Character & conductFrom the masjid's own video, Jan 10, 2026.
Dawah begins with character and compassion
“People feel about you the way you make them feel when they're with you.”
In one sentence
Dawah should be practiced as a wise, compassionate, noncoercive invitation embodied in our character and extended into responsible work to improve society as khalifah.
The khutbah in 6 steps
- Introduces the 2026 Year of Dawah through Quran 16:125.
- Defines dawah as a welcoming invitation, not coercion, conquest, or competition.
- Explains hikmah as delivering truth proportionately to context, with compassion and restraint.
- Emphasizes personal character, encouragement, and everyday behavior as forms of dawah.
- Expands dawah into family, education, religion, self-development, economics, culture, and governance.
- Connects khalifah responsibility to joining Oakland community action against illegal dumping before closing prayers.
Try this week
Practice dawah through welcoming, confident, compassionate character rather than pressure or argument.
Adapt what you say to the time, place, and person, and avoid humiliating anyone.
Develop a habit of complimenting and encouraging family members and others so they feel valued.
Apply Islamic responsibility to improving family, education, economic life, culture, governance, and community conditions.
Attend the 6 p.m. Monday, January 12 public action at Allen Temple about illegal dumping in Oakland.
Sources the khateeb cited
Quran 16:125Provides the central framework of inviting with wisdom, good instruction, and the best manner of argument.
Quran 11:61Connects human responsibility with cultivating and maintaining the earth.
Quotes
In the khateeb's words
“Da'wah is not a conquest. Da'wah is not a war.”
“This wisdom, as it's translated, is truth that is delivered in proportion to context.”
“Also, good counsel, good counsel, this wise is admonition that reaches the heart, not humiliates it.”
“People feel about you the way you make them feel when they're with you.”
Where it was given
The masjid
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