Prophetic approaches in communication: A pilot analysis of hadith prophet muhammad

Prophet Muhammad’s strategies in calling to Islam have always been referred to as exemplary in many writings on the principles of Da’wah communication. These studies however only touch on the surface of the communication skills of the prophet. This article attempts to present an in-depth analysis of Prophet Muhammad’s verbal and non-verbal communication strategies in disseminating the message of the Quran. A hadith taken from the collection of Sahih Muslim, explaining the Hajj, which is one of the five pillars of Islam, is chosen for analysis. A detailed reading of the Hadith is carried out. The saying is analysed textually and triangulated with the contextual analysis of the hadith based on other narrations, the Quranic verses, Islamic history and Asbab al-Wurud or reasons for stating hadiths. Findings show that although Prophet Muhammad’s non-verbal communication of silence shows an uneasy expression of feeling and an indication that the conversation between him and his addressee is not going smoothly, the if-clauses is predominantly used by him, which hints at the possibility of politeness, avoiding rudeness and avoiding coercion.