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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Dawah. (Discuss) |
Dawah means to "invite" (in Arabic, literally "calling") to Islam, estimated to be the second largest religion next to Christianity. From the 7th century it spread rapidly from the Arabian Peninsula to the rest of the world through the initial Arabic conquests, and subsequently with traders and explorers after the death of the Prophet Muhammad.
The purpose of Islamic missionary activity is to grow the Muslim ummah.
Missionary Activity During Initial Emergence of the Islamic Empire (630 - 800)
Following the death in 632 CE of the Prophet Muhammad, Islam spread far and wide within a very short period, much of this occurring through an initial establishment and subsequent expansion of an Islamic Empire through conquest, such as that of North Africa and later Spain (Al-Andalus), and the Islamic conquest of Persia putting an end to the Sassanid Empire and spreading the reach of Islam to as far east as Khorasan, which would later become the cradle of Islamic civilization during the Islamic Golden Age and a stepping-stone towards the introduction of Islam to the Turkic tribes living in and bordering the area.
Missionary Activity Within the Empire (800 - 1050)
Following the initial establishment of the empire and stabilization of borders and ruling elites, various missionary movements emerged during the ensuing Islamic Golden Age, with the express purpose of preaching to the non-Muslim populations in their midst. These missionary movements also preached outside the borders of the Islamic empire taking advantage of the expansion of foreign trade routes, primarily into the Indo-Pacific and as far south as the isle of Zanzibar and the southeastern shores of Africa.
Missionary Activity Following Mongol Conquests (1050 - 1300)
Following the overrunning of most of the Eastern part of the Islamic lands by the Mongol Hordes, the strictly non-militant tradition of Sufism began to garner popular support among the Muslims of the time. In addition, the mystical nature of the tradition had an all-encompassing aspect, a property many other societies in Asia could relate to. As a result, missionary work became a staple of the sufis, highlighted by their conversion of the Mongol Barlas tribe to Islam, the descendants of whom were to emerge as the forerunners of the Mughal Empire in India soon thereafter.
Later, with the conquest of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks, missionaries would find easier passage to the lands then formerly belonging to the Byzantine Empire.
In the earlier stages of the Ottoman Empire, a Turkic form of Shamanism was still widely practiced in Anatolia, which soon started to give in to the mysticism offered by Sufism.
The teachings of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, who migrated from Khorasan to Anatolia, are good examples to the mystical aspect of Sufism.
Missionary Activity of the Ottoman Empire (1300 - 1700)
During the Ottoman presence in the Balkans, missionary movements were also taken up by people from aristocratic families hailing from the region, who had been educated in Constantinople or any other major city within the Empire, in famed madrassahs and kulliyes. Most of the time, such individuals were sent back to the place of their origin, being appointed important positions in the local governing body. This approach often resulted in the building of mosques and local kulliyes for future generations to benefit from, as well as spreading the teachings of Islam.
Missionary Activity During the Colonial Era (1700 - 1920)
With the decline of the Ottomans and a vast majority of the Muslim lands coming under the rule of the European Colonial powers, Islamic missionary activity faced a new challenge, vis-a-vis Christian missionaries that arrived along with the colonial rulers.
Missionary Activity in Africa
The spread of Islam towards Central and West Africa has been prominent but slow, until the early 19th century. Previously, the only connection was through Transsaharan trade, of which the Mali Empire, consisting predominantly of African and Berber tribes, stands as a strong proof of the early Islamization of the Sub-Saharan region. The gateways prominently expanded to include the aforementioned trade routes through the Eastern shores of the African continent. With the European colonization of Africa, missionaries were almost in competition with the European Christian missionaries operating in the colonies.
Missionary Activity in South-East Asia
The first Indonesians to adopt Islam are thought to have done so as early as the eleventh century, although Muslims had visited Indonesia early in the Muslim era. The spread of Islam was driven by increasing trade links outside of the archipelago; in general, traders and the royalty of major kingdoms were the first to adopt the new religion. Dominant kingdoms included Mataram in Central Java, and the sultanates of Ternate and Tidore in the Maluku Islands to the east. By the end of the thirteenth century, Islam had been established in North Sumatra; by the fourteenth in northeast Malaya, Brunei, the southern Philippines and among some courtiers of East Java; and the fifteenth in Malacca and other areas of the Malay Peninsula. Through assimilation Islam had supplanted Hinduism and Buddhism as the dominant religion of Java and Sumatra by the end of the 16th century. At this time, only Bali retained a Hindu majority and the outer islands remained largely animist but would adopt Islam and Christianity in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Missionary Activity in Europe
With Islam seemingly in constant military conflict with Europe at their mutual borders, missionary activity within Christian Medieval Europe was virtually non-existent until the dramatic changing of the European political map in the 20th century on one hand and the concurrent decline of the Ottoman Empire on the other. As such, this paved way for a subsequent mass immigration of Muslims from the Muslim World to Europe in the 20th century. With the arrival of this new immigrant population in Europe, Islamic missionary activity has naturally followed as well.
Missionary Activity in North America
The Muslim population of the US has increased greatly in the last one hundred years, with much of the growth driven by widespread conversion.[1] This conversion phenomenon can be sub-divided into several separate missionary efforts that have sprung up primarily over the past sixty years.
Nation of Islam
Black superamist group Nation of Islam's efforts to recruit members to its fold would be the earliest example of Islamic missionary activity in the United States. While considered a heretic branch of Islam, former Nation of Islam converts have gone on to become major figures in the mainstream Islamic presence in North America. Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali and founder Elijah Muhammad's own son, Warith Deen Mohammed being prime examples.
Mosque Building Phenomenon
The arrival of a new class of educated professionals and higher education seeking foreign student Muslim immigrants beginning in the 1970s heralded the beginning of a major mosque building phenomenon all across the North American landscape. As communities grew over the next two decades, with more immigrants from the Muslim world and with first generation children of the first wave of immigrants, small rooms serving as community centers grew into full fledged mosques. A common occurrence being the purchase of abandoned Churches and conversion into mosques. With the development of mosques and more stable Muslim communities, missionary activity has followed with mosques developing "dawah programs" to preach to local neighbors in their midst.
Interaction with Immigrants
A major form of unplanned missionary activity has occurred simply due to the interaction between the local non-Muslim populace and the new wave of Muslim immigrants, at work, in schools, as neighbors and at universities. The flow of information of ideas has resulted in many a converts to the relatively new religion.
Missionary Work in Prison Systems
A more recent missionary front has been the US Prison System, where encouragement of religious study has opened an avenue for Muslims to provide their own religion. There is an increasing trend towards hiring of full-time Muslim Chaplins to cater to increasing populations of Muslim prisoners.[2] and in large urban areas[3]
Saudi-Financed Missionary Work
With the burgeoning Muslim population in North America by the late 1980s, numerous missionary outlets saw an opportunity to receive financing for their work from various Saudi-based religious foundations. This phenomenon, which flourished for much of the decade of the 1990s, came to an abrupt end following the events of the September 11 attacks. Some of the works undertaken in this time included:
- Mass distribution of A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam (ISBN 9960-34-011-2) a high quality color booklet widely available at missionary outlets.
- Mass distribution of the complete Yusuf Ali translation The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an. Tens of thousands of the US Amana Publications edition (ISBN 978-1590080252) were available for free at missionary outlets across North America during the 1990s. These were printed under the auspices of the Iqraa Charitable Society of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Missionary Activity by Specialists
With increasing population of Muslims, a breed of specialist missionaries, focusing entirely on spreading of Islam among the local peoples, has also emerged. Some of the more well-known missionaries include:
- Ahmed Deedat, internationally renown South Africa-based author, speaker, and publisher on Christian-Muslim dialogue.
- Jamal Badawi, Egyptian immigrant, professor from Canada, has been very active in missionary work and Christian-Muslim dialogue for over 30 years.
- Shabir Ally, of Toronto Canada is an international speaker and major figure in North American Christian-Muslim dialogue.
- Dr. Zakir Naik of India has produced numerous missionary material for distribution.
- Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips from Canada is one of the earliest and most famous public figures to publish and speak at missionary events in North America.
- Yusuf Estes, convert to Islam and self styled American Muslim Chaplin.
- Khalid Yasin, a New York based charismatic public speaker.
Internet-based Missionary Activity
With the development of the world wide web, several web-sites have sprung up in order to preach Islam among the non-Muslim users online. These can be divided into a few main categories:
- Specialized missionary websites, such as www.thetruecall.com, answering-christianity.com, islamtomorrow.com, ediscoverislam.com etc.
- Islamic portals such as islamicity.com, jannah.org etc.
- Youtube Channels such as Iqraproductions, theDeenShow, quranmiracles, muslimreverts etc.
See also
Nations:
References
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