MAY 6

From Mosque to Mosque

An Arabic journal, Ad-Dirasat Al-Islamia (July-Sept 1955) published from Islamabad in a detailed report of Islam in France, tells of how a prominent French man, Le Cleck, now called Daniel Yousuf Le Cleck, accepted Islam. He subsequently, associated himself with the Tablighi Jamaat and later along with a group from this Jamaat, he performed Hajj on foot.

Starting from England he passed through various European countries, then passing through Turkey and Jordan, he reached Saudi Arabia. This long journey was undertaken from one mosque to another until he reached the Ka‘bah, the holiest of the mosques.

This tells us of an important reality. One special secret of success of the Tablighi Jamaat lies in its utilizing the present structure existing in the community. Had they made it a condition that the existing political system should first be conducive to the acceptance of Islam before they started their religious mission, they would have failed to make a positive start for an indefinite period of time. But when they started their work making use of the existing structure of the mosque, there was no delay whatsoever as the mosques were already scattered all over the world in very large numbers.

There are two ways of working in this world, one through politics and the other by da‘wah. The political method lays the most stress on changing the political system, as it holds that so long as the reins of political power are not in one’s own hands, no positive work can be accomplished. On the contrary, da‘wah finds ways of working without the abolition of the present system. In this way, the starting point can be available from day one; and each step taken means definite progress in this field.