the truth...

Tabligh literally means ‘to convey’. Contextually, it refers to conveying the message of Islam. This is the sunnah of all the prophets. The most important rule of tabligh is hikmah.
Whosoever does tabligh must adopt hikmah. It is only then, that people will understand and accept.

The system conducted by the Tabligh Jama’at was initiated by Moulana Ilyas Saheb (Rahimahullah). He observed that people were too engrossed in their worldly activities and had forgotten the objective for which they had been sent to this world. He realized that they had to free some time from their worldly engagements, to sit and ponder about Allah Ta’ala and their purpose for being sent to this world. Therefore, he started calling people to the masjid, and reminded them about Allah Ta’ala and His greatness. Initially people rebuked him, they discouraged him and used to say that they had no time for all of this; but as time went by, they realized the truth behind it and the need for it, and started joining him in calling others towards Allah Ta’ala. Thereafter, when more people started joining this work, a few guidelines had to be set, to make sure that the work was done in a proper manner. Different time periods of 3 days, 40 days, etc. were set, so that people knew for how long they had to be away, and could make the necessary arrangements for that period.

Their objective is that each and every Muslim adopts the Islamic way in all aspects of life. They do not advice anyone to leave all their daily activities and join this work, but they encourage people to take out some time from their daily engagements so that the rest of the time could be spent in accordance to the teachings of Islam. Spending time in the path of Allah is not the objective of the work, but rather it acts as a motivation to practice on all other aspects of Deen. 

Proof from Quran and Hadith

It is incorrect to say that the work of tabligh ‘has no basis in sunnah’ or that ‘it was not found in the time of Nabi (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam)’
nvite (people) to the way of your lord with wisdom and good counsel.

(Verse: 16:125)
And there has to be a group of people from among you who call towards good and prevent from evil.

(Verse: 3:104)
And who is better in utterance than the one who called people towards Allah, and acts righteously and says, “I am one of those who submit themselves (to Allah Ta’ala).

(Verse: 41:33)
Hazrat Abu Sa’eed (Radhiyallahu Anhu) narrates that he heard Nabi (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) saying, “Whosoever witnesses a forbidden act being committed, he should prevent it by the use of his hands; if he is unable to do so, then he should prevent it with his tongue; if he is unable to do so, he should at least consider it a vice in his heart; and this is a very low level of Iman”. 

(Sahih Muslim Vol.2 Pg.211/2 - Darul Ma’rifah)
It has been reported on the authority of Nu’man bin Bashir (Radhiyallahu Anhu) that Nabi (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said, “There are people who do not transgress the limits (laws) of Allah Ta’ala, and there are others who do so. They are like two groups who boarded a ship; one of them settled on the upper deck, and the other on the lower deck of the ship. When the people of the lower deck needed water, they said, “Why should we cause trouble to the people of the upper deck when we can have plenty of water by making a hole in our deck”. Now, if the people of the upper deck do not prevent this group from such foolishness, all of them will perish; but if they stop them, they will be saved”. 

(Sahih Al Bukhari Vol.3 Pg.152 - Darul fikr)
We also agree that the manner in which da’wa is coordinated by the Tabligh Jama’at (e.g. specifying the time period of 40 days, stipulating time for ta’lim and gusht, etc.) is not proven through sunnnah, but it is not necessary that the method of each and every ruling of Shari’a is stipulated through sunnah. There are some commandments in Shari’a in which the method is not stipulated. For example, it is a commandment of Shari’a to acquire knowledge, but the manner in which the Madrasas are established today, is not proven through Quran and Hadith. Up until the recent past, the scholars used to teach in the masjids of their respective towns and villages. The students had to go to different scholars to learn the different sciences. No arrangements of food or boarding were made. However, the zeal for knowledge had decreased as time went by, and the scholars felt it necessary to establish the system of Darul Ulooms as is established today. Nobody regards such a system to be bid’ah.

Similarly, Shari’a has commanded us to do the work of tabligh. This work used to be done on an individual basis. The learned people used to preach people and prevent them from all vices. As time went on, vice started prevailing, and people had stopped doing the work on an individual basis; therefore, a collective effort had to take place, and rules had to be set up for the work to carry on in order. 
Importance of seeking knowledge

We accept the fact that it is important to seek knowledge, and certain aspects of Deen are such that it is compulsory for each and every Muslim to know them. There are millions of Muslims in the world. It is not practically possible that all these Muslims join Darul Ulooms and madrasas or (as mentioned by the Shaykh) sit in the masjid and acquire knowledge, as is the custom in Syria, etc. All the Muslims in the world will not be prepared to do this, nor can the Darul Ulooms and madrasas accommodate such a big body of students. Therefore, a different mechanism had to be adopted. 

It was observed that only the minority that were in Darul Ulooms and madrasas were acquiring knowledge, and the vast majority was too engrossed in worldly activities, resulting in the ignorance of even the basic principles of Deen. Therefore, a method was engineered where the Muslims were requested to take out some time from their daily engagements and come to the masjid. Here they were reminded about Allah Ta’ala and how ignorant they were of the teachings of Islam. This led them to spending more time in the path of Allah and eventually they were educated with the basic teachings of Islam. It is apparent today that anyone who spends atleast 40 days in the path of Allah is acquainted with the basic rulings of salat, wudu, etc. and also learns to recite those suras of the Quran that are read frequently in salat. Moreover, the work of Tabligh has created awareness for the lack of knowledge in Muslims in the past few years, resulting in more students joining madrasas and the opening up of more Darul Ulooms and madrasas. 

Therefore, we concur with the Shaykh’s advice on educating the Muslim masses with the teachings of Islam; but it wouldn’t have been practical to expect all the Muslims to disengage themselves from their worldly activities and be engrossed in acquiring knowledge. Rather, a practical method had to be adopted, which the Tabligh Jama’at succeeded in accomplishing. However, we do not deny the fact many of the brothers fail to adhere to the set of rules given to them by the seniors of Tabligh Jama’at, and do not attain the full benefit they would have otherwise attained. 

The position of knowledge in Tabligh Jama’at 

Tabligh Jam’at does not discourage people from acquiring knowledge, but rather it acts as an encouragement for people to go seek knowledge. The teachings of Tabligh Jama’at are based on “six points”, the third point of which is “’ilm (knowledge) and zikr (remembrance of Allah Ta’ala)”. When the brothers who go out in the path of Allah, the virtues of knowledge are read to them and they are encouraged to go to the scholars of Deen to acquire knowledge of the rulings of Islam. The students and teachers of schools and madrasas are discouraged to disrupt their studies for the work of da’wa, but they are inspired to give their free time for this work. There are extremists that give preference to da’wa over knowledge, but this is totally against the teachings of the seniors of Tabligh Jama’at.

Propagating without knowledge

It is true that one should not preach what one does not know. However, not having knowledge in one field does not mean that one cannot propagate at all. There is no one present on the face of the earth who can say that he has mastered all fields, or even one field for that matter. Knowledge is so vast that no creation can encompass it. Therefore, we cannot say that one should wait till he has perfected his knowledge in order to propagate it. It is enough for a person to know one aspect of Deen to propagate that aspect to another person. We also understand from the Ahadith of Nabi (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) that he ordered the Sahabah (Radhiyallahu Anhum) to propagate whatever they heard from Nabi (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), even if it was one sentence.

09:57:57 am . 24 Mar 2008