He wants to establish an Islamic radio station to call people to Allah; what do we advise him to do and to avoid?

Firstly: 

We praise and thank Allah for enabling some of His slaves to strive to serve and spread Islam, and we praise and thank Him for making these people among Ahl al-Sunnah who follow the guidance of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and who seek out what is prescribed so that they may do it and who seek to recognise what is innovated and contrary to Islam so that they may shun it. We ask Allah, may He be exalted, to make our brother who is asking this question one of these people. 

Secondly: 

The things that are permissible and prescribed and that may be presented to both Muslims and non-Muslims in the radio station that you want to establish are many. We will mention some of them to you, not as a definitive list but by way of example, such as: 

A.Programs about the Book of Allah, such as:

(i)Regular readings of the entire Qur’aan

(ii)Recitation of Qur’aan by distinguished shaykhs

(iii)Teaching tajweed in an easy manner

(iv)Broadcasting simple lessons of tafseer

B.Programs about the Sunnah of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), such as:

(i)Regular readings from saheeh books of Sunnah

(ii)Simple commentaries on saheeh hadeeths

(iii)Warning against weak and fabricated hadeeths

C.Programs for children, such as:

(i)Interviews with children who have memorised the Qur’aan and Sunnah

(ii)Welcoming questions from children and giving suitable answers to them

(iii)Interesting and enjoyable stories

D.Programs for women, such as

(i)Teaching them fiqhi rulings that apply to them

(ii)Discussions about problems in marriage and social life

(iii)Biographies of female scholars and daa‘iyahs, among the early generation (salaf) and contemporary women

E.Programs for non-Muslims, such as:

(i)Stories of how and why people converted to Islam

(ii)The beauties of Islamic religion, its rulings and teachings

(iii)The eloquence and miraculous nature of the Qur’aan

F.There are some general matters that may be appropriate, such as:

(i)Broadcasts of prayer from the Harams in Makkah and Madeenah

(ii)Nasheeds, so long as they are free of musical instruments, daffs and sound effects that resemble instruments, and they should not be the main focus; rather they should be used as intermissions or in links between educational programs.

(iii)Beneficial academic contests

(iv)Islamic fatwas from trustworthy scholars

(v)General lectures

(vi)Structured lessons, such as commentaries on books of fiqh and salafi ‘aqeedah

(vii)Books and writers, in which beneficial and useful books of Islamic or general knowledge may be introduced, and the authors of those books may also be introduced

(viii)You can seek the help of trustworthy Islamic websites to publish various audio materials that are already prepared, such as those on the Islam Way website (http://english.islamway.com/). You could also contact channels such as al-Majd, al-Hikmah, al-Shaykh al-‘Uthaymeen and others to supply you with useful material that may be published in audio format. 

Thirdly: 

We advise you of things that are not permissible according to Islam, such as the following: 

1. Do not broadcast music or songs, including musical interludes.

2. The broadcast studio should be free of haraam mixing, because there is no need for there to be any women in the workplace. If it is thought that a woman is qualified to participate, she may do so by telephone.

3. You should avoid accepting advertisements for banks and riba-based institutions, or for haraam products. 

Finally: 

We advise you to have a sharee‘ah committee composed of specialists in Islamic knowledge who are known for the soundness of their methodology, to advise you on programs and evaluate performance. This will be better for you so that your da‘wah may be successful. We ask Allah to help you and make things easy for you. 

And Allah knows best.