StEp 1 - Mission Dawah
Transcription
StEp 1 - Mission Dawah
Dawah LEADER S GUIDE Mass movement overview iERA (Islamic Education and Research Academy) is a global dawah organisation dedicated to presenting Islam to the wider society. The vision of iERA is to be an engine for the global dawah movement. Through research and development, we aim to produce effective resources to empower Muslims as individuals and local communities to give dawah. One of the main focuses of iERA is to develop dawah community organisers in every area of the UK. The dawah community organisers are iERA representatives who have a focus on developing and supporting new and existing dawah leaders and teams within a specified region. The dawah community organisers will have targets of helping develop a certain amount of effective teams each year, and through this, by the will of Allah, the output of du aat and shahadahs will drastically increase. The Dawah Leader’s Journey 1 Become a dawah leader 2 (Motivation, Knowledge and Action) 3 Develop a new Muslim support system 4 Advanced dawah training 5 Participate in regular dawah campaigns 6 Develop a consistent team 7 Become a dawah community organiser The mass movement foundations 1 Becoming a dawah leader A key part of developing a mass movement in dawah is for people like yourself to step up and take leadership of the dawah within your local community. This role is something the Quran calls our ummah to: And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful. (Quran 3:101) A fundamental principle in leadership is that the leader is there to serve people. The leader will need to develop some specific characteristics and qualities to be successful. Some of the main qualities are listed below: ConnectioN with Allah The dawah leader will need to have a strong connection with Allah as success will only come from Allah alone. The leader can build a stronger connection with Allah by reading the Quran as often as possible and also by doing extra ibadah such as praying tahajjud, fasting and giving in charity. We can learn from the seerah (the life of Muhammad (pbuh)) that Allah will test you in different ways within the dawah, so it is important to be connected with Allah in times of ease and in times of hardship . Along with this, it is vital that the leader focuses his intentions on becoming a dawah leader for the sake of Allah and not for worldly gain or praise of high position. ConnectioN with THE MISSION It is vital for you as a dawah leader to have a love for the dawah and to be motivated by the mission of giving the message of Islam to everyone living in your locality. One way that you can stay motivated is by being connected to the stories of the Prophets. Many of the stories are focused on the Prophets calling their people to Allah. These will not only keep you motivated, but will also allow you to learn amazing lessons which will help your mission. Leadership mind set A leader is someone who reflects on the reality of how the world is and has a clear vision on how he wants the world to be. The leader has a subconscious feeling that something in the world is not right and that it is his obligation to work to make things better. The leader has a vision. He develops a never say die attitude and is proactive in making his vision a reality. Through the leader’s vision and passion he is able to motivate others in working to make the vision a reality. People skills A key part of your role as a dawah leader is to manage your local dawah team. A part of managing people is helping other people grow and develop by giving them roles and responsibilities. The leader has a strong personal relationship with his team and understands each member’s strengths and weaknesses. You will also be communicating with others, such as the mosque committee or the local police. So you will need to be able to talk to anyone in an effective way. Another important aspect of dealing with people is building trust through having integrity. It is important that you do what you say and if you are not able to meet a commitment you have made, then to communicate that and deal with the consequences. Organisational skills You will need to have basic organisational and IT skills as you may be involved in creating rotas and small dawah projects. You also will need to be able to build a strong team and elevate the team by delegating tasks. 2 The dawah mass movement FOUNDATIONS The foundations of developing the mass movement in your area are motivation, knowledge and action. Step 1: MOTIVATION You will need to motivate members of the community to make dawah a key part of their life and to join the new dawah team. This can be done in the following ways: You are likely to face Muslims making excuses for not doing dawah, such as they do not have knowledge, they need to work on themselves or there are other problems in the world to deal with, such as wars and poverty. So it is important to be persistent and show how their excuses are invalid. For example, for someone who said we need to have a lot of knowledge to give dawah, a simple reply is that the Prophet (pbuh) said, “Convey from me even if one ayah” - (Al-Bukhari) They will know at least one verse so they have enough knowledge to do dawah. And remind them that dawah is only about telling people about the basics of Islam, such as who is Allah. They will also get training on how to do dawah in an effective way. People may make different excuses, however this is only to hide the reality of them not being motivated and passionate for the dawah. A key way to deal with this is to motivate them towards the dawah using their own key interests. - Deliver a talk on the importance of dawah and take the names and contact details of those who want to join the team. There may be other classes or events that you could attend to give a short reminder. - Organise a dawah training course or dawah mission which will motivate the local attendees to make dawah a key part of their life. A Call of Duty dawah training course or dawah mission can be organised through the Mission Dawah website. - Arrange for the local imaam to do a khutba on the importance of dawah and organise a registration table outside the mosque after the Jummah salaah for people to join the team. - Contact friends and family and have one to one conversations on the vision of the new dawah team and motivate them to join. You can also ask them if they know anyone else who may be interested in joining and also call them. - Deliver a talk or arrange for a local event where a known da’ee delivers a talk on the importance of dawah. The da’ee should then motivate the attendees to join the team. This will give you the opportunity to take down the details of those who are interested in joining the team. An iERA speaker may be available for booking through the Speakers’ Bureau page. - Look at online social media networks to advertise for people to join the new dawah team. - Send an e-mail out to a local mailing list with a reminder of the importance of dawah and information about the new team and how to get involved. - Create a poster with information on how to join the team and put it in the local mosque or university prayer rooms. For example, if they are passionate about developing the Muslim youth, explain how the Muslim youth can be developed through getting involved in dawah. Or if they are passionate about feeding the homeless, explain how dawah will also help them feed their soul and that the first to become Muslims were from among the poor. Everyone has a personal interest that they are passionate about so use that to motivate them to get involved in dawah. Step 3: Action Step 2: Knowledge Those who have been motivated will then need to be educated on how to do dawah effectively and also have the correct understanding of how to look after new Muslims in an effective way so that they become strong practicing Muslims. Once they have the knowledge on how to give dawah, you will then need to create the avenues for them to take action in calling people to Allah. Organise the team The Dawah Leader is the Ameer and will be in charge of the dawah team. This can be learnt through: AMEER The Vice Ameer will help the Ameer and will take his place in his absence. VICE AMEER The Ameerah is in charge of sisters doing dawah The new Muslim Ameer/ Ameerah is in charge of making sure new Muslims are being looked after. Teaching a local dawah workshop Arranging a Call of Duty (COD) dawah training workshop View online training videos and podcast The da ee who has given dawah and got a shahadah is in charge of looking after the new Muslim. The new Muslim Ameer and Ameerah will help by organising events and circles for the new Muslims. The regular members are the du’aat on the ground who go out to give dawah. AMEERAH VICE AMEERAH NEW MUSLIM AMEER REGULAR Du’aat (BROTHERS X10 MIN) NEW MUSLIM AMEERAH REGULAR Du’aat (SISTERS X10 MIN) Team communication It is important that the team builds a sense of brotherhood and are in regular communication. This can be done by: Arranging a Now Ready to Grow (NRG) New Muslim development training course Read the pocket dawah guide booklet More information can be found at www.missiondawah.com Creating an e-mail group / list Creating a Whatsapp group Having a monthly team dinner Having a monthly team meeting Organising a regular Islamic class for the team to attend Dawah activities Dawah Table The next step is to create the avenues for dawah to be done on a regular basis. You may decide to start off small and then gradually build up. This will depend on the amount of dedicated du’aat you Dawah materials For the dawah activities it is likely that you will need dawah materials which can be ordered and downloaded from the Mission Dawah website. Creating a team rota Setting up a dawah table is also very simple to do: STEP 1 Purchase a solid dawah table with chairs. Cheaper tables tend to break very easily so it is recommended you get a strong lightweight table. It is vital that you, as the dawah leader, contact them three days and also the night before they are scheduled to go out to do dawah. This can be done through e-mail, text message, messaging them in a Whatsapp group or by calling them. STEP 2 Get dawah material and a table banner. You may also need a plastic sheet to cover the table and the materials in case it rains. If a da’ee is unable to attend their scheduled date, they should inform you a minimum of 3 days before and they should try to arrange for a replacement. STEP 3 Pick a location that is busy, like a high street or town centre. STEP 4 Set up the table and the banner, place the materials on the table in a presentable way and keep one or two people behind the table while the rest of the team does street dawah away from the table. For regular dawah activates it is very important to create a rota and get commitment from each da ee on attending agreed dates. This is to make sure the dawah happens consistently. Street Dawah Be aware not to place the table on a private property unless you ask the owner’s permission. It may also be handy to get permission from the council to put the stall in that location, but this is not always necessary. Mini Dawah Mission Street dawah is the simplest and easiest form of giving dawah: STEP 1 Pick a location that is busy like a high street or town centre. It is a good idea to choose a place where it is easy to access a local mosque. This is so that you can take a new Muslim to the mosque to teach them how to pray. STEP 2 Take all of your equipment to the venue, including the dawah material and a table if you choose to use one. STEP 3 Give a motivational reminder to your team on why you are going out. STEP 4 As people are walking past, you can hand out an initiation flyer and ask open questions to get into conversations such as: “What do you think is the purpose of life?” STEP 5 Use the GORAP method to give dawah. STEP 6 After the dawah session, go back to the mosque with the team and have a debrief on what went well and the lessons they learnt. You may also decide to go out for dinner to help build brotherhood within the team. A mini dawah mission is great to create a buzz for the dawah and also fairly easy to organise. The mini dawah mission is a one day mission which includes a short dawah training workshop in the morning with a focus on teaching how to do street dawah with the GORAP method. Thereafter the students will be taken out to a busy area to give dawah after the training. STEP 1 Find a basic venue for training such as a mosque or a hall. Also arrange for an area where you will go to give dawah. The area must be easy to get to and also have a good traffic of people. It is also recommended that the dawah area is as close as possible to the mosque so that any new Muslims can be taken to the mosque and taught to pray straight after taking their shahadah. You may also need to organise cars if the dawah location is not walking distance. Dawah Mission Schedule: Times are subject to change depending on the salaah times. STEP 2 Order One Reason initiation materials through the Mission Dawah website. STEP 3 Prepare for teaching the dawah workshop in the morning. If no one in your team currently has the ability to teach the workshop, then contact the Mission Dawah team who will arrange for a da’ee to come and teach the dawah workshop. STEP 4 Advertise the event through e-mails, text messages, posters, word of mouth, and announcements at other events. You could use eventbrite.com for a registration system if you would like to take down details. STEP 5 Manage the day and make sure everything goes to plan. Some of the brothers who go out may find it difficult to get into dawah conversations, so it is important you keep an eye on everyone and keep encouraging all of the du’aat. STEP 6 Come back and have a team briefing where each da’ee discusses the conversations they had. Friday • Two Lectures (10/30 minutes each) on the importance of Dawah (After Maghrib or Isha). Saturday • Dawah Training Workshop (9.30AM - 1PM) • Street Dawah Activities (From Zuhr to Asr/Maghrib) • Two GORAP/Dawah related talks (15/30 minutes each after Maghrib or Isha) SUNDAY • New Muslim Development Workshop (9.30AM - 12PM) • Street Dawah Activities (12PM to Asr/Maghrib/Isha) To organise a mission, do the following: Full Dawah Mission A full dawah mission is where your dawah team travels to another area and stays over in their local mosque from Friday to Sunday. During these few days the travelling team will help further develop the local dawah team by delivering motivational talks, dawah training and taking them out to do street dawah. The next step is to create the avenues for dawah to be done on a regular basis. You may decide to start off small and then gradually build up. This will depend on the amount of dedicated du’aat you have. STEP 1 Build relationships and get agreement with another dawah leader to do a dawah mission in their area. Check if the mosque you will be staying at meets the requirements to hold a dawah mission. Requirements: a) A venue to stay over from Friday evening to Sunday evening. This venue should have toilets, showers, kitchen and a clean and quiet sleeping area. This venue should also be easily accessible via public transport and there should be adequate (free/ inexpensive) parking available throughout the dawah mission. b) A good sound system should be available during the talks and the Dawah training workshops if needed. c) There are tables and chairs available for the training. If tables and chairs cannot be provided then it is possible that the workshop can be done sitting on the floor with mini tables that are used by children during Quran classes. STEP 2 This could be done by: Objectives of the Dawah Mission: Motivate and empower members of the local community to make dawah a key part of their life and to join the local dawah team. To give the community knowledge on how to effectively present the message of Islam and how to develop new Muslims into strong practicing Muslims. Once you have agreed the venue and the date, the next step is to advertise the dawah mission. The dawah team that is travelling will use this mission to gain valuable experience and also develop their tarbiyyah as they will be staying in the mosque. Online social media E-mails Posters Text messages It is vital that the local community is heavily active in publicising the mission. STEP 3 Confirm who will attend the mission from your team and select people to deliver the talks and the workshop. It is also important to select a competent Vice Ameer and to send all contact details to the local organisers. STEP 4 Confirm travel arrangements and also make an agreement on how much each attendee needs to pay towards travel and food expenses. Each member will need to pay for themselves; however, they can fundraise by asking their family and friends for the money. Also remind the team members to bring their own sleeping bags and other necessities such as medicine and toothbrushes. STEP 5 During the mission have regular team meetings and give them a short motivational reminder on key points, including: - Keeping their intentions pure - Creating brotherhood amongst the team and with the local community (talk to people one to one in the mosque to come to dawah training) - Using the time in the mosque to worship Allah and to grow spiritually. Avoid too much laughing, joking and banter. - Respect mosque etiquettes - Listen to the Ameer because whoever disobeys the Ameer is disobeying Allah - Not following the guidelines may lead to you being banned from future missions International Dawah Missions An example of an objective could be to help develop 5 active dawah leaders and teams within Brazil during the 2014 Brazil football world cup. This can be done by: STEP 1 Select a country It is vital to do research into the country. It is recommended to research the following: - Country breakdown i.e. major cities etc. - Languages spoken - Number of Muslims - Number of mosques - Current dawah activities - Current dawah organisations /teams STEP 2 - Current dawah leaders - Other Islamic activities and organisations. - Country’s religious affiliations i.e. 60% Christian - Influential people - Current political situation Build contacts The next step is to start building relationships and inspiring others within the country to be a part of the dawah mission. Select a representative from the country to help and guide you during the mission. STEP 3 Confirm the plan Get a plan together on what you are going to do during your time in the country. For example, you may decide to travel to 5 key areas and do a mini dawah day within each area to help organise a new dawah team. You will also need to confirm the total cost of the mission. Once you have a strong team set up you can also arrange an international dawah mission. The objective of an international dawah mission is to help develop new or existing dawah leaders to create a mass movement of dawah within their countries. STEP 4 FUNDRAISE You can fundraise for the mission by asking friends and family to finance the mission. STEP 5 Organise the logistics Get things prepared, including tickets, visas, vaccines and also dawah materials that you will be using. 3 Develop a new Muslim support system A key aim for a dawah team is to get shahadahs from people who will grow to become strong Muslims and will also join the local dawah team. Mindset toward the new Muslims MUSLIM NOW Muslim Now is a department of iERA focusing on helping the new Muslim to grow. It is important that you introduce them to the Muslim Now website where they can benefit from the Muslim Now services. Shahadah cards The new shahadah’s details can be taken down on a shahadah card which can be ordered through the Mission Dawah website. The shahadah cards have more details on Muslim Now which can be given to the new Muslim. New Muslim Gift Box The New Muslim Gift box can be ordered for free on the Muslim Now website. The box contains vital resources which will help the new Muslims to become practicing Muslims. It is important that a member of the dawah team goes through the content with the new Muslim. NRG Training The Muslim Now department has developed a one-day training course dedicated to teach how to effectively empower new Muslims at the very beginning of their journey and help them to build a solid foundation of Islam in their lives to become strong believers. The aim is not only to get a shahadah but for that new Muslim to enter Jannah. The du’aat and the new Muslims need to understand that becoming a Muslim is not just about believing in Allah and that Muhammad (pbuh) is the messenger. Rather, accepting Islam is accepting that you are going to live your life following the guidance that Allah has sent. The Christian doctrine of belief is that you only need to believe that Jesus died for your sins and you will be forgiven and entered into Paradise. Many religions have a culture that you only need to believe that it is the truth to go to Paradise. However, Islam does not only deal with the internal beliefs but also the external actions. The new Muslims need to understand that they will be living their life in accordance to God’s guidance, not just believing something in their heart without taking any action. Many du’aat get shahadahs, however due to the haste of getting the shahadah, the new Muslim does not fully understand what it means to be a Muslim and often many of these cases leave the fold of Islam afterwards. At times, some people may need more time to digest what it means to become a Muslim. Du’aat need to have the mindset that they are aiming to develop long term friendships with the non Muslims. The du’aat should invite non Muslims to their house and do kind acts to build trust and friendship. You can introduce the non Muslim to other practicing Muslims and also take them to the mosque. In this way the dawah can be done over a longer period of time and if the non Muslim accepts Islam, they are more likely to become a strong practicing Muslim. However, you may come across people who have already researched into Islam and are already ready to take their shahadah and become a strong practicing Muslim. Once a da’ee has taken the person’s shahadah, it is important to teach the new Muslim how to pray as soon as possible. It is vital to take their details and carry on spending time with them and introducing them to other practicing Muslims. Local Step by Step course The Muslim Now department has also developed a course designed for dawah teams to teach to their local new Muslims. This allows the new Muslims within that area to slowly increase their knowledge and become strong practicing Muslims. SHAHADAH APP The new Muslims details can be taken down online via the Shahadah App which can be found at MissionDawah.com/shahadah. The app will take you through the process of capturing key information and will allow you to order the welcome pack for them there and then. You can also use the app to manage all your new Muslims and as a Dawah Leader you can view all the shahadahs that your team gets. Local New Muslim team 4 Advanced dawah training As the team grows and gets more experience, the members will come across more intellectual issues that they may need to tackle, such as common atheist contentions and other attacks against Islam. For this, the iERA research department has developed courses and webinars for du’aat to gain more advanced knowledge in the dawah. Details of these courses can be found on the Mission Dawah website. 5 It is important for the local team to have brothers and sisters focused and dedicated to help and support any new Muslims. If the da’ee is unable to look after the new Muslim, for example if the da’ee is going abroad or if they are of the opposite gender, then the new Muslim can be passed onto the New Muslim team who will teach the new Muslim how to pray and how to become a practicing Muslim. The New Muslim team should do the following: Organise an NRG training course so that the local team understands the importance of a quality shahadah and how to develop a new Muslim into a strong practicing Muslim. Organise a regular new Muslim dinner. You can start doing this by simply organising a monthly dinner in a small restaurant, house or mosque. This is a great way to spend quality time with the new Muslims and for them to meet other people in the same situation. You can also invite other non-Muslims who are interested in Islam Organise and teach the Step by Step course. You can also initially use this for the du’aat within the team to come together and socialise. You can also invite other potential du’aat as it may motivate them to join the team. The team will also be motivated from meeting the new Muslim. Regular dawah campaigns There will be other dawah campaigns and projects that iERA’s One Reason will be developing, such as the Neighbours dawah project or the Olympics dawah campaigns. You may also wish to develop your own dawah projects, such as door to door knocking, open days or presentations to the public. We recommend you do a quarterly dawah campaign; however, this can be done as frequently as you want. 6 Develop a consistent team Finally, many dawah teams fade away due to lack of motivation, passion and vision. The difference between a team that fades away and one that is successful is to do with the leader. You, as the leader, must organise regular activities and training to motivate the du’aat and to also regularly bring in new du’aat. It is also vital for you to develop other leaders to help you so that if you are away, the dawah will still carry on. June - Full Dawah Mission - Monthly New Muslim / Dawah team Dinner - Step by Step New Muslim course - Weekly Dawah Activity - Advanced dawah training webinars / seminars July - Full / Mini COD - Mini Dawah Mission - Monthly New Muslim / Dawah team Dinner - Step by Step New Muslim course - Weekly Dawah Activity - Advanced dawah training webinars / seminars - Quarterly dawah campaign August - Full / Mini NRG Training - Monthly New Muslim / Dawah team Dinner - Step by Step New Muslim course - Weekly Dawah Activity - Advanced dawah training webinars / seminars September - Full Dawah Mission - Monthly New Muslim / Dawah team Dinner - Step by Step New Muslim course - Weekly Dawah Activity - Advanced dawah training webinars / seminars October - Full / Mini NRG Training - Monthly New Muslim / Dawah team Dinner - Step by Step New Muslim course - Weekly Dawah Activity - Advanced dawah training webinars / seminars November - Full / Mini COD - Mini Dawah Mission - Monthly New Muslim / Dawah team Dinner - Step by Step New Muslim course - Weekly Dawah Activity - Advanced dawah training webinars / seminars Recommended new dawah team yearly schedule: MONTH ACTIVITY January - Full / Mini COD Training - Mini Dawah Mission - Weekly Dawah Activity February - Full / Mini NRG Training - Monthly New Muslim / Dawah Team Dinner - Weekly Dawah Activity March - Full Dawah Mission - Monthly New Muslim / Dawah team Dinner - Weekly Dawah Activity April - Full / Mini COD - Mini Dawah Mission - Monthly New Muslim / Dawah team Dinner - Weekly Dawah Activity - Advanced dawah training webinars / seminars May - Full / Mini NRG Training - Monthly New Muslim / Dawah team Dinner - Step by Step New Muslim course - Weekly Dawah Activity - Advanced dawah training webinars / seminars December - International Dawah Mission - Monthly New Muslim / Dawah team Dinner - Step by Step New Muslim course - Weekly Dawah Activity - Advanced dawah training webinars / seminars 7 Taking it to the next level So you have a strong, effective dawah team. Now what? You can become an informal dawah community organiser. You can do this by taking the following actions: Resources Dawah Materials/ Dawah Clothing: www.missiondawah.com/shop - What’s Your Goal? - Is Life Just a Game initiation cards - The Man in the Red Underpants - A Short Journey through the Quran - Muhammad ((pbuh)) in the Bible - 3 Reasons for God - What is your mobile phone made of? - A gift from your neighbour More materials are regularly produced. New Muslim Resources: www.muslimnow.com - New Muslim Welcome Pack - Learn how to pray - Weekly ‘Your Journey Begins’ Online Webinar - Monthly ‘Overcome #NewMuslimProblems’ Online Webinar Dawah Training: www.missiondawah.com STEP 1 Develop leaders Develop other members of the team to become the Ameer of the dawah team. STEP 2 Power Analysis Do research into the area on other mosques, Islamic activities or dawah teams to get an idea of where you can set up another dawah team or support existing teams. Also, look out for influential individuals who have the power to create change within the community, with whom you can build positive relationships. STEP 3 Develop another team Go through the same cycle and develop another effective dawah team. This cycle can be done many times so that you help develop many effective dawah teams. As you grow and get more experience as an informal dawah community organiser, you will get the opportunity to apply to become a formal iERA dawah community organiser. - Shahadah App - Secrets of a Muslim Woman - Dawah Training Podcast - Request a Dawah Dourse - Request a Dawah Mission - Pocket Dawah Manual - Online Dawah Training - Advanced Dawah Training - Step by Step local New Muslim course Book a speaker: email: [email protected] or go to www.iera.org Suite 321 Crown House North Circular London NW10 7PN T: +44(0)20 8963 0336 T: +44(0)84 5310 5397 F: +44(0)20 8961 6593