12-day training congregation: For those who prefer an invitation, barging in with terrorism is not the answer

Dawat-e-Islami hosts people from 32 countries.

KARACHI:

People from 32 countries, including the US and UK, who have arrived in Karachi for a congregation have said that they refused to spread Islam through ‘jihad’ or violent means as this was against the concept of ‘dawah’ or invitation.

These people have gathered at the Dawat-e-Islami (DI) headquarters of Faizan-e-Madina to attend a 12-day training congregation. These people have already embraced Islam in their countries where DI scholars are active. Many of them have joined the DI and are cabinet members and caretakers in their own countries.

They arrived in the form of delegations, with a minimum of six members and a  maximum of 50. Most of them came from the UK, South Africa and India. The smallest numbers were from the US and Canada. They started arriving last month and the training began on April 24.

These converts may be from different countries but they melded into the 1,000-strong crowd in their green imamas and white shalwar kameez, many of them gripping the miswak in their hands. While many of them did not speak Urdu, they used common Islamic sentences, words and phrases. Translators pitched in for the rest.

Many of them have been fasting as well and spending around 14 hours a day with their trainers. Their focus has been Islam, the Quran, Hadith and Sunnah.

One British national from Birmingham declined to give his ‘English’ name. “I am sorry. It is personal and I cannot tell you my English name,” said Ghulam Mustafa. “I am Muslim and my name is Ghulam Mustafa.” He converted six months ago after discovering some Hadith on the Internet. They shocked him and he decided to explore. He met DI men at a mosque and the rest was history. Ghulam Mustafa’s family initially resisted but he tried hard to win them over.

Conversion meant a radical change for Mustafa. He was associated with a firm but left it. “I do not want to work for the world,” he said. “I have planned to run a shop where I will sell religious books, clothes and other stuff.” When asked how he would support his family, he replied that, “Allah is great.”

He declined to comment on jihad. “Please ask me another question,” he said. “To have a gun in your hand is not jihad. We do jihad by spreading education about Islam.”

There was condemnation as well. “What kind of jihad are you asking me about,” said Abu Bakar from Kenya. “There are different kinds of jihad and we have no relation with jihad in which innocent people are killed.” He converted three months ago.

Sagheerul Hassan Attari from Pennsylvania is a computer programmer. “I do not think that people in the US do not like Muslims or Islam,” he said, adding that he wore DI gear in the US and no one said anything to him. Attari is married with three children and is actively engaged with DI work. “We must unite to spread Islam across the world. We must deal with people with love because it is the only way to attract people.” Jihad for him is saying his prayers five times a day, trying to understand the Quran and Hadith. Not picking up a gun.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2011.