Da'wah Table! What, How, Why?!

[Alima]

Bismillah,

Let's dedicate this thread to the da'wah table inshaAllaah.

Assalaamu'Alaykum,

Yeah, Jazakillahukhair, that was very useful. Also, who in your university did you contact to get permission for da'wah stall? - any ideas of how to go about it? - obviously different unis may work differently.

wa alaykum alsalaam

its twice a week. once by the brothers, and once by the sisters.
we have 2/3 at the stall 9its like two tables wide), but only 1 should stand behind it, the others approach passers by.

standing behind the stall doesnt help much, other wise only muslims would approach really. the free quran's always go- people cant believe its free.
the books/leaflets are resouces by the brothers, but the majority are IDCI i believe, and everything we have is checked thoroughly, to make sure its saheeh and theres no strayed innovative content.

alhamdulillah, because its consistant; its effective. they KNOW that every so and so day at a certain time - youll be there. without fail.
using differnt mediums, such as multimedia and banners to attract people Always works. dont just make it a table with books/dvds/laptop.
get a few seats and when someone comes to ask a question or has a query, sit them down, make them feel comfortable.

it calls for certain ettiquetes, and from time to time, youll have to 'come out of your comfort zone'. subhannaAllah, if its for the sake of Allah then theres only reward in it. you may be verbally abused or loked down upon, but you know why your doing it, its a great feeling wallahi.

certain things to note:
* patience is KEY. there may be times where a whole hour has passed, not one person has approached you or allowed you to talk to them.
* never judge a book by its cover -EVER. i know we shouldnt do this anyway, May Allah remove this from our hearts, but youl be SUPRISED at who shows interest.
* never just rely on the stall. its a table with some leaflets on it to some people. its YOU who has to say its not just a A table, its THE table..
* if you dont 'make the first move' it wont work. some people ive spoken to realy want to know what islams about, but are just too shy to ask, so relieve the burden.
* SMILE. your muslim. BE it, SHOW it.
* FREEBIES! make signs showing them that ts FREE! but sweets on the table or something.. GRAB there attention. - be it balloons, sweets, bright colours etc

thats all i can think of at the momment, if anything crops up ill post it up.
i hope thats answered your questions brother.

wasalamu alaikum
salaam. also i would recommend this booklet.

{No outside links hun} :)

its really good.
im not so sure about that to be honest. isnt there like a place at your uni where people are allowed to have stalls? thats what we have, and you just tell them that youll have a stall there. its quite simple with our uni alhamdulillah, but some other unis politicize it. itll be easier if you do it through the ISOC i believe, as well as giving dawaa, your showing them that theres a society dedicated for them also, especially any queries they have. etc.

[Alima]

Shaima I'd like to add inshaAllaah :)

HOW IT'S DONE?

Some uni's are not with Fosis and even when they are, the best way to do it, is officially through the ISoc as this keeps good relations with the crew and keeps the unity strong. Hence, get in touch with your head brother (His email or contact should be out there or find him at in the uni prayer room) and he will sort it out and when some one has zeal, in sha Allaah the Ameer should be very open towards him.

Our's is done by the ISoc, so all etiquettes are kept between brothers and sisters as, the head sis keeps the sisters accountable and head brother on the brother's side.

LITERATURE?

In terms of literature, we had the general stuff, which my opinion needs to be updated and re-designed to meet the class and sophistication of the west, w'Allaahu alem.

This stuff was for non-Muslims, we also made own literature that went down quite well, it was for the Muslim crowd and was just some leaflets we made from Khutbah.com.

If you would like them, let us know inshaAllaah.

IS IT EFFECTIVE?

It's as effective as you make it. This year we were just touching the surface as it was the first, we did many things, hit many hurdles, succeeded in a few and failed a few and learnt many lessons, AlHamdulillah.

One thing... You need a strong brother's team to keep the da'wah buzzin', It really is a big thing, so inshaAllaah if you keep this in mind and go forward, you'll be very successful inshaAllaah.

Shaima, anything to add?

[Umair Khan]

Assalaamu'Alaykum,

The da'wah table will be insha Allah done through the ISOC - it's just that I don't know if this was attempted before at our Uni - it definitely wasn't this year.

Jazakillahukhair for elaborating on the points. Also, did you guys try any other technique/method to give da'wah to non-muslims other than da'wah stall? If so, please share!

[Umair Khan]

Also, can you send me a link to the leaflets you guys have made?

[shaima.s]

asalaamu alaikum. jazakullah khair Alima for starting this thread.

another technique that works is MULTIMEDIA!
people love to watch/hear look at things, so use it to the best of your advantage.
get a laptop and show some SHORT clips on there. make sure the sound is on =) OR have a seat and plug in some earphones for huever wants to watch with out any distractions.

offer FREEBIES! everyone loves freebies so get creative, sweets, dates, bookmarks with islamic gems on it.. think outside the box. it ALWAYS works =) just try not to eat all the sweets!


things to note:
** talk to you ameer, he should know, from previous ameers whether the dawaa stall was done at your uni or not, if it was done, then ask WHAT HAPPENED? obviously something didnt work out - so you can make sure you dont fall into the same trap.
if it WASNT done - then khayr, set the scene, it'll improve as you get into it inshaAllah.

** the dawaa stall is NOT just for nonmuslims. the dawaa is for everyone. youll get many muslims coming up to you - a muslims person; a stall on islam- why not?
BUT you need to rememberto cater for both audiences.

** you need a variety of leaflets covering a wide range of topics: not just 5 pillar basics but, life after death, who was jesus?, human rights in islam. these are the topics that attract many people. the basics, NPM will say 'i have that' and walk off.

*with NPM's its a matter of increasing imaan, thats why our own leaflets were made (Alima has more info on that)

*with non muslims its about SERIOUS delivery. you show them. dont wait for them to come. tips for non muslims is the argument you use. they need science: logic: rational reasoning. the leap of faith is huge for them, but by making them realise, its ALL around them, they dont have much of an argument.

* with NPMs, they need reminders more.
ie: Non muslims: we pray 5 times a day..etc; this is why....etc ; some of the benefits.
npm: this is why we pray, and this is whatll happen if we dont; but these are the benefits

^ that was just an example of the content of your conversation with the different people

* patience and akhlaaq. you have to use hikma in your dialogue and the way in which you come across is hugely important. people will test your nerves, and just argue and argue and argue against you. but your a muslim, so you have adab and your reply back to them in an elequeont manner.

*people will come to you (esp NPM) about their life stories, i dont know why, but its happened quite alot of times, but it helps you understand their perspective etc, so be patient.

remember RENEW YOUR INTENTIONS. its for the sake of Allah alone, BUT theres no harm in you enjoying giving dawaa. the dawaa stall has been my highlight of my year (amongst other things) but if the intention is not there and renewed, then theres no reward.

be nice, smile, your fulfilling your duty, so say Alhamdullillah that Allah has chosen YOU to do in in such a manner.

*REMINDER: dont just make stuff up from your head!: if you dont know something, tell them, ill get back to you inshaAllah, ask for there email address and *get back to them*! it'll show them that - wait up the dude actually cares.

*have some seats around, make them comfortable, offer them some tamr. - islam is hospitable so show them that.

thats all i can think of for now.
i have a link also, but ill post it up when i can find it inshaAllah.

-> btw; are you doing this as a one man job?

[shaima.s]

Also : make sure you refer ,as much as you can, to hadith and quran.
do your own research on the topics etc, and itll again be for your own benifit.

[Alima]

The Da'wah table is fun and keeps you going when you have someone cool to do it with (Hint, Hint :))

The leaflets are on my computer, I have word 2007 versions and PDF's. If you email myself at; ameerah [at] qfawz.com AND CC the Ameer ameer [at] qfawz.com. I'll get them over to you. Please remember to CC the Ameer.

If anyone else wants them, let us know inshaAllaah. We made about 15 and if you know of any reasonably priced printers, get them printed and they will be effective in sha Allaah.

There are so many things we wanted to do, and still do!

- At the Da'wah table: Monthly themes on those topics that matter and grab attention.

Our ISoc does weekly talks with local speakers, ma sha Allaah they were very effective. JazaakumAllaahu khayrun to all those that made them possible.

Etc, Etc, Etc.

[Umair Khan]

-> btw; are you doing this as a one man job?Assalaamu'Alaykum,

The idea has been coined by a brother, it will be presented to the ISOC insha Allah and then from there we will proceed. It is the end of year so we can't really do anything right now but need to get prepared for next year. I was just trying to get more info on this. There should be atleast 2 brothers doing the stall, insha Allah.

[Umair Khan]

Our ISoc does weekly talks with local speakers, ma sha Allaah they were very effective. JazaakumAllaahu khayrun to all those that made them possible.

Etc, Etc, Etc.Are you talking about Juma'ah khutbah here? Since one talk other than Juma'ah every week seems a lot...

[Alima]

We have another talk other than Jumm'ah.

MashaAllaah, it's been running for 2 years as far as I know and it's such a success! We have over 40 people attending every week from the ISoc.

Everything is sorted in advance by the brothers and posters are made for every week, nothing classy, but they look really nice mashaAllaah.

It's a great da'wah for the Muslims and it works! Oh this is the other type of da'wah we do in university. It was done by the ISoc and not us.

[FaizaKassim]

Nice thread. Well done, you've certainly raised the bar for the years to come. Looking forward to reading the document by the near approaching deadline... ;)

Alhamdulilah, the da'wah table has been one of the major positives for the ISOC year '08-09.

May Allah reward all those who work to make His deen prevail, and give them the tawfeeq to excel, aameen.

[shaima.s]

Ameen ^.

the document is yours- monday (inshaAllah)

[Alima]

Bismillah,

Something we want to do this time, is monthly themes. I'm sure others have done it before.

After attending Breach of Covenant we realised there were a few re-occuring themes that came up again and again, hence this is what we are basing them around.

These are the themes we have got: (All open to change btw)

===

Have a theme for a trial run, at the end of every month:

Allah/Tawheed: Rububiyyah:
Is there a Creator or Did you Create yourself?


Allaah/Tawheed: Uluhiyyah.
Your Creator, Your purpose in Life?!
If you AFFIRM you are the creation, indeed the creator, created you for a PURPOSE?!

- That is to worship Him alone!

Muhammed salAllaahu 'alayhi wasallam:
The MOST Misunderstood Man in Our Times.

A Mercy to Mankind.

Death:
Your End, to think or to Despair?

Can you deny this?

Thankfulness:
Imagine if you were given GOLD and you replied back with a SCOWL.


Jesus
Messenger or God?

Judgement
Is it justice that those did no Good have no judgement?

Du'a - Prayer.
When your in Trouble... The Prime Minister (Your favourite celebrity etc ) may not hear you.

He may not answer You!

But, Allaah, God, the Lord of the Worlds Hears you...

---

I need a little help though.

Once we have a theme it needs to be filled up.

I'm looking for statements, Qur'aan, hadith etc to go with each theme...

This is where you all can help?!

Oh if you have any other themes please say...

[Umair Khan]

Assalaamu'Alaykum,

Great topics... I guess tawheed seems to be the best thing to talk about to non-muslims?

Jazakillahukhair for providing more info.

[Alima]

WasSalaamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullah,

From all the research I've done (which is not much tbh!), it seems the most important topic is tawheed.

Though now days in university many people have fallen for the pick and mix culture... This makes it difficult tbh, as they will affirm the good in Islam, but fail to submit.
- That's another topic...

Tawheed on the Uluhiyyah sense, may combat this, I have to contemplate how this will be done and reserch it, I may share my thoughts once I brainstorm. Or does someone already know?

I always remember this term and it's true, give them what they need, in a way they want. In terms that are understandble to them.

I'm making a few notes on Fiqh Ad Da'wah. They are not that concise, but I'll share them, if anyone wants?