Tabligh Movement

Tabligh Movement

1985 6 June 13-15 Tabligh Movement (951) 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 trying 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 days they looked like creatures from another world, but nowadays they have become such a familiar sight that they hardly need description.

Innumerable such people, traveling 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 Jamaat, has inspired in people a new fervour, a new zeal to serve the divine cause. It is truly amazing to learn that its founder was a slight, short-statured individual, who, because of the impediment in his speech, was rather unimpressive in personality. There were times when he found it difficult to express himself due to his bad stammer. It was this extraordinary figure, known as Maulana Ilyas, who founded the Tablighi Jamaat, thus inspiring among thousands of people a religious zeal which had been unknown for centuries. Although frail to the point of physical weakness, he possessed great inner strength which provided solutions to every problem which confronted him. His indomitable will and staunchness of purpose in guiding people along the right path made him exert himself in a manner which many a physically stronger person would have found arduous.

Early Circumstances

If one climbed a high building in Delhi at the turn of the 19th century, one could see some buildings scattered here and there in the vicinity of sprawling jungles. This was the place famous for the shrine of Nizamuddin Aulia, which has given its name to the place. Maulana Mohd Ismail, a religious scholar, who died in 1898, lived there. In his eagerness to help the people he had taken to seeking out labourers in that forsaken place, offering them his help, and fetching water for them to drink. Then he 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 succession of such devoted people in his family whose true stories of sacrifice in the path of God 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 Maulana grew up. His parents owned a bookshop which was managed by his elder brother, Maulana Yahya. Maulana Ilyas, being too weak for physical exertion, could not undertake any job that involved physical strength. He did not, therefore, help his elder brother in his work. Instead he devoted his time and attention to religious studies, while his elder brother worked hard to run the bookshop. One day the manager suggested to him that Maulana Ilyas should also be engaged in the work. Maulana Yahya, was quite disconcerted at his remark, and replied, “The prophet has said, ‘You owe your provision to the weaker embers of your family.’ “I believe that it is owing to this child that I receive my provision.” He further admonished him not to say such things to him in future. In this atmosphere of absolute purity of thought, word and deed, it was natural that his emotions and feelings should be cast in the same mould. One of Maulana’s class fellows has narrated an incident which took place when Maulana was a student. “One day,” he said, “Maulana brought a stick, and holding it in his hand he said, “Come, my dear Riyazul Islam, let us declare holy war on those who do not say their prayers.”

After completing his school education, he went on to higher studies. Soon he was offered the post of teacher at the Mazahirul Islam religious institute at Saharanpur. But before long, new opportunities opened out before him, and his training period commenced. His father had set up a small religious school in Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin to impart free education to poor students. After the death of his father, the elder brother had taken charge of it. When, on this sad occasion, he came home to condole, the people who were running the school insisted on his staying there and take up his father’s cause. He acceded to their request.

Now there began a new phase in his life. It was at this place that he first came into contact with the Mewatis. Moved by their religious and spiritual poverty, he set himself to reform their condition through religious education. The initial stimulus thus came from Mewati Muslims. Gaining momentum gradually, the work of bringing people closer to the path of God, spread far and wide.