Aslam

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

We ask Allaah to relieve your distress and make things easy

for you, and to help you to obey Him and worship Him properly. Remember that

the alienation that you are feeling is a good sign for you, The Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Islam began as something

strange and will revert to being something strange, so glad tidings to the

strangers.” Narrated by Muslim (145).

The word tooba (translated here as “glad tidings”) has many

meanings, such as goodness and honour, a great tree in Paradise, joy and

happiness, and many other meanings, all of which may apply here.

Al-Sindi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

“Strange” means because its followers are small in numbers.

The basic meaning of ghareeb (stranger) is one who is far from his home.

“And will revert to being something strange” means that few

will adhere to it and help others to do so, even if the Muslims are many.

“to the strangers” means those who follow its commands.

“Tooba” is derived from the word tayyib (good), and it is

interpreted as referring to Paradise or to a great tree that grows there.

This indicates that supporting Islam and obeying its commands

may require the one who does that to leave his homeland and be patient in

bearing the hardships of being away from his homeland, as was the case when

it first began.

Sharh Sunan Ibn Majaah (hadeeth

no 3986.

Secondly:

You have the best example in the Messenger of Allaah

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). He brought light to his people,

but they insisted on remaining in the darkness of kufr and ignorance. They

accused him of being a sorcerer, soothsayer or madman, but he was patient in

calling them, and he did not get fed up of repeating his call, using

different methods of calling individuals and groups, calling in secret and

in the open, until he attained great success. Similarly, daa’iyahs who came

after him called the kuffaar to Islam, and called sinners to obedience, and

called innovators to the Sunnah. Many of them experienced hardship, distress

and difficulties, but that did not stop them from persisting in da’wah. Were

it not for that, Islam would not have reached your country, the Maldives!

Think about these examples, and do what they did, and be

patient as they were patient, so that you may attain the pleasure of Allaah.

What you hear of mockery and being called “Wahhabis” was said by those who

came before them, and the fools still repeat it with regard to those who

promote the Sunnah, but that does not harm them or make them stop conveying

the religion of Allaah.

Thirdly:

In addition to being patient in calling people, we advise you

to select wise people among other women and your relatives to convey the

religion of Allaah to them and remind them of the truths of Islam, for if

people are happy to belong to Islam, that does not prevent them from

following the Sunnah, but there may be other obstacles that are preventing

them from coming to the path of truth, such as misguided scholars and

proponents of bid’ah, or specious arguments and whims and desires, and so

on. It may also be due to the fact that we are failing to convey the truth

of Islam to them, or we do not have wise ways of conveying it.

You have to be gentle and patient, and select the wisest

people, and address them politely. Use different means such as audio tapes,

video lectures and books, and you may see some good results.

Fourthly:

Strive to make your house the focal point of this da’wah.

Start with your husband and children, so that this will become a house of

blessing for all people. Remember that our mother Khadeejah bint Khuwaylid

was the first one of this ummah to become Muslim, and she was the first one

to support the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in

conveying the message and calling her daughters to Islam. Her house was the

first house to become Muslim, and from it the call of goodness spread to all

corners of the earth, so be like her and follow her example.

In the answer to question no.

9380 you will find more advice and

suggestions, which we hope you will read. There is no need to repeat them

here.

And Allaah is the Source of strength.