Islam Rediscovered
7. Discovery of Islam
~ 103 ~
However, losing popularity in this world for the
sake of God will earn him a greater reward in the
life Hereafter. For, when the image of Islam had
been distorted, it was he, who was ready to take all
the risks involved in the process of reviving its
original form.
One great loss created by these additions to the
original Islam was the shift in emphasis. Some
important teachings of Islam were relegated to the
background—for instance, concern for the larger
humanity,
da’wah
, patience, etc.
Da‘wah
is the
greatest mission of the Muslim
Ummah
, for,
although prophethood came to an end with
Muhammad (may peace be upon him), the mission
of the Prophet has not yet come to an end. The
mission continues through the
Ummah
, as a matter
of religious duty. It would be no exaggeration to say
that without the performance of this duty, its very
credibility of being the Muslim
Ummah
would
become doubtful. Strangely, indeed,
da’wah
found
no place in the literature of the centuries after the
Prophet. Neither has it been mentioned anywhere
in the Muslim agenda of today. The classical
commentaries of the Qur’an (
Tafsir)
also fail to give
