Contribution for da'wah Part 1

If we say that we are doing da'wah, then it means that it as an act of striving, working, doing, and any other verbs indicating the act of da'wah by any means possible, to change our environment, to change others and most importantly, to change ourselves. Despite giving it our all for the sake of da'wah, a da'ie must not forgets that the result will only depends on Allah's help and will.

Rasulullah, Muhammad s.a.w. during The Migration (Hijrah) asked the help of a guide for the best route to Madinah, despite praying to Allah for His guide and favour for a successful journey. He and Abu Bakar hid in the Cave of Thur, on their own thought, and Allah helped them by commanding the spiders to build their webs around the entrance of the cave so that their pursuers would not notice them. Before a war, for instance, Muhammad s.a.w and his companions will get ready, preparing the swords and suits of armor and at the same time pray that Allah will send his army of angels to win the battle.

The believers must give something for the sake of da'wah so that the process will be much easier. In this case, praying and seeking the help from the utmost Creator is a necessary act so that da'wah will be much easier. Nevertheless, Allah's help cannot be regarded as 'miracle from the heavens' as we need to put our own blood and sweat into it first. We need to regard the help from Allah as a respond from Him based on our effort to do our best for da'wah.

O you who believe! If you help (in the cause of) Allah, He will help you, and make your foothold firm. (47:7)

i wanted a lot of things

I wanted a lot of things.

I wanted a big house, I wanted a nice car, I wanted lots and lots of money.

I wanted a comfortable bed, I wanted beautiful dresses and nice shoes.

I wanted to read a lot of books, visit a lot of places and learn a lot of things.

I wanted to cook so many delicious cakes, cookies and a variety of dishes just to make everyone happy.

I wanted the best computer, mobile phone, gadgets whatsoever.

I wanted to know about a lot of people, and be inspired.

I wanted to be the best in whatever I do. I wanted to be the top of my class.

I wanted other people to look up to me and inspire others as well.

I wanted to be a leader, I wanted to run a country.

I wanted to go to the moon, and own the biggest telescope so that I could look at the furthest star in the universe.

I wanted to know everything, so that I could tell everyone what I know.

I wanted to be good at sports, arts, music, writing, cooking, sewing, et cetera et cetera.

I wanted this, I wanted that.

The list is endless.

I had big dreams. I wanted to be someone that the whole world knows about.

Those are the things that I wanted. Surely, a man's desire will never stops until the day he dies. I still want some of them now, but for the most of them, I firmly believe that I would never accomplish.

When I was younger, I made a list of a hundred things that I wanted to do and places I wanted to go to before I die. For that, I used to read a lot of books related to them, watch a lot of tv series about them, because I know that I would never have the chance to make it happen. I used to be amazed by a lot of what I' d call wonders and be very fascinated by the beauty of the universe.

As I get older, reality kicks in. I wasn't aware that fantasy will bring you anywhere, and for everything that we want in this world, we have to work for it. There will be no shortcuts, and no robots (like Doraemon) to help us.

Beautified for people is the love of that which they desire - of women and sons, heaped-up sums of gold and silver, fine branded horses, and cattle and tilled land. That is the enjoyment of worldly life, but Allah has with Him the best return. (Ali Imran, 3:14)

Our desire will never please us. We will want more and more. Rasulullah mentioned that if a man has a valley of gold, he will never fell enough until he has another valley of gold.

But Allah has with him the best return.

Something to think about.