Sayyidi Habib Umar bin Hafiz (may Allah protect him and benefit us by him) explains the basis upon which we call to Allah.
If you wish to follow this path you must know that you call people to Allah from the platform of the Sacred Law, meaning that you try to bring them to Allah by reminding them of Allah’s orders and prohibitions, by teaching them to venerate Allah and His Messenger and by reminding them to prepare for the Hereafter.
Do not call them to Allah from the platform of your attachment to your shaykh or your spiritual path (tariqah). These attachments should not be made manifest in general gatherings (1). Allah has commanded us to speak to people according to the level of their intellect. Thus in general gatherings, we do not like to mention too much the affairs and states of the elect of Allah, on the basis of the principle of dealing with everyone according to their station. “Do you wish for people to deny Allah and His Messenger?”(2)
The reality is that we do not call people to individuals or groups, in spite of the fact that we have no doubt that the elect of Allah are doors to Allah and manifestations of His generosity. Just as it is impossible to call people to Allah without affirming the messengership of the Messengers, it is likewise impossible to affirm the message without affirming the inheritance and the station of the elect.
There are affairs which we have been ordered to clarify, and others which we have been ordered to conceal. There are affairs that should be kept private, and others that should be made public. We have been ordered to give some things priority over others. We should go with what Allah has ordered us to do. The lower self naturally rushes to give things that are less important priority over things that are more important.
—
توجيه النبيه ص92
1 Meaning gatherings attended by those who do not follow the same spiritual path.
2 Sayyiduna `Ali (may Allah ennoble him and be pleased with him) said: “Speak to people according to what is familiar to them. Do you wish for people to deny Allah and His Messenger?” Narrated by al-Bukhari.