The Hammer, Its Flexibility & Relationship With Da'wah

After four months, I finally returned to my hometown in Subang Jaya, Selangor...this time driving, as I was coming home for good (hopefully, with Allah's blessings), the car itself being in Penang for almost a year, as I usually take the train or flight (one time only...) home during certain holidays, if not returning only as far as my granny's in Kuala Kangsar, Perak.

But, enough of that. Let's get to the real story...

Upon returning home, the first channel I watched was Channel 551 (Discovery Channel). I have a craze on television documentaries, usually physics, history, engineering, but excluding biological documentaries...not me line, mate!

By coincidence, the programme that was currently being aired is Mythbusters; a documentary where they test legendary myths using scientific, and most of the time...wacky methods. On that particular programme, they were conducting an experiment based on a myth stating that when two hammers collide, it emits a spark...an explosive spark.

They used two types of hammers; a modern hammer, and an old-fashioned hammer. The deviation between these hammers is that the old-fashioned hammer is very hard, as it is mixed with carbon compounds (not initially purified before being moulded), whilst the modern hammer consists of only pure steel, therefore being slightly soft.

I was not interested in the results obtained from the conducted experiments...it was the hammers that caught my attention.

The old-fashioned hammer, being physically hard...and brittle, had no flexibility characteristics, and therefore...according to the laws of physics...can not absorb any given impact towards it (impulse).

The modern hammer, on the other hand, has flexibility characteristics, though not visible to the naked eye. Therefore, it is able to absorb any given impact towards it.

In the old days, blacksmiths were injured, usually by the old-fashioned hammer. How was it possible? Well, lacking the ability to absorb impacts, the impact energy "attacks" the molecular structure of the hammer, breaking the bond, creating metal chips and debris that bounce blindly into mid-air, ocassionally hitting the blacksmiths on the cheeks, forehead, anywhere possible.

Relationships with da'wah? Well, to be honest, it ain't the hammer, chum. It be ye olde flexibility characteristics and effects.

Basically, when referring to the term da'wah, it is the process of delivering knowledge, advice from one who knows, to another who knows not, from a preacher to a preached (mad'u).

Ocassionally, the da'wah is performed, but it does not reach the mad'u. Usually, one who is referred to as a preacher, forgets that he/she and the mad'u are different in many ways; they do not have the same level of understanding, they do not have the same method of understanding, they are not previously exposed to the same environment(s) which played a role in building their personalities.

When the preacher does not understand this fact, he/she tends to preach based on his/her level of understanding and methods, at most times not synchronized to that of the mad'u.

Therefore, it is important that a preacher be flexible when it comes to preaching, so that the preacher can regulate his/her method of preaching to suit the level of those who are around him/her, thus easing the flow of knowledge, advice into them. In some communities, unorthodox methods are required, provided they do not override the guidelines introduced by Islam. But hey, man was designated to be different from others in characteristics, so that they have the urge to learn from one another.

Remember the impact received by the hammers, and its effects? Well, consider the impact as the mad'u. If you are as flexible as the modern hammer, you are able to 'absorb' them. But, be the old-fashioned hammer, and not only do you not successfully pass on knowledge, you destruct yourself, as how the hammer chips itself.

True, many scholars remain constant wherever they preach. But then, unlike us, they are renowned nationwide. Everywhere they go, they are known to the public; streets, avenues, lanes, mews, alleys, towers, masjids, corporations. People are familiar with their methods of preaching, and have naturally adapted to it.

Therefore, be flexible in whatever you do, at any given time, as you must know and acknowledge that the people around you have almost no similar characteristics compared to yours, and therefore must understand their characteristics so that you can communicate effectively with them.