Dawah - Islamic conversion strategy
Listen to the story of Dr. Anagha. When she went to college, she got some Muslimah "friends" who started asking her questions about her religion. Although she grew up in a traditional Hindu family, she was unaware of the philosophy of her religion. Her "friends" started instilling doubt in her head and slowly lure her into Islam.
Dawah is a fundamental, obligatory, duty for Muslims to convey the message of the Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad. In practice, it may look something like this: a Muslim girl reaches out to a non-Muslim girl, who perhaps looks a little lonely, and befriends her. Then conversations shift to personal life, and eventually to spirituality. The Muslim girl starts asking the non-Muslim one about her religion. If the Muslim girl detects that the non-Muslim is having difficulties in answering confidently, she will press on about the "illogicality" of the non-Muslim's religion and talk positively about Islam. All of this is done with absolute "friendliness". The Muslim girl might "invite" the non-Muslim to eat a home cooked meal and eat communally, try on a hijab, show off their piety by observing fasting and breaking the fast communally, signalling outwardly the unity of Muslims, and so on. This appeals a lot to lonely individuals whose religious foundation is perhaps a little shaky.
In Dr. Anagha's case, although she grew up in a traditional Hindu family, a lot of Hindu religiosity happens inside homes with the nityakarmas. Parents don't necessarily tell their children a lot aside from the occasional tales from the epics. Yes, public processions and celebrations are an essential part of Hinduism. So is donating and helping people and animals around. However, again, these things are not explained to children. Hindu parents often assume that children will learn it by following them just like they have learned from their parents by following them. Hindus do not have a Madrasa - Maulana type of ecosystem. Hindus Pandits role in social life has been over the decades and centuries been reduced to only ceremonies and temples do not function like they used to function in the ancient times.
Going back to Dawah, an important point here to note is that the Muslim girl in our story is not operating alone. She has the support of her mosque, madrasa and her community. There's a huge monetary incentive in Dawah activities. Her parents aid her in Dawah, they might show parental affection to this non-Muslim girl, feed her, and do other activities that can be considered as grooming. The non-Muslim girl, who probably has not witnessed this amount of unity can easily get fascinated by this. She might want a life like that too. Now, in many cases it is possible that she does convert and marry a Muslim boy, likely the brother of this Muslim girl, and become a good Muslim wife and have children and be content with her life. Often, the non-Muslim girls, who get converted, face a lot of physical and emotional abuse. And some of these girls are unable to withstand this amount of abuse and policing. But they cannot leave either because apostasy is a crime in Islam punishable by death.
This doesn't happen just to Hindus but also to Christians and Buddhists and all other religions. In Keralam, it was the Syro-Malabar Christian Church and the Catholic Bishops Council that raised an alarm about the phenomenon of Christian girls leaving the church and marrying Muslim men and converting to Islam and joining terrorist organisations such as Al-Qaeda, or later on IS. It is the Christian Fathers in Keralam who coined the term "love Jihad" in the first place. It was in 2010 when the Kerala Chief Minister V. S Achuthanandan from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), who said that the Popular Front of India (PFI), which hit the headlines after its members were accused of chopping off the hand of a college lecturer, was aiming to convert Kerala into a Muslim country in the next 20 years.
Although Christians do have a seemingly strong unity and community with all their church activities, how come they were lured into Islam? Well, often times the girls, who left Christianity, were unable to understand what religious grooming looks like. The Muslims tell them that they respect prophet Jesus and Mary, and that the Christians should reconsider the Trinity that goes against the Tawhid, absolute monotheism. There is often also this that the Muslims use social justice causes as a perfect catalyst for conversion to Islam. For example the Palestine issue is regularly brought up in left circles, which is why many leftist girls (and boys) convert to Islam, as they see Islam as a source of resistance and resilience among the Palestinians.
So, how can one combat against Dawah? I cannot speak for other groups but for Hindus I highly suggest that learn about your own religion from trusted sources. Start with the very basics because Hinduism is a very simple religion with a highly sophisticated philosophy. The sophistication of this philosophy is often confused as being a high threshold for understanding Hinduism which is why Hinduism often gets branded as a complicated religion. What I mean by Hinduism being a simple religion is that in order to be Hindu, you don't need to memorise all the four Vedas and the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, you don't need to learn all the Shastras. All you need to do is your Nityakarma. Build an altar in your home, offer fruits every day to the gods and eat the prasad with gratitude, clean your house and your environment around you, respect others and live with dignity, help those around in need and help save animals in distress and hunger. Chant the name of the gods, never waste food, understand that in every element there is God. There's Saraswati in the books, there's Bhu Devi in earth, there's Surya in the sun, there's Ushas in dawn, there's Nidra in sleep. To Hindu parents, tell the stories of the epics, instill curiosity in your child's mind. Include your children into the daily rituals. Make it a ritual for you and your children to spend time together in positive activities. Teach your children to respect the people & the nature around them, teach them about dharma and karma. And remember to always tell them what it took their ancestors for Hinduism to survive to this day. Tell your children that there are less for fortunate Hindus who are persecuted but still remain strong in their faith. Pray together with them for all those Hindus perished in persecution. Teach your children about the greatness of Hindu civilisation and what it has given to the world. From mathematics to astronomy, and to philosophy, the contribution of Hinduism to the world is countless. Thank you for reading this far. 
