MAULANA ILYAS

~ 4 ~ 1. MAULANA ILYAS It was a cold day in winter. The year 1966. I alighted from a train at a station on the North Eastern Railway. On my way back home, I was struck by something rather remarkable in the appearance of a group of pedestrians who were hurrying to cross the street. Dressed in coarse, simple clothes, with bags and beddings on their shoulders, they somehow had a religious aura about them as they pressed onwards. In those now far-off days they looked like creatures from another world, but nowadays they have become such a familiar sight that they hardly need description. Innumerable people of this kind travelling in caravans have opted for the hard way to serve the cause of God. Many such groups, by turns, are constantly on the move. This great movement generally known as Tablighi Jama’at, has inspired in people a new fervour, a new zeal to serve the divine cause. Its founder surprisingly was a slight, short-statured individual, rather unimpressive in personality. There were times when he found it difficult to express himself because of his bad