4. TWO DAYS IN NIZAMUDDIN

4. TWO DAYS IN NIZAMUDDIN ~ 100 ~ learning, remembrance of God, heartfelt prayers, recall of our duties to man, the practice of courtesy and so on. In short, a spiritual ambience is engendered the whole daylong. This spiritual environment is the first thing that attracts the newcomer. He is also struck by the difference between this centre and the centres of other parties, be they religious or secular in character. Almost invariably such centres are eventually reduced to mere offices. The spirit of devotion and dedication with which they should be imbued gives way to routine, lifeless activities which are repeated, without meaning, day in and day out. It is this difference that calls to mind the mosque of the Prophet. In the days of the Prophet and his companions, the Masjid-e-Nabawi was the centre of the Islamic movement. This centre was not, however, an office of ritual, routine activities like those favoured by the religious parties of modern times. It was the centre of Islam and of Islamic life itself, where prayers were held in remembrance of God, people gathered together to remember God, to turn to Him, to help their fellowmen, to recite the Quran and Hadith, to contemplate ways and means