Techno-Daei: Dakwah Via Technology

By Intan Norasyikin Mohd Ariffin

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 16 (Bernama) -- There are many among the Muslim scientists and technologists who are not aware that they are part of the dakwah assemblage that is able to bring righteousness to mankind.

That was the view of Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM) Science Centre's Research Officer Nurkumula Awang.(Dakwah or da'wah refers to 'issuing a summons or making an invitation'. In Malaysia, the term refers to missionary work and Islamization).

According to Nurkumula, these missionaries did not need to have an extensive background on the religion but the significance was their objective in propagating the meaning of Islam and the significance of having religious belief.

"Many of them were from diverse background, but they have a common objective that is propagating the meaning of Islam", she said when discussing a working paper at a seminar on 'techno-daei' at IKIM here recently.

According to Nurkumala, the Muslim scientists and technologists were qualified to be labelled the techno-daei group.

Who can be labelled as being a 'techno-daei' missionary?

They are those who used the latest technologies and expertise to propagate and spread the teachings of Islam. 'Techno-daei' is the combination of two words - 'technology' and 'daei'. Daei is Arabic which means 'dakwah or missionary'.

TECHNOLOGY AND ITS INFLUENCE

Nurkumala said technology was actually a mere agent or tool of change that could not determine the decision and choice of an individual for the person's daily regime."We should know how to control and utilise technology and not the other way round where technology controls us", she said.

In the Muslim way of tradition, not only the functional aspect of a particular technology that came into focus but the significance was on the information available in it that can help to mould the mind and behaviour, she said.Nurkumala said the cyberspace 'social interaction tools' such as Facebook, Friendster, Twitter and Myspace were among the modes that can be used as dakwah channels.

"Why not insert contents like quiz on Islam or discuss things about Islam in these mediums", she said.

TECHNO-DAEI AND TECHNOLOGY IMPACT

Meanwhile IKIM Director-General Datuk Nik Mustapha Nik Hassan said the rapid development of technology was not only beneficial to the people but it also can create confusion among the society.He said information technology was not only restricted to the use of computers and multimedia system, but it also covered film and cartoon animation as an effective delivery technique.

"Films, animation and multimedia can be the tools to inculcate the Islamic values into the children's mind."Animation is synonimous with children. It delivers the message on noble values like honesty and sincerity. These are the values that we want to promote and to be followed by the children", he said.

ANIMATION

Nik Mustapha said the messages sent via animation were illustrated using computers and later were relayed using websites, television and electronic medium."What is worrying, is so much information from various sources that could not be determined its truth. It is feared that such information can create confusion among the public.

"Therefore it is the duty of the techno-daei to provide accurate understanding if there is confusion on a piece of information particular that related to the value and understanding of a religion", said Nik Mustapha.

Lecturer in Usuluddin, International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) Dr Mohd Farid Mohd Shahran said the importance of technology could not be cast aside in the delivery of knowledge and Islamic teachings but there was a limit to this.

"The use of films and animation to attarct muslims to appreciate is good but it will be wrong if someone pictures the image of God, prophets, angels, haven and hell as we do not what they actually look like.

"Hence all depictions given were false as nobody exactly knows these things", he said.

Mohd Farid said in this aspect, it was not wrong for the daei to use technology as an effective tool to attract the people to the noble values of Islam but there were limits and conditions to be followed as provided in the Quran.He said all the daei should be more aggresive in upholding the syariat in the Quran particularly in moulding the noble values among children.

LEARN TECHNOLOGY

Nurkumala called on the missionaries to learn the technology to ensure easy to understand delivery of dakwah apart from giving significant impacts for its users."This helps the techno-daei to protect Islam from being twisted via the use of technology apart from preventing Muslims from being left behind and manipulated," she said.

She said the progress of time and rapid development of technology demanded the missionaries to learn more about the knowledge and assess the impacts on the society to prevent them from being enslaved by technology.

"A techno-daei should identify the issues that cropped out from the use of technology to ensure the spread of Islam to boost the dignity of Islam in the eyes of the world", she added.

-- BERNAMA