AN APPEAL TO THE HEART

~ 48 ~ Maulana Ilyas attached great importance to this method of preaching. Besides being a means of conveying the message to others, it was a multipurpose scheme meant to train, educate and reform. When a person undertakes long, arduous journeys in the path of Tabligh, he himself learns, while teaching others, and rectifies his own mistakes. Coming face to face with the pathetic plight of the people, he feels spurred on to intensify his efforts to bring them to the straight path. He makes sacrifices. He prays for them. It is then that he can truly taste the pleasures of a religious life. Then alone can he utter words which melt the hearts of the listener. Making people come out of their homes is central to the Maulana’s way of working, because this gives people the opportunity to quit their worldly atmosphere and go in search of a religious one. Only in an atmosphere free of worldly thoughts can there be true receptivity to the message conveyed. It becomes like a chain reaction. The listeners are imbued with the zeal to make others listen to them. This scheme of encouraging people to come forth has had amazingly successful results.