Believe it or not this was going to be one of those one line comments that go onto most YouTube clips. I was lured into writing one by watching a video of Islamic Dawa conducted by a brother in America. Dawa by a Dai (a person who invites) literally means "invitation". And it should be self explanatory what Dawa in Islam refers to; An "Invitation to the religion of Islam".
It was when I was about publish this comment that my finger halted - suspended in mid air just before that need mouse tap. Something inside me contested the specificity of the praise I was about to impart on this person's channel. Mind you the problem was not the praise itself but the lack of explanation of what was being praised. Praise was deserved but perhaps with some clarification.
I wonder how Dawa used to be and whether it was meant to be always like this. 100% support the effort of this man and his activities, he made an impact (size is irrelevant) which was the goal. However, and my point is this, what is the difference between this type of Dawa vs. a sales person handing out free samples outside their shop in a busy mall (woohoo). The answer is Nothing and for the second part of that question I am really not sure.
The focus of the Islamic Dawa is meant to be to attract a person to Allah, Islam and the associated teachings - period. If one were to visualise this sort of a spiritual interaction, they would arrive at the conclusion that a person; subject of such an encounter, if it needs to be a successful encounter that is, needs to be clear hearted, open minded and generally receptive, free from any bias. Usually for regular people this is somewhat implicit, and they are rarely aware of this feature about such an interaction. The subject knows what they are getting into. This is an honest spiritual interaction.
On the other hand, a person standing around with a sampling tray of freshly baked doughnuts - glazed dipped, sprinkled etc. smelling divine, is doing what exactly the same thing as the afore mentioned Dai; this person is also a Dai - a dai of doughnuts specifically. Person who approaches or is approached in this Dawa knows exactly what it is that they are getting into. This is obviously a material interaction.
What we normally see now is a problem with the nature of Dawa that has changed a bit. It might not be full blown corruption, however, maybe it is a facet that we need to be aware of. One could say it is somewhat a mixture of the above 2 and I would call it Dawa with goodies. The goodies here are not cookies, doughnuts or perfumes etc., these are prayer mats, copies of THE book and other religious items. Distribution of these is a good thing. However, even though, the intent behind this distribution may be good, the effect on the other hand may not be.
Now to elaborate, this Dawa with goodies, is comparable to fishing. One puts up a stall with items on display or carries items, displaying a sign stating these are free or "come get one". This is analogous to bait. When a subject approaches such a Dai, their heart is already somewhat corrupted, not everyone but most and that by way of temptation. Rarely, such a Dai is approached because of the interest in the subject matter but instead in the material gifts on offer. Even in the video, I was watching, it was obvious that the people were reeled in because of the items on display and then the Dai desperately attempted to impart the knowledge, the actual Dawa, in the few minutes available. People are generally nice, and nice people exist in every religion, culture and nation, so they stick around to hear this Dai out or feel bad to walk away after taking the gifts. The Dais of such a Dawa know this and actually bank on the fact.
One may ask "So, what is even the big problem then?"; it is a valid question and if the reader would allow me to unroll this a bit; the problem lies in the fact that a person approaches such a Dawa for the material things, they may not even know that there is a Dawa involved. The mindset is not there. They are not curious about the knowledge but instead they are interested in THAT doughnut. So the mind is not primed in the same way, its not going to be receptive of the knowledge imparted. More so, it is not even certain whether such a subject would treat a prayer mat or the copy of the Holy book with the due respect. The problem is that simple to understand.
The fact that, Dawa has now had to take this form; of offering folk free material things, then should it be considered that it is because of the brainwashed capitalist-populous who do not understand anything else. An unfortunate (d)evolution of the global village where give and take is, primarily, understood as a material exchange. Any spiritual imparting is not valued the same way. A spiritual exchange for a material or even a like-spiritual one is considered a waste of time or a loss. Mostly.
Let us hope that Allah guides us better. Ameen!