Tablighi Jamaat

[GenN]

Asslamu alykum,

what do people think of the tablighi jamaat, and the way in whcih they work i.e going to differnent palces to give dawah, their effectiveness in asking people continusoulsy to come to their talks etc and the fact that they only tend to refer to fadhil amal.

Do you think they are one of the effective dawah groups of ahlul sunnah and where do they need improving?

[Saleel]

:salam:

The methodology adopted by TJs is a continuation of the work of RasulAllah saw and the pious Sahaaba (ra), and as such, you won't find an effort today closer to the sunnah of RasulAllah saw.

Unfortunately, there's far too much stigma thrown around about TJ, which people grab and listen to, completely neglecting all the good that is done by them. A lot of this stigma has been spread over the Internet by the likes of the Salafis (we all know which website I'm talking about here).

Fadhail-e-Amaal is not the only kitaab used by TJ, nor do they advocate the use of only this kitaab. However, in Jamaat and group amaal, it is the kitaab used in preference to other kitaabs because of its simplicity, its ability to be opened and read from any page, rather than reading it from cover to cover, the fact that it contains commentary to the ahadith, and because it contains topics of fadhail, rather than masail, thereby being relevant to people from any madhhab sitting in the ajma.

Maulana Ziad and I went into a PalTalk chat room the other night where TJ was being discussed, and Maulana Ziad came on mic and made a very good point. Before we start judging an effort, we must realise the niyyah behind it, the history, its aims, etc.

Every man-made effort is fallible, but it's our duty to look at the good and leave the rest. Look at the work itself, rather than the workers. If I wanted to make an opinion on Christianity, would I observe and interview the ole' chap who lives in his house, never attends Church and come to a conclusion that Christians don't go to Church?

I was listening to a talk on Hajj by Imam Tahir Anwar just the other day, and :mash: he gave a good example which I'll relate here. You find people going to Umraah/Hajj, and upon their return, when people ask them how it was, they pull out a list of a hundred negative things about the trip... the brutal Saudis, the poor un-spicy food, the unrelenting heat of the sun, the pushing and shoving while making Tawaaf, etc, etc, etc. A lot of the time, they can't even recall any positive aspects of the visit (yes, they forget the "Ibaadah" aspect).

In the same way, you get out of Jamaat what you put in. If you go on Jamaat with the niyyah to criticise, scrutinise, find "biddah" and faults, that's what you'll do. You'll come back with little, or no, good words to say about it. If you go with the intention to purify, to do good amaal, etc. then you'll have spent your time fruitfully and your karguzari will :insh: be an inspiration for others to go in the path of Allah swt.

We go on Hajj as guests, we are served by the Saudi people as well as possible. If they knew we just come back and bad-mouth them, would they want us to return to their land? If we come back from Jamaat, bad-mouthing the effort and the people, will Allah swt take us out in His path again?

I've seen it happen. I went in Jamaat once and in the Jamaat there were two new brothers (and in fact, I was, and am, still pretty new to the effort). Khair, one of the brothers spent the entire three days joined strongly with the Jamaat, he participated in group amaal, dhikr, etc. He spent his time well.

The other brother for the whole three days was disjointed from the Jamaat. He didn't want to get involved, he slept most of the time, would leave without asking permission from the Ameer. By the end of the three days, he couldn't wait to leave.

The former brother loved his experience and came back with the niyyah that he wanted to go again, and he did. The latter brother came back and criticised, and didn't go on Jamaat again.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no hardcore TJ, and I very, very rarely get the chance to go on Jamaat. However, having seen the effort and what it involves, experiencing both the positive and negative aspects, I have absolutely no doubt as to how the work is done. May Allah swt bless the work of tabligh. Ameen.

:salam:

[Saleel]

:salam:

And sorry, just to add, other kitaabs used apart from Fadhail-e-Amaal are Muntakhab Ahadith, Hayaatus Sahaaba, Riyadus-Saliheen, etc.

And :insh: this article may be of benefit:
http://www.saleel.com/article.php?story=20040117211643923

:salam:

[GenN]

Assalmu alykum,

jazkallah kahir for that reponse. I totally agree. anyone else got any other views. i'd especially like to hear from our brelvi oreintated brothers.

was salaam

[Sadiq]

Cant add much to what brother saleel said, but from interaction with the TJ, i would say, there are certain categories of people within this blessed work;
1-those who force people into this work
2-those who dont know about anything other than this work
3-those who give a choice and speak wisely

From experience and talking to various flavours of TJ, i would say, the best brothers to reveal the truth about this work are those in South Africa, were they have scholars and dedicated people and who dont follow the 1, 2 points above.

There are many who are drifted away from this work via the 1,2 points, and some of the people try and force on to go on 3 days.

The work is great, but sometimes, you need to find the right person to learn from. Even the Amir of TJ, his son, a great scholar of Islam, he has also said, we should all go on jamat to revive ourselves, but you should find the right people to go with.

My 2 cents...

[Ajami]

I agree with saleel, tabligh is an awesome effort. Alhamdulillah it was through tabligh that I came onto deen. Before, I never really cared much about deen, I never really prayed (except jumma), and I really didn't know much about Islam either, even though I was born and raised a muslim. But then alhamdulillah one day a few brothers came to my door and asked me to come to the masjid with them, so I thought what the heck, why not? And alhamdulillah since then my life hasn't been the same. I myself really do not know where I'd be if it weren't for the effort of tabligh. Not just me, but millions of other people have also come onto deen through the effort. So yea I think tabligh is a great effort that all of us should try to participate in.

[Sadiq]

" tabligh is a great effort that all of us should try to participate in."

Coudnt agree more!!

[ilm_seeker]

As sallamu alaikum

Indeed the TJ work is good and much needed. As it's been previously said, they have helped many Muslims (specially the youth) to practice Islam. However, I have some words of advice which I hope will be taken as so and not an attack.

Sometimes bros on TJ have just been called-up for duty by the local TJ ameer. So they go from one Muslim house to the other calling the menfolk to the Masjid, but these Muslims feel that the TJ are insenscere because as far as they are concerned they don't even know them, they don't know their personal probs and are never there for them. So perhaps those Jaamats which don't interact with the wider non-Mosjid attending Muslim community should do so and try to do 'TJ duty' during 'non-duty times'.

Othertimes, it's the practice of someJaamat to travel in large numbers, which personally I find daunting.

Another piece of advice for the less organised TJs would be to have the more practicing brothers keeping an eye on the recent Masjid attenders to make sure they are fine and have a shoulder to lean on.

These points are based on personal perception and is not an attack on the Tablighi Jaamat as a whole. There are ofcourse many Jaamats out there-some more organised with others.

May Allah bless The Tablighi Jaamat and keep them strong. Ameen.

Wa alaikum as sallam

[ibnu Rashid]

One big misconception people have about tableegh is that its a group. That's far from the reality...its just a set of instructions derived from the sunnah which when followed can be very beneficial not only to those who are being advised, but as well as those giving the advice. The work of tableegh is a vehicle for tarbiyyah, da'wah, tazkiyyah, and 'ilm. In all honesty, nothing else propogates the sunnah in its true form more than tableegh. And to the most part, theres no hizbiyyah (partisanship) involved...you'll have people from all maslaks (sufis, salafis, mujahideen) working in perfect harmony. How 'ajeeb is that.

Its quite unfortunate that people have so many misunderstandings about it. While most people acknowledge the validity and the effectiveness of it, they like to point out things as a way to excuse themselves from joining. Some of the more common ones are that the whole 1 day, sehroza (3 day), chilla (40 days), 4 months etc has no daleel and therefore its bid'ah. This is all futile; Shaykh ibn Uthaymeen (rahimahullah) even clears this up when he mentions that these time periods they specify are a matter of organization, not a new method of 'ibaadah, so there is nothing wrong with it. And similarly with the 6 points.

May Allah bestow within us love for Him, and love for all those actions which may bring us close to His love.

[Saleel]

:salam:

:thumbsup: to ibnu Rashid's post.

:salam:

[Saleel]

:salam:

BTW, our respected scholar Shaykh Nazim Mangera who posts on sunniforum.com went for 4 months Jamaat to do khidmat in Nizamuddin India on Sunday. May Allah swt accept his efforts. Ameen.

:salam:

[muslim786]

The Tabligh Jamaat is top. Allhamdulilah they have done a great deed for Islam by bringing back many muslims to practice fully.
Its a shame that many people spread slander about this group, with out it there would be many lost souls.

[muslim786]

I was wondering where the respected Tabligh Ulamas got the time scales for the retreats they do I mean, we see people go for 3 days, 40 days, 4 months etc, where were these days come from. Or can someone go for say 5 days or like 2 months or something?

[UmmIbrahimIsa]

assalamu alaikum wr wb

ameen to the dua'ahs...
aah so thats why we havent seen him around much... well we'll hold the fort down here until he gets back insha'Allah.

[ridhwan]

I was wondering where the respected Tabligh Ulamas got the time scales for the retreats they do I mean, we see people go for 3 days, 40 days, 4 months etc, where were these days come from. Or can someone go for say 5 days or like 2 months or something?

:salam:

It's more due to it being a matter of organistion.

Say for example .. a group of say 5 brothers were sent to Norway from Uk, and one brother said he has come for 3 days, two for 6days, one for 20days and another 40days.

It would be rather problematic to send them to Norway. Actually if you sent them anywhere it would be problematic.

This is the reason that a fixed time is specified so that it is easier to organise a jamaat so that they will be together all the time, i.e. who are all willing to spend 40days will be sent instead.

However there is no restriction on going for 1 day / 2 days / 4 days / 1 month etc .. as long as they have made the responsible brothers aware the time that you intend to go for so it's easier to send them in an appropriate jamaat.


Allahu Aalim

[Saleel]

:salam:

Other hikmah behind the periods of time is to try to spend one's time constantly receiving reward. The recommendations from the elders today is to try to give 2.5 hours a day to the masjid, which includes going on gasht. All good deeds in Islam are multiplied by 10... 2.5 hours multiplied by 10 is rewarded as spending a full 24 hours in the masjid.

Similarly, 3 days a month... is as though you've spent the entire month in the path of Allah. 40 days is as though you've spent the entire year in the path of Allah swt.

And also, if you read the Quran, you'll notice the number of 40 days being mentioned many times. Allahu Alam, but the elders say there is a special self-refining characteristic in "40 days" which is difficult to achieve in even 39 days.

Do not take the above as spiritual mumbo-jumbo, rather it is what I have been told by elders in the effort of tabligh. And verily, Allah swt knows best.

:salam:

[muslim786]

:salam:

Other hikmah behind the periods of time is to try to spend one's time constantly receiving reward. The recommendations from the elders today is to try to give 2.5 hours a day to the masjid, which includes going on gasht. All good deeds in Islam are multiplied by 10... 2.5 hours multiplied by 10 is rewarded as spending a full 24 hours in the masjid.

Similarly, 3 days a month... is as though you've spent the entire month in the path of Allah. 40 days is as though you've spent the entire year in the path of Allah swt.

And also, if you read the Quran, you'll notice the number of 40 days being mentioned many times. Allahu Alam, but the elders say there is a special self-refining characteristic in "40 days" which is difficult to achieve in even 39 days.

Do not take the above as spiritual mumbo-jumbo, rather it is what I have been told by elders in the effort of tabligh. And verily, Allah swt knows best.

:salam:
Allhamdulilah it makes a lot of sense.

[Sadiq]

"Who wants to give their name? anyone?"

lol, it something, scares alot of people...!

May Allah help those who use this path to reach Him and reward those who spread this simple path, ameen.

[ibn_abdullah]

I think I can safely say that the effort of Dawah and Tabligh is by far the most influential and powerful rectification effort (in terms of immediate spiritual rectification and results) in the world today, and has been for many many years now.
The only reason i say this is because of the sheer effect on the hearts of people no matter how far away from deen the person may be. I mean even myself and many many other people i know have been completely changed just by going jamaat for 3 days or even less. And its' results can be seen across the globe. I mean, during the ijtemas in India/Pakistan/Bangladesh there are literally millions upon millions of people gathering for the sole purpose of bringing hidayaat to all of mankind with mercy and compassion. And these millions of people aren't only indo/paks but Arabs, Indians, Orientals, Caucasians, Africans..i mean u name it, they are there. Every single person with the sole purpose being to spread the deen of Allah(swt). And not only this but this effort joins the hearts of people in a manner that has never been seen in this century or for many more before it. And its' not like i'm a so called "Tablighi" (a term which i despise), but its' simply reality. And this is not to degrade any other effort, alhamdullilah may Allah(swt) help them all...ameen. But this is only natural to occur because this effort, as many of the ulema say, is the effort of Prophethood, and the effort of Prophethood was just that, to bring people out of ignorance into guidance. The problem is that the heart of man is dead. Now to jumpstart that heart is where the effort must begin, and this is what the target is. I mean a person can take a Shaykh and become a sufi, can join a madressa and become and alim, but thats not the thing, the point is how to GET people to understand they NEED to rectify themselves, to learn deen etc...this is where this effort comes in. I mean there are many times i wonder looking at ulema, looking at people trying to purify themselves and i know it was due to Tabligh that they are where they are. I mean due to Allah(swt) but the means was the effort. Can u imagine, we see these old men, seemingly without knowledge or cleanliness or something else we dont like and sometimes we even criticize them for being ignorant or jahil or soemthing but because of him Allah(swt) knows how many people have become ulema, have become people who purify themselves, have people who simply pray five times salaat and are making their children ulema and the amazing thing is that every letter these people recite the reward of that goes into the account of that one uncle who we thought was just some Tablighi. This one tablighi has just saved an entire lineage of people and has got the rewards of thousands of people, some who haven't even been born yet!!!

Even during the time of the Sahabah(RA) there were fiqhi differences but the hearts were completely joined, this is exactly what happens in this effort. Why? Because this is the same effort that the Prophets(AS) did. I mean u see the joining of the hearts happening. Many of the arabs that come to jamaat are from Saudi and are Salafi~!!! To quote a friend of mine, he was actually in 4 months jamaat in Raiwind so he was sitting with an Arab brother and the arab brother asked him "how's the effort in Toronto?" My friend replied "Alhamdullilah its' good, except we have problems with Salafis" The Arab bro replied "What do you mean? I'm Salafi as well" My friend was shocked he's like "What?!?! What are you doing here theN?" The Arab bro replied "Look, thats a difference in terms of fiqh and thats ok, but this effort is completely Haq and we have to do it." He was shocked to say the least. Another friend of mine currently in 4 months as we speak emailed me recently and was amazed at the amount of Arabs and people of other cultures were here. He even goes there are SOOO many Salafis here, but we eat together, sleep together, give dawaah together, help each other, he said its' extraordinary. If you want to see how deen should be come 4 months!! LOL

If Mujaddid means reviver of deen, then i would have to say one of, if not THE greatest Mujaddid of the last century had to have been Shaykh Mohammad Ilyas al-Khandhalwi (ra), the one who revived the effort of Prophethood across the globe. ANd i dont think thats exaggerated if we simply see the amount of people across the globe from every nation that have changed 180 degrees. Millions upon millions alive today, and millions who have passed away. I know many people do say that there are things within the effort that can/need to be fixed or changed or what not but what i've come to realize is that every single thing in this effort is there for a calculated reason and has a great purpose. If we do think that way, it is only due to what we see from the people in the effort, who are trying their best but like all men make mistakes. Dont judge the effort by what the people do, but look at the countless number of people who have changed due to the people doing an incomplete job in the effort. Imagine if everyone did the effort properly and according to its' usools, oh man, i can't even imagine the effect.

Like i said it is one thing to get a person to become an alim, and the other is to get a person up to realize he has a duty to Allah(swt) and get him to begin praying. That is the most difficult, and that is the greatest reward and from there is where everything begins.

I"m not a person who goes jamaat alot (Allah(swt) forgive me) or take part in the A'maals but the few times i've gone have been so life changing that i'm a fool if i don't realize i should be giving more time to the effort. And Alhamdullilah this isn't only my case but the case of well, i can't really count that high. I have nothing but praise for the effort. If we wish to bring all of deen alive meaning get people to start praying, coming to the masjid etc. which is where everything begins from then we need to look to this effort. So much more can be said in praise and in explanation of the depth of this effort, but i'm not capabale, i guess its' just for us to go and find out with an open heart the reality of the effort, insha-Allah.

Guidance comes through sacrifice, so let us sacrifice in the path of Allah(swt), calling to His greatness.

[Saleel]

:salam:

I think I can safely say that the effort of Dawah and Tabligh is by far the most influential and powerful rectification effort (in terms of immediate spiritual rectification and results) in the world today, and has been for many many years now.
The only reason i say this is because of the sheer effect on the hearts of people no matter how far away from deen the person may be. I mean even myself and many many other people i know have been completely changed just by going jamaat for 3 days or even less. And its' results can be seen across the globe. I mean, during the ijtemas in India/Pakistan/Bangladesh there are literally millions upon millions of people gathering for the sole purpose of bringing hidayaat to all of mankind with mercy and compassion. And these millions of people aren't only indo/paks but Arabs, Indians, Orientals, Caucasians, Africans..i mean u name it, they are there. Every single person with the sole purpose being to spread the deen of Allah(swt). And not only this but this effort joins the hearts of people in a manner that has never been seen in this century or for many more before it. And its' not like i'm a so called "Tablighi" (a term which i despise), but its' simply reality. And this is not to degrade any other effort, alhamdullilah may Allah(swt) help them all...ameen. But this is only natural to occur because this effort, as many of the ulema say, is the effort of Prophethood, and the effort of Prophethood was just that, to bring people out of ignorance into guidance. The problem is that the heart of man is dead. Now to jumpstart that heart is where the effort must begin, and this is what the target is. I mean a person can take a Shaykh and become a sufi, can join a madressa and become and alim, but thats not the thing, the point is how to GET people to understand they NEED to rectify themselves, to learn deen etc...this is where this effort comes in. I mean there are many times i wonder looking at ulema, looking at people trying to purify themselves and i know it was due to Tabligh that they are where they are. I mean due to Allah(swt) but the means was the effort. Can u imagine, we see these old men, seemingly without knowledge or cleanliness or something else we dont like and sometimes we even criticize them for being ignorant or jahil or soemthing but because of him Allah(swt) knows how many people have become ulema, have become people who purify themselves, have people who simply pray five times salaat and are making their children ulema and the amazing thing is that every letter these people recite the reward of that goes into the account of that one uncle who we thought was just some Tablighi. This one tablighi has just saved an entire lineage of people and has got the rewards of thousands of people, some who haven't even been born yet!!!

Even during the time of the Sahabah(RA) there were fiqhi differences but the hearts were completely joined, this is exactly what happens in this effort. Why? Because this is the same effort that the Prophets(AS) did. I mean u see the joining of the hearts happening. Many of the arabs that come to jamaat are from Saudi and are Salafi~!!! To quote a friend of mine, he was actually in 4 months jamaat in Raiwind so he was sitting with an Arab brother and the arab brother asked him "how's the effort in Toronto?" My friend replied "Alhamdullilah its' good, except we have problems with Salafis" The Arab bro replied "What do you mean? I'm Salafi as well" My friend was shocked he's like "What?!?! What are you doing here theN?" The Arab bro replied "Look, thats a difference in terms of fiqh and thats ok, but this effort is completely Haq and we have to do it." He was shocked to say the least. Another friend of mine currently in 4 months as we speak emailed me recently and was amazed at the amount of Arabs and people of other cultures were here. He even goes there are SOOO many Salafis here, but we eat together, sleep together, give dawaah together, help each other, he said its' extraordinary. If you want to see how deen should be come 4 months!! LOL

If Mujaddid means reviver of deen, then i would have to say one of, if not THE greatest Mujaddid of the last century had to have been Shaykh Mohammad Ilyas al-Khandhalwi (ra), the one who revived the effort of Prophethood across the globe. ANd i dont think thats exaggerated if we simply see the amount of people across the globe from every nation that have changed 180 degrees. Millions upon millions alive today, and millions who have passed away. I know many people do say that there are things within the effort that can/need to be fixed or changed or what not but what i've come to realize is that every single thing in this effort is there for a calculated reason and has a great purpose. If we do think that way, it is only due to what we see from the people in the effort, who are trying their best but like all men make mistakes. Dont judge the effort by what the people do, but look at the countless number of people who have changed due to the people doing an incomplete job in the effort. Imagine if everyone did the effort properly and according to its' usools, oh man, i can't even imagine the effect.

Like i said it is one thing to get a person to become an alim, and the other is to get a person up to realize he has a duty to Allah(swt) and get him to begin praying. That is the most difficult, and that is the greatest reward and from there is where everything begins.

I"m not a person who goes jamaat alot (Allah(swt) forgive me) or take part in the A'maals but the few times i've gone have been so life changing that i'm a fool if i don't realize i should be giving more time to the effort. And Alhamdullilah this isn't only my case but the case of well, i can't really count that high. I have nothing but praise for the effort. If we wish to bring all of deen alive meaning get people to start praying, coming to the masjid etc. which is where everything begins from then we need to look to this effort. So much more can be said in praise and in explanation of the depth of this effort, but i'm not capabale, i guess its' just for us to go and find out with an open heart the reality of the effort, insha-Allah.

Guidance comes through sacrifice, so let us sacrifice in the path of Allah(swt), calling to His greatness.
:subh: - brilliant post. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

:jazak: for posting it. You get the prize for the best post this week :cheesygri

(Yes, I felt like quoting the entire post in my reply so that perhaps I am also rewarded for those awesome words in this post!)

:salam:

[ibn_abdullah]

Jazak-Allah khair

it was from the heart i guess...i could say much more, but sometimes words don't do justice.

[ibnu Rashid]

Jazaakallah khayran bro...those were words to be written with gold.

That's why when I see people making radd (refutation) of each other left and right based on small issues which they blow out of proportion, I KNOW they are doing wrong. Because we have people with these opposing views and opinions working perfectly in harmony for one noble cause, from which the benefits are obvious and plentiful.

The only other work we see like it is jihad, and tabligh one can say is a downscaled version of this. I'm not belittling the work in anyway, they both have great reward, but at the same time I can't equate them.

May Allah accept all their efforts.

[eTeacher]

:salam:

BTW, our respected scholar Shaykh Nazim Mangera who posts on sunniforum.com went for 4 months Jamaat to do khidmat in Nizamuddin India on Sunday. May Allah swt accept his efforts. Ameen.

:salam:

Salam to every one,

I'm presently writing this from Nizamuddin, New Delhi, India. I'm gonna be at the place where the Universal effort of Tableegh started from, for about 3 and a half months Insha Allah. I'm gonna help out in translating the speeches from Urdu to English and Urdu to Arabic because there are people from all around the world here and not everyone understands Urdu. Just today, at breakfast time, I looked around and was astonished at how the work of Tableegh is taking place in so many countries of the world. It is truely a universal effort. There are people here from:

Canada (... ahem....yours truely)
America
Jamaica!
Trinidad
Barbados
Panama
Argentina
U.K.
France
Belgium
Denmark
Sweden
Spain
Morroco
Algeria
Mauritania (sp?)
Chad
Tanzania (i was talking over breakfast with this brother and I was thinking...where is that?....isn't that where dracula is from?.....or is dracula from transylvania?.....)
Nigeria
Kenya
South Africa
Ethiopia
Eritria (sp?) (i need to take geography again!)

oh well....and the list goes on and on and on......subhanallah....and would you believe it! there are Arab brothers from almost every single arab country. It's amazing! I have talked to so many brothers from even Saudi Arabia! It's weird how people from even Saudi Arabia are coming to India to learn the effort of Tableegh! They are from Saudi, Syria, Jordan, U.A.E., Qatar, and on and on and on.

And another great thing is that we are all sleeping under the same roof and sit down and eat and share our plate with anyone. This effort has truely united the Ummat!

A word of caution: Just like in any other effort, there are wackos, the same goes with the effort of Tableegh. I have come across some really evil minded people who are heavily involved in the effort of tableegh. So I would never say that the effort of tableegh is the only correct one because if it was, then these messed up people would never have been soo evil. Just today, I went and had an hour long discussion with a person who has been involved for over 40 years and I said to him that there have been many times when I have wanted to leave the tableegh effort and he advised me that don't do that. He told me to do it as much as possible and try to explain to the people their mistakes. He told me that if I were to leave it, then it would never help the people out. So yeah, I'm not a Tableeghe fanatic and when I talk to the scholars here, I realize that many people involved in the effort of tableegh have totally distorted the image of tableegh and have given it a bad name.

Many people across the world have been influenced by the effort of tableegh. I was reading at the masud.co.uk or at the deenport.com site how Masud was involved for a while in the effort of Tableegh. He decided to leave it because he realized that he was going nowhere with it which is natural because the purpose of tableegh was never to give a person intense knowledge of Islam. People are advised that once they come back home, they should go to the local traditional scholars to increase their knowledge of Islam. The whole purpose of Tableegh is how every single person living anywhere in the world returns to Islam. If that purpose is achieved and the person leaves Tableegh, then it's all good.

gtg....it's nearly time for jumuah...and as i step out of this cyber cafe, i'm gonna be hit with the intense heat of india and the tons of flies and creepy crawlies....i guess the hardest thing to get used to here is that there is no hot water....when i come to countries like these....i realize all the bounties which all has given us to the people in the west and how sometimes we take those bounties for granted.....one person i met....told me that the first thing he will do when he goes back to england is....kiss his toilet......lol.....cause the toilets are not that great here....and by the time you step out of the toilet...you would be lucky to come out with less than ten mosquito bites.....

salam

I'm presently reading my all-time favorite book called "Al A'itidaal Fee Maraatibir Rijal" translated in English as "Moderation in the veneration of humans" by (my man) Shaykhul Hadith Mohammed Zakaria Khandalawi. I've read this book from cover to cover twice already and this is my third time I am reading it. It's going down as my all time favorite book even though the English translation is horrible. Everytime I read it, I increase in insight and knowledge and wisdom and understanding and there are very few books I have read more than once. Insha Allah I'll write out some words of wisdom from this book. For some reason, the English title is, "Islamic Politics". The title needs to be changed. The reason why (my man) Shaykh Zakaria wrote the book was one of his students asked him seven questions. So he went on a mission and started to answer them and when he had finished with the seven questions, he looked back and realized that it was 250 pages long! Wow!

Ok....I'm gonna write out a couple of Paragraphs from the book:

".......It is indeed astonishing that Allah and His truthful Rasul (Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam) are poining out the causes for the spiritual progress and virtue of the Ummat, while at the same time the Ummat themselves (in their attacks upon each other) are narrowing the doors of that special mercy. It is a common fault today that those engaged in some or other form of deeni (religious) activity and effort- whether in teaching, instruction, tableegh, Jihad or sulook a.k.a. Tasawwuf i.e. spiritual training-consider those in other fields of deeni work to be wasting their time in things and affairs non-beneficial. Sometimes they do not even hesitate to accuse others of being lost and astray. In this way they confine all the numerous aspects and efforts of Islamic progress and progressive action to their own kind of activity. Hence it seems as if they have excluded all other deeni effort from the circle of Islam." (Page #58)

Then he goes on to write after a couple of pages....

"I am not trying to tell you that one is not supposed to entice, persuade, and encourage others to get involved in one's own type of activity. What I am in fact saying is that you should NEVER become so fanatic in stressing the importance of your field of work that you exceed the limits. The result can be that compared to your own field you leave the impression that no obligatory act (Fardh), no compulsory (Waajib) act and no excuse will be of any consequence. This should not be the case that you begin to look upon those who do not involve themselves in your effort as inmates of Hell, irreligious beings, infidels- for this is what I have read in newspaper articles and what has been heard i some people's speeches. It is quite an astonishing thing that these types of accusations come even from the tongues of high-level personalities and responsible, respectable persons." (Page # 61)

I encourage everyone to buy the book and read it.

The gist of the seven questions which his student asked:

1) Although Maulana Thanwi and Maulana Madani are both saintly personalities of high character, how is it that between them there exists such deep differences in (political thought). How can there be such deep differences between saints of Allah?

2) Who in your opinion is on the right path and with whose views do you find yourself in agreement?

3) What should we do? Why is it that you do not side with any of the parties?

4) Today the Muslims are being crushed, overwhelmed and destroyed. What should they do?

5) Selfish personal matter play a great role in people's actions and intentions, and it seems as if everyone is following his own desires.

6) We see that the dignity of the Ulema is purposely being destroyed and on every front we hear them being criticized and abused.

7) Through the differences of the Ulema, the Ummat is suffering a great loss.

Those were the seven questions the Shaykh took on and answered them in 265 pages. Well worth the read.

Salam

[GenN]

Salam to every one,

".......It is indeed astonishing that Allah and His truthful Rasul (Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam) are poining out the causes for the spiritual progress and virtue of the Ummat, while at the same time the Ummat themselves (in their attacks upon each other) are narrowing the doors of that special mercy. It is a common fault today that those engaged in some or other form of deeni (religious) activity and effort- whether in teaching, instruction, tableegh, Jihad or sulook a.k.a. Tasawwuf i.e. spiritual training-consider those in other fields of deeni work to be wasting their time in things and affairs non-beneficial. Sometimes they do not even hesitate to accuse others of being lost and astray. In this way they confine all the numerous aspects and efforts of Islamic progress and progressive action to their own kind of activity. Hence it seems as if they have excluded all other deeni effort from the circle of Islam." (Page #58)

Then he goes on to write after a couple of pages....

"I am not trying to tell you that one is not supposed to entice, persuade, and encourage others to get involved in one's own type of activity. What I am in fact saying is that you should NEVER become so fanatic in stressing the importance of your field of work that you exceed the limits. The result can be that compared to your own field you leave the impression that no obligatory act (Fardh), no compulsory (Waajib) act and no excuse will be of any consequence. This should not be the case that you begin to look upon those who do not involve themselves in your effort as inmates of Hell, irreligious beings, infidels- for this is what I have read in newspaper articles and what has been heard i some people's speeches. It is quite an astonishing thing that these types of accusations come even from the tongues of high-level personalities and responsible, respectable persons." (Page # 61)


Salam


Assalmu alykum,

I have the english translation, and indeed it is an exceptional book. In fact I realise now how blinded i was about over exagertaing in "ones own field of work" and i used to exagerate in my field and used to criticise others alot, and to be honest it was those exact words you have quoted eteacher (as well as some others in the book) that made me realise my naivety. Even though peopl had ex-plained that principle to me before it just didnt sink in until i read them words.

Although i have not yet read it cover to cover, it is indeed full of wisdom and everytime i read certain portions of it, just as you say eteacher for me also a new insight and a new wisdom is gained.

Tell me one thing eteacher, what is so terrible about the english translation? is it relaibel enough for me to read from or what?

[ibn_abdullah]

does anyone know where i can get that book from????

[GenN]

You know what bro, i really don't remeber where i got mine from, ive had it for years, from the time i was with HT and at that time i had a brief glance through it and thought it was secularised :rolleyes: and so it was lying aound in the back for years and then when Allah guided me onto the path of ahulul sunnah it became an excellent reference point for me for politcal insight Alhamdullillah.

But alhamdullillah nothing but praise for the brothers and sisters struggling in the dawah effort of the deen. when i first started this thread i thought there was gonna be a lot of tableeghi this and tablighee that, but alhamdulliallh nothing but praise and some ecxellent advice.

was salaam.

[eTeacher]

does anyone know where i can get that book from????


You can get it from: http://www.idara.com/books/engindex.htm It's the 11th book down. I guess the only problem is that you will have to come down to the bookstore to pick it up. And the bookstore is right across from the place where I am staying right now in Nizamuddin New Delhi, India :)

Or as an alternative, I can buy a copy for you and give it to you when I come back to Toronto Insha Allah. I guess you will have to disclose your identity then : ). Let me know.

The translation is not that really bad but it's just that the layout and other stuff is not really professional. It's reliable though. :thumbsup:

[ia132]

Assalaamu Alaykum

Ajeeb site I came across that has the book.
It looks like it ships from India.

http://www.biblio.com/books/12686366.html

[seven]

i got 2 brothers and a nephew in jamaat there... but they wont be back until after ramadhan

[ibn_abdullah]

As salaamu alaykum;

I found the book al-i'tidal surprisingly at Al-Rashad;

http://www.al-rashad.com/index.php?cPath=36&osCsid=85dc3a807df979b86acaf43d95f128e0

I was wondering if you (Mawlana Nazim) could take a loot at the site and see if it is the right book. Jazak-Allah khair

Was-salaam