4. TWO DAYS IN NIZAMUDDIN

4. TWO DAYS IN NIZAMUDDIN ~ 103 ~ inspiration of Maulana Ilyas. Since then he has never looked back. This Mewati missionary had now grown old, bearded and of browner skin, and his simple and confident words made me feel as though I were in the presence of one of the companions of the Prophet. I listened ‘to him with rapt attention just as an obedient student does to his kind teacher. I still regret that our conversation was interrupted and we had to separate. He recounted the whole story of how Maulana Ilyas had been confronted with stiff resistance by unruly Mewati villagers when he attempted to reform them, and how on one occasion, in return for his exhortations, he had received a hard blow, as a result of which he had collapsed. The way he won the hearts of this barbarous people is a long story which has already been mentioned in the first chapter. To be brief, Maulana Ilyas realized from his experience that until the Mewatis were separated from their environment, the intended result could not be achieved. They were, therefore, brought to stay in mosques for a period of time in order to be