EARLY CIRCUMSTANCES

~ 6 ~ would say a prayer of thanks that God had granted him the opportunity to serve His servants. It was this saintly person who was the father of Maulana Ilyas. This family traced its descent to the Valiullahi family, who had been chosen by God to rectify the distorted picture of Islam which had resulted from the Taimur family’s wrong attitude towards religion. He was born into a family where there was no need to have recourse to make-believe stories for inspiration, as there had been a whole series of such devoted people in his family whose true stories of sacrifice in the path of God very well served the purpose. Even the women would tell their babies the stories of their forefathers who had, at all costs, dedicated themselves to the divine path. Religion was practised to the letter. The mothers in this family naturally did not wish material success for their children. On seeing extraordinary abilities in them, they did not say, like common people, “This child will be rich and great.” They said rather, “This child reminds me of the companions of the prophet. We wish he could follow the same path.” It was in such an atmosphere that the Maulana grew up.