Answer
Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear brother, let us express our sincere thanks to you for your eagerness to ask this question and we implore Almighty Allah to guide us all to His straight path and support you in your noble work!
Practicing da`wah (inviting people to Islam) is not an easy task; it is the work of Allah’s Prophets and Messengers, so you have to follow their path and be patient.
However, the best advice for you is that you need to increase your knowledge regarding the different Islamic schools of thought, especially that adopted by your community.
Responding to your question, Dr. Hatem Al-Hajj, Dean of College of Islamic Studies, Mishkah University, stated,
My dear brother, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Allah never sent a prophet unless he was a shepherd.” (Al-Bukhari)
This was a preparation by Allah, so that the Prophets develop the qualities of gentleness, patience, and forbearance. You will need those qualities for the rest of your life as an imam of a mosque and a shepherd of a community, so you need to strive to acquire these qualities and enhance them.
I advise myself and you to:
1- Avoid discrediting any advice before thoroughly examining it using the Qur’an and Sunnah, in line with the practice of the greatest generations and the greatest imams, including the four founders of the four madhhabs.
2- Know that Islam does not have a hierarchy of authority like the papal hierarchy. Although it may seem at times that this can lead to anarchy, it is still of the greatest beauties of Islam, which came to liberate the human intellect and bring down all barriers between humans and their Lord. So, be patient with your community.
3- Increase your knowledge, for this religion of ours is based on evidence, while judgment comes from texts of the revelation. Therefore, you will be able to guide your community better and make people listen to you more if you arm yourself with the sublime guidance of the Qur’an and Sunnah.
4- Learn the various opinions of Muslim scholars, because this will help you broaden your knowledge and allow you to see the reason behind their ijtihad(personal reasoning). You may choose one opinion, but you should be tolerant of other opinions, as long as they are founded on a correct method of deduction.
Finally, you need to know that you cannot please all people, but you can most verily please Allah, so look ahead and do your best and you will find a Merciful Judge in the hereafter. May Allah give you resolve and greatly reward you.