Bismillahir Rahmanirraheem
Tabligh literally means ‘to convey’. Contextually, it refers to conveying the message of Islam. This is the sunnah of all the prophets. The most important rule of tabligh is hikmah. Allah Ta’ala says in the Holy Quran:
ادع إلى سبيل ربك بالحكمة والموعظة الحسنة
Invite (people) to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good counsel. (Verse: 16:125)
Whosoever does tabligh must adopt hikmah. It is only then, that people will understand and accept.
Tablighi Jamaat is not a jamaat/group Rather it is a movement that saw a gradual evolution starting from 1920-27.
Proof from Quran and Hadith For The Work of Tabligh
The work of tabligh ‘has strong basis in Quran and sunnah’. There are numerous verses of the Quran and the Ahadith of Nabi (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) that support the practice of tabligh. Hereunder are a few of them:
From the Holy Quran:
1.
ادع إلى سبيل ربك بالحكمة والموعظة الحسنة
Invite (people) to the way of your lord with wisdom and good counsel. (Verse: 16:125)
2.
ولتكن منكم أمة يدعون إلى الخير ويأمرون بالمعروف وينهون عن المنكر
And there has to be a group of people from among you who call towards good and prevent from evil. (Verse: 3:104)
3.
ومن أحسن قولا ممن دعا إلى الله وعمل صالحا وقال إنني من المسلمين
And who is better in utterance than the one who called people towards Allah, and acts righteously and says, “I am one of those who submit themselves (to Allah Ta’ala). (Verse: 41:33)
From the Ahadith of Nabi (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam):
4.
فقال أبو سعيد أما هذا فقد قضى ما عليه سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول من رأى منكم منكرا فليغيره بيده فإن لم يستطع فبلسانه فإن لم يستطع فبقلبه وذلك أضعف الإيمان
Hazrat Abu Sa’eed (Radhiyallahu Anhu) narrates that he heard Nabi (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) saying, “Whosoever witnesses a forbidden act being committed, he should prevent it by the use of his hands; if he is unable to do so, then he should prevent it with his tongue; if he is unable to do so, he should at least consider it a vice in his heart; and this is a very low level of Iman”.
(Sahih Muslim Vol.2 Pg.211/2 - Darul Ma’rifah)
5.
عن النعمان بن بشير رضي الله عنهما عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال مثل القائم على حدود الله والواقع فيها كمثل قوم استهموا على سفينة فأصاب بعضهم أعلاها وبعضهم أسفلها فكان الذين في أسفلها إذا استقوا من الماء مروا على من فوقهم فقالوا لو أنا خرقنا في نصيبنا خرقا ولم نؤذ من فوقنا فإن يتركوهم وما أرادوا هلكوا جميعا وإن أخذوا على أيديهم نجوا ونجوا جميعا
It has been reported on the authority of Nu’man bin Bashir (Radhiyallahu Anhu) that Nabi (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said, “There are people who do not transgress the limits (laws) of Allah Ta’ala, and there are others who do so. They are like two groups who boarded a ship; one of them settled on the upper deck, and the other on the lower deck of the ship. When the people of the lower deck needed water, they said, “Why should we cause trouble to the people of the upper deck when we can have plenty of water by making a hole in our deck”. Now, if the people of the upper deck do not prevent this group from such foolishness, all of them will perish; but if they stop them, they will be saved”.
(Sahih Al Bukhari Vol.3 Pg.152 - Darul fikr)
OBJECTIVE OF TABLIGHI JAMAAT
Their objective is that each and every Muslim adopts the Islamic way in all aspects of life. They do not advice anyone to leave all their daily activities and join this work, but they encourage people to take out some time from their daily engagements so that the rest of the time could be spent in accordance to the teachings of Islam. Spending time in the path of Allah is not the objective of the work, but rather it acts as a motivation to practice on all other aspects of Deen.
Their call is based on Quran and Ahadith and always guided by Pious Ulema and Muftiyan Karam
Their call is for complete deen and they say to people:
Our success in this life and the life hereafter is in obeying the commandments of Allah (SWT) and in following the noble ways (Sunnah) of Rasul-ullah (Sallaho Alaihe Wassallam)
There is ABUNDANT EVIDENT from the Qur’aan in their call as Allah (SWT) has said:
وَأَطِيعُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّڪُمۡ تُرۡحَمُونَ
[3:132]Obey Allah and the Messenger, so that you may be blessed.
قُلۡ أَطِيعُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلرَّسُولَ*ۖ فَإِن تَوَلَّوۡاْ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلۡكَـٰفِرِينَ
[3:32] Say: .Obey Allah and the Messenger. Then, should they turn back, Allah does not love the disbelievers.
قَدۡ أَفۡلَحَ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ
[23:1]Success is really attained by the believers
وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ وَٱلۡمُؤۡمِنَـٰتِ جَنَّـٰتٍ۬ تَجۡرِى مِن تَحۡتِهَا ٱلۡأَنۡهَـٰرُ خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيہَا وَمَسَـٰكِنَ طَيِّبَةً۬ فِى جَنَّـٰتِ عَدۡنٍ۬*ۚ وَرِضۡوَٲنٌ۬ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ أَڪۡبَرُ*ۚ ذَٲلِكَ هُوَ ٱلۡفَوۡزُ ٱلۡعَظِيمُ
[9:72] Allah has promised to the believers, male and female, gardens beneath which rivers flow, where they shall live forever, and good homes in gardens of eternity. And Allah‘s pleasure is above all. That is the supreme success.
Tabligh Remind people as
They remind our Muslim brothers and Sisters to change their life according to Qur’aan and Sunnah and we believe that our reminder also has evidence from the book of Allah (SWT):
They remind our Muslim brothers and Sisters to change their life according to Qur’aan and Sunnah and we believe that our reminder also has evidence from the book of Allah (SWT):
وَذَكِّرۡ فَإِنَّ ٱلذِّكۡرَىٰ تَنفَعُ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ
[51:55] And keep reminding, because reminding benefits the believers.
How to actually change their life? We refer them to the Ulama (& people of knowledge) and we believe that we evidence for that from the book of Allah (SWT) as well:
How to actually change their life? We refer them to the Ulama (& people of knowledge) and we believe that we evidence for that from the book of Allah (SWT) as well:
فَسۡـَٔلُوٓاْ أَهۡلَ ٱلذِّڪۡرِ إِن كُنتُمۡ لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ
Allah says :
Indeed Allah conferred a great favour on the believers when He sent among them a Messenger(Mohammed (s.a.s)) from amongst themselves,reciting unto them His verses(by means of these verses inviting them and advising them) and purifying them(of sins and their conduct) and teaches them the book(Quran) and Al-Hikmah(wisdom),before which they were in manifest error. (Aal-‘Imran:164)
It has been substantiated by the Qur’an and Ahadithe – sahiha (confirmed traditions) that the Ummah (followers) of the Last of the prophets (s.a.s), was Divinely deputed for the guidance of all peoples (nations) of the world.
Allah says :
(O Muslims) You are the best of the peoples, you have been sent towards mankind, to enjoin good and forbid evil (Aal-‘Imran:110)
This verse clearly implies that the muslim ummah is the deputy to the prophet, in his ordained obligations of inviting towards righteousness,enjoining good and forbidding evil.Hence,the obligations entrusted to rasulullah(s.a.s) – invitation through recitation of the Quran,purifying people of undesirable qualities and teaching the book and wisdom – became the prime responsibilities of muslim ummah as well.
Therefore Rasulullah (s.a.s) taught his ummah to spend their life and wealth in inviting towards Allah, learning and teaching divine knowledge, remembering and worshipping Allah.
The sahabah gave preference to the above deeds over all worldly preoccupations. They were trained to practice these A’mal (actions) under all circumstances with complete dedication, patience and forbearance withstanding all forms of difficulties and hardships. And they were taught to benefit others by sacrificing physically and materially.
In compliance with the command :
“And strive hard in Allah’s cause, as you ought to strive” (Al-Hajj: 78)
The sahabah strove in the manner of prophets with piety, austerity, discipline, self-sacrifice and giving preference to others.
Thus, an environment was created in which emerged models of excellence, who became best of the ummah. The era in which the deeds of Rasulullah (s.a.s) were collectively practiced by the ummah was declared to be the Khair-ul-Qurun(the best of all the times, or the best period of ummah).
Then in successive periods, the religious elite of ummah spent their full effort and energy in fulfilling these prophetic obligations.
The luminance of these self-sacrificing efforts is still illuminating in the world of Islam.
In these times, Allah placed in the heart of Sheik Muhammad Ilyas (rah) restlessness and anxiety over the erosion in Islam and burning desire to correct this state of ummah. In the view of religious elite of his times he was unique in this respect.
He used to remain restless and concerned for the revival of all what was revealed to Rasulullah (s.a.s) by Allah in the whole world.
He advocated, with resolute determination, that any effort for the revival of Deen can only be effective when its done in the manner of Rasulullah (s.a.s)
Therefore, such Da’i (one who invites towards Islam) need to be developed, whose desires should be consistent in knowledge, action, thought, perception, passion, compassion and the manner of invitation to Islam - with the aspirations of prophets, particularly Muhammad (s.a.s). Not only should they posses a strong emaan and virtuous deeds, but their inner inspirations should be like those of prophets, they should cherish a fervent love of Allah and his fear.
In character and habits, they should adhere to Sunnah of prophet (s.a.s). Their love or hatred should be for the sake of Allah. The motivating factor behind their inviting to Islam should be a deep compassion and mercy for Muslims, and kindness for all the creation of Allah. The oft-repeated Devine principle for prophets. “Our reward is solely with Allah,” should be their hallmark. They should have no other objective except the pleasure of Allah.
They should have such a passionate desire for the revival of Deen in the world that it keeps driving them, away of their routines, in the path of Allah; while their lives and wealth becoming mere instruments in attaining this objective. There should be no notion of personal authority, status, wealth, property, honor and fame; not even a desire for personal rest and comfort. Whether sitting, standing, speaking, or walking; every act should be geared in this direction.
To revive the ways of Rasulullah (s.a.s) in this effort and bring all facets of life according to commandments of Allah and the sunnah of Rasulullah (s.a.s), and to equip those struggling in this path of Tabligh with the above mentioned qualities the six points were prescribed.