tableege islam and tasawwuf
TRANSCRIPT
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6
MAULANA MUHAMMED ILYAS
AND HIS KHULAFA
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6 MAULAN A MU HAM MED ILYAS
AND
HIS
KHULAFAH
Familv
B a c k ~ r o u n d
In the last decade of the 19the century.there lived a
ururg
(saint) named Maulana Muhamrned Ismail, in a building
known as Chausth Kharnba
(64
Pillared) near the famous tomb o f
Harrat Nizarnuddin Aauliya of Delhi. Maulana Mahamrned lsmail
belonged to jhinjana, a small of district of Muzaffarnagar U p H e
was married to a lady of the family of Mufti llahi Bakhsh Khand-
halvi.He therefore, often visited Kandhla,which became a second
home for him.'
Maulana lsrnail's family was a branch of Siddiqui
Stiaikh
clan in Jhinjhana. The clan was known for its religiousness. When
one stud~eshe pedigree of Maulana Muhammed lsrnail and Muft~
Ilahi Bakhsh, one finds out that their sixth pedigree ancestors were
common. Maulana Abul H asan N advi, in his book, M aulan a llyas
Aur Unki Deeni
Da aw at, has noted the following pedigree of
Maulana Muhamrned Ismail',' which he received from Maulana
Muhamrned Zakariya:
Mau lana Muhammed Isma i l , son o f
Ghulam Hussain, son of Hakirn Karim
Bakhsh , son of Hak in (I;hulam Mohiuddin ,
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son of Maulvi Muhamrned Sajid, son of
Maulvi Muhammed Faiz, son of Maulvi
Muhjarnrned
Shar i f ,
s o n o f M a u l v i
Muhammed Ashraf, son of Shaikh Jamal
Muhammed Shah, son of Shaikh Babban
Shah, son of Shaikh Bahauddin Shah,
son of Shaikh Muharnmed Fazil who was
son of Shaikh Qutab Shah. )
Mufti llahi Bakhsh, father-in-law of Maulana Ismail, was
one of the foremost pupils of Hazrat Shah Abdul Aziz, son of the
famous scholar and
Muhaddith
Shah Waliullah of Delhi; he was a
Mu fti, a writer, a debator, a critic of Arabic, Persian and Urdu and
Hakim (Physician, practicing Unani Medicine) of high stature, He
authored abou t forty books, out ot wh ich Takmila of Mathnav i of
Maulana Rum is well-renowned. H e was also pledged
at
the hands
of Shah Abdul Aziz. In spite of the fact that he himse lf was a
Shaikh,
he pledged himself, later on, at the hands of Sayyed Ahrnad
Shahid, who was more than thirty years younger lo h i m He died
in
1245
A.H. at the age of eighty three years. HIS progeny
produced a number o scholars like Maulvi Abul Hasan (known for
his famous work
Sahar-e- Haqiqah ,
Maulvi Akbar and Hakirn
Maulvi Ibrahim:'
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Maulana Muhammed Ismail, (i.e. father of Maulana
Muhammed Ilyas). was a pious man who always liked to teach
religion and to worship
in
solitude. He always engaged himself in
spiritual exercise and in serving the wayfarers. He used to wait for
the thirsty labourers and would himself draw the water from the
well for them. Once, he is said to have requested Maulana Rashid
Ahmad Gangohi to make him his disciple. At this Maulana
Gangohi told him that he did not require it because he himself had
achieved perfection in
Suluk He
was extremely popular among
the Delhites. Even the mutually antagonistic religious groups had
equal faith in
him.4
Maulana Muhammed lsmail s second marriage was
solemnized in
285
A.H. with grand-daughter (maternal) of
Maulana Muzaffar Hussain Kandhl~i ,~ho was
a
nephew of Mufti
llahi Bakhsh Kandhlvi. Maulana Muzaffar Hussain was a learned
and pious person. He was one of the disciples of the renowned
Shaikh Shah Muhammed lshaque of Delhi, and was the Khalifah
of Shah Muhammad Yaqub. He had also seen Sayyed Ahmad
Shahid.
Maulana Muhammed lsmail always liked to offer prayers
(Salat) with Jama at (congregation). As he lived in the outsk~rts f
the city, there was hardly any person to give him company n the
Salat with Jama at. He,therefore, was always looking
for
some
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Muslims, who happened to pass from there. Once, he asked few
Musljm wayfarers their purpose of journey; they replied that they
had come for labour. He inquired what renumeration they would
get. When they told him the amount, he suggested to them that
he could provide the same
if
they stayed with him. They accepted
his offer.
Maulana Muhammed lsmail started teaching these
labourers of Mewat, who became the first students of the Madrasa
of Banglawali Masjid. This contact paved the way for his regular
connection with Mewat, which ultimately culminated into the great
Tablighi Movement initiated by his son Maulana Ilyas.'
Maulana Muhammed lsrnail died in
1315A H
His funeral
was attended by a very big crowd which exceeded thousands of
persons. Maulana lsmail was s l l ~ i v e d y three sons
:
Maulana
Muhammed, who was born from his first wife, while the second
son Maulana Muhammed Yahya and th thir son Maulana
Muhammed llyas were from his second wifeR
His maternal grandfather's family at Kandhla was known
for its religiosity, even the ladies of the house kept thernseives
involved in different religious exercises. The people of family were
gerlerally well- versed in the studies of the Quran and Hadith.
Maulana llyas's grandmother Bibi Ummat-ur Rahman,
popularly known as Ummibi was a lady of piety. Once lblaulana llyas
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himself remarked that he saw the resemblance of her Salat only
in that of Maulana Rashid Ahrnad Gangohi.
Maulana llyas's mother Safiya herself was a Hafiz. She
used to recite more than one Ouran daily in the month of
Ramadhan.
Her routine exercises included rec itation of
Darud
five
thousand times,
Ism-e-dhaf
(Allah,Allah) five thousand times
Bismi1lai~-ur-RahmannirRaheem one thousand nine hundred
t~mes ,Ya hayyu ya Qayyr~rr~wo hundred times. Hasbunallahi
naim a1 Wakil five hundred times, a/-humdu-lil-/ah two hundred
times, Allahu Akbar two hundred times etc.. )
2
lace
o
Birth
Kandhla is a small town of district Muzaffarnagar situated
between R ampur Maniharan and Sham li. Its historical background
has not been recorded in detail, but its famous cal of scholars are
said to be a Buzurg Maulana Muham med Hakim Ashraf, who had
settled there during the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan. He was an
eminent scholar, a popular physician and a man
of
great piety. His
generation produced a large number
of Ulama Muftis. M ashaikh
Faqihs poets and writers.
Describing about the specialities of Kandhla and its
people, Maulana Zakariya writes:
This town of district Ml~zaffarnagarwas
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a part of the area between the two rivers
(Ganga and Jamuna). This area was
considered to be the center of Shari afhand
Tar iqah in the 19th century and i ts
reputation continues t i l l now. This area
included some parts of Delhi and the
districts of Muzaffanagar, Meerut and
Saharanpur. In the west of this area runs
the Yamuna and in the east flows the
Ganga. The great role of this area in the
field of Shariat and Tasawwuf began with
family of Shah Waliullah and its influence
spread through the Jam a at-e81mdadi(i.e.
the disciples of the great S uf i saint Ha ji
lmdudullah Muhajir Makki . . . . . . . I 7
3 Hrjh and ducation
Maulana Muhammed llyas was born in 1303 A.H. His
tarikh i nam e was Akhtar llyas. He passed his early childhood in his
ma ternal grand fathe r s house at Kandhla as well as w ith his father
t Nizam uddin. .
Maulana llyas studied the Uuran and the primary books
of religion in his early childhood from his father and Maulana
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lbrah im Kandh lavi. It was customary for every child in his family to
memo rize the Qu ran.. H e also did the same. M aulana Muhammed
Yahya is quoted as saying in
Tazkirat-ul-Khalil
hat Ummi bi (i.e.
the grandmother of Maulana Ilyas) often used to say:
"Akhatar Your body smells of the
Sahaba
and often feel as
if
the faces of
Sahaba
are moving alongwith you."
'"
Even Maulana mahmoood Hasan, the
Shaikh-ul- lind
made a similar rem ark about him when he said:"When
I
see Maulvi
Ilyas, it reminds me of Sahaba.
Maulana Muhammed l lyas had thought of spreading
religion fro his very childhood. The atmosphere prevalent
in
the
family and regular contacts with Ulama and
ufi
is had strengthened
this resolve. His childhood friend Rais ul-Islam Kandhlavl, has told
that once, Maulana llyas came to Maktab with a stick in his hand
and said to him.
Let us s tar t for Jihad aga ins t the
berlamaazis ( those who do not of fer
Namaaz) '
In Shawwal.1311 A.H . Mau lana Muham med Yayha went
to Gangoh and stayed there under the guidance of Maulana
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Rashid Ahmad Gangohi
Maulana llyas was not receiving regular
education at that time. Maulana Yahya, therefore suggested his
father to send Maulana llyas alongwith him. Thus, Maulana llyas
shifted to Gangoh in
1314
A.H. and started studies under his elder
brother. Gangoh had already become a center of ls lam~c
educational activities. Maulana llyas often used to sit in the
gatherings at Maulana Rashid s house. Maulana llyas passed
next ten years in Gangoh and left it after the death of Maulana
Gangohi in 1323
A.H.
Maulana Yayha s continuous illness disturbed the studies
of Maulana Muhammed llyas. Maulana Muhammed llyas however
renewed his efforts to complete his studies in
1326
A.H., when
he joined the class of Maulana Mahmood
Hasan at Deoband. He
learned Tirmidhi and
Bukhari
from him. He then completed the
Uaurah e Hadifh
under Maulana Yayha.ln
4 ervice a M a z a h i r e U l o o m
In
Shawwal
1328 A.H., a large caravan left Saharanpur for
performing Hajj; this included many senior
Mudamsin
of Mazahir-
e-Uloom. This created a vacuum which was filled with the
appointment of new teachers. Maulana Muhammed llyas was
among the newly appointed ones. After the return of
Mudarrisin
from Haj j while others resigned from their jobs, Maulana
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Muhammed llyas continued. His salary was fixed at Rs. 131- per
month. During this period, Maulana usually taught such books
which he had not studied as he had to work very hard to get himself
prepared for the lecture. He continued his job at Mazahir-e-Uloom
for eight years after that he shifted to Delhi.'
During this period, three important events took place: On
6th
Dhee
aad
1330 A.H. he first married with daughter of his
maternal Uncle Maulvi Rauf-al Hasan. Maulana Muhammed, his
eldest brother recited the sermon of the nikah which was
attended among others by Maulana Thanavi who gave an important
lecture in that ceremony. This lecture has been published many
times under the title of
Fawaid a/ ohbat
(significance of
omp pan ion ship .^^
Maulana llyas went for his Hajj alongwith Maulana
Mahmood Hasan and Maulana Khalil Ahmad in 1333 A.H. Maulana
llyas was struck with the tragedy of his brother and teacher
Maulana Muhammed Yayha's death in 1334 A.H. This tragedy
was extraordinary for him because, not only, was Maulana
Muhammed Yayha his brother but he has also passed several
years under his guidance. '
B. is Migration to B a ~ t i J amud@
Maulana Muhamrned. the eldest brother of Maulana
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llyas was looking after the Madrasa founded by M aulana lsmail at
Nizamuddin at New Delhi. In this Madras, primary lessons of
een
were given to children; the majority of the children were from
Mewat. The people of De lhi and Mew at had immense faith in him.
Maulana Muhamrned died on 25th Rabi-ul Thani 1336 A.H.7'
After the burial of Maulana Muharnmed, at which time a
huge crowd was present, the well-wishers of the M adrasa Banglow
Wali Masjid as well as those of the family of Maulana lsmail
gathered and insisted upon IVlaulana Muhammed to shift to
Nizamuddin. They also assured him of liberal economic assistance
for the Madrasa. Maulana llyas agreed in principle but told them
that the final decision would depend on the permission of Hazrat
Saharanpuri (Maulana Khal~l hmad).'
Having come back to Saharanpur after a few days.
Maulana described the whole situation to Maulana Kha lil. Mau lana
not only gave him permission but also advised him to take one year
leave from M adrasa Mazahir-e-Uloom . H e told him that when he
felt satisfied with his stay at Madrasa Nizamuddin and decided to
live there permanently, he could send his resignation to the
authorities of Madrasa Mazahir-e-Uloom. Maulana llyas passed
the following application to the Mohtamim,
After Salaam M asnun I beg to state that
after the death of Maulvi Muhammed, I
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wish to stay for sometime at Nizamuddin
to look after the Madrasa there, because
the well-wishers of Deen as well as my
own well-wishers are insisting upon m e for
that. Seeing the excellent effects of my
father s and brother s efforts to educate
the illiterate villagers and ignorant people,
I also ate villagers and ignorant people, I
also feel inclined to stay there for sometime
so that I may also contribute to this virtuous
task. I therefore, request you to grant me
leave for one year 'l
Maulana llyas had not yet left Saharanpur, when he felt
severely
ill
He reached Kandhla where his condition further
deteriorated. At one time, his relatives gave all hopes of his
survival. But soon he showed signs of improvement and he
recovered completely within a few days. He then left Kandhla for
N i r a m u d d ~ n . ~
At that time Nizamuddin was a lonely place where human
beings were hardly visible. Nizamuddin was surrounded on all
sides by forest. The only building there was a mosque attached
to
houses. In south of th ~ s ived som e people. In the M adrasa
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attached to the mosque there lived some poor students most of
whom were from Mewat. Madrasa had no regular source then.
Maulana used to say to the students that, if they could not face this
situation, they could go home, but the students had become so
much spiritually inclined to learn
eeri
that they would refuse to
leave j
Maulana Ali M ian quotes HajiAbdur Rahman, a colleague
of Maulana llyas that, once in his absence, he with the financial help
from some Delhites, got a few small rooms constructed. When
Maulana retu rned, he was extremely angry telling that the rea l
objective was education and not the building. Ha ji Abdur Rahman
described on incident when h e accepted some money for M adrasa
from a business man seeking M aulana's blessings, Maulana llyas
became restless and persuaded him to return that money.
C.
he
I n i t ia t ion o f Educat iona l Ac t iv i ties in Mewat
Mewat
S
an area in south of De lhi where lived the Mews
since ancient times. This area includes parts of Gurgaon, now in
H ary an a, distr ict Alwar, Bharatpur and Mathura. The M ew
community is said to have originated from the original non-Aryan
inhab itants of Ind ia. The ir history, therefore , is older than the
Ra jputs of the Aryan ancestry. The hanzaadas of Mewat.
however are said to Rajputs According to Abul Hasan Nadvr,
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whenever there is a description of Khanzaadas
Aina-e-Akbari, '
describes that many Rajputs converted to lslam and were
afterwards also called Mews. During the earliest
Muslim
rule
Mews had becom e the cause of trouble for the inhabitants of Delhi
as they indulged in looting. Ghayasuddin Balban starled an
operation against them killing a large nurnber of Mews. The forest
areas near Delhi were converted into agricultural lands. The
M ew s how ever regrouped themselves and struggled hard for
their survival They succeeded in establishing a state in Mewat.
One of the Khanzadas Lakhanpal who had full control of Mewat
embraced lslam in the reign of Ferozshah. It is not clear from the
history when the Mews in general converted to lslam. But Islamic
character was largely lacking in them. M aulana Nadvi has quoted
from the gazettier of Alvar published in 1876:
All Mews are neo-Muslims but only in
name. The gods of their villages are the
same which are of Hindu Zarnindars.
They celebrate many Hindu festivals
.......
As they observe
Eid
and
Shab-e-Baraat,
so they do
Janamashtami, Dussehra
and
Dlwali.
They take the serv ices of Brahman
Pandits for fixing the date of marriage . . . .
Thev often add Singh to their name like
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Hindus ,.. .W he n hey build or dig a new
well, the first thing they do to build a
cha buta ra in the nam e of B eru j i o r
Hanuman . . . . . . They do not know much
about
Islam. Hardly a few of them know
the Ka lima, still fewer offer Salat The
condition is somewhat better in parts of
Alvar, where there are Madrasas and
Mosques. . The marr iage ceremonies
are performed by Brahmans bu t the Nikah
is
recited by the Quazi. The males put on
Dhoti like Hindus. In the fifty two villages
of Mews there are only eight mosques.
They have places of worship similar to
their Hindu neighbo urs for exam ple Panch
Peeera. Baisa, Chand. Khairadev, etc..
Khairadev is in the name of
a
Mahadevifor
whom animal sacrifices are made. On
the day of S hab-e-baraat, the banner
of
Sa yye d Salar M as ud Ghazi is worshipped
in evely Mew Village. '
Maulana Abul Hasan Nadvi quotes from another gaze tter
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which is of Gurgaon published in 1910:
Mews are still carefree type of Muslims
who take part in most of the ceremonies
of their Hindu neighbours, especially, in
those ceremonies which are associated
with entertaining celebrations. Their
principle of life is to enjoy the customs of
both communities but not to follow the
laws of any of them .... Sornetimes back,
religious education was started in Mewat.
Now some Mews keep fasts; mosques
are being constructed. People have started
offering Namaaz and Mew Muslim women
have started putting on shalwars and
pyjamas instead of Ghagraas. These are
the signs of religious a~akening.''~~
Similarly Bharatpur Gazettier says:
The c~~stomsf Mews are the mixture of
the H~nduand Muslim customs. They
circumcise the children, solemnize the~r
marriage w~th ~kah ury their deads, go
to the rnazaar of Masud Ghaz~
1
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Behraich
. . . . . . . .
but do never go for Hajj.
They celebrate
Holi
and
Diwali,
do never
marry in the same gofra , do not give
sha re and property to their daughters;their
names are mixed They all are illiterate;
some of them are singers, who are given
big amounts
. . . . .
They also use intoxicants,
their beliefs are feeble, they have improved
now, still they are notorious for stealing
OWS and oxen?'
Despite all these shortcomings, Mews had a number of
qualities. They were brave; though out of ignorance their bravery
had taken the shape of robbery and fighting. They had self-
respect, simplicity, determination and courage. This is why they
were not affected by heretical onslaughts. '
Be fore the arrival of Maulana Ilyas, the links with Mewatis
were established by his father Maulana Muhammed Ismail, who
s i~cceededn winning over their confidence and faith. When they
cam e to know that the p lace which had fallen vacant after the death
of Maulana Muhammed has been filled with by his brother, they
again started coming to Nizarn~ddin.: '~
Maulana lsmai l and Maulana Muhammed had made
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efforts to teach the children of Mewat in Madrasa of Nizamuddin.
Maulana llyas planned to extend it and he thought
it
necessary that
Madrasas should b e established in Mewat itself ;this would in his
scheme of reform widen the circle of religious people. -i4
The peop le of Mewat had been inviting him regularly to
visit Mewat. Maulana llyas, however, did not want to pay an
ordinary visit in wich the
mun ds
hold nice lunches and dinners for
their Shaikhs. Maulana put a condition before them that he could
go there only if they promised to establish a Madrasa there. The
Mewatis considered it a very hard condition because they were not
habitual of getting their children admitted into schools. They
thought that
it
would badly affect their economic condition as
young lads were involved in other works. They, therefore, hesi-
tated in promising that. Without getting this condition fulfilled,
however, Maulana would not pay visit to Mewat. They insisted
upon him many times, but he refused; then a Mewati promised to
help him in starting the Madrasa and M aulana llyas gave his
a p p r ~ v a l . ~
Maulana llyas's visit to Mewat, therefore, opened the
way for the beginning of the f~ rs t
Makfab
there. H e told the Mewatis
that their only concern was to bring the children and he himself
would arrange for the salaries of the teachers. On this tour
Maulana succeeded in establishing as m any as ten Maktabs. The
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movement grew rapidly and soon hundreds of Maktabs were
established in M e ~ a t . ~
5 eqinning of ablighi Movement
Soon, however, Maulana l lyas realized that mere
establishment o f M aktabs was not enough. First, the education in
these Maktabs was not complete. Secondly, after completing their
education, they merged again in the general ignorance of the
people. The number of students was too small to influence large
population. Thirdly, the Maktabs were addressing only the children,
and the adult continued to indulge in immoral and wrongful
activities. At the same time it was not possible to educate the whole
population in these Madrasas. Apart from these, the people there
were fighting each other and, whenever. Maulana llyas visited
Mewat, he was approached by the belligerent parties for justice.
Maulana llyas judged these cases equitably and this had made
him popular among them.:lr
An important event occured in Rabi ul Awwal 1344 A.H.
Maulana Kha lil Ahrnad, the renowned Buzurg and head M udarris
o f Madrasa M azahir-e-Uloom visited Mewat alongwith some other
Ulama. A very large crowd gathered to meet them and large
num ber of people pledged at the hands of Maulana Khali1.38
In the same year Maulana llyas went for H a j in the
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company of M aulana Kha lil Ahm ad. During his stay at Madina, he
felt as i he had been ordered by Allah to start the Tablighi
Movement. He became restless because he considered himself
to
be
unworthy of the huge task. He discussed this with a
Buzurg
who consoled him saying that one who had inspired his heart
wou ld also get the task done by him. His anxiety vanished and he
returned from Madina to Kandhla in
Rabi-ul-Thani.
1345 A.H.39
Immediately after returning to Nizamuddin, Maulana
llyas started Tablighi Gasht which was the name given to a small
tour or march with the purpose of meeting people and explaining
to them the purpose of their life and the obligations and boundations
of Deen over them.4u
An
I jtamah
the name given in
Tablighi
Movement to the
gatherings of people for hearing the sermons was organized at
Noh. Maulana llyas requested the gathering to form some parties
of
Tabligh.
A party was thus organized after every month, which
would tour a specified village for eight days. It was decided that
the tour wou ld cu lminate o n the next Friday at the Sonepat (district
Gugoan), where, after the
Juma
prayer, programme for the next
week would be decided. Th us the next
Juma
prayer was planned
to be offered at Tawdu and the next one at Nagina (Firozpur). Such
programmes continued for many
year^.^
In 1351, Maulana llyas went for his third
Ha;;.
After
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returning from there he decided to speed up the w ork H e now
toured Mewat with a big party consisting of more than hundred
companions. This tour lasted a month. Another tour of the same
period was then com pleted. During these tours Maulana used to
divide his companions into several groups and would send them
into different villages for
GashL4
Maulana Muhammed llyas knew that
i t
was not feasible
for the villagers to learn religion on regular basis. He therefore
persuaded them for joining short tours and help in spreading the
message of God. Once they joined the tour they would feel
themselves to be the part and parcel of the Movement and this
would help them in learning
Deen 43
During these tours Maulana Muhammed llyas arranged
for their training through recitation of the
uran
and reading
1
books on ahabak way of life. But to involve people in a movem ent
which required leaving their homes and children was not an easy
task. Furthermore there was a fear of these wayfarers to be
hooted down by the people of the areas visited by them. Maulana
llyas knew that the district of Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur had
comparatively more religious environment than any other place in
the country. He therefore planned that the groups of Mewatis
should be persuaded to tour these places where there were more
chances of their being received with enthusiasm. Maulana llyas
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arranged the first tour of M ewatis to h is ow n na tive place Kandhla.
Initially, most of the people refused to go but Maulana used all
possible ways to convince them and, ultimately, succeeded in
forming a party of ten persons.44
The people of K andhla welcomed them with the warmth
of their hearts. After this ,another party of ten to eleven persons
was selected to visit Raipur, the town of the great Sufi Buzurg
Maulana Abdul Qadir and Maulana Abdul Rahman Raipur~.~ )
The Tablighi Movement had thus made a successful
beginning;
i t
was now time to consolidate and organize it so
it
became a permanent Movement. Maulana llyas got a map of all
the tehsils and villages drawn; a register was kept to record the
performances of all Muballighs (persons engaged in the Tabligh).
The number and the strength of the towns visited grew steadily.
From every Jalsa emerged new part ies to join the M~vement.~"
The volunteers joining the Tablighi Movement had been
increasing. The Movement had in fact b lossomed into a revolution.
The old customs based on false beliefs started dying down. Every
village now had several Mosques.The state of Mewat which had
only a few Mosques had now thousands of them. Hundreds of
Maktabs and Madrasas had been established. A large number of
Ulama and Huffaz were produced, keeping beard became common,
the practice of usury disappeared, alcoholism which was previously
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part of the normal life, now became a rare habit. There was an
extraordinary fall in the incidence of crime. The marriages now
became simple affairs, devoid of unnecessary c~storns.~'
6 Consolidation of Work in Mewat and its Spread
Outside Mewat
Maulana llyas went for
Hajj
in
1356
A H
after returning,
he involved himself in TablighiMovement with renewed enthusiasm.
The Mewati parties increased their visits to the towns and
qasbahs of Uttar Pradesh. Now many parties started visiting
Mohallas of Delhi. New parties began to be formed in Mohallas.
Weekly gashts were organised. Maulana llyas had realized that
the religious atmosphere in the cities was also getting polluted.
The masses had gone away from Deen Even in the elites, the
religious influence was getting reduced to sorne scattered groups.
He feared that
if
the cities were not involved in Tablighi Movement,
these also would become the centers of ignorance, desbeliefs and
worldliness. Furthermore, he felt that the Muslims of the cities had
made Deen difficult to follow. They considered it impossible to
follow Deen in their routine worldly affairs. In a letter to Miari
Muhamnied lsa of Ferozpur Namak, Maulana llyas wrote:
The meaning of the world as one
understands commonly is very wrong. To
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busy oneself in financial activities is not
the world. God curses the world and God
cannot ask his creatures to follow what is
accursed. What is done in order to follow
the injunctions of God and what is done
within the boundaries of halal and haram.
is Deen. And to involve in activities in
violation of the boundaries set by God and
for self-interest is what is called D ~ n i y a . ~ ~
The masses used to think that
t
was impossible to
understand
Deen
without taking admission in Madrasas. it was
not feasible for most of them to join Madrasa as to complete the
course there required many years. Maulana Ilyas, therefore.
decided that the common Muslims should be invited to take part
in short programs. For this purpose, Maulana first organised long
stay of Mewaties in the mosques of Delhi. Initially, they faced stiff
resistance. But the conditions soon eased.
Maulana Muhammed llyas saw an important role of
Ullama belong~ng o big institutions in
ablighi
Movement. He,
however, thought that mere lectures by them would not be
enough. They should themselves conie on the streets and knock
at the doors of the common people. He described his feelings in
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a letter to Maulana Zakariya.
For a long time
I
have been thinking that
unless the religious scholars themselves
visited the cities and villages and knocked
at the doors themselves, the
Tablighi
Movement cannot reach its zenith . . . . It
would be nice
if
the students were trained
in their student life for Amr bil
aruf
w a
nahi anil rnunkar
(enjoin good deeds and
forbid ev ils), under the supervision of the
teachers, otherwise these studies would
go waste.
Maulana Muhammed llyas directed the Mewatis now to
visi t the centres of rel igious educat ion namely, Deoband,
Saharanpur, Raipur and Thana Bhawan. Initially, there was some
reluctance on part of the teachers of these Madrasas on the
ground that it could adversely affect the studies of the students;
soon their doubts disappeared. In fact they started gett ing
impressed by the achievements of the Tablighi parties. Maulana
Ashraf Ali Thanvi himself had certain misgivings about the
Movem ent. H e thought that. when learned scholars faced
resistance on the path of Deen, how could the uneducated
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7ablighis succeed. His misgivings however were soon replaced
by the appreciation of the work.5'
Though the Tablighi work was making a steady progress,
Maulana Muhammed llyas himself was not satisfied. He was
particularly worried about the lack of interest shown by the
educated Muslims including the Ulama. Maulana Ali Mian describes
five main reasons for this lack of interest: first, that was a period
of turmoil and a number of political Movements were in full swing.
Therefore, the people found it hard to join the silent and peaceful
Tablighi Movement; secondly, people knew very little about the
Movement; thirdly, the word Tabligh itself was a big hindrance in
understanding the full implications and facts of the Movement.
People regarded it only a superficial Movement. Fourthly, the
persons inviting the scholars to this Tahrik were themselves
members and they often indulged in such discussions as complicat-
ed the meaning of Tabligh. The new-comers, therefore, found it
hard to understand
it
Fifth, when people saw the simple Mewatis,
they could not get a good impression about Maulana Ilays, whom
they considered a Shaikh of ordinary uneducated Me~at is . ~
Maulana Muhammed llyas was ever contemplating upon
the ways to remove the weaknesses of the Tabligh programme
and to improve
it
so that
it
could spread rapidly. Maulana's heart
was overwhelmed with emotions. He knew the importance of
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Saharanpur in the matter of Islamic studies; he now directed the
Tab lighiparties to visit the district of Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar.
H e himse lf toured the areas ad jacent to Kandhla alongwith Shaikh
ul-Hadith, Maulana Zakariya in Jamadi us-Thani in 1356
A.H.
In
1359 A.H., it was decided that the Mewati parties should keep on
going to Saharanpur without any break.
By 1360, the fame of Maulana llyas and his Tablighi
Movement had spread far and wide. Many articles were written on
its success. A team from Dar-ul-Uloom, Nadvat- ul-Ulama. Lucknow
went to meet Maulana Muhammed llyas and to study the facts of
Da'wat in Mewat. s
Maulana llyas now decided to organize the work
n
the
capital. He nominated Hafiz Maqbul Hasan as Amir of all the
Tablighi parties of Delhi.
It
was decided that the activists should
stay on the night of Friday at Nizarnuddin so that they could
coordinate their efforts. All Tablighi parties were also directed to
gather at the Jama Masjid on the last Wednesday of every month
Maulana llyas h~mselfook part and delivered sermons in these
gatherings. A large number of people, particularly the educated
class of Delhi had started joining the gatherings at the Jama
Masjid. The businessmen in particular helped the IWovement with
their financial assistance. They would often carry food to Mewat
in vans. The re l ig ios i ty in these bus inessmen increased
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considerably. There was a time when they would not even keep
a bearded man as servant in their shops; now they started keeping
beards themselves. Previously, they considered it a great loss to
take leave from their business activities for the purpose of Deen.
They regarded Gasht as a mean work Now they considered it a
grace of God if they spared some time for Deen.']
Meanwhile, Jalsas continued to be organised in different
parts of Mewat. A Jalsa was organised every month at a selected
place and a big Jalsa was held every year at the Madrasa of Noh.
These Jalsas were attended by the Tablighi parties from Delhi, the
businessmen, the people staying at Nizamuddin and Mudarrisin
of Mazahir-e-Uloom Deoband, Nadvat-ul-Ulama Lucknow,
Madrasa Fatehpuri, Delhi. The popularity of Maulana llyas had
grown so much in Mewat that the people gathered in big numbers
to have a glimpse of him and to have a hand shake with him,
Though many speeches were delivered in the Jalsas the main aim
was to form new parties for visiting different areas. The success
of a Jalsa was measured not by the size of crowd nor by the
number of speeches but by the number of parties that were formed
there The people of Noh served the guests w~th reat love and
affection. They used to meet every visitor as
i f
he were a b ~ g
Buzurg or Sha~kh
A h~storicalJalsa was organ~sedon 8th,9th and 10th
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Dhee-Qaad
of 1360 A.H. (1941 A.D .) at Noh . Mew at did never
witness before a gathering like that which attracted twenty five
thousand people. Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani led the
Juma
prayer The number of the Namaazis was so high that even the
roads were full. After the
Salat
the
Jalsa
began. A large number
of people came from distant places to attend the
Jalsa.
These
included eminent personalities like Khan Bahadur
Haji
Rashid
Ahmad, Wajiuddin and the former Cabinet Minister Muhammed
Shafi Quraishi."'
The
Tahlighi
parties had started going to a number of
other cities. They toured Khurja, Aligarh, Agra, Bulandshar,
Meerut, Panipat. Sonipat, Karna l, Rohtak etc. In 1362 A.H ., a party
visited Karachi on the invitation of
Haji
Abdul Jabbar and
Haji
Abdus Sattar. This opened the way of work in Sindh . Many parties
were formed in different Mohallas of Ka rachi. In the m onth of
Rajab the same year Maulana llyas led a party of D elh i and Mewat
to Lucknow. They stayed there for several days and eminent
scholars like Maulana Ehteshamul Hasan, Maulana Zakariya,
Maulana Manzur Nomani. Maulana Abdul Haq Madani and
Maulana Sulaiman Nadvi, took part in the
deliberation^.^^
7
tyle
o
Teaching
Several writers including Maulana Abul Hasan Nadvi and
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Maulana Zakariya have commented on the style of teaching of
Mau lana Ilyas.Mau lana Abul Hasan Nadvi says that, whenever he
gave lessons on Hadith, he would first do Wudu (ablution) followed
by two Raka'ats of Nafil. He used to say that the rights of Hadith
were even more, that was minimal respect due to the sayings of
the Prophet. Maulana llyas would never talk to anybody while he
was engaged in teaching Hadith; even
if
a man of high status
cam e, he would not leave teaching to turn his attention toward him;
instead he would keep in his attention towards students. He
worked very hard with the students. Sometimes he would teach
as many as eighty students different lessons simultaneously.
Such was his craze for teaching that he could finish the lesson of
Mustadrak Hakim even before the morning prayer. '"
Maulana Zakariya says that M aulana llyas had a d istinctive
style of teaching. He concentrated on his own studies. He would
lay special stress on language and grammar. He did not always
bind himself to the syllabus;he would sometimes teach others
books if he thought that these would help the student^."^'
Maulana Zakariya has also described how he himself
studied Hadith from Maulana 1lyas.When he along w ith a colleague
would got Maulana Ilyas, he would sit with his eyes closed
Maulana Zakariya and his friends would open a book and put it r l
front of h ~ m . hey would start reading themselves. Maulana would
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only listen and would interrupt at slightest mistake. When however
there was the big m istake he would close the book which signaled
the end of the class.61
8 Performance of aiis
Pilgrimages lo Hijaz played an important role in the
religious career of Maulana Muhammed.llyas. He performed his
first
Hajj
in 1333 A.H. When he came to know about the intention
of Maulana Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri and Maulana Mahmood
Hasan to go for the
Hajj
that year he turned restless. He felt as
if
I
the world would become dark in the absence of these
personalities. He wanted to accompany them but for that he
required permission from his relatives. His sister offered to give
him her ornam ents for this purpose . Then he sought the
perm ission of h is mother and brother. Lastly he wrote a letter to
Maulana Kahlil to give him the permission .He permitted him
saying that rather than se lling the jewelry of his sister he shou ld
preferably take the m oney from his relatives. While Mau lana Khalil
Ahmad boarded the first ship he went by the second ship along
with Maulana Mahmood Hasan. He left India in Shawwal
1333
A.H. and returned in
Rabi-ul-7-hani
and rejoined the Madrasa
Maza hir-e-U oom as
Mudarris. .'
Maulana llyas performed his second Hajj after he had
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already started Tabligh movem ent. Till then, however, it was limited
to establish Madrasa in deferent areas of Mewat. A large number
of students were taking Islamic education in those Madrasas but
Maulana himself had started feeling dissatisfaction over it. H e was
pondering over the idea of reaching the masses and bringing
them closer to Islam. In Shaw wal1344 A.H ., he left India alongwith
Maulana Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri; before leaving Bombay, he
also passed some tim eat Hyderabad. In Hijaz when his companions
were ready to depart from Madina, they found Maulana llyas in a
strange condition of restlessness and anxiety. He was not ready
to leave Madina. His companions discussed the
matter with
Maulana Khalil Ahmad. H e advised them not to persuade M aulana
llyas but to either wait for him or go without him. They preferred
to stay and wait. Maulana llyas has been quoted as saying that,
during his stay at M adina, he felt the inspiration to start the Tablighi
Movement. He felt as
i f
a Divine voice told him that he had to do
an important task. This made him restless. He asked an
rif
about
it, who told him not to worry because
i
it was the D ivine will; he will
be helped by the God himse lf in accom plishing that task. Maulana
llyas now felt pretty comfortable and dec ided to return. H e stayed
in Harmaeen Mecca
&
Madina) for a period of five months and
returned to Kandhla on 13th Rabi-ul- Than;, 1345 A.H. Soon he
started the Tablighi Gasht. j
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His third H a j came in 1351
A.1-l.
The journey began soon
after the appearance of the moon of Ram adhan. He offered
Taravih at the station of Delhi and then boarded the train destined
to Karachi. He was accompanied by Maulana Ehtasham ul-
Hasan. On 2nd. Muharram 1352 A.H., he reached Madina from
Mecca and returned to India on 2nd. Jam adi-ul Awwal. Describing
about this Hajj, Maulana Ehtasham ul-Hasan wrote in a letter to
Maulana Zakariya:
Most of his time passes i r ~ aram . 'There
is regular discussion among the people
about the Tablighi Movement and Maulana
himself misses no opportunity to say a few
words about the importance of Tabl~gh. ~~
Maulana llyas felt more satisfied now and after returning
he found himself in greater strength to resume the work.
The success of Tablighi Movement had generated a
des ire at the holiest centres of Islam to start the work there as well
because the Meccans and Madinites were the right people to
welcome i t and then to spread it throughout the world. This desire
reached its peak in 1356A .H. and he started for H a jjon 11th Dhee-
Qaad. He left with his son, Maulvi Muham med Yusuf, Maulvi lnam
ul-Hasan, Maulvi Noor Muham med, H aji Abdur Rahm an, Maulvi
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Idris, Maulvi Jamil, Mutawalli Tufail Ahniad, Maulvi Zahirul Hasan
and M aster Mahm ood Hasan. Before his departure, he nominated
Maulvi Sayyed Raza Hasan, Maulvi Maqbul Hasan and Maulvi
Muhammed Zakariya to look after the affairs of the
Tabligh
Movement in his absence. There was a constant discussion about
the
Tabligh
and the
manasik
of
Ha;;
in the ship. In Jeddah, he
invited important personalities to his chamber and gave speech
about the aims of
Tabligh
They appreciated the efforts off
Mau lana Ilyas. In Mecca he did not find time to discuss about the
Tabligh
with the people but in Meena he had several rounds of
discussions with the pilgrims and h e also addressed a gathering.
After the formalities of
Hajj
were over, he discussed th e matter with
Indians living there. They opposed the idea . He then had a talk with
Maulana Shafiuddin, who was a
Khalifah
of
Haji
lmdadullah
Muhaj i r Makki and had migrated f rom India to Mecca. He
appreciated his stand and hoped for its success with the assistance
of God. H e also had a chance to speak at a party a t the house of
Muhammed Saeed Basalaama Makk i, who had many reservations
about Maulana's remarks.
Maulana llyas also meet a party of
Haj js
belonging to
Bahrain. They promised to start the work in their country. There
he had a rneeting with some Indian businessmen living in Hijaz.
Initially, they were reluctant but then they agreed on the condition
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that the permission of the
Sultan
of Hijaz should be sought. It was
resolved that the aims and objectives of
Tabligh
would be written
down in Arabic and would be sent to the
Sultan.
After a lapse of
two weeks, Maulana Ilyas, alongwith Maulana Haji Abdullah
Deh lvi, Abdul Rahman Mazhar, Shaikh ul-Mufawafin and Maulana
Ehtashamul Hasan met the
Sul tan.
He gave them a warm
welcome when they told him about the
Tabligh;
he gave a long
speech on Tawhid Oneness of God, Sunnah and Shariat. Next
day the Sultan departed from Riyadh.
Maulana Ehtashumul Hasan noted in brief the aims and
objectives of
Tabligh
and submitted
i t
to Head
Qazi Shaikh
ul-
Islam Abdullah bin Hasan. He recommended the matter for the
final approval to the NaibAmir Faisal. Maulana 's friends meanwhile
kept themselves busy meeting the people and convincing them
about the importance of
Tabligh.
Once
i t
happened that Maulana
llyas was discussing something with his friends; a man come to
the door and addressed them saying,
Keep doing your work. I f you know the
reward for the work being done hy you,
you will not be able to tolerate.
'
Saying this he went and Maulana llyas continued his
discussions.
On 25th of Safar
Maulana llyas left Mecca for Madina
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and started convincing people about
abligh
there. He alongwith
Maulvi Sayyad Mahrnood and Maulvi Ehtashamul Hasan paid a
visit to the
mir
of Madina, who admired their
endeavor^.^^
While staying in Hijaz, Maulana llyas kept himself informed
about the happenings in
Mewat and Delhi through letters. After
fifteen days of his stay at Madina, he decided to return to India. '
9 The Last Davs of His Life
Maulana Muhammed llyas always l ived with health
problems. The extraordinary burden of the work had caused
further deterioration in his physical condition. In November 1943,
A.D . he developed dysentery from which he never fully recovered.
Describing about his condition Abdul Jabbar, a friend of him wrote
in a letter:
By the grace of God, Maulana is feeling
better now, but the weakness persists.
Despite the instructions by Hakim not to
speak, he does not stop that; he says that
it
is better to die speaking for the abligh
than improving health silently. He also
says that the Ulama are not paying due
attention to the work. E ven if they have to
take debt for its work they should not
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worry. Allah will provide them sufficiency.
He says that his disease
IS
a gift and he
thought that people wou ld come to h im at
last now to inquire about his health, but
they do not come. He is witnessing the
benefits of this. When he said this in front
of me, I just can't tell you hls ~ o n d it io n . ~
When a party from Lucknow visited Delhi in oharram
1363 A.H. (January 1944 A.D.), they saw that Maulana llyas had
becom e considerably weak but he still led the prayers himse lf, and
gave speech as often as before. But when he wanted to rise from
sitting, he required the help of others lblaulana Muharnmed Yusuf
Kashmiri was also present. Maulana llyas was making strenuous
efforts to convince the Ulama about the significance and great-
ness of the Tabligh work. He was pleading before them that Da wat
was in fact the~r uty and they alone were worthy of that onerous
task. He would also be extremely humble saying that he was like
a man who saw fire somewhere and started calling people to
extinguish that. But the extinguishers were others and not he,
while on one hand he would try to convlnce
Ulama,
on the other,
he would appeal to the people of D e lh ~ ,he activists of Tabligh to
benefit from their knowledge and ideas . Mau lana's efforts showed
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results. Many Jalsas were organised in which the Ulama including
Mu fti Kifaitullah, Maulana Abdul Hasan, M aulana lmran K han and
several others participated.
One of the aims of Da'wat was to bring different classes
of people close and to reduce differences among them so that they
made combined and co-ordinated efforts in Islam. In one of the
Jalsas at Mewat in which mainly the Ulama were invited. Maulana
Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi spoke on the necessity of continuous link
between the Ulama and the masses. H e told them that i the Ulama
failed to develop proper links with the masses, they would becom e
a minority of untouchables in the society. He irregularly meeting
with the Ulama and the respect in their hearts for him increased
c o n ~ i d e r a b l y . ~ ~
By M arch 1944 A.D. Maulana Muhamm ed llyas became
too weak to lead the prayers. He, however, still offered Salat with
Jama'at. It was at this time that Maulana Hafiz Hashim Jan
Mujaddid visited him. Maulana llyas felt very happy at his arrival.
It was followed by the visit
o
Maulana Sayyed Abdul Ali, brother
of Maulana Nadvi. Maulana directed the organizers of Tabligh to
utilize the opportunity and to use the two vis ~tors or the Tabligl,
work at Delhi.
On Maulana llyas's request the Ulama of Madrasas
gathered there. These included Maulana Tayyab, the late Mohtamim
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of Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband, Maulana Mufti Kifaitullan, Mau lana
Shafi, the Mohtamim of Madrasa Abdur-Rab Delhi, Maulana
Lateef, the nazirn of Madrasa Mazahir-e Uloom . Maulana Aijaz A li
and Shaikh-ul- Hadith Maulana Muhammed Zakariya; Maulana
Abdul Qadir Raipuri also visited R a i p ~ r . ' ~
Meanwhile, a Jarna'at was sent to Peshawar, where they
successfully introduced the work. This was followed by the arrival
of a party from there to New Delhi. The visitors included Mr.
Arshad, Maulana Ahsanullah N advi and M r. Abdul Qudoos.
Describing his observations and impressions, Arshad Sahab
writes:
". . . . . . .Ona cot Hazrat (Maulana llyas) was
sitting with the help of pillows . . . . his face
was full of glow and his body was nothing
but bones
......
While taking food Mau lana
spoke thus
1 Hakim Sahab I do consider i t an
obligation under Shari'at to follow your
instructions. Is i t not that I can no more
benefit from standing in Namaaz.
2) brothers Allah loves all His bondsm en
even those who do not believe in H im .
.
To serve the be lievers is the rea l slavery of
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God. To humble ourselves for the honour
of the believers is the foremost objective
of our tahrik ...... After that, he came out
with the help of a stick and two assistants
and spoke thus:
1) rothers W e have gone astray from
the path of the Prophet; toac hie ve political
power or government cannot be the a im of
Muslims. But if one gets power as a result
of treading the path of the Prophethe
should not avoid it
. . . . . . .
2)
Remember that, by describing the
shortcomings of Muslims, these cannot
be a l l ev ia ted . Ins tead one shou ld
enumerate whatever small virtues they
have. This will automatically remove their
~ h o r t c o m i n g s . ~ ~
After
alaf
Hazrat again addressed
them:
"See, you have not come for occupying
the post, do not let your time be wasted.
A l w a y s k e e p y o u rs e l f b u s y i n
rem em bra nc e and learning .On 13th
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April 944 A.D., Hazrat said after tea. As
earlier prophets brought Shariat likewise
our master brought Shariat. The evangel
of Hazrat lsa did not cancel the Taurah;
there were only some injunctions. But the
Quran brought by the Prophet canceled all
previous Books
.......
The distinctive
feature of our Prophet is the way of
Tabligh. Before Prophet the Prophethood
was to continue, but after him it ended. So
now the responsibility came on his
followers
...
l f i
At the time of Asr it started ra~ning;he programme of
Tabligh was postponed; Hazrart came out and angrily asked why
the Gasht was not done. He described the sacrifices of the
Mewatis. He then asked a poor Mewati to come near him and said
When I asked him for the first time to do
Tablrgh he asked what Tabl~ghwas. I
asked him to teach Kalima to the people.
He said that he himself did not know the
ka l~ma . told him to say the same to the
people and tell them not to repeat the
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mistake committed by him and to learn the
Kalima from someone.
People were impressed by his speech and started for the
Gasht
By Allah's grace, the rain also stopped.
Maulana Nadvi has then reproduced some description
provided by al-Furqan, a journal edited by Maulana Manzur
Naumani,
In the last week of April, Maulana Sayyed
Ataullah Shah
Bilkhari
came for inquiring
his health. Two days before, Maulana had
a severe attack that had greatly increased
the weakness. When he came to know
about Shah Saheb's arrival, he said to me
that he had to have conversation with
Shah Sahab. And should bring my ear
near his mouth so that can speak loudly
to Shah Sahab whatever he whispered in
my ear. But when Shah Sahab came in
after a few minutes, Maulana gained
strength and then spoke continuously for
half an hour When he had an attack
and regained consciousness, he rec~ted
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thrice this verse of Quran- to help the
believers is their right on us. Then he
called me and said: Maulvi Sahab, this is
Al lah s prom ise that his task w il l b e
accompl ished wi th h is help. But the
condition is that there shou ld be complete
faith in
His
prom ise of help and one should
not let his effo rts decrease^
7
I
After a few moments of deep
silence, he uttered thus:
Would the
lama
had taken the control of
the work and then he could depart. It was
a strange sight; the more the condition of
Hazrat deteriorated, the m ore sentimental
he becam e about the Tabli gh.
Throughout
his illness he was either worried about the
revival of Deen. or was praying for the
Prophet or was giving instructions about
the work .Maulana did not tolerate
talking on anyothersubject- .When
somebody inquired about his health, he
s ad
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Health and disease go alongwith man;
well-being and ill-being -there is nothing in
them . The real well-being is that one does
the task for which he has been sent to the
world and the soul of the Prophet feels
, PI
On 23rd June, a party left for Noh under Maulana
Muharnrned Yusuf. It included Maulana Zafar, Maulana Muharnrned
Manzur, Maulana Muharnrned Zakariya, Maulvi Arnir Ahrnad,
Professor Abdul Mughani, Maulvi Sayyed Azizur Rahrnan and
others. The
alsa
at Noh was extraordinary successful. But the
people m issed there Maulana Muharnrned llyas who had been the
founding spirit behind the whole Movement. Maulana Muharnrned
llyas had now realized that the time of his departure from the world
was very near. He, therefore, requested Maulana Zafar Ahrnad
Thanavi, Maular~aMuharnrned Manzur and many others not to
go.nn
M au lana 's condi t ion was deter iorat ing rapid ly. Dr.
Shaukatullah Ansari had diagnosed his illness as Tuberculosis. Dr
Lateef differed
m
diagnosis describing it as Chronic Arnoebisis.
but his treatment failed. While he was fighting the last battle of life,
the work began by him had gained in strength and health
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considerably. '
Jama ats
and
Jalsas
were being organised in
rapidly increasing number of cities and qasbas .Maulana llyas was
still in com plete command of the whole Movement. While lying on
the bed, he gave necessary instructions and knew about the
progress of the work. Whenever somebody told him that some
speaker was delivering a lengthy speech, he used to send a
message to cut it s h o t m
On the night of 13th July, he inquired what the next day
was. It was to be Thursday. He then inquired i his clothes had any
unclean patch. On having being replied in negative, he felt c
comfortable.He offered lsha (prayers) with Jarna at but had to
leave it incomplete due to bowel disturbance. Then he offered
Salat in his own room, and then inquired Maulvi lnamul Hasan
about a
Du a
and recited it. At 12 O'clock, he felt restless; the
doctor gave the tablet. 'Throughout the night he kept on saying
Allahu Akbar. In the late night he called Mau lvi Muhammed Yusuf
and said to him: Yusuf come, meet me.
I
am going. Within few
hours before the Adhan (call to prayer) of Fajr prayer, his soul left
his body. In the morning the people, amidst tears, appointed
Maulana Muhammed Yusuf as his successor. The
Ulama
gave
him the bath. The news had spread throughout the city and the
people had gathered in a large number there at Nizamuddin. The
narnaaz of Janaza was offered after Zuhr. By this time a sea of
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people had reached there. Shaikh ul Hadith Maulana Muhammed
Zakariya led the prayers, after which he was buried in the south
eastern corner of the Mosque on the sides of his father and
brother's grave^.^
Maulana Muhammed llyas was survived by a son Maulana
Muhammed Yusuf and a daughter, who was married to Shaikh
ul Hadith
M a u l a n a Z a k a r i ~a . ~
10 His Morals and Personal Qualities
11) His Faith And Self- Accountability
Maulana Muhammed llyas had extraordinary faith in
Allah, which was reflected in every single act of his life. Self-
accountability was also very prominent in has thinking. Maulana
Abul Hasan Nadvi has quoted several excerpts from his letters to
stress this quality of him:
The secret of religion is faith alongwith
s e l f - a c c o u n t a b i l i t y W h a t e v e r
instructions we received about any ac t, to
have faith in them and to believe in them-
; the hidden faith. H5
Sometimes one becomes very glad on
his small achievements or seeing others'
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mistakes; one would always try to avoid
misuriderstandings The real
success is to endeavor and not to wait for
the results. The real reward, for good
deeds is sawab and that is linked only with
involvement in religious task. It has nothing
to do with the results in the world.
The whole ablighi Movemerit of Maulana Muhammed
llyas was to please God, to follow the Prophet, to guide people
towards welfare and to make efforts for the success in the
Hereafter. Maulana thought that the life was short and the best
way to pass it was to invite people towards the path of welfare. He
thought,
Even i a person offers prayers throughout
the night and recites one Quran daily and
gives lakhs of rupees in alms, he can not
become equal in reward to one who has
invited thousands of people towards the
duties of the religion.
He even suggested to his friends and religious scholars
of high reputation to become the source of
~mprovementn others'
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l ives. Maulana Ali Mian writes about h ~ mhat:
his every act ion, every interest and
participation in every activity was aimed
for the benefit of Deen. It was for this that
he discussed and spoke and participated
in different functions and it was also due
to t h is t hat he b eca m e p leased o r
displeased. Anything which is devoid of
this, he had no interest or link with that. It
was his attitude even in the smallest of the
routine affairs.
According to Maulana Manzur Nomani, he would not
perhaps drink and w ould not offer a cup of tea to anybody without
p u r p o ~ e . ~ '
(i i) Attentiveness
Maulana llyas had reduced all his attentions and efforts
for one aim , which was to invite the people to the path (Deen). He
had written to Shaikh ul Hadith that it was his desire to keep his
mind, thought, t~ m e nd energies involved in nothing but the same
work. He felt that the soul of the Prophet was in pain on account
of the wrongdoings of the peop le and it was his duty to lessen that
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pain. H e used to say that wh ile that activities of others were also
important for him, the whole center of attention should be the task
assigned to him by God. He did not even like to listen or talk
anything which was not inconsistent with the
Tabligh
Whenever.
he was in a gathering or attended a function, he always thought
for an opportunity to convey his message to the people present
there. Once, he was attending a marriage ceremony; suddenly he
stood up and started addressing the gathering:
Today it is the day of happiness in your
life. 'This day you try to please even the
lowest class. Even a sweeper is pleased
by you through gifts;does it behave you
that while you please even a sweeper, you
don't worry about pleasing the P r ~ p h e t . ~
After that he told people about the real aim of life and
Invited them to join the Movement.
Once a marriage was to be solemnized in Maulana
liyas's own fam ily. On this occasion, he sent the following Invitation
In this period,
I
regard the gatherings for
such eremonies as a proof of Muslims'
lack of concern (for their real aim). But
because senior scholars and mashaikh
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are expected to attend the ceremony, I do
request you to grace to occasion in order
to get the benefits of both the worlds and
so that may also have an opportunity to
introduce my
ablighi
Programme.
Mau lana llyas did not like to waste any time.Once an old
envelope was found. A few minutes passed in reading and
studying it. Then, he came to know that it had already been read.
At
this M aulana told a person to destroy i t so that it would not waste
his time again. He regarded time as the greatest wealth of man.
I t
should, therefore, be spent with outmost care and no part of
it
should be wasted in useless ac t iv i t ie~.~~
(iii) Extraordinarv Struqqle
There are a large number of peop le in the world who write
or speak for
Deen
but there are few who do the real labour.
Maulana llyas is distinguishable from others in that. He did not just
sit in a mosque or Madrasa to disseminate the knowledge of
Deen. But he went to the people to involve them in the matters of
Deen. Once he wrote to Maulana Zakariya :
It is sincerest desire in my heart that you
pray s tead~ ly or m e that the movernent
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initiated by me remains in action in its
entirety;its action is not made dirty by the
abundance of speech. but speech and
addresses are used only to help the
a ~ t i o r i . ~ '
lnspite of his illness and continuous weakness, he
worked extremely hard to establish the ablighi Movement and
made extensive tours to every corner of Mewat and other parts of
the country. Sometimes he would walk more than twenty miles on
foot, would take food against his choice and sometimes would not
even take meal for two days. He traveled through jungles and hill
in the peak of the summers and winters and in the night and in the
day '?
Once it happened that in the hills of Kaltajpur, while he
along with his companions was traveling in a bullock-cart, it turned
upside down. Before his companions could complain, he remarked:
'Friends, in your whole life this is the first day when you have faced
an uphill task simjlar to that at Hira. Tell me, how many times, the
Prophet faced this. We should feel ashamed of lack of effort in our
life.'Hearing this none complained and the journey was continued.
Maulana Manzur Nomani writes
:
Though physically he was lean and thin.
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but he produced such a hard work for the
great cause as is impossible to imagine.
If anybody is shown the entire beauties o f
Paradise and the frightening conditions
of the hell and it is said to him that
i
he
does a given task, he would get the
Paradise and
i f
he doesn't do that he
would be thrown into the hell, even then his
efforts would not in all probabilities match
those of Maulana Muhammed I lyas,
especially during his last days, gd
Maulana considered labour as an inseparable part of
human nature.
I f
a man would not labour for Deen, he would do
for the world. This can be visualized everywhere in the present
world. Once he said to a companion who had developed fever :
In this era, when people are dying for the bread, is it not much
remarkab le to get fever, wh ile doing efforts for
Deen.
Once Maulana Abul Hasan N advi fell ill, wh ile traveling for
abligh
Maulana llyas wrote to him
:
I
wish to congratulate you that in the
midst of fourteenth century, laboring in the
path of God became the cause of your
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(iv) His concern for the Deee
There was a extraordinary natural concern in the heart
of Maulana llyas for Deen. The diminishing influence of Deen and
the increasing
influence of Kufr always kept him restless-his
sensitive heart and mind and his awakened spirit and conscience "'
Once Maulana Ali Mian alongwith Maulana llyas passing by the
Red Fort asked if he had ever seen the Red Fort. He replied,
"To go to see the Red Fort is an act of shamelessness for me.
I have seen t only in my childhood." Whenever he passed by a
place of grandeur he would ask his companions to recite Qunut-
e-Nazila because it could affect the /man adversely. Maulana also
disliked the examinations of the government Universities because
they linked the man not to Allah and his Deen but to the world and
its materiali~m."~'
Maulana llyas always emphasized that the Shariat should
be followed in all spheres of lives. He wrote in a letter to Maulana
Abdul Lateef. the Nazim of Mazahir -e-Uloom
:
"More emphasis should be laid on that the
people hold their panchayats, its business
and all its decision according to
Shariat.Without this their following of Islam
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would be defective. Sometimes disrespect
of Shari 'ah or lack of concern for
it
may
endanger the faith and one may commit
kufr ( d i ~ b e l i e f ) . ~ ~
In the same letter Maulana llyas spoke at the overreaction
of Muslims over love-marriages. He felt concern over an incident
in which a man and woman of Noh married with mutual consent
and left their village fearing the wrath of the people. But within a
few days the people traced them out and k illed the man and burnt
him with the kerosene oil. Maulana stressed that what was
permissible in Shariat,
how cou ld the people react so angrily over
i t .
Their action was no less than Kufr..
(v) Sobriety And Decency
Maulana llyas was a man of extraordinary intelligence.
Yet, he was decent and dignified in nature. He hardly, if ever, lost
control over his nerves, despite the fact that it was very hard for
them to hear or see anything in violation of his objectives. Once
it happened that in a journey his companions were continuously
doing indecent acts. Maulana llyas saw all this, but said in the
end
,
Do you think my anger is so cheap, that
I
would be angry
with you. 1n
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Maulana
Al i
Mian quotes from Munshi Muhammed Ahmad
that once Maulana llyas was staying in a mosque of Gulawti. A
Jama at came back after Gasht and brought a lad with them. They
told Mau lana llyas that he laughed at the mem bers of the party and
did not offer Namaaz even once Maulana heard their complaint
at which the lad again laughed loudly. Maulana kept his hand on
his chin and said: May Allah keep you laughing and then advised
him for Namaaz in a very simple but effective manner the lad
immediately agreed and entered the mosque alongwith them. ' '
Maulana Ali Nadvi quotes another interesting incident told by
Maulana Ehtashamul Hasan Kandhlavi. Once on a tour for the
purpose of Tabligh, Maulana llyas put his hand on a person. He
blew into rage and said that if Maulana did not remove his hand
(from his shoulder) he would hit him with lathi (stick).Mau lana at
once caught his feet saying that, you did not mention about the
fee t. Hearing that, his anger vanished and his attitude towards
Tabligh softened
' ,'
(vii) Respectinq Others' Riqhts
Not only Maulana Muhammed llyas was concerned for
the righ ts of Muslirns in genera l but he also showed full regard for
the rights of the educated class, the religious scholars and the
important personalltles. Maulana Abdul Hasan Nadvi regards the
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quality of recognizing others rights in relation to their positions as
a difficult art and according to him Maulana llyas was past master
at it Maualan llyas thought taht half of
Suluk
and
Tasawwuf
was
inherent in recognising the rights and to act according to them.
He regarded it as one of the obligations in Deen.lo: .
Maulana gave due respect not only to Muslims but also
to the Non-Muslims. During his journeys, he would never act in
violation of others rights. Once a companion occupied more place
than required in a train Maulana lmmediatelly ask him to confine
himself to his own seat so that others could also sit. Once he was
offering
amaaz
in a train, a companion of him started stopping
others from moving in front of him. Maulana told him not to do so
saying that those were the rights of the people. On another
occasion it happen that due to extraordinary rush of travellers
could not buy the ticket and sit in the train hoping that the
TT.E(Travelling Ticket Examiner) but give the one When the
ticket collector came he meet some sarcastic remarks. Maulana
got engraged and scolded the T.T.E, when he left Maulana lnamul
Hasan said to Maulana llyas that it was his right. Maulana
immediately realised his mistake and when he returned he went
to the TTE and oppo l~gised. ~ ~
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\$His Nature pnd Behaviour
Maulana llyas had a different view of good nature and
behaviour than what is normally understood.ln his view, behaviour
cannot be nice unless i t is in accordance with the unnah Thus
when once a British officer was being praised for hid excellent
nature and behaviour, Maulana whispered to M aulana Ali Nadvi. Do
the disbelievers have decency of behaviour? ' )
Maulana llyas's behaviour with Muslims was always at its
best. Even on ordinary Muslim was great in his eyes. He also
suggested the same to a friend in a letter saying that, rehearse
to regard the Muslims as great, even if they are of lower
category. '('
Maulana l lyas showed extraordinary regard for the
guests especially
if
they were recognized scholars or educated
persons. He would arrange the best possible food for them and
would make them sit at a place of eminence. If he was sitting on
floor, he would put a piece of cloth under his guests. This practice
was so common that every visitor felt be ing given a special honour.lo7
-Wr+
11 asawwuf
A. A
ufi
Of New Dimensions
Tasawwuf in the case of Maulana Muhammed llyas
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achieves altogether a different status as compared to that with the
other
Ulama
of his genre. While the others revealed mainly in
academic work he believed in field work and in developing
spiritual relations through the streets. He traveled through buses
and trains and rode the buffalo-carts to knock at the doors of the
ignorant Muslims. To him the real Tasawwuf was to bring the
people closer to Allah by involving them in the activities of
Da wat
and Tabligh.
The considerable portion of the childhood of Maulana
llyas passed in Gangoh which then was the residence of Maulana
Gangoh whose popularity amongst Muslims was extremely high.
Gangoh had therefore became a center of scholars learned
people and Gnostics. Maulana Muhamrned Ilyas thus received
the company of Maulana Gangohi and his spiritual disciples very
early in his life. It was this atmosphere of spirituality that influenced
his mind and heart. Normally Maulana Gangohi did not pledge
children and students but Maulana Muharnmed llyas was not an
ordinary student. He had something extraordinary in his ways and
Maulana Gangohi gave him the honour of pledging him when he
approached him for
Bai t.
Such was the love of Maulana Rashid
in the heart of Maulana Muhammed Ilyas as would awaken him
in the nights to have a glimpse of his master. Maulana llyas has
been quoted as saying that when he used to do
Dhikr,
he felt sort
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of burden on his heart. When he mentioned his condition to
Maulana Gangohi, he said that Maulana Muhammed Qasim had
made similar complaint to
Haji
Sahab
Haji
Irndadullah) and
Haji
Sahab forecast the hope that Allah would make him do some
extraordinary work. ( '
Maulana Muhammed llyas had reached Gangoh in 1314
A.H. and stayed there till 1325 A.H. when Maulana Gangohi
expired; at that time Maulana Muham med llyas was twenty years
old. Thus, Maulana Muham rned llyas passed
9 -10 years in the
company of his spiritual guide. At the time of Maulana Gangohi's
death, Maulana Muhammed llyas was present by him and was
cont inuously reci t ing
Surah Yasin.
Accord ing to h is own
assessm ent it was one of the two biggest tragedies of his whole
life, the other being the death of his father.lO
After Maulana Gangohi's death, Maulana Muhammed
llyas had no reason to stay at Gangoh. First he went to Deoband
and learned
Trimidhi
and
Bukhari
from Maulana Mahmood
Hasan . H e requested him to pledge him but
Shaikh-ul-Hind
advised him to hold hands of Maulana Khalil Ahmad. Thus, he
got p ledged at the hands of Maulana Khalil Ahm ad Saharanpuri
Maulana Gangohi's demise had brought noticeable changes in
Maulana Maulana Muhammed Ilyas. He had started remaining
calm and si lent and was mostly engrossed in meditat ion.
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IMaulana Muham med Zakariya describes that Mau lana Muhamed
llyas would hardly speak to anybody throughout the day. Instead
he would sit calmly behind the grave of Hazrat Shah Abdul
Quddoos. He uded to offer several Navafil. The extraordinary
labour and lack of concern for food had made him considerably
weak. This weakness continued throughout his life.
Maulana Muhammed llyas had good relations with other
Khulafah of Hazrat Gangohi as well inclulding Shah Abdur Rahim
Raipuri, Maulana Mahmood Hasan, Maulana Ashraf Thanavi; in
particular he had extreme attachment with Maulana Asharf. '
Maulana Muhammed llyas was a man of action. He
always had intense desire in his heart to make struggle (Jihad) for
the sake of religion. He, therefore took Bai't -e-Jihad (pledge for
struggle)
?
at the hands of Maulana Mahmood Hasan.
Mau lana Muhammed llyas fully kept his pledg eof struggle
throughout his life. He did not confine himself to a chamber of
Madrasa but involved himself in the real field work. He regarded
Dh ikr and Shugh l as important things but the real Tasawwuf in h is
eyes was to make sacrifices in the path of Allah.'IJ
The renowned scholar and author of the history of
Chishti Saints Tar ikh-e-Mashaikh-e-Chisht) ,Professor Khal iq
Ahrnad Nizami writes:
The efforts of two Shaikhs (saints) in the
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end of 19th century and begining of 20th
century are worth mentioning in the field
of the reform of inner-self (Batini-lslah).One
of them, Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi, was
a Kha lifah of Haji lmdadullah Sahab. He
did the reformation in various aspects of
Muslims lives for more than half a century
sitting in the corner of an old Masjid of an
anc ient town (1.e Thana Bhawan). But the
movement of Maulana Thanvi could not
achieve such depth and vastness as did
the religious movement (Deeni Tahreek)
of Maulana Muhammed Ilyas. Mallana
Muhammed llyas was a murid (spiritual
d isc ip le ) of Mau lana Rash id Ahmad
Gangohi. The example of foresight and
the feeling (for M uslim cause) which were
bestowed on him by Allah, can hardly be
noticed in any other Shaikh. No Shaikh
(saint) adpoted the reformative principles
of Chishitya order in the way as did
Maulana Muhammed I l y a ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~
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The learned professor kha liq Ahmad further writes:
There is nothing as effective for the
reform and training of man as is the
change of environment. The Mashaikh of
Chishtiya order believed that a large
number of the inclinations, thoughts and
feelings are due to the impact of the outer
environment (and society) on man. I f it is
changed suitably, many evils get alle-
viated. I t is mentioned in Faw aid a/-Faw ad
that once during a discussion on Sohbaf
( c o m p a n y o r a s s o c i a t i o n ) , H a z r a t
Mahboob llahi said, 'The impact of the
company is the h ighest.' He often inquired
his disciples about their associations. One
day he asked Amir Hasan Sanjari, ' in
whose company do you sit mostly
.
Then
he advised him . sit in the company of the
lovers (of God) and pass (your days) in the
sorrow of love(of God). :'
Professor khaliq Ahmad Nizami also writes:
S h a h K a l i m u l l a h D e h l v i a n d S h a h
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Muhammed Sulairnan Tonsavi stressed
g r e a t l y t h e n e e d t o c h a n g e t h e
environment. They believed that all the
efforts to reform the Hidden Self' without
chang ing the env i ronmen t r ema in
futile
........
Shah Kalimullah regularly wrote
letters to his disciples and inquired from
them abou t the chang e i n the ir
environments. They were directed not do
have a companion who had no interest in
their religious struggle. Shah Sulaiman
Tonsavi, in order to explain the adverse
effects of bad company, used to quote a
statement from Awarif ul-Ma arif There
is a snake. Whomsoever it sees gets
burnt. When even the effects of animals
are so strong one cannot imagine the
effects of bad men's ~ o m p a n y . '~
6
is
I d e o b
1 Action And Self Assessment
Maulana llyas believed that the
bigges t proof of one's faith in Allah is one's
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action and deeds and his eagerness for
con t i nuous se l f - assessmen t . Thus
,
Maulana said: "Actions have no value in
themselves They becom e valuable only
after their consistency with the command
of Allah which links the doer with Supreme
Being. The stronger the cause of link with
that being and the more the actions have
sincerity of heart and effort, the more
valuable will be the action^.""^
On another occasion, he said in a letter
:
"For a moment, the truth of consistency
of his action with the command of God is
that the pressure of faith in the command
and its greatness should be such as
suppresses excitement, for excellent is
the creation of human nature.
I f
there is
excitement,
~t
means there is love for self
and when the excitement is due to the
command of God, its greatness and the
feeling of the need to obey it, it is love of
Faith,"" ,
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Describing about lbadat and Dhikr he days:
The clear guidelines which came to us
about lbadaa t and Azkar should always b e
in sight. One should have firm belief in the
promises made for them . . . . . . . .The main
thing is endeavoring to have full faith in
those promises Fa ith is linked with heart
and , therefore, faith is the heart of lbadaa f.
One can hope for spirituality through the
same faith.
Once a m an wro te to him about his not enjoying the work
of Deen. He answered that the real thing is not enjoying or not
enjoying but to follow the com mands of Allah a nd the Prophet after
understanding them properly. To obey an order and to follow a
command are the real big
Maulana Abul Hasan N a d v ~ ays
the whole Tahreek of Maulana Mu-
hamm ed llyas was based on fa ~ th nd self-
assessment i.e to please Allah with the
help of these (faith and self-assessment),
to imitate the Proph et to call people