The Call toTruth
Bearing witness to God’s oneness is the key which unlocks the door
to Islam.When a person discovers the truth of Islam, and when this
feeling is awakened within him that on the Day of Resurrection he
will appear before God as a Muslim, he utters these words: ‘I bear
witness that there is no god but the One God, I bear witness that
Muhammad is God’s servant and His messenger.’
There are two aspects to these words: Shahadah and applied
shahadah. The primary meaning of Shahadah is that which relates
to the self. The individual declares that the Creator and Lord of this
universe is only one God, and he becomes a witness to this higher
reality. Applied Shahadah is another aspect of this reality. That is,
making people aware of this reality by making an effort to convey
to people the truth which he has discovered. It is this task which is
called
dawah
, that is, calling people to God. When
dawah
work is
performed in the ultimate sense, the other name for this is ‘shahadah’
or ‘witnesses.
Calling people to God is not something separate from faith
(imaan
). When a person truly finds faith, he naturally desires
that the truth he has discovered should come to the knowledge
of others, and the purpose of life that he has discovered should
become a discovery for others too, and the door to the blessing of
this world and the Hereafter that has been opened to him, should
also be opened to others. The truth is that if shahadah is a matter of
personal discovery, then applied shahadah is a matter of including
others in this discovery.
The Prophet of Islam gave a historic address, making his
companions witness on the occasion of Hajjat ul-Wida on the
plains of Arafat. The Prophet’s address was directly meant for his
companions and indirectly for the entire Muslim
ummah.
The
Prophet said in this address: “God has sent me as a blessing for the
whole world, so convey my message of blessing on my behalf to all
human beings.”
These words of the Prophet of Islam have continued to
reverberate throughout world history, reaching all Muslims across
the centuries. Similarly, it addresses the people of Kashmir: “O
Muslims of Kashmir, fulfill my mission and be my supporters in
