Responsibilities of common muslim in spreading Islam

Question

What are the responsibilities of common muslim to spread Islam? A common person is one that is not a scholar in Islam and does not hold any position within the government. Please give references from Quran and Hadith

Answer 1

In the name of Allah

This field is very critical because you are not allowed to spread the facts which you don't know well, on the other hand you are responsible to invite others and reflect the facts of our religion Islam as much as you can and know. Because now a days "As we have seen, the mass media is spreading falsehood and legitimizing slanderous and scientifically inaccurate terms like “fundamentalism,” intégrisme, integrismo and “radical Islāmism. A believer is allowed to move to non-Muslim countries for purpose of inviting non-Muslims to Islam provided that he is sure or has confidence that the journey would not have a negative impact on his faith and the faith of those who are related to him. And it should be considered that it is haram to travel to non-Muslim countries in the East or the West if that journey causes loss of the faith of a Muslim, no matter whether the purpose of that journey is tourism, business, education, or residence of a temporary or permanent nature, etc. The subject may be discussed from the viewpoints of both Quran and hadith.

Quran

According to the holy Quran book, not only the Prophet (S) was made responsible for spreading and propagating Islam, but also all the believers were held responsible for the propagation of its message and teachings. God says in the Qur’an:

قُلْ هَٰذِهِ سَبِيلِي أَدْعُو إِلَى اللَّهِ ۚ عَلَىٰ بَصِيرَةٍ أَنَا وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَنِي ۖ وَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ “Say: `This is my way; I call to Allah with sure knowledge, I and those who follow me. To Allah be glory! And I am not one of the polytheists.” (12:108)

It is emphasized in this verse that the followers of the Prophet (S) would continue his mission, irrespective of the fact that they belong to the age of the Prophet (S) or any later age. The committed Muslims in the course of performing this Divine mission had to suffer all kinds of hardships; they were tortured, imprisoned and even assassinated, but never gave up. Without such effort of Muslims, Islam would not have emerged victorious.” In another verse we have: …

And those who treasure up gold and silver, and do not spend them in the way of Allah; inform them of a painful chastisement.” The above-mentioned holy verse has clearly prohibited treasuring up wealth, and commands Muslims to utilize their properties actively in the way of Allah and in a profitable path for Allah’s servants

We may conclude that for spreading the religion having the required knowledge is not the most important factor, because we may sometime be able to help the religion of Allah by our wealth. The well-known example for this case is khadijatol kobra. Seyed A.A Razwy writes in his "Khadijatol Kobra, A Short Story of Her Life":

Khadija, the first wife of Muhammad Mustafa, the Messenger of Allah, (may Allah bless him and his Ahlul-Bayt), and the first Believer, evokes a most extraordinary personality. She played a stellar role in the history of nascent Islam. She was, with Abu Talib, one of the two greatest benefactors of Islam and the Muslims. At a time when Islam was under unremitting predation pressure; and was, for three years, in a state of unrelenting siege, she bailed it out, by her incredible sacrifices. Her constancy, her tenacity, her vision, and her indomitable faith in Allah, and in the mission of Muhammad Mustafa - His Last and the Greatest Messenger - were the sine qua non as the underpinnings of Islam during the first ten years of its existence.

Hadith

Spreading the religion is also advised in hadith. The believers are responsible to invite others to religion.

The Prophet said to Imam 'Ali, "If Allah guides a person from among His servants through you, then that is better than everything between the east and the west on which the sun shines."1 When asked by a person for a counsel, he said, "I advise you not to associate anything with Allah...and to call the people to Islam. You should know that [the reward] for you for each person who answers [your call] is [equal to] emancipating a slave from the children of [Prophet] Ya'qûb."2>

References:

http://www.al-islam.org/shiite-islam-orthodoxy-or-heterodoxy-luis-alberto-vittor/author’s-preface

1-Al-Hurr al-'Amili, Tafsilu Wasa'ili 'sh-Shi'a, vol. 16, p. 188.

2-Ibid