Stipulation
The Maulana knew what was, commonly, meant by
inviting a spirtua! mentor or his successor to their place by his disciples and
admirers, and he was not willing to go to Mewat only to fulfill the formalities
of attending the dinner given in his honor delivering a few sermons and giving
good counsel. He wanted to make sure before undertaking the trip, that
some real advance would be made, as a result of his visit, towards bringing the
Meos closer to Islam and improving their moral condition, arid, during those
days, the setting up of Maktabs and Madrassas in Mewat appeared to him to be
the most effective step in that direction. H had, thus, made it clear that he
would accept the invitation only on the condition that they promised to
establish Maktabs in their territory.
For the Mewatis, however, no undertaking could
be harder to give. They considered the establishment of Maktabs next to
impossible for the simple reason that no one would be sending his children to
them, and, thus, depriving himself of their contribution to the family income
as daily wage-earners. The enthusiasm of those who came to invite quickly
subsided as they heard of the stipulation. In desperation, however, a
Mewati, finally, made the promise, leaving the rest to God
first he started Establishment of Maktabs(religious
schools)
Maulana Mohammad Ilyas, accordingly, went to
Mewat and demanded the fulfillment of the promise. After great persuasion,
the beginning was made and the first Maktab was established.
The Maulana used to tell the Mawatis, “Give me
the pupils, I will provide the money.” The Meos who were, mainly, farmers,
could not easily reconcile themselves to the position that their children
applied themselves to reading and writing and stopped working in the fields or
looking after the cattle. It took a lot of tact and perseverance to bring them
round to it.
Ten Maktabs were opened during that
visit. Once the ice was broken, the progress was easy. Sometimes, several
Maktabs were opened in a day till, within a few years, hundreds of such schools
were functioning in Mewat.
