Muslims should develop the art of Creative Thinking as it is an important life skill. It is a novel way of seeing or doing things that is characteristic of four components – fluency (generating new ideas), flexibility (shifting perspective easily), originality (conceiving of something new), and elaboration (building on other ideas). Creative Thinking contributes to both decision making and problem solving by enabling us to explore the available alternatives and various consequences of our action or non-action. It helps us to look beyond our direct experience, and even if no problem is identified, or no decision is to be made, creative thinking can help us respond adaptively and with flexibility to the situations of our daily lives. The article is an effort to highlight 10 creative means adopted by various organisations across the world during their Dawah Struggle which has grabbed the attention of many people. The following are the various means which were adopted:
KINETIC TYPOGRAPHY
Kinetic Typography is a technical name for “moving text”. It is an animation technique mixing motion and text to express ideas using video animation. This text is presented over time in a manner intended to convey or evoke a particular idea or emotion. The technique is mostly used by Nouman Ali Khan’s ‘Green Bird Media Production’ where his short talks are presented through kinetic typography. The presentation in this format is very successful in making it interesting and understandable for the viewers. Conveying the message through talks is a traditional method where people tend to lose their attention or do not understand few things but the use of kinetic typography not only makes the presentation interesting but also makes it very understandable for the viewers.
BILLBOARDS
Initially billboards were only used to promote products and it is considered one of the costliest forms of advertising. Hoardings are placed in various countries such as the UK, the USA, India, etc. The hoarding has not only caught the attention of the general public but has also caught the attention of the mainstream media. The billboards in various countries are used for three purposes: first, to give them an attractive message; secondly, to invite them to call on a toll free number; and thirdly, to invite them to order a free copy of the Qur’ān. Thus, billboards were very successfully used across the world to convey the message of Islam.
Many interesting though provoking quotes were introduced such as, ‘Muslims love Jesus too’, ‘Jesus is Muslim’, ‘Jesus a Prophet of Islam’, ‘Prophet Jesus is mentioned 25 times in Qur’ān’, ‘Find Jesus in the Qur’ān’, ‘Islam means Peace’, ‘A Muslim is someone who submits to God’s will’, ‘This is the Book about which there is no Doubt’, ‘Muhammad – A Mercy to Mankind’, ‘Read Qur’ān – The Last Testament’, ‘Why did Obama quote the Qur’ān”, etc. It was a tool which has created a very positive impact and increased the inquisitiveness among people to read the Qur’ān.
STREET DAWAH
It is an activity where people invite people to Islam by standing by the roadside. In recent years the concept has caught huge popularity in India after its great success in foreign countries. Generally a group of people stand in a public area and attract people to come to their stall and then they convey the message of Islam to them and also give some literature about Islam and a few people also give a copy of the Qur’ān to them. The act has caught popularity because many people feel that they are very comfortable in conveying the message as they are speaking to a stranger and there is no form of hesitation.
WHAT’S YOUR GOAL CAMPAIGN
To coincide with the 20th Football World Cup at Brazil, iERA (Islamic Education and Research Academy), a UK based organisation, launched the first ever ‘Global Dawah Campaign’ called ‘What’s your Goal’. The aim of the campaign is to motivate Muslims to get involved in sharing the message of Islam with non-Muslims. During the course of time they also initiated the Global Dawah Day on 5 July 2014 in 49 countries. The campaign became even more popular when a new abbreviation for FIFA was given; it was called ‘Fasting Is For Allah Campaign’. This was done as the World Cup was scheduled during the month of Ramadan.
RESEARCH
The survey was done among the non-Muslim population in the United Kingdom. It was conducted through a professional agency and was ensured that the people who did the survey were Non-Muslims to ensure honesty and candidness. The research was conducted by IERA (Islamic Education and Research Academy) in July 2010. The senior researcher was Hamza Andreas Tzortzis and the other researchers were Dr. Iman Khalaf and Sadia Salam.
The research was conducted because it was felt that the obligation of Dawah was not being adequately fulfilled through both a lack of emphasis in its obligatory nature and also in how effective current practice is. As such, the goal of the research was to make Dawah more effective. The results of the research helped in using the right methodology for Dawah. This marked a beginning of research in the field of Dawah.
DAWAH IN AUTOS
An organisation in Bangalore called ‘Bangalore Islamic Foundation Trust’ started the activities of using autos to do Dawah. The auto was attached with a stand where few pamphlets on basic aspects about Islam were placed with a notice stating, “Free – Please Pick”. The auto drivers were also advised to be polite and honest with the passengers as Dawah is also done through the character of the person. If any passenger was interested to know more about Islam then the driver would take down the residential address and the contact number of the passenger and provide him with more material on Islam.
WORLD HIJAB DAY
World Hijab Day is an annual event that takes place on 1 February. The very first World Hijab Day was celebrated in 2013. Founded by Nazma Khan, it’s a worldwide event that encourages Muslim and Non-Muslim women to wear hijab, and experience life of a hijabi woman. This event showcases oppression, freedom, modernity, and traditional aspect of hijab to the women of the 116 participating countries. In short, World Hijab Day is a way for the Non-hijabi woman to experience hijab from the other side.
World Hijab Day is a result of misinterpretation of hijab around the world. In some countries hijab is viewed as a method of oppression. It is believed that women are being forced to wear hijabs, and continue their traditions. These beliefs have led to the ill-treatment of woman wearing hijabs in many societies. It took away women’s voices and added to their suffering. Many examples of these mistreatments of hijabi women can be found worldwide.
STUDY ON COMPARATIVE RELIGION
When Christian missionaries became very active in South Africa, Ahmed Deedat stood up to give answers to the questions raised by them. He was awarded the King Faisal International Prize in 1986 for his 50 years of missionary work. Later Zakir Naik put his work in an organised fashion and made his talks even more effective. His talks not only helped people know the truth about their religion but also let many people reverting to Islam soon after his talks. His talks not only helped the Muslims to understand Islam better but it also motivated the youth to indulge in Dawah activities in full swing.
TOLL FREE NUMBER
Initially toll free numbers were only used for business purposes but now that’s not the case, various places like North America, Canada, Hyderabad, Bangalore, etc. are now having toll free numbers where people can call to ask questions and clarify their doubts. And the best part is that, as India is a diversified country, people can discuss Islam in various languages such as English, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada. This move is very much successful in answering questions and clearing misconceptions of people about Islam.
T-SHIRTS
T-Shirts were printed with various messages and sold at a very concessional rate. It served three purposes: first, people could cover their body; secondly, people would wear t-shirts with some statements on it (which is trendy); and thirdly, to convey a message. Thus, using Dawah t-shirts became very common especially among the youth.
Read something no one else is reading, think something no one else is thinking and do something no one else is doing. Being creative is the need of the hour. It helps in grabbing the attention of the people in no time and helps in making the communication more effective. Let creativity begins.