Aug
9
“I wanted to go back to one of the points I made in my first Ramadan post, namely that how we carry ourselves during Ramadan is in itself a form of dawah. Telling people about Islam isn’t just street preaching and teaching at the masjid; it is also the image of Islam we project to the world. That doesn’t mean we do Ramadan for other people – we do Ramadan to please God (at least, in theory) – but if we are miserable, niccing out and irritable, people are going to think that Ramadan is no fun. You never know who in your entourage is Muslim-curious; I just found out a dear friend of mine is thinking of converting, when I hadn’t been “asked about Islam” by this person in the past. But regardless of whether the people around you have any interest in becoming Muslim themselves, your behavior as a Muslim has an impact on what they think of Islam and how it is practiced. You owe it to yourself and the community to present your choice of religion in the best possible light. This is more effective dawah than being a judgy fake nasihah (advice) giver who thinks s/he is “enjoining the good.”
Ramadan Dawah
Stephanie Booth is a freelance internet geek who lives in Lausanne, Switzerland. Digital Crumble is where she dumps all sorts of interesting stuff she finds online.
