Ahl al-Bayt (a) International News Agency — ABNA: Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimin Muhammad Husayn Amin, religious writer and researcher, in a piece written exclusively for ABNA, takes a look at the educational method of the Prophet (s) and the teachings of the Quran and the Ahl al-Bayt (a), addressing the question of why part of today's generation does not connect with direct preaching, and how we can deepen the impact of religious education instead of simply adding more words.
Why Does Today's Generation Flee from Exhortation? How Did the Prophet (s) Build People Without Preaching?
Muhammad Husayn Amin / Religious Writer and Researcher
Is Today's Generation Running from Religion, or from Repetitive Sermons?
The reality is that we should not interpret every distance from the pulpit and sermon as a distance from God. Today's person is bombarded with messages, advice, and warnings. Every day, hundreds of statements tell him what to do, what not to do, how to live, and how to think. In such an environment, if religious speech also turns into nothing but a list of dos and don'ts, it is only natural that the listener's ear grows tired.
The Holy Quran fundamentally ties religious invitation to "wisdom" and "goodly exhortation," not to nonstop talking. God says:
﴿ادْعُ إِلَىٰ سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ وَجَادِلْهُم بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ﴾; "Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and argue with them in the best manner." [1]
In Majma' al-Bayan, "goodly exhortation" is interpreted as exhortation that softens hearts and, through encouragement and gentleness, turns a person away from ugliness; it even emphasizes speaking in a way that suits the listener's capacity.
So the issue is not "to preach or not to preach"; the issue is whether our words actually reach the listener's heart or merely land on his ear. Sometimes one act of generosity, one sincere apology, one well-timed act of forgiveness, or even just listening to a young person's pain does what dozens of lectures cannot.
The Prophet (s) Did Not Just Speak; He Was the Message
If we want to summarize the secret of the Prophet's (s) education in one sentence, we must say: before inviting people to good character, he lived good character. The Quran says about him:
﴿وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ﴾; "And indeed, you are of a great moral character." [2]
And elsewhere:
﴿لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ﴾; "Indeed, in the Messenger of God you have a good example." [3]
That is, the Quran does not present the Prophet merely as a "deliverer of the message"; it presents him as a model.
This difference is crucial. Someone who speaks about patience may impress a listener for a few minutes; but someone who remains patient in hardship shows others how patience should be lived. Someone who speaks about forgiveness explains a concept; but someone who forgives another's mistake at the moment of power puts "forgiveness" before people's eyes.
The Quran even states about the Prophet's (s) social conduct:
﴿فَبِمَا رَحْمَةٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ لِنتَ لَهُمْ وَلَوْ كُنتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ الْقَلْبِ لَانفَضُّوا مِنْ حَوْلِكَ﴾; "So by mercy from God, you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude and harsh-hearted, they would have dispersed from around you." [4]
Majma' al-Bayan considers this gentleness and good character of the Prophet (s) among the factors that drew people to religion, and states clearly that if he had been harsh and hard-hearted, people would have scattered from around him.
The Prophet (s) Preached, But He Was Not a Tiring Preacher
This point should not be misunderstood: the Prophet (s) never abandoned preaching. The Quran itself counts "goodly exhortation" among the methods of invitation. But there is a great difference between preaching and becoming a preacher. Preaching means words spoken at the right time, in the right language, and for a person's real need; but excessive preaching means assuming that every problem must be solved with a few sentences of advice.
In Sunni hadith sources, a very clear narration is reported from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud that aligns with this Quranic principle. He says:
"كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ يَتَخَوَّلُنَا بِالْمَوْعِظَةِ فِي الْأَيَّامِ مَخَافَةَ السَّآمَةِ عَلَيْنَا"; that is, the Prophet (s) would preach to us on different days lest we grow tired and fed up of preaching. [5]
More interestingly, this logic is completely in harmony with a statement of Imam Ali (a):
"إِنَّ هَذِهِ الْقُلُوبَ تَمَلُّ كَمَا تَمَلُّ الْأَبْدَانُ، فَابْتَغُوا لَهَا طَرَائِفَ الْحِكَمِ"; "These hearts grow tired just as bodies grow tired; so seek for them fresh and novel gems of wisdom." [6]
Therefore, if today's listener grows tired of the same kind of speech being repeated, the religious answer is not to raise our voices or increase the number of sermons. We must change the method; sometimes speech, sometimes a question, sometimes dialogue, sometimes a story, sometimes service, and sometimes a silence that is more eloquent than hundreds of sentences.
Invite People with Your Lives
One of the most beautiful educational instructions in the culture of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) is the statement of Imam Sadiq (a). He says:
"كُونُوا دُعَاةَ النَّاسِ بِغَيْرِ أَلْسِنَتِكُمْ، لِيَرَوْا مِنْكُمُ الِاجْتِهَادَ وَالصِّدْقَ وَالْوَرَعَ"; "Invite people without your tongues, so that they see in you effort, truthfulness, and piety." [7]
This narration carries a great message for today: religion must be visible. If we ask a young person to be honest, but he does not see honesty in our own behavior, our words lose their effect. If we ask him to respect others, but we ourselves behave with contempt and harshness at home and in society, we are effectively teaching the opposite of what we say.
Imam Sadiq (a) also says in another expression:
"مَعَاشِرَ الشِّيعَةِ، كُونُوا لَنَا زَيْنًا وَلَا تَكُونُوا عَلَيْنَا شَيْنًا، قُولُوا لِلنَّاسِ حُسْنًا، وَاحْفَظُوا أَلْسِنَتَكُمْ وَكُفُّوهَا عَنِ الْفُضُولِ وَقَبِيحِ الْقَوْلِ"; "O group of Shias! Be an adornment for us, not a disgrace to us; speak nicely to people and guard your tongues from idle and ugly speech." [8]
Perhaps today, more than needing people who constantly say "what religion says," we need people who, when others see them, ask: "What is it about this religion that is so beautiful that it made him like this?" At that point, propagation is no longer just speech; the person himself becomes a medium for religion.
The Prophet's (s) Prescription for Today: Less Preaching, More Modeling
A new generation cannot be built by command alone, just as no generation can be raised by command alone. A person, especially when facing many questions and doubts, looks at the speaker before trusting the speech. He wants to see what effect what he hears has had on the speaker's life.
Therefore, if we want a young person to become fond of prayer, we should not only speak about the importance of prayer; we should let him see a praying person who is kind, well-spoken, clean-handed, and trustworthy. If we speak about hijab, alongside the ruling, we should also speak about the dignity of women and their human worth. If we talk about halal and haram, we ourselves should be so upright in business, work, family, and social media that the listener sees no contradiction between the "religion that is spoken" and the "religion that is lived."
This is what can be called prophetic education: preaching, but in its proper place; dialogue, but with respect; reasoning, but without humiliation; and most importantly, a model that speaks before the tongue does. The Prophet (s) did not build people with one lecture; he built them with years of character, love, patience, forgiveness, worship, justice, and presence alongside the people.
Today's generation needs religion more than ever; but a religion it can see, touch, and experience—not merely one it constantly hears about. Perhaps the main question is not "Why does today's youth flee from preaching?" The deeper question is: have we lived religion beautifully enough that a young person's heart wants to ask about it?
Footnotes
[1] The Holy Quran, Surah al-Nahl, verse 125; Fadl ibn Hasan Tabarsi, Majma' al-Bayan fi Tafsir al-Quran, under verse 125 of Surah al-Nahl. The text of the verse and the explanation of "al-maw'izah al-hasanah" appear in the source.
[2] The Holy Quran, Surah al-Qalam, verse 4: ﴿وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ﴾.
[3] The Holy Quran, Surah al-Ahzab, verse 21: ﴿لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ﴾.
[4] The Holy Quran, Surah Al Imran, verse 159; Fadl ibn Hasan Tabarsi, Majma' al-Bayan fi Tafsir al-Quran, under verse 159 of Surah Al Imran. Tabarsi considered the Prophet's (s) gentleness, good character, and avoidance of harshness among the factors that drew people.
[5] Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Invocations, chapter "Preaching hour after hour," hadith 6411; also Muslim, Sahih Muslim, Book of Virtues, hadith 2821; Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, hadith 2855.
[6] Sharif Radi, Nahj al-Balagha, Wisdom 91; also see: Abd al-Wahid Amidi, Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim, vol. 2, p. 544. The text and attribution of this wisdom are reported in the mentioned sources.
[7] Ali ibn Abi al-Fadl Tabarsi, Mishkat al-Anwar fi Ghurar al-Akhbar, p. 101, hadith 218; also Allama Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 68, p. 309. The text of the narration from Imam Sadiq (a) with the phrase "Kunu du'at al-nas bi-ghayr alsinatikum..." appears in the mentioned sources.
[8] Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Babawayh, al-Amali, session 62, hadith 17; also Allama Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 68, p. 310. The text of the narration "Kunu lana zaynan wa la takunu 'alayna shaynan..." is reported in Saduq's Amali.
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