Is it better to supervise an Islamic forum or to read Qur’aan and do acts of worship?

Calling people to Allaah is one of the greatest of righteous
deeds and beneficial acts of worship and obedience that bring benefit to
others. Hence the one who does it and busies himself with it is treading the
path of the Prophets and Messengers, as Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning): 

“Say (O Muhammad صلى الله
عليه وسلم): “This is my way; I invite unto Allaah (i.e. to the
Oneness of Allaah — Islamic Monotheism) with sure knowledge, I and whosoever
follows me (also must invite others to Allaah, i.e. to the Oneness of Allaah
— Islamic Monotheism with sure knowledge). And Glorified and Exalted be
Allaah (above all that they associate as partners with Him). And I am not of
the Mushrikoon (polytheists, pagans, idolaters and disbelievers in the
Oneness of Allaah; those who worship others along with Allaah or set up
rivals or partners to Allaah)”

[Yoosuf 12:109] 

“And who is better in speech than he who [says: ‘My Lord
is Allaah (believes in His Oneness),’ and then stands firm (acts upon His
Order), and] invites (men) to Allaah’s (Islamic Monotheism), and does
righteous deeds, and says: ‘I am one of the Muslims’”

[Fussilat 41:33]

Many texts in the Qur’aan and Sunnah enjoin da’wah or calling
people to Allaah, such as the hadeeth in which the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever calls others to guidance
will have a reward like that of those who follow it, without that detracting
from their reward in the slightest” Narrated by Muslim (3674). 

And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“Allaah, His angels and the inhabitants of heaven and earth, even the ant in
its hole and the fish, send blessings on the one who teaches the people
good.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (2685); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in
Saheeh al-Tirmidhi. 

The ways of calling people to Allaah are many and various,
such as speaking directly, in khutbahs (sermons), speeches and lectures, or
on tapes; and by writing in letters, publications and on forums. 

That includes setting up useful forums and supervising them,
and directing their members and commenting on their articles and
contributions. All of these are ways of calling people to Allaah and
teaching the people good. 

Indeed these forums have become a prominent means of
teaching, guiding, calling people to Islam and enjoining what is good and
forbidding what is evil, and those who are in charge of them will have a
great reward, according to their intentions, actions and efforts. 

Based on this, you should seek reward with Allaah for the
time that you spend in following up on these participants and commenting on
them and guiding them, but you should be careful not to let that distract
you from things that are more important and beneficial, such as looking
after your husband and children, acquiring shar’i knowledge, regularly
reading Qur’aan and reciting wird (dhikr), because some people become
distracted by forums from doing more important things and greater acts of
worship. Fiqh means understanding priorities and giving precedence to that
which is more important. 

How wonderful it is when a person manages to have a share pf
every kind of booty, so he has a share of this and of that, and he pays
attention to that which will benefit him and others, and he strives to
improve himself in terms of knowledge and action, and he spends some of his
time to benefit others and call them to Islam and guide them, so he does not
let one duty distract him from another, or let one good thing keep him from
doing another. Hence Allaah causes his words to be effective and his advice
to be beneficial, because he has accompanied his words with actions, and his
slogan is: “I wish not, in contradiction to you, to do that which I
forbid you. I only desire reform to the best of my power. And my guidance
cannot come except from Allaah, in Him I trust and unto Him I repent” [Hood
11:88]. 

Taking care of oneself requires proper understanding and
wisdom, so a person should take advantage when he had energy and is able to
focus and make the most of his time. So sometimes he reads Qur’aan and does
a lot of naafil acts of worship, and sometimes he attends circles and
classes or studies books of knowledge, and sometimes he goes to forums and
supervises them. The best kind of worship is that which one feels inclined
towards and feels at ease with it when there is a need for it. 

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) wrote some
useful words about priorities with regard to acts of worship, and we will
quote some of it. For example he said: “… The same applies to the person’s
state of mind. When he is in the state of mind that helps him to achieve the
purpose for which he was created, then that state of mind is much nobler
than any other. And the same applies to actions. Any action which helps him
to get closer to the purpose for which he was created is better than any
other. Hence prayer and jihad are among the best of deeds because they bring
one closer to that aim, and this is how it should be, because the closer a
thing is to the goal the better it is than that which is far away from it.
The action which prepares the heart and mind to know Allaah and His names
and attributes, and to love Him, fear Him and put one’s hopes in Him is
better than that which is not like that. If a number of deeds have this
quality in common, then the best of them is that which brings one closest to
this goal. Hence acts of worship have this goal in common, so they are
required for the sake of Allaah and sins have in common the fact that they
block the heart and prevent it from reaching this goal, so they are
forbidden. The effect of acts of worship and sins depends on their degree.
This is something to which attention must be paid, which is that a
particular deed may be better for one person than another.  

For example, in the case of a rich man who has acquired much
wealth and is reluctant to spend of it, his giving charity is better for him
than spending the night in prayer (qiyaam al-layl) and observing naafil
fasts by day. 

In the case of a brave man who can strike fear into the
enemy’s heart with his whip, his spending an hour in the ranks and fighting
against the enemies of Allaah in jihad is better than Hajj, fasting, giving
charity or doing naafil acts of worship. In the case of a scholar who knows
the Sunnah, halal and haraam, and the ways of good and evil, his mixing with
the people and teaching and advising them about their religion is better
than his withdrawing and spending his time in prayer, reading Qur’aan and
tasbeeh. End quote from ‘Uddat al-Saabireen, p. 93. 

He also said: 

The best act of worship is striving to please the Lord at all
times by doing whatever is suited to that time and expected for it. The best
act of worship at times of jihad is jihad, even if that means forsaking
regular naafil actions such as praying qiyaam at night and fasting by day,
or even if it means not offering the obligatory prayers in full as one does
at times of peace and security. 

The best act of worship when a guest comes is fulfilling his
rights and taking care of him rather that reciting the mustahabb wird. The
same applies to fulfilling the rights of one’s wife and children. 

The best act of worship at the time before dawn is to occupy
oneself with prayer, Qur’aan, du’aa’, dhikr and asking for forgiveness. 

The best act of worship when guiding the seeker of knowledge
and teaching the ignorant is to focus on teaching them. 

The best act of worship at the time of the adhaan is to stop
what one is doing of wird (dhikr) and respond to the muezzin. 

The best act of worship at the time of the five daily prayers
is to strive sincerely to perform the prayers in the best possible manner,
and to hasten to pray when the time for prayer begins. Going out to the
mosque even if it is far is better. 

The best act of worship at times when someone needs help is
to use one’s position, physical capabilities and wealth to help him and to
answer his call, and to give that precedence over reciting your wird and
staying alone. 

The best act of worship at times of reading Qur’aan is to
when one’s mind is focused and one is in the right frame of mind to ponder
its meanings and understand it, until it is as if Allaah is addressing you,
so you can focus on pondering it and understanding it and resolving to
implement its commands more than a person would focus if he received a
letter from the ruler. 

The best act of worship when standing in ‘Arafah is to focus
on beseeching Allaah, du’aa’ and dhikr, and not to fast which would make one
too weak to focus on that. 

The best act of worship during the first ten days of
Dhu’l-Hijjah is to do a lot of acts of worship, especially reciting takbeer
(“Allaahu akbar”), tahleel (“Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah”) and tahmeed (“al-hamdu
Lillaah”). This is better than jihad for the one for whom jihad is not an
individual obligation. 

The best act of worship during the last ten days of Ramadaan
is to spend a lot of time in the mosque, and to be alone and observe
i’tikaaf without mixing with people and being distracted by them. It is even
better than focusing on teaching them knowledge and Qur’aan according to
many scholars.  

These are the people whose worship Allaah in every sense of
the word; other people worship Him in a limited sense (i.e., the people who
are mostly focused on one type of worship, such as qiyaam al-layl or reading
Qur’aan or fasting). When one of them stops doing the kind of worship that
he is attached to, he feels as if he is falling short and has stopped
worshipping, so he worships Allaah in just one way. But the one who worships
in every sense of the word is not more inclined to one type of worship than
another, rather his aim is to seek the pleasure of Allaah wherever it lies. 

So his worship is based on that, and he keeps moving through
different stages of worship, and every time he strives to reach a certain
status, he keeps himself busy with that, until he sees another level that he
wants to reach, so he persists in that until the end of the course. So if
you see the scholars you will him with them, and if you see the worshippers
you will see him with them, and if you see the mujaahideen you will see him
with them, and if you see those who remember Allaah you will see him with
them, and if you see those who give charity and do good you will see him
with them, and if you see those whose hearts are devoted to Allaah you will
see him with them. This is the one who worships Allaah in every sense of the
word, who is not restricted by one type in exclusion to others, and his
actions are not based on what he is inclined towards and what he finds
pleasure in, rather he chooses the act of worship that pleases Allaah most,
even if his joy and ease may be in some other act of worship. This is the
one who truly fulfils the meaning of Iyyaaka na’budu wa iyyaaka nasta’een
(“You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and
everything)” [al-Faatihah 1:5]). End quote from Madaarij al-Saalikeen
(1/88). 

To sum up: Supervising this forum is a kind of calling people
to Allaah, so you should not give it up, but the Muslim should organize his
time, giving some time for da’wah and some time for reading Qur’aan and some
time for prayer, and some time for his wife and family, and so on, giving
each its rights. 

We ask Allaah to help and guide us and you. 

And Allaah knows best.