One of the more fascinating verses of the Qur’an is found in Surah 3, Verse 64:

“Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “O People of the Book! Let us come to common terms…” – translation from The Clear Quran by Dr. Mustafa Khattab.

In this passage, the Qur’an gives us a methodology to employ in da’wah, namely to come to a common agreement, or common terms from which a fruitful relationship can develop between Muslims and non-Muslims. Tafsir Maa’riful Qur’an comments on this passage:

“This verse unfolds an important principle of Tabligh (preaching) and Da’wah (preaching Islam). The principle requires that a person, who desires to carry his call to a group which holds beliefs and ideas different from his own, should follow a particular method. That method is to induce the group to unite only on what they both can agree to…”

This passage effectively harkens back to the very definition of the word “communicate”. To communicate is to literally have something common with other people, to share a common idea, thought or belief. As Prof. Adler would describe it, to communicate is to have a “meeting of the minds”. The Qur’an (and therefore God) is encouraging us to effectively and sincerely communicate with others about Islam.

This takes us to the 3 C’s of communication.

• Confrontational
• Conciliatory
• Concessional

The Qur’an is not calling us to be confrontational (and therefore aggressive), nor is it calling us to be concessional (to give up our beliefs and stances) but to be conciliatory (literally, to form a bridge or to “come together”, again a “meeting of the minds”)

This is why it is important for Muslims to learn how to communicate properly when inviting to Islam, because it is a command from God. We should also then realize that a failure to live up to this standard is to reject a teaching from Allah. So what are some of the criteria for which a Muslim must live up to?

We are called to “avoid false statements” as found in Qur’an 22:30, the Qur’an also states in 49:11 –

“O believers! Do not let some ˹men˺ ridicule others, they may be better than them, nor let ˹some˺ women ridicule other women, they may be better than them. Do not defame one another, nor call each other by offensive nicknames. How evil it is to act rebelliously after having faith! And whoever does not repent, it is they who are the ˹true˺ wrongdoers.”

In conclusion, da’wah is not a game and should we want to effectively call to Islam, then we must obey the Qur’an’s guidance.

and Allah knows best.