In the name of God, the Benificient, the Merciful.
Da'wah tables are definitely one of the most important activities of any MSA. In addition to providing an information outlet for non-Muslims to know about Islam, it allows Muslims to measure the public's common knowledge about Islam and identify the most prevalent misconceptions about Islam and Muslims. Every Muslim should be able to explain his beliefs to his colleagues and friends and should actually be doing this all the time. The Da'wah table provides an excellent environment to exercise the explanation of Islam to non-Muslims and help break the unseen barrier many Muslims feel when they set out to inform others about Islam.
Da'wah table proved very useful for two other purposes. First, it is an excellent opportunity to advertise MSA upcoming events and activities for free. And second, it is a good way to harvest personal contacts of interested people. This is very important to extent MSA public outreach and help advertising other activities.
This brief guide explains to MSA members how to have a successful Da'wah Table. The information in this guide is the collective experience of MSA members that they gained through a series of (often) successful Da'wah tables. Inshaa Allah this guide will prove indispensible for anyone seriously interested in holding a Da'wah Table.
UCONN MSA Team 2006
Generally the scenario of a Da'wah table starts with reserving a table. At that table, you will invite people to have a free drink if they take a survey about Islam. The surveyed person's mistakes are then explained in detail with interest and passion, then he/she is offered the brochure(s) that cover his/her mistakes. Before the person leaves, he is offered to sign-up for MSA activities mailing list and offer him/her any promotional material you have for upcoming events.
The following chapters explain the process of preparing a Da'wah table and its operation details. The preparation is fivefold: table reservation, material preparation, survey composition, personell allocation, buying drinks and sign preparation.In addition to these five things, be ready with a sign-up sheet (email only) and with flyers for any upcoming events that the MSA want publicized.
At the end of the book concludes you can find a checklist of Da'wah table items.
The table is usually provided by the university, so all you need to worry about is to reserve the table early enough. You might be able to reserve the table for the whole semester every two weeks, but usually the university puts restrictions on the frequency of recurrent reservations. So you might have to visit the reservation office once for every few Da'wah table reservations.
Go for crowded places. The library main entrance was excellent. The Student Union lobby was very good too.
We tried 11:00AM to 2:00PM and 1:00PM-4:00PM and both were successful. So time doesn't seem to matter much. The lunch break is usually more active, i.e. 12:00-1:00PM.
At the table you must have some brochures and booklets explaining Islam. The Material can be classified into three categories:
1. Introductory Material: very brief explanation of Isalm, e.g. Discover Islam flyer.
2. Focused material: Explanation of a certain aspect of Islam, e.g. Human rights in Islam.
3. Elaborate material: Such as Quran translation, Illustrated Guide, etc.
Depending on the level of knowledge/interest of the person you can offer suitable material.
The survey is a set of multiple choice questions that spot aspects of misconceptions among the public.
/*TO DO: Survey authoring guidelines*/
The author of the survey should take the time to write an answer key and some background about the questions. Table attendants should study the answer key before they start (mis)informing visitors.
At least TWO persons should attend the Da'wah Table at all times. The number of people needed depends on the anticipated rate of visitors. So get people committed to attend the table and confirm their presence.
Each person attending the table should be familiar with at least the survey questions, their correct answers and some background of the aspect each question is testing, in order to be able to correctly and efficiently inform visitors about Islam.
Each person attending the table should be familiar with the Da'wah material available and preferably take the time to read it to be able to recommend the most suitable brochure or book to a visitor.
The manager of the Da'wah table should have the contact phone numbers of all attendants and they should have his/her phone number. In many cases, communications enable maneuvering to increase efficiency and handle emergencies.
The manager of the Da'wah table MUST keep track of the names of people attending the table with the associated times. Don't depend on your memory!
Without drinks, the Da'wah table's operation is seriously degraded. It is much easier to invite people to have a drink than to take a survey.
Make sure you have enough drinks for the number of anticipated visitors. A rule of thumb is 25 visitors per hour.
It was found that people prefer flavored water than soda, and prefer Pepsi to Coke! They prefer clear bottles to tetra packs!
Try to have an attractive sign inviting people to a "FREE Drink!" and don't forget to write in fineprint "when you take a survey"
Next to that sign you can hang colorful posters promoting MSA upcoming events. You can also try to hand out flyers to basserby people even if they don't want drinks!
You can also attract people's attention by hanging one of the huge Discover Islam posters.
Here is a checklist of items that should be done by managers and things that should be done by table attendants
Managers
Attendants