T h e V i s i o n o f I s l a m
26
example, according to which we have to convey the divine message
to mankind.” (
Ibn Jarir
, Vol. 4, p. 227)
First and foremost, the aim of sending prophets into the world
is to inform people of the message of Truth in public and in private
(71:9). This is to enable them to learn about the scheme of creation
of the universe and its ultimate end; so that what is unseen they
may have foreknowledge of before the present world comes to an
end, when the unseen will become the seen. It is our responsibility
to make people aware of the life hereafter, and to warn them—they
being the creations of the one God—that all of them are bound to
appear before Him to give an account of their deeds.
Some people believe in presenting Islam to non-Muslims as
a better worldly system. But this assumption is based on false
premise. For, if Islam were presented fundamentally in the form
of a better worldly system, acceptance of Islam would appear
to the addressee as simply a way of solving the problems of this
world. That is to say, the aim of Islam would appear to be to offer
the means to save people from political and financial sufferings,
whereas what the prophets actually came to do was to make people
aware of God’s Creation Plan for man.
“He lets the spirit descend at His behest on those of His
servants whom He chooses, that He may warn (them) of the Day
of Meeting.” (40:15)
The final stage of this
Dawah
task, from the point of view of
the
mad‘u
(congregation) is his acceptance of the invitation and
his moulding of his life accordingly. But from the point of view
of the
da‘i
, the final stage of his task is his delivering the divine
message to the people and, his conveying the truth with complete
clarity to his listeners so that there should be no excuse left for
anyone to plead ignorance. Thus the standard criterion for the
fulfilment of
Dawah
work for the prophets was only this. They
were not held responsible for anything further. All those nations
who are mentioned in the Quran as having rejected the message
of the prophets and as having incurred the punishment of God for
their disobedience, were those very nations to whose subjects the
