tabligh work of rasulullah alaihi salatwassalam

The Tabligh work revived by late MAULANA Mohammed Ilyas is increasingly spreading throughout the world, six points of Tabligh,  General advice for workers, Amir and his responsibilities, An excerpt and  English translation of urdu book called (Chay bat'ai) by Maulana Mohammed Ilyas (Late) and some additional comments from What Islam is? by Muhammad Manzoor Naomani

By the mercy of Allah, the Tabligh work revived by late MAULANA Mohammed Ilyas is increasingly spreading throughout the world.  The workers closely connected with and who are actively engaged in this great work know well  and appreciate its importance.   Others who are intellectually prepared and temperamentally inclined to learn about this tremendously appealing program find in English no authentic and relevant book on this program.

We glorify Allah an ask Blessings and Peace on His noble Prophet his companions mad those  who follow him in upholding the cause of the Right Religion.

  We all know that this world is mortal. Everyone who is born here is destined to die one day, and  everything that flourishes here is to meet its decay, sooner or later. We are therefore bound to  believe that this is not our permanent and perpetual abode, we can never succeed in living here for  ever. No one so far could do so and no one shall ever do so. Should we take this world as an  eternal and everlasting home we should not be more than a fool. Without any doubt there is an end  to our present existence. We are here on a journey and our original and real destination is yet to  come. We are born here only to decorate our eternal home. We cannot be called wise if we prefer  this mortal existence to the eternal one. It is a fact and we most bear it in mind permanently that  our sole duty is to strive for the betterment of our real home.

Although the fact is so obvious and clear that none can deny it, yet man has ever since this creation  in this world been neglecting it. He has been so fool as to prefer the mortal to the immortal. And it is only out of our Lord's utmost kindness  towards His servants that man is reminded every now and  then of this fact. Allah, the Almighty sent down thousands of  Prophets into the world to guide man to the right path. These  pious servants of Allah bore tremendous hardships and went ; through severe trials only to guide human beings to the Right  path.  The sole purpose of their Prophet hood was to remind he is not here fore ever and that he is to be transferred to another world.   They explained to him in every possible way  that his real success in this world and in the After-life lies only  in his becoming a true vicegerent of his Lord and in placing  more importance on his next life than on this present one.  The Celestial Mission they were charged with to carry on was nothing but   the righteous  deeds gain success in the both worlds. while the wrong deeds lead to man's utter failure in both.  They spent their lives enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong.   The glorious chain has ended with the last  Holy prophet Mohammed (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) May peace be upon him   Through him Allah proclaimed to the world that no more prophets would now be raised up for the guidance of humanity.  Allah told us that henceforth the responsibility for preaching and propagation this Divine Mission has fallen wholly upon the shoulders of the followers of this revered last Prophet Mohammed (Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam).  It is really a great significant and unique virtue of this Ummat.  The Holy Qur'an says that very object of this Ummat (nation) was only to strive for the guidance of mankind

Allah says in Holy Quran:

"You are the best of peoples evolved for mankind. enjoyning what is right and forbidding what is wrong and believing in Allah ( 3:110)

It is a pity that the conditions prevailing now in the entire Muslim world are so extremely deplorable  that what to speak of preaching of the faith and guiding the other, not more than two or three per  cent of us are true to Islam. We have today become contented only with becoming superficially and  traditionally connected with Islam and are far from being true faithful model of Islamic idealism.

This negligence of Muslim community towards the revival of the Islamic zeal has especially been  more pitiable during the last few decade. Our enthusiasm towards "Amr B'l M'aaruf and Nahi Anil  Munkar" ( enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong) has not been so energetic as it should have been. No general effort on this field was made. Of course there were many pious  servants of Allah performing various religious duties in various parts of the world but most of these  were individual efforts rather than a general movement.

Maualna Muhammad Ilyas (Late) (may Grace be upon his soul) can rightly be treated a pioneer in this  field. He stood up in this state of chaos and took great pains to inculcate the spirit of Islamic  ideology among the Muslim community, in both thought and practice. Maualna chalked out a six-  point program for performing this divine mission.  The significance of this program is that it  aims in particular at the revitalization of Imaan (Faith)  He was of the view that almost every Muslim  has in the depth of his heart a bit of Imaan. But it is usually overpowered by other circumstances. If  we succeed to rekindle this latent faith in his heart by providing  treasure and help him to realize its importance.  Imaan is the base on which the whole structure of the Divine Religion stands. So  far as we do not revitalize it we can not erect the whole structure.  If a Muslim is provided with an opportunity to strengthen his  Imaan the tree of Islam will start blossoming, very rapidly and  without much exertion. Maualna emphasized that every Muslim  irrespective of his social status must try to bring home his  Muslim brothers also with affection, toleration and to preach  them the right action that would  win them the favors of Allah  and to warn them of the consequences of evil deed. In short,  what he wanted was that a Muslim should strengthen his belief  and reflect the true spirit of Islam by being constantly conscious  of the value of his treasure i.e. Imaan.

Experience so far achieved  in this field showed that Maualna  was right in his approach and quite successful in his attempt.  A  Muslim who works in accordance with this program gains  such valuable virtues as he molding his life in the pure  Islamic shape.

The program is based on the six points.

1. Imaan

2. Salaat

3. 'Ilm and Dhikr (knowledge and remembrance of Allah)

4. Ikram-i  Muslim to respect every Muslim

5. Ikhlas-i- Niyyat  (sincerity) (of intention)

6. Tafrigh-i-Waqt (to spare time)

As you see the first two of these 6 points are the fundamental  pillars  of Islam while the remaining four  are not so they can be called the auxiliary means.  It should therefore be noted that the Tablighi  movement does not tell that all these six points are the basic tenets of Islam. It simply means that  the first basic tenets exercised with the support of the other four points bring more rapidly an overall  change in a Muslim's life and help him in the faithful discharge of all his religious duties. The Kalimah,  for instance, is to remind you the Oneness of Allah and His  Lordship and that Holy Prophet  Mohammed (Sallallahu Alayhi  Wasallam) is His Messenger. Salaat is a projection of the pledge  we make by Kalimah into the realm of practice.  Ilm (knowledge) is an inducement to acquire the knowledge of Allah' s Commandments and how to carry them out.  Dhikr (Remembrance of  Allah ) is to enlighten our hearts and strengthen our relations with  the Almighty.  Ikram-i-Muslim (to respect every Muslim) is to train ourselves for the real Islamic code of social conduct Ikhlas i-Niyyal (sincerity) is to prefer the  Hereafter and the Divine  Approbation to the luxuries of this mortal world.  Tafrigh-i-Waqt  (to spare time) is to provide an opportunity for training to adhere  to the Divine Commandments.  The seventh one i.e. abstinence  from the useless pursuits  is to keep one's mind  as free from  the worldly useless affairs  as possible so that one can strive to achieve the goal safely and quickly.

  As for the execution of the program, it is done by  making Muslim move about far and wide for seeking and imparting knowledge and spreading the lofty injunctions of Islam and adhering to them strictly.  For this purpose a few  Muslims belonging to various categories of the community come together, select some one from among them as their Amir (party leader) and set out to work in his guidance. This  group (termed as Jamaat) leaves their home, children and all  otherworldly occupations for a certain period of time only to  strive for the revitalization of their Faith in pursuance of the  program.  In this tour (Jammat) the participants do their  best efforts  to learn, teach and practice the not only the pillars of  of Islam  such as (Kalimah;  Salaat, Zakaat, Soum and Hajj), but also practice and learn  mutual rights and obligations,  respect and affection for elders and youngsters, hospitality and courtesy, discipline and real obedience to Allah. With all sincerity and observing due regards and respects of every Muslim they go from door to door persuading Muslim brothers to realize their status as being men of Faith (Mu'min) and to revitalize the same with the help of the program. In the following chapters  the six points of the program are being dealt with very briefly along with necessary instructions and advice. It may however be borne in mind that the program is a practical one and it can only be realized and appreciated by headlong active participation in the work. Hence, we sincerely invite you to join a Jama'at, and move along with n and have a practical experience by coming into a direct contact with some experienced, fellows staying at Basti  Nizamuddin Auliya, New Delhi-13 (India).