TWO DAYS IN NIZAMUDDIN
The Upper India Express was charging along at full speed. The green fields on both sides, the lakes and rivers overflowing with water were a delight to the eye. The beauty of the hills and dales, the slopes and the heights, the land and the water made no difference to the train, however, for it continued to speed along unceasingly, ignoring the minor stations as if it were destined to continue its journey forever.
It occurred to me at this point that the journey of a seeker of truth somewhat resembles it. The charms and delights of the world come before him to tempt and seduce him to the ways of the world, but he refuses to be affected by them. Comforts and luxuries lure him, but he goes on his way without pausing. Matters of minor significance confront him, but his vision is not obstructed by them. He suffers setbacks in life, but that does not weaken him in his resolve. A seeker of truth is not like a stranded person in an aimless world. There is a goal that he has set himself and a destination that he is sure of. How can he then waste his time on the way by engaging himself in anything inferior to the goal he has set for himself? He will continue to proceed on his journey till he reaches his destination.
It was August 14, 1966. At 10 O’clock in the morning we arrived at our destination—Bangla Wali Masjid, situated near the tomb of Nizamuddin Aulia. This mosque has been famous as the centre of the reform movement for decades. There was a time when this place, far from the town, was sparsely populated. But now it bustles with life. The place is known as Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin, now a part of Delhi Corporation. When Maulana Ilyas started his mission, his voice was as unfamiliar and unpopular as this place was at one time. Today a crowd of people are attracted to this mission and it has become the centre of a world movement. We can liken this centre to the heart. Just as the blood circulates from the heart throughout the body, then returns to the same place, so do the people going out from this place come back to it to recharge themselves spiritually so that they may continue their journey onwards with renewed vigour. This movement has a beginning but has no end. It is boundless and endless.
People from far and near, from a diversity of lands and climes come together at this point. The congregation is of rich and poor, of young and old, of educated and illiterate.
What is it that brings myriads of people flocking to this place? This is the first question that strikes a newcomer. The answer is not long in coming to him, for as he joins in the programme, listening to the speeches and heart-felt prayers, and saying Amen to them, he can feel an extraordinary property possessing his heart and mind, just like magic. There is some irresistible force that draws him closer and closer to the truth of the matter. His own personal experience tells him why this place is thronged with people from far and near, from home and abroad.
I was asleep in a room in the upper storey of the mosque. The voice of the alarm wakened me up at half past three O’ clock. The activities at the Tabligh centre had commenced. People got up and carried out their ablutions to be ready for Tahajjud (after-midnight prayer). Some engaged themselves in reciting the Quran; while others were praying for the improvement of Ummah (the community of believers), lying in prostration until the call to prayer was announced by a Muezzin (crier). About 300 men stood in rows to perform their dawn prayers.
When the prayer had finished, an announcement was made for people to stay, as a speech was going to be made shortly, its topic being, ‘The Relationship between Religion and the World’. Simple words, spontaneity, striking, familiar, immediate similes, psychological expressiveness aimed at exciting religious zeal, a simple but forceful logic understandable even to the common man, far from the high flown words of religious speeches and free from the boredom of a sermon-these were, in short, the very fabric of the morning speech. It continued till the sun rose high. But the speech was so appealing that none of the listeners would leave before the end. When it was over, people were requested to offer their services and join the Jama’at that was due to leave town in order to spread the message among others. This programme came to an end at half past eight.
Now it was time for breakfast for the entire community. After breakfast, another meeting was arranged to impart religious knowledge which dwelt on forming a proper relationship with the Lord and trusting Him alone in all our affairs. This meeting concluded with prayers. The Chief (Emir) prayed to which the others said Amen. The powerlessness of man and the all-powerfulness of God was emphasized. Feelings of love and fear for God so touched people’s hearts as to make them cry. After this prayer, the despatching of missionary groups was attended to. Lists of those who had offered their services for this work were drawn up according to the areas to which they were to be despatched. The names of those people who were undertaking the journey were called out one by one, and each in turn came up to the chief to shake hands with him and receive his blessings before he departed. Such a poignant scene evoked memories of the Prophet sitting in the Masjid-e-Nabawi, exhorting people and sending them out in groups to propagate the message to those who were ignorant. The Emir shook hands with each of them and wished them well with the invocation: “I entrust you to God and pray for you. May God accept our humble services towards His path.” Even a lame person offered himself and came limping to shake hands before he left. Another took along his 10-year-old child. Those who witnessed the scene could not but be impressed.
This part of the programme ended at half past 12 O’clock. It was time for lunch. After that, some time was set aside for rest. At three O’clock the prayer was said. Again, lessons in religious knowledge were given. The Asr (Afternoon) prayer was offered. Between Asr and Maghrib (sunset prayer) a long speech was made, then after Maghrib, the speech continued. Then the people withdrew to have dinner. After dinner the speech was resumed and ended only at midnight.
The programme mentioned above was not one meant for some special occasion. Rather this was the routine. Other movements and missions follow such a busy schedule only on special occasions. But at this religious centre, this very full programme is followed right throughout the year.
Hundreds of people are engaged in such wholesome activities as lessons in religious learning, remembrance of God, heartfelt prayers, recall of our duties to man, the practice of courtesy and so on. In short, a spiritual ambience is engendered the whole daylong. This spiritual environment is the first thing that attracts the newcomer. He is also struck by the difference between this centre and the centres of other parties, be they religious or secular in character. Almost invariably such centres are eventually reduced to mere offices. The spirit of devotion and dedication with which they should be imbued gives way to routine, lifeless activities which are repeated, without meaning, day in and day out.
It is this difference that calls to mind the mosque of the Prophet. In the days of the Prophet and his companions, the Masjid-e-Nabawi was the centre of the Islamic movement. This centre was not, however, an office of ritual, routine activities like those favoured by the religious parties of modern times. It was the centre of Islam and of Islamic life itself, where prayers were held in remembrance of God, people gathered together to remember God, to turn to Him, to help their fellowmen, to recite the Quran and Hadith, to contemplate ways and means to propagate the message of Islam. On entering the Prophet’s mosque, one felt as if one had reached an oasis after being exposed to extremes of climate. The Prophet’s mosque of that time was not a grand building with every comfort. On the contrary, what was special about it was the pure Islamic environment which attracted people from far and near. There one could see real concern among the people to propagate the message of God, there one could see in the lives of the people the Quran being practised in the real sense of the word. Whoever attended the gatherings of the Prophet’s mosque could not help being impressed.
Bangla Wali Mosque has been successful in creating just such an environment for more than a quarter of a century. It is a revival of one aspect of the Prophet’s Sunnah, the like of which is hard to find in the recent past. In this world, there is no dearth of offices set up in the name of Islam. But an Islamic Centre on the pattern of Masjid-e-Nabavi is very rare. This fact in itself makes it worthy of the promised divine succour. It is related that Syed Ataullah Shah Bukhari, the great religious scholar, once visited this place, was so impressed by the activities of the mosque, that he observed in one of his speeches: “I thought that Nizamuddin Aulia had passed away. But I have learnt that he still lives on. I have renewed my faith during my stay here. Whosoever wishes to do the same should visit this place.”
In order to understand the method that is adopted by this movement, we need to go back to its beginning. During my visit to the centre, while I was conversing with an associate of this mission, an elderly person who, by his appearance, seemed to be an illiterate villager, sat next to me. When one of my colleagues casually mentioned shahadah (martyrdom), the villager added in a calm and dignified tone, “particularly when death occurs in the path of propagating the divine message.” This remark of the villagers tells us that those who devote themselves to this mission, even if they be illiterate villagers, acquire a certain degree of enlightenment and wisdom.
I turned to him out of curiosity to find out who he was. He was a Mewati who had joined this movement at the age of eighteen through the inspiration of Maulana Ilyas. Since then he has never looked back.
This Mewati missionary had now grown old, bearded and of browner skin, and his simple and confident words made me feel as though I were in the presence of one of the companions of the Prophet. I listened ‘to him with rapt attention just as an obedient student does to his kind teacher. I still regret that our conversation was interrupted and we had to separate.
He recounted the whole story of how Maulana Ilyas had been confronted with stiff resistance by unruly Mewati villagers when he attempted to reform them, and how on one occasion, in return for his exhortations, he had received a hard blow, as a result of which he had collapsed. The way he won the hearts of this barbarous people is a long story which has already been mentioned in the first chapter. To be brief, Maulana Ilyas realized from his experience that until the Mewatis were separated from their environment, the intended result could not be achieved. They were, therefore, brought to stay in mosques for a period of time in order to be exposed to the Islamic environment. Free from the worries and concerns of their daily chores, they proved to be more receptive to the message than could ever have been expected. The Bangla Wali Mosque became a practical centre where this method was applied to all those who gathered there. The Islamic environment is manifest there for all the twenty-four hours of the day. There is only one topic which dominates all conversation—the establishment of a proper relationship with God, because it is in God’s hands that all power rests.
An Active Training Camp
The Tabligh missionaries aim at creating in the mosques they visit the same spiritual atmosphere that is found in Bangala Wali Mosque. During their visit to a mosque, they first go round the neighbourhood and invite people to the mosque. When the people have gathered, they first have to say their prayers, then they are asked to recite parts from the Quran. Afterwards passages from the Hadith are read out to them, then they are helped to learn certain prayers by heart. They are told the rewards of good deeds and are reminded of their religious responsibilities. After they have reformed themselves to a certain extent, they are exhorted to spare some time to teach others what they have learnt. After understanding the implications of religion, they should set out to make others understand. That is the most important part of the training. This method has worked wonders. Many who were steeped in ignorance have reformed their lives in its wake. They do not rest content at their personal reform but burn with zeal and ambition to reform others as well-to bring others to the same straight path which they have found for themselves.
Another feature peculiar to Tabligh is that, despite the change in leadership, its work has not slackened since its inception; rather it is on the increase. No movement can claim this distinction in modern history.
The history of modern parties shows that in the initial stage, they succeed in influencing people and attracting great minds, but that before long, their work comes to a standstill. The people who had joined at the outset of the movement remained their only asset. No movement of modern times shows the capacity to continue to influence people on an intellectual plane. Although such movements seem to prosper even in the second phase so far as membership numbers are concerned, this success is not of the same nature as the original one. It almost assumes the form of a business, and the goal is relegated to the background.
The Tabligh movement enjoys a special advantage over other movements in that its appeal is enduring even today, and it has considerably expanded its horizons. People take part in its programmes with increasing interest and the numbers of new people coming to its fold are ever-increasing. The change in the lives of such people is pronounced, and the propagation of the message is on the increase.
Usually movements and parties are a product of their own time and circumstances. Although they claim to have derived their goal from eternal truths and use similar terms to express their aims and objectives, they are set in the present-a reaction to the circumstances. But the Tabligh work far from being something of momentary significance is based on eternal truths. It is eternal values that concern this movement. Its appeal is to human nature which is not subject to change. While external circumstances are in a state off flux, issues which initially seemed important tend to lose their charm. So, a movement based on current issues can never have a lasting appeal. It can only find its place in the storehouse of history. Since the Tabligh movement is based on the demands of human nature; its appeal is lasting, and, so long as its people continue to carry on the work with sincerity of intention, the appeal will last, no matter how circumstances may change.
After Nizamuddin I stopped on my way at Aligarh. I was surprised to find hundreds of students who had undergone a transformation through the efforts of Tabligh workers over the last few years. There was a markedly different attitude towards religion then than there had been when I went there a few years ago. The students who were known for having disregarded religion under the influence of western culture and education could now be seen going to the mosque for their daily prayers; they visit the Nizamuddin Bangla Wali Mosque, to perform chillas. At times it becomes difficult to distinguish them from the students educated in Arabic schools. They have become more courteous and show more respect for one another than before. Even before leaving for the examination halls, they go to the mosque to pray to God to help them. There has never before been such a spiritual atmosphere in Aligarh, although theology has always been taught as a compulsory subject at the university.
Considering the transformation that the students at Aligarh Muslim University have undergone, a solution to the grave problems facing our country’s younger generation is obviously in sight. The main problem is one of safeguarding our youth against the harmful influences of secular education. Nowadays the acquisition of a secular education on modern lines has become an inescapable necessity. This is not only because economics and allied subjects have come to the fore in the world of learning, but because, in the words of the Quran, it is the power of the day, and it is our duty to acquire it so that we may construct a worthy and stable national life. However, such traditions as have come to be associated with secular education either lead to atheism or, at best, to a loss of religious interest, and worldly goals are relentlessly pursued to the detriment of moral and religious values. However, the present environment at Aligarh brings an element of hope to this scene in that it shows us the way to discharge our duties. We can now help our young men to acquire a religious education side by side with a secular one; Tabligh provides a religious environment where they can be indoctrinated in religious beliefs and practices without this in any way being an obstacle to their studies. It is my personal experience that those students who devote a part of their time to religious pursuits do not lag behind their secular classfellows. They pass their examinations with good marks because, once religion has entered their lives, it acts as an intellectual stimulus and makes them more serious and more conscious of their duties. As a result, they save much time which would otherwise be wasted in fruitless activities. Their attitude towards life changes in its wake. They organize their lives more systematically and with a greater sense of responsibility, all of which enables them to carry out their work more efficiently. And God indeed blesses their efforts.
The Tabligh work has now spread all over Europe and America. Groups of volunteers are going abroad to spread the message, while people from abroad throng to the centre here to avail of the spiritual environment that prevails here.
Tabligh centres have been set up in many countries where, besides part-time volunteers, many other people have dedicated themselves to this mission on a full-time basis. Many of the students who go abroad to receive higher education prefer to keep in touch with the Tabligh volunteers during their stay, as this helps to keep them from falling under the pernicious influences of western apostasy.
Today the whole Muslim world has thrown itself into the field of secular education and our finest brains are receiving education in secular institutions. Were such students to keep in touch with the missionaries, they would surely escape any harmful influence. Two great benefits are to be gained through such contacts between students and missionaries, without their economic interests being in the least affected. Not only are baneful influences kept at bay, but the message can thus be better spread at home and abroad. Once students are trained, they can continue to take up the task by sparing some time from their business or service, depending upon what course they have embarked upon after completing their education. If this plan is successful, the same process can be repeated once again, Insha Allah, which occurred in Arabia in the early period of Islam when Muslim merchants travelled to all the corners of the globe, making commerce a means of spreading the divine message.
The Tabligh people believe in conveying the message by means of personal approach: through conversation, speech, meetings and so on. They undertake journeys to convey these thoughts and ideas directly to the congregation. The only part the press plays in this mission is the publication of certain books, for example on the sayings of the Prophet and his companions and on the virtues of good deeds, etc. These books provide the missionaries with material for their speeches, and they are read out at congregations in order to impart education to the assembly. Notwithstanding the major role of the press in modern times, its role in this instance is nominal. The Tabligh organizes huge gatherings every year such as no other party can manage to do, but they neither publish advertisements, handbills and posters, nor is any announcement made by loudspeaker. Hundreds and thousands of people have involved themselves in this work, but no magazine is issued to bring them together, to educate them, or to give them instructions. I personally know that on one occasion when an editor of a certain newspaper published reports about a gathering that was being organized, the senior members went and met the editor to protest about it.
No doubt, holding such views will appear to be verging on fanaticism, but this firm attitude has brought about a high degree of efficiency which no other movement can claim to possess. It is a fact that when someone is advocating his beliefs and ideas to others in person, his words bear the whole force of his personality. There is sweetness in his words, feeling in his style and conviction in his tone. Moreover, when this conversation takes place in a religious milieu that lends further emphasis to it. It is on a parallel with just listening to the soundtrack of a play on the radio, as compared to being present in the theatre while it is being staged. The same difference is to be found between conveying the message through the news media and in making a personal approach.
There are, moreover, further advantages to this personal approach. It is possible, for example, to change the style of the speech to suit the needs of the audience. This is just not possible if the message is imparted through the medium of books or magazines. In one of the speeches made at Nizamuddin, it was related that at a certain place a juggler was making his monkeys perform. When the Tabligh people saw him, they went up to him to invite him to join in the prayers with them, but he refused. They came back in despair and said that they had done their best to persuade him, but he would not relent. Then three more people followed them. They said to him, “Sir, why are you spoiling your life by making these monkeys dance? In the next world God’s angels will make you dance to the same tune.” The juggler was moved. He listened to them seriously, then followed them to the mosque, tied the monkeys outside it, and himself entered the mosque to say his prayers.
Similarly, a preacher who resorts to oral methods has another advantage, that is, if his congregation finds it difficult to understand his message, he can illustrate it by means of practical examples which bring the point home.
The third benefit of the personal approach is that through contacts and exchanges of views, the missionary himself gains a great deal: new ideas, new ways of expression—and an access to the minds of the people, all of which helps him greatly to frame the message in a manner that others can understand. In the process, the style of expression becomes simpler and more real. It becomes lucid and spontaneous, and this certainly has a greater appeal for the listeners than the written word.
During my stay at the centre, I heard the prayers of the chief of the Tabligh: one sentence of which ran like this: “May God bless our religious activities and activate us in every sphere connected with religion.” This shows that they are not merely concerned with the revival of Kalima and prayers but have set their sights on the revival of the whole of religion.
The only difference between Tabligh and other religious movements lies in the method of functioning-irrespective of the fact that others may regard something as part of religion while its members do not, or that others consider a certain part in need of being revived with which they do not necessarily agree.
It is generally known that Tabligh is concerned with Kalimah and prayer. In actual fact, it is a movement of faith and conviction, faith in the unseen realities, faith in God. Maulana Ilyas aptly called this movement a movement of faith. The Tabligh people firmly believe that the external factors which are apparently at work in life have no inherent power, and that all power rests with God, who is behind outward appearances. Because people usually tend to believe in forms which are visible – and we cannot do away with forms-we have to encourage them to stop putting their trust in mere externals, and concentrate their minds on the superior reality.
The uninitiated profess that all things can work without recourse to God, whereas there is nothing which can actually work without the will of God. We have, therefore, to purify our hearts of all thoughts of misdirected trust in objects, save God; only then can our actions be acceptable to God. This makes it clear that the difference between Tabligh and other movements is not one of a limited or a broader concept of religion. On the contrary, it lies in the definition of arenas in which to exert their energies towards the establishment and revival of religion. There are some who regard the arena of their struggle as being Parliament House or an election campaign. On the contrary, the Tabligh people bring us to the point of placing our total trust in God who has power over all things. They exhort us to seek help from Him alone in all matters.
By establishing our relations with God, we receive all, as everything is in God’s hands: it is He who has the upper hand in all events.
The Tabligh mission holds that it is God who is the cause of the causes, who determines our destinies, who nourishes and sustains, who confers power on or withholds it from whomsoever He wills. All power belongs to Him. To expend our energies, therefore, on objects other than God is like trying to light a room by struggling with bulbs instead of with the switches. Since the predominance of divine religion as well as of the believers is associated with the cause which are in God’s hand, so also can it be realized by pleasing God and making ourselves worthy of divine succour. The circumstances of the world will change in our favour only when we wholeheartedly submit to His will. Another advantage of Tabligh comes from its having based itself on faith rather than on reason. There are two ways of laying stress upon the importance of any cause. One is through the mind, and the other is through the heart. The former approach has recourse to reason and logic in order to prove the truth, while the latter approach plays on the emotions and feelings to convince the listener.
Those who have a knowledge of philosophy can understand how difficult and delicate the former path is. In actual fact, some hold, that it is not only difficult to prove or disprove anything on rational and logical grounds, but that it is impossible to prove anything by reason, even in this age of reason. If any rational movement has ever succeeded, it is not by dint of logical arguments, but because, by chance or by accident, it contained certain emotional aspects as well. We can furnish some instances from Socialism, Democracy, Evolution and so on. It is a fact that Socialism, up till now, has yet to be established by the standards of pure reason. Democracy has been exposed to innumerable objections, to which no satisfactory answer has yet been given. The theory of biological evolution, from the academic point of view, has so many flaws that it can at best be described as a belief rather than a theory. The success of these theories does not lie in their being rational and logical arguments, but in their having benefited from an emotional environment which already existed.
To prove something by means of pure logic and reason is indeed to attempt to catch a phoenix which has yet to exist. But there are other factors which we can put to good use. They are nature and tradition. It is no exaggeration to say that, even today, nature and tradition shape the personalities of almost 99 percent of the people.
Those who are born Muslims have an extra element in their favour; that is, they are brought up in the Muslim tradition, and in most cases, they are imparted religious education in their childhood. At an unconscious level, at least, the religious outlook has a firm hold upon them. They might outwardly appear irreligious but, owing to the nature and tradition that they have inherited, in their inner selves, almost all are Islamic. The hold is usually upon their feelings and not upon their beliefs. That is why they respond to the impassioned appeals made by the missionaries. They hear the details of heaven and hell, their hearts are moved, the chords of their inner feelings are struck by means of prayer, even avowedly irreligious people break down and cry, deeply touched. Their appeal may not be endowed with reason, but it has an ecstatic value in it. And gradually the unconscious self comes to dominate when it is regularly exposed to such voices and is reborn. The greatest secret of success of the Tabligh mission lies in their exploiting the inherent emotional basis rather than attempting to catch the rational phoenix. This procedure may appear non-religious, but the success rate is cent percent.
Now the question arises as to what the Tabligh is doing. Is it right, and does it suffice for the revival of religion? This question has remained a subject of discussion for a long period of time. In my view, an answer can be found, which, while accepting the full importance of Tabligh work, also acknowledges the need to provide intellectual satisfaction to those who want to work in other fields as well, provided that on an intellectual plane they are able to relate the different aspects of the work as a whole, thus serving the same purpose from different angles.
My study of the Quran and the Hadith has brought me to the conclusion that the demands of religion are of two kinds. The first is related to the essence, the soul of religion; the realization of God, the establishment of a relationship of fear and hope, of trust, of submission to Him in all one’s affairs, be they spiritual or material.
The second demand is temporal, created by circumstances. It is true that religion does at times come into conflict with other ideologies in the world. It is challenged at various points, and to defend it and maintain its intellectual and material status, we have to deal with a great diversity of situations in different ways. Sometimes it becomes urgent to make peace, as at Hudaibiyya, and sometimes defence is urgently called for, as at Badr and Hunain. At other times we have to take recourse to rational arguments when religion comes face to face with such thoughts as subvert its very basis, as has happened in the past when Muslims were exposed to Greek thought.
The former demand concerns the essence of religion and is permanently to be desired; the latter is a relative part of religion determined by the circumstances. At times the relative part assumes the same importance as the real; but when the need vanishes it loses its importance.
If this interpretation is acceptable, I think we can relate all parts to a cohesive whole, bringing together all of them on one platform in order to work for the same cause. Thus, all of us can share in the revival of religion according to our capacities. What we all desire, but have failed to achieve, is to create a united platform. Due emphasis must be accorded to the Tabligh work and the important part played by it in reviving the essence of religion. This is my view as regards the main mission of Tabligh, but not as regards the particular method of working that they have adopted, since the method of functioning of any movement or party is purely relative.
While the importance of the Tabligh mission must be accepted, the need to work in different arenas is also acute. Capable people from the Ummah should come forward to share in this gigantic task of Islamic revival. If they are sincere in its pursuit, the Tabligh people must give them due recognition and encouragement. They should even help them at an individual level.
In the latter half of the 20th century some of the issues facing us are: the restoration of the honour and dominance of the Muslims in the modern world, the compilation of Islamic law according to the needs of modern times, the preparation of a new system of education for Muslims which caters to present needs and situations, the preparation of missionary literature, keeping in view the requirements of the modern mind and challenges from modern ideologies. All these objectives call for a defence of religion on an academic level. It is beyond a single person or a group to perform all these tasks. What is desirable is that the importance of one another’s work be recognized. There should be mutual consultation and assistance. The coordination that is required can be illustrated by the example of the electricity which is generated in the powerhouse and the machines which are produced in factories. Their utility would be zero if they did not meet at some point. It is by their relating to one another that they acquire meaning and efficacy. If such unity is achieved on an intellectual level by the Ummah, it will eventually bring immense benefits. The revival of Islam which, for centuries had been an empty dream, will become a reality in a matter of years or even just months.
