Muhammad Ilyas Kandhalvi was born in 1885 in a small town in the United
Province of British India in a
family of religious scholars. As a response to degradation in practice of
Islamic principles and values among the common Muslim folk and efforts by
organizations such as Arya
Samaj to convert poorer sections of Muslims to Hinduism (see Shuddi
Movement), Ilyas al-Kandhlawi revived the Tabligh Jamaat effort in
the 1920s. This movement focuses on preaching fundamental Islamic values to
common Muslims and works on inculcating ritual prayer, fasting and other
fundamental acts of worship in them. All the members work as volunteers and
encourage each other on concern for Muslim community and mankind in general to
return to worship and obedience of their Creator (God). Tabligh Jamaat maintains
a non-affiliating stature in matters of politics and fiqh (jurisprudence) so as
to eschew the controversies that would otherwise accompany such affiliations and
today has a presence in over 150 countries in the world. He was succeeded by Muhammad Yusuf Kandhalawi as Ameer of
Tabligh Jamaat
Early life and
education
Muhammad Ilyas was born
in 1885 in his maternal grandmother's house in the town of Kandhla in Uttar Pradesh, India. His childhood was spent partly in the city of Nizamuddin, where
his father, Muhammad Ismail, was an imam and
religious teacher, and partly with with his maternal grandmother's family in
Kandhla. Like all other children in the family, Ilyas began his education in the
maktab. There he memorized one and a
quarter ajza' of the
Qur'an. He
completed memorizing the
Qur'an under his father. The learning of the Qur'an was so common in the
family that in the one-and-a-half rows of worshippers in the family mosque,
there was not a single non-Hafiz except the muezzin. Thereafter, he studied the elementary books of
Arabic and Persian language
mostly under his father. Some of his studies were under Muhammad Abrar, a doctor
in Nizamuddin.
In his youth, Ilyas was
known for his piety. Ilyas's mother, Bi Safiya, used to say to him, "Ilyas, I
feel the aroma of the holy Companions in you," referring to the companions of
the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.
Sometimes, placing her hand on his back, she would say, "How is it that I see
figures resembling the holy companions moving along with you?" The Islamic
scholar Mehmud Hasan remarked, "when I see Mohammad Ilyas,
I am reminded of the holy companions." Eagerness and enthusiasm for faith were
ingrained in Ilyas's nature.
At Nizamuddin, Ilyas's
further education was being neglected due to the over-fondness and busy schedule
of his father and Ilyas's own excessive occupation with prayers. Therefore, Ilyas's brother, Muhammad Yahya,
requested that his father allow Ilyas to come with him to Gangoh, where Yahya lived with and studied under Rashid Ahmad
Gangohi. Their father agreed, and Ilyas came to Gangoh in 1896 or early
1897, where Mohammad Yahya began to teach him regularly.
At the time Gangoh was a
base of many Islamic scholars and Sufis. Muhammad Yahya wanted Ilyas to benefit
from this spiritual environment. Often, when scholars that were former students
or disciples of Gangohi would visit Gangoh, Muhammad Yahya would stop his
lessons and instruct Ilyas to sit and listen to their conversation instead.
In Gangoh, Ilyas
benefited from the company of Rashid Ahmad Gangohi as well. He requested
to give bay`ah (an oath of allegiance to a Sufi teacher) at the hand of Gangohi. Although Gangohi
did not usually take bay`ah from children and students, he made an
exception due to the exceptional merit of Ilyas. Ilyas developed a strong
attachment to Gangohi, who had great affection for Ilyas as well.
At one point, Ilyas's studies had to be suspended due to severe illness. He
was anxious to begin studying again, but, due to his health, was not allowed.
Eventually he succeeded in returning to his studies.
In 1905, the death of
Rashid Ahmad Gangohi occurred, when Ilyas was 20. Ilyas was at Gangohi's bedside
at the time, reciting Surat Ya Sin. The death of Gangohi greatly
affected him. He said, "Two shocks have been most painful to me. One was of the
death of my father, and the other, of the death of Maulana Rasheed Ahmad
Gangohi."
After, the death of
Gangohi, Ilyas generally remained silent and spent most of his time in
meditation. Muhammad Zakariya Kandhalvi said,
"We studied elementary Persian from him those days. His practice, then, was that
he sat cross legged, and in utter silence, on a coarse mat behind the tomb of
Shah Abdul Quddus. We presented ourselves for the lesson, opened the book, and
placed it before him, indicating with the finger where we were to begin from on
that day. We would read aloud and translate the Persian verses. When we made a
mistake, he would shut the book with a movement of the finger, and the lesson
came to an end. It meant that we were to go back, prepare the lesson thoroughly,
and, then, come again ... He used to offer nafl prayers much and often at that time.
From maghrib till a little before isha', he devoted himself exclusively to
nafl prayers. His age, then, was between 20 and 25 years."
In 1908, Ilyas enrolled
in Darul Uloom
Deoband. There he studied the Qur'an, hadith, Islamic
jurisprudence, and other Islamic subjects under notable Deobandi scholars,
including Ashraf Ali
Thanwi, Shah Abdur Rahim Raipuri, and Mahmudu'l-Hasan Deobandi. He studied
the hadith collections Sahih al-Bukhari
and Jami`at-Tirmidhi
under Mahmudu'l-Hasan, on whose hand Ilyas took an oath of jihad against the British. Mahmudu'l-Hasan also advised
Ilyas to approach Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri, a disciple
of Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, for bay`ah since Gangohi had died. Thus, under
Saharanpuri’s supervision, Ilyas would complete the various stages of sulook in Saharanpur.
Foundation of Tablighi
Jamaat
Ilyas al-Kandhlawi became
aware of the condition of Muslims in Mewat and their deviation from the tenets
of Islam. Even non-Muslim historians have commented at length on their
estrangement with Islam, as the following extract from the Alwar Gazetteer of
1878, written by Major Powlett, will show: “All the Meos are, now, Muslims, but
only in name. Their village deities are the same as those of the Hindu
landlords, and they celebrate several Hindu festivals. Holi is a season of
special rejoicing among the Mewatis and they observe it like their own
festivals, such as, Moharrum, ‘Id and Shab-i-Barat. The same is the case with
Janam Ashtami, Dussehra and Diwali, The Meos engage the services of the Brahmins
to fix the dates of marriages. They have Hindu names, with the exception of the
word ‘Ram’, and their last name, often, is ‘Singh’, though not as frequently as
‘Khan’. Like Ahirs and Gujars, the Mewatis, too, observe Amawas as a holiday on
which they abstain from work. When they build a well, they begin with the
construction of a parapet in the name of Beeriyi or Hanuman, but when it comes
to pillage, they do not show much reverence to the Hindu temples and other
places of religious significance. If, on such an occasion, their attention is
drawn to the sanctity of these establishments, they, unhesitatingly, says, ‘You
are "Does" and we are "Meos".’ Meos are, largely, ignorant of their faith, i.
e., Islam. Very few of them know the Kalima,’ and fewer still observe Namaz
regularly. About the hours and rules of namaz, their ignorance is complete. This
is the state of the Meos of Alwar. In the British territory of Gurgaon, the
position is a little better because of the Madrassas. In some parts of Alwar,
also, where the mosques have been built, the religious duties are observed to
some extent. A few of them know the Kalima and offer up namaz and an attachment
for the Madrassas, also, is found among them. As we have seen earlier, the
initial ceremonies of marriage are performed by the Brahmins, but the real
ceremony (of nikah) is performed by the Qazi. Men wear dhoti and loin-cloth. The
pajamas are not worn at all. Their dress, thus, is wholly Hinduised. Even
ornaments of gold are worn by men.”
In the early 1920s, he
prepared a team of young madrasah graduates from Deoband and Saharanpur and sent them to Mewat to establish a
network of mosques and Islamic schools throughout the region.
He did not assign any
name to this movement because his point of view was that, it is the duty of each
and every Muslim of the world to give dawah (missionary efforts). He once
said that if he had to attribute a name to his movement, it would have been
Tehreek-e-Iman ("Iman movement"). The people of South Asia started
calling the devotees Tableeghi. The new movement met with dramatic
success in relatively short period of time, due to Ilyas' efforts. As a result
many Muslims joined Ilyas’s movement to preach in every town and village of
Mewat. When the first Tablighi conference was held in November 1941 in Mewat it
was attended by 25,000 people, many of them had walked on foot for ten to
fifteen miles to attend the conference.
Ilyas's followers note
his dedication to dawah over all other priorities, noting an anecdote that, when
visited on his deathbed by a friend, he said to him: “People out there are
burning in the fire of ignorance and you are wasting your time here inquiring
after my health!”
Views and Ideas
Replying to the question
raised, viz. "Why are Muslims not granted rulership and leadership in the
world?" he replied: "When we do not fulfill the commandments of Allah and
refrain from the forbidden in our personal lives over which we have full control
and there is no obstacle or compulsion, then how is it possible that we be
entrusted with the governing of this world. It is only through the decision of
Allah that the believers may be granted government on the earth so that they may
seek His pleasure and establish His laws in this world. Now, when we are not
doing this in the sphere of our own choice (in our individual lives), how can it
be expected, when tomorrow we are given the reins of government. we shall do
so?"
Jannah (Paradise) is the
reward of rights, i.e. one must forgo ones' rights and comforts for the sake of
Allah and bear difficulties in order to fulfill the rights of others (which also
include the rights of Allah). The reward for this is Jannah.
The real zikr
(remembrance) is that in whichever condition, place or activity a person finds
himself in, he should be aware of and fulfill the relevant commandments of Allah
connected therewith. I advise my friends with the same zikr putting greater
emphasis on it.
People have given lesser
importance to their servitude (to the Creator) than their servitude and service
to man. The slaves and servants of man are generally fully devoted to their
employers to do the work they consider as their duty. Under the employers'
instruction they run to and fro, not even concerned about their meals - whatever
little comes to hand is consumed. However, when it comes to man serving his
Creator, then it is based on convenience. Most of the time he will be indulging
in his own desires and sometimes he takes out time to do some work for Allah.
For example, he may perform salaat and give some money in charity or do some
other religious work. He now believes that he has fulfilled his duty to his
Creator. The real service to Allah is a continuous and fundamental one - a
person should always be serving his Master. It should only be a necessity and
not the object to satisfy his thirst, hunger and other needs. (This does not
mean that everyone should give up their means of livelihood but the object
should be that whatever one engages in, should be for the sake of Allah and for
serving His Deen. As far as one's eating and drinking is concerned, these should
be of a mere incidental nature (by the way) just as an employee will be doing
all this while his main interest will be to do his employer's work).
One day in his dua he
said: "0 Allah! On account of the unbelievers being Your creation, they deserve
our compassion and mercy. Hence make us fulfil their rights while simultaneously
make our hearts completely averse to their disbelief."
Man's nature inclines
faster towards despair. This is so because when one becomes despondent, he no
longer regards himself responsible for making efforts and therefore remains
idle. Understand it well that this is the trap of the shaytaan and nafs. To
become despondent on account of lack of means and resources is a sign that you
have become worshippers of these resources and that your faith in the promise of
Allah and His unseen power is but little. Depending entirely upon Allah and with
courage rise to the occasion and Allah will prepare the means otherwise, what
can man accomplish by himself? Effort and struggle according to our full
capacity is a precondition.
Every part and even the
end of our actions should be accompanied by acknowledgement of its shortcomings
and the fear of it being rejected. i.e. every good deed by nature should be done
as best as possible but in the end it should be realised that Allah's rights
could not be fulfilled as they ought to be. Moreover there should be fear and
anxiety in the heart that because there may be shortcomings and corruption in
our efforts, they may be rejected and thrown on our faces on the Day of Qiyamat.
Thus on account of this apprehension, fear and anxiety. we should cry in front
of Allah repeatedly seeking His forgiveness.
The owner and editor of "Al Hilal", a daily newspaper in Urdu, Hafiz Ali
Bahadur Khan B.A., visited Hazrat on one occasion just before his demise, who,
in spite of his extreme weakness and inability, spoke to him for about half an
hour. He was very much impressed by this discussion and after reaching Bombay,
in a few editions wrote about his impressions of Ilyas al-Kandhlawi's
personality and significance of the work in such a way which until now was not
expected to be acknowledged by any editor or leader. I received that copy of "Al
Hilal" from somewhere and having read Hafiz's article, I became very happy and
intended to read it to Hazrat. I took that paper with me hoping that on some
appropriate occasion, I may attend to him and having seen the paper in my hand,
he might himself inquire what was in my hand. I would then reply and have the
opportunity to read the article to him. Contrary to hope and expectations,
Hazrat did not inquire about it. After a long time I could not restrain myself
and said to him: "Hazrat! On one occasion, Hafiz Ali Bahadur from Bombay came
here and all thanks to Allah, he was greatly impressed. He wrote a few articles
concerning our work in which he acknowledged its greatness and importance from
which it is manifest that he understood it well. If permitted, I would read some
of it to you."
He replied: "Molvi Sahib!
What is the use of speaking about that work which was accomplished. We must see
how much is still left of the work that has to be done. We must look into the
shortcoming of what has been done. To what extent were there deficiencies and
sincerity and how far have we lacked in having the greatness of Allah's order in
mind. How much have we failed to adopt the example of our Nabi (Sallallahu alqhi
wasallam) and in our search into the manners of practice. Molvi Sahib! To be
happy at looking back without taking stock bf the above is just like a traveller
who becomes happy looking back at the distance covered. Looking back should only
be for the purpose of finding out shortcomings and to acquire the way to remedy
them in future and to see what has to be done in the future. Don't look back at
one who has understood our work and acknowledged it. Look at how many hundreds
or thousands there are to whom we have not delivered Allah's words as yet and as
to how many there are who, in spite of being informed and having acknowledged
our work, are not taking part because of the lack of effort on our part.
Advice to Dawah
workers
Our workers must remember
well that if their da'wah (invitation) is not accepted and instead they are
insulted. They should not become despondent and frustrated. On such an occasion
they should remember that this was the sunnah (established way) and heritage of the Arnbiya
(alayhiqus salaam), especially that of our Nabi (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam). Where does
everyone get the good fortune of being belittled and degraded in the path of
Allah? And wherever they are welcomed and honoured, they should appreciate this
and when people listen with enthusiasm to their talks it must be considered a
favour fromAllah and at no time should they be indifferent to these favours. It
should be considered a great favour to serve and teach these people even if they
may be considered to be of the lower classes. In the Quran, we are reminded of
this in the ayat:
He fumed and turned away, when the blind approached him for guidance.
At the same time one must
keep a check on the deception of one's own nafs. The nafs should not consider
this acceptance as its own perfection. This may lead to the fitnah
(corruption)_of hero worship. Therefore one should always be on one's guard.
It is indeed a wrong
concept that when others accept our invitation, we take it to be our success and
if they do not, we consider it to be our failure. To have this idea is
absolutely wrong in this path. The acceptance or rejection of the audience is
their act. How can we be successful or unsuccessful by the responses of our
audience. Our success is in fulfilling our task. If the audience do not accept
our message, it is their failure. Why should their rejection be regarded as our
failure? People have erred by regarding hidayat (guidance) as their
responsibility whereas this is really the work of Allah. Our duty is only to
make effort to the best of our ability. To give guidance was not even the
responsibility of the Ambiya (Alayhimus salaam). Of course we should take a
lesson from the failure of people when they refuse to respond; that there is
something lacking in our efforts and we should try to improve in the future and
the same time increase our du'aas in quantity and quality.
Our workers in general,
wherever they go, should make efforts to visit the righteous Ulema and pious
persons. The intention should only be to benefit from them and not to invite
them to this work. These people are well versed and have experienced the
advantages of the Deeni work they are busy with, hence you will not be able to
convince them in a wholesome way that this work is of greater benefit than their
other Deeni engrossments.The outcome will be that they will not accept your
explanation. Once they say "NO" it will be difficult to change this "NO" to
"YES". Your talk will not be heard and it is possible that you yourself will
become uncertain. Therefore meet them only to gain benefit from their auspicious
company. In their locality every effort should be made to stick closely to the
principles of the work. In this way it is hoped that the reports of the progress
of your work will reach them and draw their attention. Thereafter, if they do
pay attention, you should request them to patronise and supervise you and with
due reverence and respect explain the work to them.
Letters from the
merchants of Delhi should be sent with the jamaats which go to Saharanpur,
Deoband, etc. for tabligh wherein the Ulama should be informed with utmost
respect that these groups are being sent to make tabligh to the public. The
Ulama should be informed that their time is very precious and if they could
spare some of their time to patronise these jamaats without sacrificing their
time from their official duties or that of the students, they should do so. The
students should only spend time under the supervision of their teachers. Without
the surveillance of their teachers, students should not be allowed to take part
in this work. The jamaats should also be instructed that if the UIarna do not
pay full attention, they should not criticize the Ulama in their hearts but
realise that the Ulama are doing more important work than them. They are busy in
Deeni academic work at night also while others are sleeping in comfort. We
should blame ourselves for their lack of attention because we did not visit them
enough. They are paying more attention to those who have resolved to stay in
their company for several years. He then continued: Even to entertain a bad
thought about another Muslim can be the cause of destruction, so to criticise
the Ulama is extremely dangerous. Then again he said: The basis of our method of
tabligh is to respect every Muslim and to honour the Ulama. Every Muslim. on
account of Islam, should be respected, and the Ulama, on account of their
knowledge, should be honoured. Then he said: Until now, our muballighs have not
yet mastered ilm and zikr (knowledge and the remembrance of Allah) and this is
of great concern to me. The only method is to go tp the possessors of ilm and
zikr so that they may do tabligh under their patronage benefiting from their
knowledge and company.
If one Muslim loves
another for the sake of Allah or another Muslim loves him sincerely for the sake
of Allah, then this love and good thought will be a great treasure in the
hereafter. Those Muslims who have love for me, I hope that, Insha-Allah (if
Allah wills), Allah will keep my faults covered in the hereafter. To have faith
in our empty-handedness is success in itself. None will be successful because of
his actions. Only by the Grace of Allah can success be acquired. Rasulullah
(Sallalahu alayhi wa sallam) has said, "None will enter jannat through his
actions. The Sahabah (Radhiaflahu anhum) asked, "Not even you, 0 Rasulullah!."
He replied, "Not even me except that Allah covers me with His Mercy." After
relating this Hadith, Maulana started crying and caused others to cry.
"If any one feels himself
to be unfit for this work of tableegh, it does not mean that he must sit down.
By no means, should this be so. In I fact he should make an even greater effort
to take part and make others do the same. In some cases, by the continuous
efforts of a few incompetent people, good reaches the competent people and
flowers into full bloom and according to the Hadeeth, those incompetent people
receive the full rewards. "Whoever invites to good will receive its rewards and
the reward of those who act accordingly. And the one who introduces a good
practice in Islam will have its reward and the reward of those who practice I
accordingly." (Hadeeth) So he who is unfit must strive even more. Considering
myself to be unfit, I am also engrossed in this work with the hope that by my
efforts, the work will reach some competent person and then Allah will bestow
upon me also those high rewards for this work
Source : Wikipedia
