What is 'Tabligh'?
     

 
  By Mufti Ibrahim Desai, South Africa
In the name of Allah most Gracious Most Merciful.
Allah
Taala states that one reason for this Ummah being titled as the best of
Ummahs, is the practice of 'commanding good and preventing evil'.

Nabi
(Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) states, "Whosoever from among you
witnesses evil, he should change it with his hands. And if he is unable
to do so then he should change it with his tongue. And if he is unable
to do so with his tongue, then he should at least consider it to be
wrong. And this is the weakest stage of Imaan." (Mishkat) 

Hadhrat
Nuْmaan bin Basheer (Radhiallaahu anhu) says that Rasulullah
(Sallallaahu ءlayhi Wasallam) gave an example of people sailing on a
boat having an upper deck and a lower deck. The people from the lower
deck require water and request water from the people of the upper deck.
The people from the upper deck refuse water so the people from the
lower deck decide to make a hole on the floor of the ship and get water
from the sea. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu alayhi Wasallam) said, "If the
people from the upper deck don't stop the people at the bottom from
making a hole, the ship will sink and all the people travelling will
drown." (Mishkat vol. 2 p. 436) 

Similarly, if people do not prohibit evil and sin in the society, the entire 
society - innocent and evil - will equally suffer. 

Hadhrat
Abu Hurayra (Radhiallaahu anhu) states that Rasulullah (Sallallaahu
alayhi Wasallam) said, "Command good and prohibit evil or else Allah
will send such a punishment that will destroy everyone." (Ibid) 

The
above quotations of the Quran and Ahaadith of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu
alayhi Wasallam) are clear that commanding good and prohibiting evil is
an emphasised injunction of Allah and His Rasul. Every person must
carry out this injunction. All the Prophets (alayhimus salaam) followed
the footsteps of their respective Prophets and after the demise of
their Prophet, they carried out the same mission. The Sahaaba of
Rasulullah (Radhiallaahu anhum) spent their entire lives in commanding
good and prohibiting evil. Since there is no Prophet to come, every
Ummati of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu alayhi Wasallam) is the deputy of the
Prophet and has to carry on the mission of the Prophet. The people of
Tabligh Jamaat sacrifice their time, wealth and comforts to undergo
difficulty and hardships to go in the path of Allah - to carry out this
Sunnah of the Prophets - commanding good and prohibiting evil. 

As
far as the Tabligh Jamaat is concerned, it is our humble view that they
are acting upon this injunction of Allah Taala and are fulfilling this
obligation of Shariah. the Jamaat advocates strict adherence to the
Sunnah and confines itself within the ambit of the Shariah. The purpose
of any individual taking part in the noble work of Tabligh is firstly
to reform oneself and dutifully save mankind from the fire of hell. The
overwhelming success of the Jamaat is mainly because of the
manifestation of the six points which involves the purification of the
Naffs and the entity of Tawheed. 

The
word 'Tashkeel' literally means 'to form'. In the terminology of
Tabligh, it means to urge the people to give time, to come out in the
path of Allah for self reformation and propagating good for a number of
days 3, 7, 40, 4 months, 1 year, etc. The number of days is also not
compulsory, it is only recommended just as it is recommended that a
person studying first aid, for example, serves one month as practicals.
While he will not be an expert in medicine, he will know the basic
things to do during an emergency. Similarly, a person going out for 3
days, 40 days, 4 months, etc. does not become an expert on Shariah, but
he will learn the basic requirements of Shariah. The more time he
gives, the more he will learn and perfect himself. The time frame is
not a criteria according to Shariah. 

and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best

Mufti Ebrahim Desai, www.ask-imam.com FATWA DEPT. 


      

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