In the name of Allaah, Most Beneficent and Most Merciful
We always hear that ‘Tabligh’ is the work of the Ambiya (alaihimus salam). Is this true?
Ambiyaa (alaihimus salam) came to the world to link mankind to the creater; to show mankind which actions are good, leading to the pleasure of Allah and which actions result in the wrath of Allah and to Jahannam. Every prophet of Allah from Adam (alaihi salam) to Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) called mankind to what we term as usul al deen. These are:
- Tauheed
- Risaalah &
- Aakhirah
However, if we carefully study the stories of the Ambiya (a.s) in the Qur’an, two statements are made repeatedly by the Ambiya (a.s). These are:
- Fear Allah
- We ask of you no remuneration (wages) over preaching because our wage (reward) is with Allah.
There are two types of fear:
- Fear resulting from fright, the end result of which is solely and only linked to harm & injury.
- Fear created by love, respect and remorse at anger created and punishment incurred.
We do not fear Allah as one fears a lion. This type of fear is not implied.
Stemming from one’s love, respect and honour for one’s parents or teacher, one does not want to do anything contrary to their directives because of ‘fear’ of their anger or punishment. This type of fear is implied. The other important aspect which all the ambiya (a.s0 made clear was that they recieved no remuneration for preaching, propagating and inviting towards the pleasure of Allah.
In the entire world, there is currently no other group of people bigger than the tabligh jamaat that goes door to door, village to village, town to town, province to provice, city to city country to country and continent to continent trying hard to link the creation with the Creator, calling towards good, learning, teaching, promoting adherence to the practice of the sunnah and doing much more with their own money, without asking for wages,remuneration, votes and with no other ulterior motive. Any reasonable person can observe the striking resemblance between the work of the Ambiya (a.s) and that of the Tabligh jamaat.
When the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) is the last and final Messenger of Allah, the work, duty and responsibility of Nabuwwah has to carry on. The Tabligh Jamaat is definitly fulfilling a major aspect of continuing the work of prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). Some people sceptically & sarcastically ask how one can classify the duty of inviting towards good as work. We say, that in today’s world when examining faeces under the microscope is classified as work, why does one not want to classify the work of Amibya alaihimus salam, as work?
Excerpted from the book ‘Tabligh made easy” by Mufti A.H. Elias.