How to convert my family to Islam?

From: http://www.islamhelpline.com/node/1749

How to convert my family to the true deen of Islam?
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:
dear brother burhan assalam-walekum-wa-rehmaatullah-e-wabarkathu
firstly i would like to thank u for showing me the right path of islam its only with ALLAH wt'S GRACE and through your mails thah i was able to revert to islam i was a bohri but after reading ur mails i have freed myself from those unwanted chains in the name of religeon though my family is still on the path of shirk n I want u to help me bring them to the path of allah becoz it seems impossible for me i tried telling them abt various ill practises (like kadam bosi and kissing the graves n one of ur article abt selling the places in markaz n masjids) but what i got was scolding frm my mother n a warning tht if i bring th topic agn she ill take action abt it next time also i was not allowed to check my e mail without her permission untill after 6 months or so so plz help me i dont want them to follow the wrong path n lead themselves to the hellfire once again thankyou n may allah watallah gives u more strength to continue ur job like this.
(i hope u ill understand my short hand typing )
khuda hafiz
(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:
How to convert my family to the true deen of Islam?
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

All Praise is due to Allah Subhanah Alone, Who has had Mercy upon His slaves, and guided them to the Truth of the Holy Quran and Islam. No matter how much we thank and praise our Merciful Lord, it would never be enough; for had Allah not had Mercy on us, and had not guided us, we would have been completely ruined. It is nothing but His Mercy and His Grace, that He has opened our hearts to the Truth of the Glorious Quran, and helped us to recognize and abstain from the heinous and unforgivable sin of shirk through it. All Praise is due to Allah Subhanah Alone, the Lord of the Worlds.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verses 125-126:So (the fact is that) whomever Allah wills to guide aright, He makes his breast wide open to Islam. And whomever He wills to let go astray, He makes his breast narrow and squeezes it so tight that (at the very idea of Islam) he begins to feel as if his soul were climbing up towards the sky. Thus Allah puts the wrath over those who do not believe, whereas this Way is the Straight Way of your Lord, and We have made its Signs quite clear for those who are open to advice.

May Allah Subhanah reward you with the best of this life and the hereafter, for making the Right Decision to invoke and worship Allah Subhanah Alone, and leave aside all the other ‘auliyaas’ besides Him! We are obviously not worthy of any thanks or appreciation for our humble and weak efforts; for we are only doing our duty to our brethren. Allah has made it the duty of every believer, who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day, to invite whoever wants to listen to good caution, to the Truth of the Holy Quran. It is Allah Alone who has the Sole Power to guide whomever He Wills to the Straight Path of Islam.

Your Statement: i was a bohri but after reading ur mails i have freed myself from those unwanted chains in the name of religeon though my family is still on the path of shirk n iwant u to help me bring them to the path of allah becoz it seems impossible for me.
Allah-o-Akbar! Allah-o-Akbar! Allah-o-Akbar! All Praise is due to Allah Subhanah Who has had Mercy on His slaves, and guided them out of the ways of ignorance and darkness, to the Straight Path of knowledge, noor, the Quran and Al-Islam! Allah is indeed the Most Merciful of all those who show Mercy! Allah-o-Akbar! Allah is indeed the Greatest; there is no god worthy of worship except the One Lord Alone, and He is High and Far Exalted above the ‘shirk’ that the ungrateful people commit.

May Allah Subhanah reward you for your intention and efforts to help your family recognize and abstain themselves from the heinous and unforgivable sin of ‘shirk’; and come to the straight path of Tawheed. After coming to the Truth yourself, it is indeed your duty unto your family that you invite them to the Truth of the Holy Quran.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 66 Surah Tahreem verse 6:O you who have believed, save yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel shall be men and stones; over which shall be appointed fierce and stern angels, who never disobey Allah’s Command, and they only do as they are commanded!

In our humble opinion, if you could convince them to read the Holy Quran even once with understanding, if the Merciful Lord Wills, they too would leave the evil path of shirk, and come to the invocation and worship of the One Lord Alone! But we must remember to do this with a lot of wisdom and patience. We must be careful never to be in haste, and we must never assume that just because we have recognized and pointed out the evil of shirk that they commit, they will immediately leave the deities they have been invoking and worshipping since birth. We must never ever get into a situation which results in a fight, or abuse, or any un-orderly arguments. We must always try and choose the best time, and determine whether one is willing to listen to good caution and logic from the Glorious Quran, and then invite them to the Truth in the best possible manner, for that is what our Merciful Lord has commanded us to do.

Allah says in the Holy Quran: Chapter 16, Surah An-Nahl Ayat 125:Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and excellent admonition and argue with people in the best manner. Your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Way and who is Rightly guided.

Sometimes it might take only a couple of minutes to make someone understand, and sometimes it might take a lifetime, and the person might never accept Islam! Allah has made it our duty only to invite mankind to the Truth; to guide them or leave them astray, is in the Sole Power and Domain of Allah Alone! Allah has given each individual intelligence and a free will to choose whatever path he/she wills to take unto their Lord.

We cannot, and should not, force our beliefs onto anyone, no matter how close they are, or how much we love them, and how much we want them to be guided aright so that they may be saved from the torment of Hell Fire! It is not up to us to guide someone to the Truth; our duty is only to invite them in the best possible manner.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 28 Surah Qasas verse 56:You cannot guide whom you love, but Allah guides whomever He Pleases. And He best knows those who would accept guidance.

Thus, my beloved sister in Islam, be patient, and constantly supplicate Allah to help you help your mother and your relatives to understand the Truth from the Glorious Quran. Be rest assured, that the All Seeing, All Hearing Lord is watching over everything that we do in His Cause; and Allah Subhanah has promised to help those who help in His Cause. If Allah Wills, your patience and wisdom will be rewarded one day, and the people you so love to accept and understand the Truth, with the help and Will of Allah, will leave the practices of shirk, and come to the sole worship of the One Lord Alone.

Invite them to the Truth of the Quran as long as you live; and if they don’t ever believe, then at least you have done your duty unto them to the best of your ability. Allah Subhanah will never question us how many people did we convert to the deen of Truth; but He will question us whether we did try to invite them or not. To guide someone to Islam, or leave them astray, is in the Sole Power and Domain of Allah Alone.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam
Burhan