One of the important duties of the followers of Islam is to do their best to spread the message of Islam to the world and introduce this divine religion to mankind. Let's read a hadith from Imam Reza(a.s) in this regard and then have some reflections on it.
Imam Reza(a.s) said,
May God have mercy upon him who revives our affair.
Someone asked: How may someone revive your affair?
He said: by learning our teachings and teaching them to others, for verily if people get to know the goodness and beauty of our teachings they will certainly follow us.[1]
Some reflections on the hadith
1) In this hadith Imam Reza has prayed for someone who strives for the cause of Ahlul-Bayt and we all know that the pray of an Imam will certainly be responded by Allah.
2) If we really want to revive the affair of Ahlul-Bayt and strive for their cause, first we should learn their teachings and then try to pass it on to other people.
3) The religion is in accordance with the original nature endowed by God, and mankind is originated according to this divine nature. And because of this fact, Imam Riza (a.s) says if people get to know the goodness and beauty of our teachings they will certainly follow it, because their teachings are in line with our Fitrah(divine nature). As God says in the Quran,
So set your heart as a person of pure faith on this religion, the original nature endowed by Allah according to which He originated mankind (There is no altering Allah’s creation; that is the upright religion, but most people do not know.(30:30)[2]
According to this verse, Allah has created man in a form that he inclines for the Truth and repudiates from wrong. It is just like the mother’s love to her child, which is not something taught but it is natural and instinctive.
Yes, walking along the path of religion is walking along the path of nature. The man’s natural affairs may decrease or increase, but they will never be abolished absolutely, and also the truth seeking wishes, which are hidden inside of man, will not change by the change of place and time.
4) If the religion of Islam is not embraced by all people, it is not because there is something wrong with Islam but it is rather because of the fact that we have not been able to introduce the true Islam to the world, it is our fault not Islam's and we Muslims are responsible for that, not Islam, because according to the above mentioned hadith, if the people around the world get to know the true version of Islam ( which has been presented through the Quran and the teachings of Ahlul-Bayt), they will certainly embrace Islam since it is in line with their divine nature(fitrah).
Note:
[1] Mizanul-Hikma. V 8. P 13797
الامامُ الرِّضا علیه السلام : «رَحِمَ اللّهُ عَبْدا اَحْیا أمْرَنا،»[قال الرّاوی:] فَقُلْتُ لَهُ: «فَکَیْفَ یُحْیِی أمْرَکُمْ؟» قالَ: «یَتَعَلَّمُ عُلُومَنا و یُعَلِّمُها النّاسَ، فَإِنَّ النّاسَ لَوْ عَلِمُوا مَحاسِنَ کَلامِنا لاَتَّبَعُونا.»
[2] فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفًا فِطْرَ‌تَ اللَّـهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّـهِ ذَٰلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ