Priorities in Da'wah - the Principal Priorities Never Change
Question :
Do priorities in calling to Islam change from generation to generation or from society to society. And are callers from all generations required to begin their call to 'Aqidah as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did with his Da'wah?
Answer:
There is no doubt that the Islamic call - since the advent of the Messenger, until the Hour is established - its priorities and fundamentals are the same, it does not change with the change of time.
However, some principles are already present in some societies, without ideas that contradict them or degrade them, so the caller focuses on other topics in which the people are deficient.
The principles of Da'wah to Islam, though, never change. When he dispatched Mu'ath to Yemen, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him:
"Let the first thing you call them to be the testimony that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. If they answer this call, then let them know that Allah has made the five prayers compulsory upon them in a day and a night. If they answer to this call of yours, then let them know that Allah has made charity obligatory upon them; it is taken from the rich from among them and to be distributed among their poor..."
These are the fundamentals of Da'wah that we must adhere to when we invite disbelieving people to Islam. But if we are inviting Muslims who know of the first part of the Hadith, which is Tawhid, without deficiencies and contradiction to it, then we move on to what comes after it, as is clear in the Hadith.
Source:
Ibn 'Uthaimin
Fatawa Islamiyah, Vol. 8 Pages 58-59