Opinion | Da’wah: Spotlight Returns on Islamic Proselytising

With the busting of a terror module Hizb ut-Tahrir, by Madhya Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) recently, the spotlight has returned to the issue of planned conversions to Islam. It is a subject which, unlike Christian missionary activities, has remained below the radar in India. A similar action by Uttar Pradesh ATS in June 2021 had blown the lid over a conversion racket run by Maulana Umar Gautam. Maulana Gautam, who headed Islamic Dawah Centre (IDC) in Jamia Nagar, New Delhi was himself a born Hindu viz. Shyam Pratap Gautam, before he embraced Islam in 1985. He was accused of running a mass conversion racket targeting Persons with Disabilities (Divyangs), and those from disadvantaged sections of society. The website of IDC has apparently gone off the internet after Maulana Gautam was put behind bars. Conversions to Islam are called “reversions”, due to the strange Islamic notion that all people of the world are naturally born Muslim (one who obeys Allah), but are brought up differently. Thus, a non-Muslim choosing to adopt Islam is called “revert” rather than convert.

In the instant case, five of the 16 accused had converted from Hinduism to Islam in the recent past. The names of three of them — Mohammad Salim (earlier Saurabh Jain Rajvaidya), Abdur Rehman (earlier Devi Narayan Panda) and Mohammed Abbas Ali (earlier Benu Kumar) — were Hindus. The story of Saurabh Rajvaidya (now Mohammad Salim) and his wife Manasi alias Surbhi Jain is heart-rending, to say the least. His father Ashok Jain Rajvaidya told Dainik Bhaskar that until Class XII, Saurabh used to visit RSS Shakas. Later, having pursued his PhD, he became a professor at a Bhopal college. However, around 2011, Saurabh seriously gravitated towards Islam. Apparently, an agent of Dr Zakir Naik was responsible for his conversion. Saurabh began to speak ill of Hindu traditions and derogate religious practices. His wife also took to Islamic dresses. Finally, Ashok Jain Rajvaidya was compelled to tell his son to leave the house. He had even reported to the police, who could do little, as they felt Saurabh had changed his religion out of volition. Even as Ashok Jain Rajvaidya does not believe his son and daughter-in-law are involved in anti-national and terror activities, he is clear that they have no place in the family until they abjure Islam.

Until now, conversion to Islam (da’wah) has received little attention. The Arabic term da’wah is derived from da’aa, meaning “to call; to invite; and to supplicate” (i.e. to Allah). Way back in 1981, Meenakshipuram mass conversion in Tamil Nadu had shaken up the conscience of India. However, it was more of an act of social protest against caste discrimination in Hindu society, rather than any genuine attachment towards Islam. The Hizb ut-Tahrir case is entirely different. The converts came from middle-class Hindu families, apparently without any history of suffering social discrimination. Every convert, possibly, took to Islam individually as a matter of choice, without the safety net of family and society. The support, if any, apparently was provided by the Muslims, eager to welcome any new member into their society. Ironically, the conversions came at a time when Islam’s destructive profile had become apparent on a global level, from New York to Bali, not to speak of India.

Till now, we have a reductionist view of the Islamic challenge, in the form of terrorism. Islam terrorists, who call themselves Mujahideen (singular Mujahid) are practitioners of jihad. They are inspired by the history of jihad, to subdue the disbelievers in Islam by force, whether or not it is feasible in the modern era. Jihad fi sabil Allah, or striving in the path of Allah, has been an integral part of Islam. “Until fairly recent times”, says Bernard Lewis, “it was usually, though not universally, understood in the military sense. It was Muslim duty — collective in attack, individual in defence — to fight the war against the unbelievers. In principle, this war was to continue until mankind either embraced Islam or submitted to the authority of the Muslim state” (Islam and the West, P.9).

However, in principle, jihad must be preceded by da’wah or invitation to the Way of Allah, which if accepted by the kafir (infidel), would render jihad superfluous. Jihad becomes incumbent upon Muslims when da’wah is rejected by the kafir.

Da’wah, however, has become a specialized discipline in the modern world. The Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World (2004) informs that since the late 19^th century, the conception of da’wah has reemerged as central in the formulation of Islam. It is increasingly associated with socially vital activities such as education, conversion and charity. The Salafiyya movement, the leading figures of which were Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (d.1897), Muhammad Abdu (d.1905), and Rashid Rida (d.1935), gave a new impetus to the idea of da’wah. Both Afghani and Rida were connected with the pan-Islamic movement aimed at uniting people under the Ottoman Caliphate.

Two other important figures in da’wah in modern times were Hassan Al Banna (founder of al-Ikhwan al-Musalmin or Muslim Brotherhood) in Egypt and Abul Ala Maududi (d.1979) in Pakistan. Maududi, the founder of Jamat-e-Islami, started an Islamic movement al-Harkara al-Islamiyya where da’wah aimed at creating ‘an Islamic state of mind and a matrix of life rather than an institutional order’ (EIMW, P.172).

In 1962, Saudi Arabia formed Muslim World League to promote da’wah efforts internationally. A year earlier, the Islamic University had been set up in Medina to train da’wah workers. To steal the thunder from Saudi Arabia, Mu’ammar al-Qadhdhafi established a Jamiat al-Dawah al-Islamiya (Islamic Call Society) in 1972. In 1985, the University of Islamabad created a Da’wa Academy for training da’wah workers.

Syed Abul Hassan Ali Nadwi alias Ali Mian (1913-1999), the leading scholar of orthodox Islam, also emphasised upon da’wah. Under his chancellorship, Darul Uloom, Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow introduced a four-year course on da’wah in 1980. It would be relevant to quote what he stated in one of his eight-lecture series (originally delivered in Arabic) on the occasion of instituting the course.

“There is no denying the importance of the Shar’ah and the obligations — their greatness is an admitted fact — but it is a question of priority (awwaliyah). Which aspect has priority over others? If viewed from this angle, then, according to me, the aspect of invitation to Allah and guidance is dominant (ghalib) over the commands and shari’ah in the Glorious Qur’an. It is because the foundation of faith (iman) is guidance (hidayah) and ‘to believe’ depends on an invitation to Allah and instruction in that……conditions change with time and the art of inviting people to Allah also needs ready wit and presence of mind. Besides, the one inviting to Allah must have a deep understanding of human psychology and weak points of society. It cannot be said with finality that he should do one thing and desist from another, and that he should adopt and present his invitation (Da’wah) in a particular manner. He has to face some situations in a particular society and very different in other societies. He cannot, therefore, be bound by fixed rules and regulations.” (Inviting to the Way of Allah, 1981, P.8-9).

Ali Mian’s views imply that fairness and foulness of methods are immaterial as long as the conversion is successful. There is no fundamental ethics involved in the exercise. Despite specialized institutions for da’wah, or without them, inviting people to the way of Allah is, in principle, an obligation on all Muslims. Thus Bhopal-based gym trainer Yasir Khan, now in police net, might not be a conventional da’wah worker but following his basic religious instincts.

The onslaught is clearly theological. The Hindu society, notwithstanding its ten-century-long exposure to aggressive Islam, barely knows the rudiments of Islam to meet them on equal ground. This leaves Hinduism particularly unprepared to meet the challenge. The modern Hindu myth of all religions is true, actually prevents them from undertaking objective and critical examination of religions. Unlike the Europeans, who started reading Islam critically way back in the 13^th century, no such effort was visible in India until the 19^th century. Swami Dayanand was the first person in India to question the validity of Islam as a religion based on the inaugural verse of the Quran. While this created bad blood between Arya Samaj and Muslims, it stoked a debate on the subject that Hindus had not probed previously. In the 20^th century, Ram Swarup and Sita Ram Goel acted as pioneers in critically re-examining Islam’s validity, and alerting the Hindu society against the creeping Islamisation.

It would be quite strange if a civilisation that often prides itself as “Vishwa Guru” is not able to counter the da’wah arguments in the 21^st century. Not being able to counter the predatory efforts of da’wah would indirectly imply accepting its validity of a monopolistic theology. Countering da’wah, intellectually at least, would not be very difficult as it is based on the belief that the Quran is the only true book to be followed by the entire mankind. Quran might be the belief of some people. Why must it be the belief of all people? Moreover, does it offer a path for believers to seek individual validation of truth in any manner?

In Hinduism, whose followers are seekers rather than believers, there are multiple ways to obtain individual validation of the truths proclaimed. The validation could be done through Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga and Jnana Yoga or a mixture of them. Though Hindus believe that Bhagawad Gita is a discourse given by Lord Krishna on the battlefield to Arjuna, they perceive it as a spiritual guide rather than a blueprint to be imposed upon the world. The Gita does not enjoin any collective duty of the community. Karma belongs to every individual. The Gita is open to tests.  One could try to follow the advice contained in its verses and feel its effect on the mind and personality.

Take, the famous verse: Karmanye vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana, Ma Karmaphalaheturbhurma Te Sangostvakarmani (2/47)

“You have the authority to work only, but never to its fruit/ Let not fruits of action be your motive, not let your attachment be to inaction”.

One could try adopting this attitude, and see its effect on mind and efficiency. Being non-attached to the results of one’s action is likely to bring peace to one’s mind, and increase the efficiency of action on the other hand. This is logical because the energy, previously consumed on worrying about the result, would be diverted to better performance. Expanding the scope of this practice from isolated action to all actions of life, one would reach a spiritual state, where a person performs all actions to the best of one’s ability, without being bogged down by attachment.

In this manner, Hinduism is a religion, whose principles are open to examination and practice, and it holds that every individual would reach his/her spiritual destiny in his/her own manner regardless of whether the person is Hindu or not. It would be a pity if such a system, which offers scope for individual validation of spiritual truths, is sacrificed at the altar of one that apparently offers none. When the preachers target the validity of Hindu precepts, Hindus must respond to them in a credible manner.

The writer is author of the book “The Microphone Men: How Orators Created a Modern India” (2019) and an independent researcher based in New Delhi. The views expressed herein are his personal.