the payment of ‘zakah’, the pilgrimage to the Hajj once in a lifetime, obedience to one’s parents, fulfilling ones rights and responsibilities to one’s family, seeking Islamic knowledge, etc. are what is known as ‘Fard Ayn’ or absolutely obligatory for each and every person who professes belief in Allah and the Last Day. No one can fulfill these duties and responsibilities for him, one has to do these himself; if one does not fulfill these obligatory commands of Islam he will be held severely accountable for his transgression in the Court of Allah Subhanah.

The other duties like seeking worldly knowledge, giving a deceased believer a proper muslim burial, etc. are what is known in Islamic Jurisprudence at ‘Fard Kifaayah’; every single believer does not have to fulfill these obligatory commands; if some amongst the believers fulfill these obligations, it would suffice for the full community.

Travelling to distant lands specifically to propagate the Truth and inviting others to Islam (popularly recognized as ‘tableeg’) is what is known in Islamic Jurisprudence as ‘Fard Kifaayah’; if some amongst the believers fulfill this obligatory duty, it would suffice for the whole community.

Thus to answer your specific question to compare which of the obligatory duties are more important; then the straight-forward answer would be that a duty which is considered a ‘Fard Ayn’ is always much more important than a ‘Fard Kifaayah’, although both are obligatory. There is absolutely no doubt that the offering of one’s daily prayers, the fasting of Ramadan, the payment of ‘zakah’, the pilgrimage of Hajj, the obedience to one’s parents, etc. are much more important in comparison to traveling the earth and inviting others to the Truth of Islam. Even if one invites to the Truth of Islam with his words and his deeds the people around him: his family, his loved ones, his friends, his colleagues, his neighbours, etc.; one would be more than able to fulfill the obligatory command of ‘tableeg’ or inviting others to the Truth of Islam.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan