Tabligh Jamaat

The Tabligh work revived by late MAULANA Mohammed Ilyas is increasingly spreading throughout the world, six points of Tabligh, General advice for workers, Amir and his responsibilities, An excerpt and English translation of urdu book called (Chay bat'ai) by Maulana Mohammed Ilyas (Late) and some additional comments from What Islam is? by Muhammad Manzoor Naomani

FOREWORD

By the mercy of Allah, the Tabligh work revived by late MAULANA Mohammed Ilyas is increasingly spreading throughout the world. The workers closely connected with and who are actively engaged in this great work know well and appreciate its importance. Others who are intellectually prepared and temperamentally inclined to learn about this tremendously appealing program find in English no authentic and relevant book on this program.

INTRODUCTION

We glorify Allah an ask Blessings and Peace on His noble Prophet his companions mad those who follow him in upholding the cause of the Right Religion.

We all know that this world is mortal. Everyone who is born here is destined to die one day, and everything that flourishes here is to meet its decay, sooner or later. We are therefore bound to believe that this is not our permanent and perpetual abode, we can never succeed in living here for ever. No one so far could do so and no one shall ever do so. Should we take this world as an eternal and everlasting home we should not be more than a fool. Without any doubt there is an end to our present existence. We are here on a journey and our original and real destination is yet to come. We are born here only to decorate our eternal home. We cannot be called wise if we prefer this mortal existence to the eternal one. It is a fact and we most bear it in mind permanently that our sole duty is to strive for the betterment of our real home.

Although the fact is so obvious and clear that none can deny it, yet man has ever since this creation in this world been neglecting it. He has been so fool as to prefer the mortal to the immortal. And it is only out of our Lord's utmost kindness towards His servants that man is reminded every now and then of this fact. Allah, the Almighty sent down thousands of Prophets into the world to guide man to the right path. These pious servants of Allah bore tremendous hardships and went ; through severe trials only to guide human beings to the Right path. The sole purpose of their Prophet hood was to remind he is not here fore ever and that he is to be transferred to another world. They explained to him in every possible way that his real success in this world and in the After-life lies only in his becoming a true vicegerent of his Lord and in placing more importance on his next life than on this present one. The Celestial Mission they were charged with to carry on was nothing but the righteous deeds gain success in the both worlds. while the wrong deeds lead to man's utter failure in both. They spent their lives enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. The glorious chain has ended with the last Holy prophet Mohammed (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) May peace be upon him Through him Allah proclaimed to the world that no more prophets would now be raised up for the guidance of humanity. Allah told us that henceforth the responsibility for preaching and propagation this Divine Mission has fallen wholly upon the shoulders of the followers of this revered last Prophet Mohammed (Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam). It is really a great significant and unique virtue of this Ummat. The Holy Qur'an says that very object of this Ummat (nation) was only to strive for the guidance of mankind

Allah says in Holy Quran:

"You are the best of peoples evolved for mankind. enjoyning what is right and forbidding what is wrong and believing in Allah ( 3:110)

It is a pity that the conditions prevailing now in the entire Muslim world are so extremely deplorable that what to speak of preaching of the faith and guiding the other, not more than two or three per cent of us are true to Islam. We have today become contented only with becoming superficially and traditionally connected with Islam and are far from being true faithful model of Islamic idealism.

This negligence of Muslim community towards the revival of the Islamic zeal has especially been more pitiable during the last few decade. Our enthusiasm towards "Amr B'l M'aaruf and Nahi Anil Munkar" ( enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong) has not been so energetic as it should have been. No general effort on this field was made. Of course there were many pious servants of Allah performing various religious duties in various parts of the world but most of these were individual efforts rather than a general movement.

Maualna Muhammad Ilyas (Late) (may Grace be upon his soul) can rightly be treated a pioneer in this field. He stood up in this state of chaos and took great pains to inculcate the spirit of Islamic ideology among the Muslim community, in both thought and practice. Maualna chalked out a six- point program for performing this divine mission. The significance of this program is that it aims in particular at the revitalization of Imaan (Faith) He was of the view that almost every Muslim has in the depth of his heart a bit of Imaan. But it is usually overpowered by other circumstances. If we succeed to rekindle this latent faith in his heart by providing treasure and help him to realize its importance. Imaan is the base on which the whole structure of the Divine Religion stands. So far as we do not revitalize it we can not erect the whole structure. If a Muslim is provided with an opportunity to strengthen his Imaan the tree of Islam will start blossoming, very rapidly and without much exertion. Maualna emphasized that every Muslim irrespective of his social status must try to bring home his Muslim brothers also with affection, toleration and to preach them the right action that would win them the favors of Allah and to warn them of the consequences of evil deed. In short, what he wanted was that a Muslim should strengthen his belief and reflect the true spirit of Islam by being constantly conscious of the value of his treasure i.e. Imaan.

Experience so far achieved in this field showed that Maualna was right in his approach and quite successful in his attempt. A Muslim who works in accordance with this program gains such valuable virtues as he molding his life in the pure Islamic shape.

The program is based on the six points.

1. Imaan

2. Salaat

3. 'Ilm and Dhikr (knowledge and remembrance of Allah)

4. Ikram-i Muslim to respect every Muslim

5. Ikhlas-i- Niyyat (sincerity) (of intention)

6. Tafrigh-i-Waqt (to spare time)

As you see the first two of these 6 points are the fundamental pillars of Islam while the remaining four are not so they can be called the auxiliary means. It should therefore be noted that the Tablighi movement does not tell that all these six points are the basic tenets of Islam. It simply means that the first basic tenets exercised with the support of the other four points bring more rapidly an overall change in a Muslim's life and help him in the faithful discharge of all his religious duties. The Kalimah, for instance, is to remind you the Oneness of Allah and His Lordship and that Holy Prophet Mohammed (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) is His Messenger. Salaat is a projection of the pledge we make by Kalimah into the realm of practice. Ilm (knowledge) is an inducement to acquire the knowledge of Allah' s Commandments and how to carry them out. Dhikr (Remembrance of Allah ) is to enlighten our hearts and strengthen our relations with the Almighty. Ikram-i-Muslim (to respect every Muslim) is to train ourselves for the real Islamic code of social conduct Ikhlas i-Niyyal (sincerity) is to prefer the Hereafter and the Divine Approbation to the luxuries of this mortal world. Tafrigh-i-Waqt (to spare time) is to provide an opportunity for training to adhere to the Divine Commandments. The seventh one i.e. abstinence from the useless pursuits is to keep one's mind as free from the worldly useless affairs as possible so that one can strive to achieve the goal safely and quickly.

Execution of the Program

As for the execution of the program, it is done by making Muslim move about far and wide for seeking and imparting knowledge and spreading the lofty injunctions of Islam and adhering to them strictly. For this purpose a few Muslims belonging to various categories of the community come together, select some one from among them as their Amir (party leader) and set out to work in his guidance. This group (termed as Jamaat) leaves their home, children and all otherworldly occupations for a certain period of time only to strive for the revitalization of their Faith in pursuance of the program. In this tour (Jammat) the participants do their best efforts to learn, teach and practice the not only the pillars of of Islam such as (Kalimah; Salaat, Zakaat, Soum and Hajj), but also practice and learn mutual rights and obligations, respect and affection for elders and youngsters, hospitality and courtesy, discipline and real obedience to Allah. With all sincerity and observing due regards and respects of every Muslim they go from door to door persuading Muslim brothers to realize their status as being men of Faith (Mu'min) and to revitalize the same with the help of the program. In the following chapters the six points of the program are being dealt with very briefly along with necessary instructions and advice. It may however be borne in mind that the program is a practical one and it can only be realized and appreciated by headlong active participation in the work. Hence, we sincerely invite you to join a Jama'at, and move along with n and have a practical experience by coming into a direct contact with some experienced, fellows staying at Basti Nizamuddin Auliya, New Delhi-13 (India).

I’d like to also mention the elders of nizaamudeen who also played a great role in the work of Dakwah:

1. Mohammed Iliyaas
2. Mohammed Yusuf
3. Hazratjee (Enaamul Hassan)
4. Shuraa
5. Umar Palan Puri
6. Sulayman Janchi
7. Moulana Ebrahim
8. Mohammed Elias
9. Mufti Idha
10. Moulana Nadwi
11. Hajee Mehraab

The elders recommend that every Muslim should go for jamaat as follows:

3 days a month

2 gash

40 days a year

4 months in a lifetime .

There are also four rules, which one must try to do when going out in the path of Allah :

1. Dakwah- SPREADING THE MESSAGE OF ISLAM
2. Ibadah- WORSHIPING ALLAH (ZIKR)
3. Taalim- RECITING OF AND QURAN AHADITH
4. Khimat- TAKING CARE OF YOU FELLOW MUSLIM BROTHER

Then there are the four things that you should do less:

1. Eat less
2. Sleep less
3. Spend less time out of the mosque
4. Speak less un-important things

Then there are the four things that you shouldn’t do:

1. Don’t take anything without permission
2. Don’t desire with the heart
3. Don’t desire with the tongue
4. Don’t speak of worldly affairs