Islam Rediscovered
8. The Man Islam Builds
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world hereafter depends on the acceptance of this
truth, so man has no choice but to accept it.” This
kind of claim is highly provocative, eliciting
reactions from every ideological group—religious,
materialist, secular, atheist, etc.
The man with a mission throws down a challenge
which provokes a response. A challenge-response-
mechanism becomes operative which stimulates
continuous interaction, involving questions and
answers, discussions and dialogues. It is during this
interaction that the process of intellectual
development begins.
As a mission,
da‘wah
work by its very nature is
divine. Because of this people with a mission are
bound by their code of ethics to respond in a
positive manner to their audiences regardless of the
latter’s misconduct. At all costs, they must, as a
matter of principle, avoid all friction. As the Qur’an
says: “Certainly, we (the Prophets) would bear with
patience your persecution of us.” (14:12)
This positive behaviour on the part of people
engaged in the
da‘wah
mission prevents them from
succumbing to hatred for and violence against the
