Muslims in the Western World
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
At the present time about ten million Muslims live in the western world, including America. These people, who have migrated from their homelands, are generally well off economically. However, when you meet them, you will find that all of them share a common concern, that is, how to save their next generation from the invasion of western culture.
But this is not, in fact, a case of an enemy plot or of a cultural invasion. This is totally in accordance with a law of nature. The law of nature applicable to this world is - one who fails to become a Dayee (Giver) has no option but to become a Mad’u (Receiver). These Muslim settlers in western countries did not make an effort to communicate the message of Islam to their new compatriots, so these nations brought them under their own influence.
The same case of migration had taken place in the first phase of Islam. Muslims from Arabia spread to Asian and African Countries in large numbers. However, when these Muslims left their homelands for foreign lands; it was with a missionary spirit.
Therefore, they did not have to face the problem of cultural invasion like that of the Muslims of present times. Instead they absorbed all the people they met with in the culture of Islam. Wherever they went, they managed to change not only their religion and culture but also their language.
The Muslims of the present day must follow suit. Every Muslim should become an example of "One man - two missions." On the one hand, they must work to meet their worldly needs and, on the other, they should devote their time and energy to D’awah-oriented activities. They should become universal ambassadors and communicate the positive, peaceful message of Islam to all human beings.
This is the only way to success for these Muslims. If they fail to make other nations the subject of Islamic d’awah, they cannot remain immune to the non-Islamic influences exerted by them.
They may even lose their Islamic identity as well. You have to work for the Islamization of the world; otherwise you yourself will be de-Islamized by the world around you.
Nowadays the task of Islamic d’awah has become so easy that any man or woman can perform it without it encroaching on his or her daily engagements. What is needed is that, just as 'money' is your concern, so also should D’awah become your concern.
Fortunately we are living in an age of modern communication. Today such resources are within our reach as have greatly facilitated the work of D’awah. Through telephone, printed material, electronic media, Internet etc. With great speed and in/less time, D’awah work can be effectively performed. There is a need only for a fuller consciousness of its importance and the necessity to perform it in an organized way.
D’awah work will pay dividends not only in this world, but also in the world Hereafter. Making D’awah one's mission is to make one's life purposeful. In this way, one can regulate one’s whole life in a positive manner. One is enabled to work in a planned way. Moreover D’awah work will open the door to heaven. The truth is that D’awah work provides a guarantee for twofold success: success in a world as well as in the next eternal life. The Quran has this to say on this struggle that D’awah work involves:
For the like of this let all strive, who wish to strive (37:61)
