Zad al-Daiya ila Allah
- Author died
- 1421 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Thiqah lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʻ
Zad al-Daiya ila Allah (Provision of the Caller to God) is a treatise by the Saudi jurist and theologian Ibn Uthaymin (d. 1421 AH / 2001 CE) outlining the foundational prerequisites, ethical principles, and practical methods required for Islamic outreach (da'wah) and enjoining good and forbidding evil.
Content and Core Themes
Knowledge and Basirah
The primary focus of the work is identifying religious knowledge derived from the Quran and the authentic Sunnah as the essential first provision for any caller to Islam. Ibn Uthaymin argues that conducting outreach without knowledge constitutes an invitation based on ignorance, which causes greater harm than benefit and leads the self-appointed guide to go astray and mislead others. He classifies ignorance without awareness as compounded ignorance (jahl murakkab), which actively destroys rather than enlightens.
Interpreting the Quranic statement قُلْ هَذِهِ سَبِيلِي أَدْعُو إِلَى اللَّهِ عَلَى بَصِيرَةٍ أَنَا وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَنِي ("Say, 'This is my way; I invite to Allah with insight, I and those who follow me'"), Ibn Uthaymin delineates three required facets of insight (basirah):
- Insight into the message: Having sound knowledge of the legal ruling (al-hukm al-shar'i) regarding what one is enjoining or prohibiting, so that one does not obligate what God did not obligate or prohibit what God permitted.
- Insight into the condition of the recipient: Understanding the background and religious standing of the audience, citing the Prophet's instruction to Mu'adh ibn Jabal when dispatching him to Yemen that he was approaching a People of the Book.
- Insight into the method of outreach: Applying wisdom, gracious admonition, and respectful debate according to the principles of Quran 16:125.
Engagement and Dismantling Barriers
The treatise introduces the concept of "breaking barriers between the enjoiner of good and forbidder of evil and the people" (kasr al-hawajiz). Ibn Uthaymin cautions against callers isolating themselves or refusing direct contact with sinners and transgressors out of sheer detestation for their wrongful deeds. Instead, he stresses that callers must directly approach them using wisdom, sincere counsel, and admonition, turning to deterrence only when gentle instruction fails. Boycotting or shunning (hajr) sinners is restricted only to circumstances where a caller has exhausted all capacity to rectify them.
Condemnation of Partisanship
In the work, Ibn Uthaymin warns against factionalism and internal division (al-tafarruq wa-l-tahazzub), asserting that such disunity pleases none except the enemies of Islam and Muslims. He maintains that while divergence in scholarly interpretations and personal legal reasoning (ijtihad) may occur, the unity of hearts remains an obligation upon the community.
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