How MDI Begins?

Allah (SWT) has made us Muslims. Whether we are Muslims by birth or through a deep analysis of our beliefs, many of us don’t try to understand this.

Living in the diaspora, surrounded by the illusion of ignorance, as Muslims, we often fail to fulfill even the smallest demands of our faith.

Do we ever wonder what our true purpose should be? Are we truly fulfilling our duty to Almighty Allah by performing regular prayers and celebrating Eid Qurbani? Isn’t it our responsibility to convey the message of Allah to the people who have become Muslims through His mercy?

If we do not strive to fulfill the duty of conveying Allah’s message as Muslims with the status of His Caliph, then He will not grant us any special favors in the Hereafter, unlike non-Muslims. We may ask ourselves how to fulfill our duty as Caliphs. We pray, teach our children the Quran, and perform regular prayers. What else can we do? I don’t have enough knowledge of Islam to engage in DAWAH activities.

But Allah (SWT) says in Surah Baqarah (2:286)

لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا ٱكْتَسَبَتْ ۗ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَآ إِن نَّسِينَآ أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَآ إِصْرًۭا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُۥ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِۦ ۖ وَٱعْفُ عَنَّا وَٱغْفِرْ لَنَا وَٱرْحَمْنَآ ۚ أَنتَ مَوْلَىٰنَا فَٱنصُرْنَا عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ

“Allah never allows a man to carry a burden beyond his capacity.”

With this objective, some young Muslim brothers living in Munich decided to take action. The outcome of their discussions is as follows:

• First, we must acquire academic knowledge of Islam and its fundamentals. We need a clear understanding of the basic AQIDAH of Islam. We will study Tauheed, the core claim of Shahadah, Iman, Shirk, Kufr, and Bid’ah by referring to the Qur’an and Sahih Hadith. We will learn from the writings of eminent Islamic scholars. Then we will understand and implement the ritualistic aspects of Islam, such as prayer, fasting, and veiling, in our daily lives.

• After improving our cognitive and practical understanding, we will begin the work of DAWAH, which is an obligatory duty for every Muslim.

• We will initially start DAWAH within our Bangladeshi community, helping them follow Islam by making them understand its basic principles.

• In this process, we will apply the Islamic principles of DAWAH and behavioral techniques, inshallah.

• We can conduct at least two regular programs a week for our academic development. According to the convenience of the members of our circle, we will determine the topics and times of the programs, inshallah.

• Of course, we will not neglect other important tasks.

• We should prioritize these religious programs over our institutional work because our reward in the Hereafter is far greater than the wealth of this world.

• Da’wah requires individual and collective efforts. In addition to using all Shari’ah-compliant methods for personal DAWAH, we must act with wisdom. For collective DAWAH, we can organize weekly, monthly, and bi-monthly discussion meetings, as well as events like summer grills, football matches, winter sports, picnics, and cultural events.

• Weekly, fortnightly, and monthly discussions can be arranged with women for religious education in our families. Efforts should be made to develop leaders among women.

Based on these points from our discussions, an organization called “Munich Dawah Initiative” (MDI) was established to implement all these religious activities.

In light of the advice and decisions of the brothers, since 2014, an Islamic discussion program for men has been held every Sunday.

Since 2021, regular Islamic discussions for women have been held every Friday.