SMS from Saudi Arabia promoting conversion to Islam
Jeddah (AsiaNews) "Call Me to Islam" is an initiative launched in Saudi Arabia by dawah activists to convert non Muslims to Islam via short message service (SMS) or receive information about Islam, Saudi daily Arab News reported.
Dawah, which literally means 'summons', refers to Muslim responsibility to invite others to Islam. Now some activists have decided to go a step further. Anyone interested in learning about Islam can send an SMS to +966-55988899 and leave their names, nationality, language, religion, job and mobile number.
The 'spread Islam via SMS' idea is the brainchild of Muhammad Al-Eiban, from the al-Badia Office for Foreign Communities, which operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
In his opinion, SMS messages allow dawah activists to explain Islam with a view to dispelling myths about the faith. "Having the service via SMS makes it accessible for everyone who wants to know more about Islam but cannot go to dawah offices," he said.
The service started at the beginning of Ramadan and, according to Al-Eiban, receives around 2,000 SMSs every four days. The office has so far dealt with 12,453 SMSs. Dawah activists use nine languages to communicate with interested people and have called 1,155 people so far.
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