All praises to the Sustainer of the worlds, and grace;
honour and salutations 'on, the 'Chief of'Apostles, and Seal of Prophets, Mubammad,Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam his family, companions and those who
followed him in an excellent fashion and ,invited mankind towards Allah, till the Day of Resurrection.
This is a reality which can be stated without any ambiguity and exaggeration, that in the Islamic world of today the most powerfull, useful and all-encompassing effort, is the struggle of
the Tablighi Jamaat whose center is situated at the Tablighi Markaz Nizamuddin, Dehli (India)
The scope of this effort and its impact is not restricted to' the Indian subcontinent, Asia, but extends to many continents and to a host qf Islamic and Non-Islamic states.
The history of such campaigns and revolutionary or
reformative 'movements shows that, after passage of a period of time; or when the ~cope ofthe effort enlarges greatly (specially 'when, by means of it, the attainment of certain advantages and leadership becomes apparent) then such weaknesses, unwanted
objectives and neglect of the original goals set in, which reduce or even totally wipe out the true influence of the work.
However,the Tablfghi effort (as far as the knowledge and observations of th writer go) has, toa large extent been saved from these tribulations up to now.
It is quite evident that d:e nature of this movement is based on giving others priority over oneself (despite one's dire needs), a passion for sacrifice, a quest for the pleasure of Allah, a desire for reaping rewards in the Hereai'ter, respect and honour of Islam and Muslims, humility and submissiveness to
Allah, the proper fulfillment of religious obligations,with a desire for further advancement, a preoccupation with the remembrance of Allah, refraining as far as humanly possible from unprofitable and unnecessary preoccupations and
undertaking protracted journeys, while enduring· all sorts of hardships for the pleasure of Allah Subbanahu wa Ta'ala have become a regular practice.
These special characteristics and distinctions of this work attributable to the sincerity of its first preacher (Sheikh Mohammad Ilyas Ral)imatullahu 'alaihi), his preoccupation
"'with Allah, his prayers, struggle, sacrifice and above all, theacceptance of this work by Allah the Exalted. Beside this. it is also a consequence of those principles and preconditions which were declared essential by its first preacher from its very
inception, and on which he always insisted and propagated.
To think about the meanings and responsibilities inherent in the Kalimah, to acquire knowledge of the virtues of fulfilling all forms of obligatory worship, a consciousness of the virtues of knowledge and the remembrance of Allah along with a preoccupation with the remembrance of Allah, respect for
Muslims with an appreciation and fulfillment of their rights, to correct the motive!; behind every action, so that it is done sincerely and solely for the pleasure of Allah, to refrain from all that is irrelevant, and an enthusiasm and consciousness of
the virtues of travelling in the path of Allah. These are those elements and characteristics which have protected this movement from becoming a political, material organization, geared for obtaining material benefits, fame and authority, and it has remained a purely religious movement aimed at attaining
the pleasure of Allah.
These principles and elements, which have been
considered essential for this movement, have been derived from the Qura'n and Sunnah. They serve as its guardians to obtain the pleasure of Allah and protect Deen (religion) and their sources -are the Qura'n and Prophetic practices and traditions.
There was thus a need that all the relevant Qura'nic verses and anadIth (Prophetic practices and sayings) be compiled in a book. Praise be to Allah, that the second preacher of this movement of inviting towards righteousness, Sheikh Mul}ammad Yusuf (son of , Sheikh Ilyas Rahmatullahi Allaihi 'alaihi) who had a very profound and comprehensive knowledge of books of Ahadith, has collected
all the relevant principles, rules and precautions from their original sources in th€ form of a book. He has been so comprehensive and extensive that this book is not merely a compilation of these principles rules and instructions, but perhaps an encyclopedia, in which without being selective or brief, all of these have been mentioned with their relative
importance.
