Techno-Da’ie and Challenges in the 21^st. Century

Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), 76100 Melaka, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: suaidi@utem.edu.my

Abstract

Education has always been instrumental in the dissemination of religious ideas, rituals and values. In the Islamic tradition it is the classical method of propagation and, therefore, education as a means of instructing and motivating (prospective) believers is an integral part of da’wah. Da’wah operates on two fronts: (i) towards Muslim who are perhaps unaware of Islam, maybe because of growing up in the western lifestyle and missing out of a proper Islamic education, and (ii) towards our non-muslim neighbours and colleagues, many of whom may be searching for truth. At the very least, we may be able to counter-act the many incorrect stereotypes of Islam and muslims, no one else will do this for us, we have to speak up and show by our behaviour what Islam is all about. By doing this, we may even bring people into the fold of Islam. Contemporary du'at face great challenges to systematize and to apply the practical methodology within the new era of modern context. This paper discusses some suggestions that Muslim du'at, individually and collectively can undertake to accomplish da’wah goals: i) performing da’wah through a worldwide Islamic movement, ii) strengthening da’wah with technology, iii) using communication media and conducting seminars and workshops, iv) displaying the real Islamic lifestyle.