Tableege Islam and Tasawwuf

7/24/2019 Tableege Islam and Tasawwuf

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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


19/91

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


20/91

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


21/91

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


22/91

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


23/91

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


24/91

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


25/91

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


26/91

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


27/91

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


28/91

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


29/91

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


30/91

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


31/91

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


32/91

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


33/91

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


34/91

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


35/91

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


36/91

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


37/91

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


38/91

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


39/91

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


40/91

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


41/91

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


42/91

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


43/91

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


44/91

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


45/91

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


46/91

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


49/91

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


50/91

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


51/91

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.


52/91

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


53/91

(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


54/91

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


55/91

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


56/91

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. ~ ~


57/91

\$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


58/91

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


59/91

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.


60/91

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


61/91

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 ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~


62/91

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


63/91

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


64/91

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,"" ,


65/91

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

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