Carrying the Dawah as an Intellectual Leadership

There is a lot of confusion about how Muslims should carry dawah, the discussion here explores some of the underpinnings of the issue

In the snippet below from Chapter 4 the way to Carry the Islamic Dawah from the book Nizam al Islam . It states the Islamic Dawah must be carried by carrying the Islamic intellectual leadership.

The reality of this is vague in the minds of many. Some think it is just to call to some ideas of Islamic thought and that is sufficient. Others think because Islam is the strongest thought then it has leadership over ideas. These notions are not what is meant by the term Qiyadatul Fikri – intellectual leadership.

Here follow a few points that might offer and explanation about what Qiyadatul Fikri or intellectual leadership is and why the dawah must carry it for it to be a pure and clear dawah.

1. The term Qiadutul fikri is described in ch3 (entitled intellectual leadership) of Nizam al Islam as “The comprehensive idea is the foundation of the ideology since it is the ‘aqeedah and the intellectual leadership”. So in this book as it describes ideology, the term “comprehensive idea” fikra kulliya . This includes all the aqaid and all the solutions of man should live in life – this is what constitutes the intellectual leadership.
2. To expand then, when a dawah carrier calls people to any aspect of the Islamic rules, if he calls to the worship of Allah swt or calls for the abolishment of riba he is not just calling to these aspects alone rather he is calling for the full Islamic ideology. His dawah, if he has understood the nature of Islam correctly should be made in the correct context of Islam as a comprehensive idea (fikra kulliya)
3. The mistake that many Muslims today make is that they call to an aspect of Islam like believing in Allah (swt) and saying shahada or the abolishment of riba, but their call goes no further. This is often because they have not understood the comprehensive nature of Islam or not factored it in to their work -that is why their dawah is one dimensional and not in accordance to the sunnah of the prophet (saw) who carried his message so that it may be implemented in its entirety and not partial aspects. This type of call goes no further than the issue that is called for.
4. Further many Muslims carry a dawah that does not carry the Islamic intellectual leadership as they accept existing systems and carry their partial call to Islam whilst accepting the status quo this is not the way that Islam can be carried , it needs to be carried in its completeness. They are often concerned with particular issue and confused about the nature of Islam. For example there are some that engage in educational projects all their lives as they see that as their dawah- clearly not having understood the nature of the Islamic call and they lose themselves in this work.
5. Every ideology has its intellectual leadership. This is what Capitalism’s intellectual leadership is according to ch3 Nizam al Islam “Capitalism is based upon the separation of religion from life. This idea (fikrah) is its ‘aqeedah (doctrine), its intellectual leadership (qiyaadah fikriyyah) and its intellectual basis (qa’idah fikriyyah)”
6. So there is a dawah that is made constantly by the implementation of capitalism. This brings us to the point that the intellectual leadership can be carried by states, groups and individuals. It is what solutions and the basis of these solutions they call for. So western nations carry the intellectual leadership for secularism. When they call for their ideas to be implemented in Muslim lands they call to secularism which is their intellectual leadership. When implementing their rules and law on people they automatically spread their intellectual leadership s- secularism without people even understanding how they became secular. The media, the film industries all carry this intellectual leadership. This effects and confuses millions of Muslims. Parties like the Republicans in the US or the Conservatives in the UK all carry this intellectual leadership.
7. The meaning of this is that to carry dawah in a correct manner Islam must be understood as comprehensive aqeeda with solutions to every issue faced in life, this includes the call to the implementation of Islam as a state. Without having this understanding dawah is being carried in a blind manner and not in an effective manner. This is what Muslim individuals and groups need to understand. The Islamic dawah was never about accommodation with the status quo systems from an alien basis.
8. The way to carry the dawah is political in nature as the meaning of politics is to address the peoples interests, needs and worries – this must be done by giving solutions according to Islam. Many of which cannot be implemented without a state. By addressing these issues the Islamic intellectual leadership is being carried. By implementing the Islamic rules the Islamic intellectual leadership will be tasted by many , and as in the past whole armies of people will come to Islam.