By Noor Amira Md Akhir
Dawah means calling people, propagating the deen of al-Islam. The Quran and Sunnah have expressed the idea of dawah with the terms, delivering the call (tableegh), enjoining the good (maruf) and forbidding the evil (munkar), recommending one another on the truth (tawaasil), being sent to give good tidings and to warn, clarifying the truth, advising (naseeha) and reminding the people, and debating and discussing with the people in the manner which is best and the struggling to make the deen prevail.
There are many evidences in the Quran and Sunnah that obligate all Muslims, men and women to do dawah, and enjoin good and forbid evil.
For instance, in Quran, Allah mentioned:
œAnd who speaks better than he who calls to Allah while he himself does good, and says: I am surely of those who submit? (Surah Fussilat 41:33). This statement actually applies to the Muslims, both men and women; when either one of them takes on the responsibility of da’wah they must do so in the way which has been legislated for them.
Muslim women or œmuslimah played a great role in sacrifice and service for Islam. From the very beginning, women have played vital roles in the propagation of Islamic da’wah. The work of the Muslim women in the field of da’wah strengthens the men’s work, and expands into areas where their effectiveness supersedes that of the men. Accordingly, by womens nature as a spiritual and psychological comforter of men, the women can play an important role in da’wah.
It is always better and more effective when a woman speaks to a woman as compared to a man speaking to a woman. Usually, women tend to be better than men in terms of verbal abilities and emotionality. Inevitably, men provide this service to women, therefore, it is very important for women to engage in dawah in order to convey the messages of Islam to other women and children. The messages of Islam must be conveyed and propagated to all people in the universe, not only to Muslim communities.
Women must start educating themselves and achieving their rights to education and tarbiyah. The Hadith narrated by Abu Sa’i that the women said to the Prophet (SAW): “The men are keeping you busy and we do not get enough attention from you. Would you specify a day for us, women? He promised them a day to meet them and educate and admonish them.” (Bukhari).
As Muslim women, they should educate themselves about the basic Islamic knowledge (religious knowledge), such as the issue of Tawheed, the issue of Fiqh- Tahaarah (purification) and other knowledge that relate to them.
Besides that, by looking at the Islamic history, we have many role models who were involved in dawah during the days of the Prophet Rasulullah S.A.W such as the first wife of the Prophet, Saidatina Khadeejah (ra) who was very rich, spent a lot of her money to support the dawah brought by Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. and also gave advice to her husband. Another example is Saidatina ˜Aisha (ra). After Prophet Muhammad died ˜Aisha (ra) was the main source of knowledge about the Prophet’s teachings. She was active in telling people about Islam and giving knowledge to the ummah. All these examples are offering the greatest proof of the vital importance of women role in dawah Islamiyyah.
A successful Muslim woman is the one who makes herself aware of these issues and can be greatly effective by being a good example to other women, by being kind-hearted and soft-spoken. Of friendly conduct a woman can also use all appropriate opportunities to educate, guide and call others though observing the conditions of those whom she addresses.