Bearing of Responsibility
A Muslim is responsible before God for disseminating the message of the Prophet to wider society. The passing of days upon one without an effort to invite others to God is a sign of corruption in the link with God and relationship with society.*
For most Muslims the meaning of having steadfastness in their faith is to avoid that which is prohibited and observe the obligatory aspects of faith, whilst engaging in supererogatory acts of worship, giving charity and attending gatherings of remembrance (dhikr) and knowledge and rearing their children to follow a similar path.[i]Except a few, who are cognizant of the need to take the message of mercy and compassion out to their communities. It is incumbent to ask: Do you have a non-Muslim neighbour? Whether they are your immediate neighbours or not, is there a non-Muslim in your immediate proximity? How many years have you been neighbours? How many times have you thought about your role in presenting your faith to them? How many times have you turned to your Lord and ask for His mercy to them? How many times have you exemplified good conduct towards them, treated them well and gave them gifts on special occasions? Professionals in the sales field master the skill of presentation through words and action in order to make their products appealing to the public in the hope they will purchase it. Where are the salespeople for the goods of the hereafter? What have the holders of faith done to sell them to the hearts of people? [ii]
It is well established that Muslim youth in inner-cities in the West are involved in a myriad of social ills and engage in anti-social behaviour. The riots in 2001 in Oldham, England, pitted them in direct conflict with other inciters. Why are these things happening? Why do the youth get involved in such activity? Because there has been a failure in inculcating in them that they are bearers of a responsibility in their communities[iii]
A person who looks at God’s creation with an eye of compassion can understand why the Prophet Mohammad once started weeping when he saw the funeral procession of a man who died in a state other than the state of submission to God. The companions asked, “Do you weep over him and he is not even a believer?” The Prophet replied, “Did he not have a soul which I couldn’t save from going to the fire?”[iv] A person who lives with a state in which their heart can weep due to their inability to establish and manifest the truth, is a person with whom God will be pleased to let be someone who can serve it and through whom it can reach hearts. However, if there is an incognizance of how to live this meaning, then it is absolutely impossible that God be pleased for one to be from among those who bear the task of disseminating the message out. The matter of conveying the religion to humanity is simply a matter of connecting the hearts of His creation to Him, and this is the vocation of the Prophets and not the vocation of other than them. Whoever other than the Prophets assumes this task is doing it on behalf of them and inheriting it from them. So long as it is being done it necessitates that there be a portion of the Prophetic inheritance within the caller. That is the inheritance of knowledge and practice, the first of which is mercy. God mentioned that, “We have not sent you except as a mercy to the worlds.”[v]That means a mercy to everything in existence, the animate and inanimate, the Muslim and non-Muslim, to the human and animal. To everything.[vi]