An Interview With Mualana Muhammad Kalim Siddiqi

About the progress of the Islamic
Dawah in North India

An Interview with Mualana
Muhammad Kalim Siddiqi

Extracted By
M.M. Umar Nasihi Nadwi

Compiled By
Mufti Raushan Shah Qasmi

Published By
Maktaba Shah Wali Allah
B 1/25 Rahman Complex, Batla House Chawk Joga
Bai, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi 110025

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Name of the Book : An Interview with Mualana
Muhammad Kalim Siddiqi
Extraction by : M. M. Umar Nasihi Nadvi
Compilation : M. M. Raushan Shah Qasmi
English Translation : Md. Ibrahim Khan
Total Pages : 91
Upload by : umarkairanvi@gmail.com
phulat.blogspot.com
Edition : Year
Published By : Maktaba Shah Wali Allah
B 1/25 Rahman Complex,
Batla House Chawk Joga Bai,
Jamia Nagar, New Delhi
110025

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Preface to the first Urdu edition
Praising Allah, and invoking His blessings on His
Highly-placed Messenger, Muhammad.
It Has been the practice of Allah that He places the
love of His. virtuous and beloved servants in the
hearts of the people. Thus the virtuous and beloved
servants become the king of the hearts and brain of
people without wearing a royal crown. This fact has
been mentioned in the Book of Allah in the following
eternal words:

Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous
deeds - the Most Merciful will appoint for them
affection. (Maryam 19:96)
The same point has been explained by the Holy
Prophet in his following words:
When Allah taala loves a servant of His, He tells the
angel Jibril (peace be upon him), I like the servant so
and so, love him you too. So, Jibril begins to love him.
Then he announces across the heavens that the
servant so and so has won the liking and love of
Allah. So let him be loved by you all. So the heavenly
people begin to love him. Thereafter his love and
approval is placed on the earth, and the earthly people
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too begin to love him (Bukhari Sharif, Hadith No.
2970).
That the people, apart from their different
sectarian affiliations and diverse ideological
considerations, love Maulana Muhammad Kalim
Siddiq, the preacher of Islam, is nothing but a
phenomenal reflection of the same Divine love. Allah
taala has planted so strongly his love in the hearts of
the people as they seem always restless to see and
meet him. Moved by the strong feelings of love
towards him, people are keenly desirous to know the
details and the developments of his life. Quite
opposed to this ardent wish of the people, the
PEOPLE OF ALLLAH are always keen to hide
themselves under the cover of humility and maintain
complete secrecy about the details of their lives and
their spiritual developments. Maulana Md. Kalim
Siddiqi, as has rightly observed brother Harun Mauza
Wala of Mumbai, ranks very high as compared to
other men of the age. He never liked to make public
the personal details of his life.
In the year 2004, the al- Hasanat, a Rampur-
based leading Islamic monthly, had published a brief
interview of Maulana. With a view to append to the
book Nasim-e-Hidayat ke Jhonke, I made a request to
him to give an interview, but the Maulana declined
my request. At my repeated earnest request he
consented to give an interview only when I told him
that the publication of such an interview might be of
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use for the interest of Dawah. It was a fortunate
coincidence that in the Blessed month of Ramadhan of
year 1430 A.H. brother Maulana Md. Umar Nasihi
Nadwi had recorded and then committed to writing
the answers to his some questions he had put to him
in relation to the private sphere of his life. Im grateful
to brother Maulana Wasi Sulaiman Nadwi (editor of
the Armaghan). It is his good efforts that this
interview got published. My thanks are also due to
brother Maulana Nasihi to provide me this valuable
material. We are glad that Maulanas this detailed
interview is being published in the book form. This
interview, it is hoped, will prove a useful and
important milestone for the workers in the sphere of
dawah and refresh their determination. Keeping in
view the benefit of it for the common people as well,
the interview is being published separately in book
form. May Allah bless our this effort with His good
acceptance.
Roshan Shah Qasmi Sonorwi
Friday, 23 Jamadi I 1431
7 May, 2010

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An Interview with Maulana Muhammad Kalim
Siddiqi
Congratulations to the readers of the Armughan
magazine. For long time many of its readers had
keenly been asking that an interview of Maulana Md.
Kalim Siddiqi should published in the pages of the
Armaghan. The Maulana, however, turned down our
request each time to give an interview in order to be
published. Brother Maulana Umar Nasihi, a young
alim and an active worker in the sphere of dawah,
deserves thanks for his recording a private interview
in the blessed month of Ramadhan of the year 1430
A.H. and for committing it to writing on the insistence
of Mufti Muhammad Raushan Shah under the
permission of the Hazrat. (Editor)
Q. For a long time the fellow workers have
keenly been asking that information about your
self, your childhood, establishment of
relationship with the Ulama, Aulia and your
association with the task of dawha should be
extracted from you and then be committed to
writing. Would you like to oblige us by granting
the same information to us so that we can
benefit from it?
Ans. What kind of benefit do you expect from the
biographical details of a person as inactive as I am? As
regards the information asked, the most of it I have
often been telling the people. Being a member of the
same household, you must have come across those
detail as well.
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Q. In contrast to the memory, it will seem
more pleasant to hear those things directly from
you. First of all, we would like to have some
information regarding your birth, childhood and
your household background.
Ans. Yes, I feel very much pleased to recount and
recall the limitless fovour and grace which Allah taala
had begun to pour over this sinful, humble person at
my birth rather, prior to my birth like the rain.
Whenever I happened to write my first letter to my
great patron elders and Ulama, I never missed to start
the correspondence with the celebrated couplet of the
historic Urdu poet Chakbast since it portrays myself
well:
Likha hai daware mehshar ne meri fard-e-isyan par
Ye wo banda hai jis par naaz karta hai karam mera.
(On my chargesheet the Master of the Day of
Judgment wrote that of this servant boasts My
forgiveness and magnanimity).
From among the countless favors and graces
which Allah taala bestowed upon me without
demand and ability the most enviable and proudable
one being that the time of his birth coincided with the
birth of the Last Prophet in terms of date, day and
time. Phulat (a bigger village in the Muzaffar Nagar
district UP, India), is my native village, which,
according to the description of the Late Maulana
Manazir Ahsan Gilani, is the centre of India, keeping
in consideration its unequalled services for the
religious revival of country. The habitation of Phulat
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holds a distinction that its foundation stone was
placed by Haz. Qazi Yusuf Nasihi (the religious
mentor and teacher of the Monarch Sikandar Lodhi
and the Monarch Bahlol Lodhi), in 861 A.H., who did
so after offering two rakaats by starting to teach his
pupils under an acacia tree. Since the year mentioned
till the present day the succession of learning and
teaching has been in continuation. Now, under the
aegis of my murhsid Haz. Maulana Sayyid Abul
Hasan Ali Nadwi, it has transformed into Jamiatul
Imam Wali Allah. This seat of learning has the honour
to be the spiritual mother not of Hazrat Shah Wali
Allah alone, its intellectual beneficiaries include,
based on the age-long historic succession of the
learning and teaching traditions of it, the great epoch-
making men of the Muslim India like Hazrat Shikh
Ahmad Sarhindi the Renovator of the Second
Millennium, his Sheikh and mentor Hazrat Khwajah
Baqi Billah, Shaikh Ali Muttaqi Burhanpuri (the
grandson of Qazi Yusuf Nasihi, Shaikh Abdul Haq the
great scholar in Hadith, Shah Abdur Rahim, the great
father of Haz. Shah Wali Allah, the latters
grandfather Shaikh Wajih-al-Din the martyre, who, at
the behest of his murshid Shah Abul Fath, the
successor and heir to the seat of Haz. Nizam Narnolvi,
had migrated to Phulat from Ruhtak (Haryana). The
village of Phulat, likewise, has the honour of being the
commencement point of Haz. Sayyid Ahmad Shahids
historic jihad movement. In a Siddiqi household of the
same habitation (which is the descendent of Qazi
Yusuf Nasihi and which has the honour to be Shah
Wali Allahs maternal household) my birth took place.
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As regards my father, he was Haji Md. Amin,
who, in his very childhood, had entered into the baiat
of Haz. Shaikh Bahau Din Chanderwi, a great spiritual
mentor belonging to the order of Haz. Sayyid Ahmad
Shahid, in the company of my grandfather. Then he
entered into the baiat of Haz. Shaikhul Hind Maulana
Mahmoodul Hasan. Ideologically, he was more akin
to Hazrat Maulana Asraf Ali Thanwi. Between him
and the late Maulana Asadullah, Shaikhul Hadith
Haz. Maulana Md. Zakaria Kandhalawi, Haz Maulana
Qari Md. Tayyib existed a close relationship. He was
one of the great landlords of the area. He lived a very
simple life, yet he was a man of high thinking. In
farming too he always maintained high standard. In
the western utter Pradesh it was my father who first
of all placed the order of purchase of two tractors
from England for the purpose of farming and with
which two engineers came from England and stayed
at Phulat for two months to guide the handling of the
tractors.
Moved by his love, affection and generosity,
the non-Muslims generally called him as miyan ji and
used other similar appellations for him. Strictly
punctual to his religious duties and the principles of
living a committed life, he hardly missed the pre-
dawn (Tahajjuad) prayer and the regular prayers
practices during the last sixty years of his life. He
always maintained a sympathetic attitude towards all;
he was known for his fogginess, kind disposition and
the simplicity of his living standard. His clean and
life-long unstained character and his clean image in
his financial dealings with others had won him an
unequalled goodwill. My grandfather, Haji Zuhural
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Allah, was from among the beneficiaries of Haz.
Gangohi, and had a sufistic disposition.
As regards my mother, her name was Zubaida
Khatun. She descended from the Bariha Saadat and
belonged to Ratheri of the Muzaffar Nagar district.
She was the third wife of my father. First time my
father married the widow of his maternal uncle, who
was older than him in age. After her death he married
second time a woman from his village, Phulat. Sooner,
she too suffered death. Third time he married my
mother, who, in respect of age, was younger than he.
She possessed high moral standard and was
affectionate towards the poor. Throughout her life she
acted upon the following hadith of the Apostle of
Allah.
Establish and maintain relationship with one
who sundered it from you, forgive one who wronged
you, give one who deprived you and do good to one
who did wrong to you
Her life was an epitome of this hadith and the
high morals mentioned in it clearly mirrored in her
morality. She often would kindly made my good
mention before my brothers and sisters and it pleased
me very much. She often said that in his childhood
Kalim, that is, this humble person, never put me at
trouble. This was also a favour of Allah unto me. I
have two elder brothers, three sisters and one brother
and two sisters are younger to me.

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My Education.
As far as my education is concerned, I
completed the earlier phase of my education in the
historic madrasa on which was founded the village of
Phulat, which, later, was named by Haz. Maulana
Rasheed Ahad Gangohi (may Allah deal him with
mercy) as Fizul Islam, after Maulana Faiz Ahmad
Phulati, a beneficiary and disciple of Maulana
Gangohi. This historic seminary has now assumed the
status of a multi-pronged institution of religious
education and has been renamed as Jamia-al-Imam
Shah Wali Allah. Gandi Ji visited this historic
institution in 1929 and wrote very good words in his
inspection report. In the tender age of less than four
years my elder brother brought me to the same
institution for admission in the standard first. Since it
was against the law to get a child of an age less than
five years admitted to the first standard, my brother
had to get my age written as of five years, one year
more than my actual age. I completed the learning of
the Arabic alphabets and the thirtieth part of the
Qur'an (which commonly, is taught to the children
first with a view to facilitate the reading of the
Quran) in the period of one month. Then the interest
got intensified to learn the rest of the Qur'an, and
within a period of four days I learnt the entire text of
the Quran and on the fifth day the teacher asked me to
read and recite the text of the Quran from here and
there. On my passing the examination of the Quranic
text the simple sweet was distributed. While passing
through the class fifth of the school education I started
the memorization of the Quran. After committing
seven parts to my memory, I got admission to the

sixth standard in a school at Khatoli. I successfully
completed and passed the twelfth class from Inter
college. I was still a student of the class six that an
Arabian Jamaat visited Phulat. Under the permission
of its Amir, who happened to be an African Gujarti, I
spent three days in the Tablihi Jamat. Thereafter my
interest and natural inclination to the Tablighi
movement prompted me to join it.
My Association with the Tabligh Movement
At Phulat lived a great man of knowledge and piety
whose name was Maulana Allaud Din. He was the
spiritual murshid of my mother and an advisor to my
father on religious matters. It is he who named me
and all my brothers and sisters. Before launching the
historic movement of Tabligh, its founder, Haz
Maunala Md. Ilyas, journeyed to Phulat to seek his
advice on the initiation of the movement, Maulana
Allaud-Din was held in high esteem by Maulana
Ashraf Ali Thanawi, who was generally called as bare
maulavi sb. (the great Maulana) by the people of the
area. Out of his extraordinary respectful position the
Tabligh fellows did not urge the people of Phulat to
form the jamaat and go out of the village to do the
work of Tabligh. By people of Phulat this was
wrongly taken as they needed not join the Bhighi
movement and go out of the village for the work of
Tablish. To me this was a displeasing fact. To revive
the work of Tabligh at Phulat I constituted a group of
my fellow children and initiated the work. Sometimes
we received support and assistance from some aged
persons as well. My interest in the work of Tabligh
affected my attendance in the school. This initially
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caused bad impression on the minds of my teachers.
But my good performance in the examination helped
me win their confidence and trust. After passing the
Intermediate examination, I earned my B. Sc degree
from Meerut College. Thereafter I appeared in the Pre-
medical Test, which, during those days, was held
uniformally on the national level to grant admission
to the MBBS course for the successful aspirants.
Gratitude to Allah, in this national test I secured the
fifty-eight position. Many medical colleges wrote to
me letters of congratulations and made the offer to get
admission in their college. Such was my doings, but
Allah wished otherwise. He took His mercy on me,
thanks to my sincerity towards the virtuous men and
close relationship with them. Out of His sheer grace,
He brought me to the feet of the late Haz. Maulana
Sayyid Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi. Thanks to the
blessings of my relations with Hazrat Maulana, I got
admission to the special class of the Islamic learning
and abandoned the intention to pursue the MBBS.
Since I had not communicated the news of my success
in the Premedical Test to my elder family members
and the brothers, when they came to know my
decision, they initially disliked it, but soon they were
happy to note that I chose the religious line for
education. My murshid charged Maulana Md. Arif
Sambhali and Maulana Shahbaz Islahi to closely
watch my progress and give special care to me. In
compliance to the order of my murshid both the said
Maulanas gave me exclusive time in the masjid of the
Nadwatul Ulama. During my stay at the Nadwa I
could attain nothing except wasting time there. Then
some problems developed and Haz Maulana (my

murshid) sent me to work in the apostacy-hit area of
Haryana. This way I could not complete my course at
the Nadwa and returned back to Phulat. People began
to call me Maulana. Initially I tried my best to
persuade them against this, but later I turned
senseless and gave in.
Q. Once you were telling the event of Haz
Maluanas addressing you as Maulavi. Please
give some detail of the event.
Ans. While living at Phulat the people of the locality
and the employed farming staff would address me as
bhai sahab. Prior to my admission in the Nadwa, once
I happened to visit my murshid at the Takyah Shah
Alamullah Hasani (Rai Bareilly U.P. India). From the
Masjid I went to the bunglow where he was staying.
Seeing me, the Haz Maulana addressed me, come
maulawi Kalim Siddiqi; upon my return to Phulat
whoever saw me addressed me as Maulana sb. maulwi
sb. Initially I resisted, but all in vain, and I had to
accept. The appellation spoken by my murshid was
made common by Allah Taala.
Q. The event of your marriage merits mention.
Some details?
Ans. In the year 1980 I got the honour to perform the
Hajj of the Holy House on Saudi Royal invitation in
company of my murshid, to whom the invitation was
actually extended. I stayed in the Kingdom along with
the murshid for a period of thirteen days. During those
days the kingdom of Saudi Arabia was under the rule
of King Khalid, who kindly accorded a very respectful
treatment to us. After my return to India I wrote the
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letter of thanks to the King and expressed my regret
on my early return from the blessed land. This moved
the King and he, merely out of his kindness, made
arrangements for my admission in the Madina
University.
By some sources I also learnt that there was a proposal
on the part of the Royal Family for my marriage in it.
In the meanwhile, I had to go to Jhunjhana (a small
historic town in the Muzaffar Nagar ditrict) in the
capacity of the amir of a jamaat from Mewat which
was in trouble due to the illness of its amir and the
chilla was still incomplete. There a woman relative
told me the problems and woes of a religious family
and an offer of marriage was made to me. With the
view to help a good family, I expressed my consent
and, eventually, the marriage took place with
simplicity. Praise to Allah, He granted me everything
of this line; my wife is a woman of high moral virtues,
an excellent Hafiz, expert qari and an exemplary
teacher of hifz. (committing the entire text of the Holy
Qur'an to memory). Allah taala made her the source
of virtue in my household as she turned a means for
bringing about and environment of Hifz and religious
and awaking and learning in the whole household.
Above all, she lends me her maximum support in my
religious dawah works. How bigger this favour of
Allah is on me! Praise to Allah.
Q. You have been heard telling the audience
about your relations with the Late Haz, Shaikhul
Hadith Maulana Md. Zakariya and your visiting
him at Saharanpur. Some details?

Ans: Answering this question requires a look at the
perspective and at my hobbies during those days. My
hobbies during those days included listening to the
poetical recitations in mushaaras (organized
programmes for poetical recitations). Blessed by Allah
with a melodious voice, I would recite the poetry of
over fifty poets in their own voice and tone. Besides
my interest in poetry, I started writing dramas and
short stories and more than one leading monthly and
weekly magazines published my dramas, some of
them were relayed by the All India Radio. Painting
and music, too, included my interests. The book Are
We Muslims? by Shams Naved Usmani moved me
very much and I started writing the historical events
in dramatic style which then got published in the
Noor, Batul, Zikra (all based at Rampur). The Noor
also published my interview as a writer.
In spite of all my interests in triffle things like the
mentioned ones, I had a deep respect towards the
religious men and aulia Allah, and was in
correspondence with some great men. In my first
letter to Haz Shaikhul Hadith I introduced myself and
mentioned that I was just seventeen years old. The
Shaikh, who was then prepared to leave for Madina
Munawwarah, entrusted the responsibility to send the
acknowledgement to one of his attendants. He,
keeping in view my age, sent an amulation for love
and desired marriage with the acknowledgement
letter. My younger sister Zainab opened the letter and
read it. Since its contents were to her much wonder,
she exercised her full persuasive ability to make me
tell her the name whom I wished to marry. Upon this
case of pure misunderstanding I felt very much
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ashamed and could not write any letter to the Shaikh
for a longtime.
Then, when I was pursuing my graduation studies at
Meerut College, the Shaikhul Hadith returned from
Madina Munawwarah to Saharanpur. My elder
brother-in-law, Sayyid Md. Sardar, a person of meek
and compassionate disposition, asked me to give him
company to his trip to Saharanpur which was
intended to pay a visit to the Shaikh. I complied. Clad
in a new fashionable suit, I, in the company of the
Bhai Sb. and got to Saharanpur on the eve of the Asr
prayer. The Asr paryer was offered in the old masjid
of the Mazahir-e-Uloom. Immediately after the prayer
the daily session (majlis) was arranged, every one
occupied his place and we could find a place to sit
only in the outer space where the visitors were leaving
off their shoes. A certain book was being read out.
Towards the end of the majlis a person announced
that, The departing visitors might shake hand now
and the fresh comers would shake hand the next
morning. Overpowered by his sense of sinfulness, my
brother-in-law felt reluctant to shake hand with a man
of high piety as was the Shaikhal Hadith. He
contented himself only with seeing him from a
distance. He, however, permitted me to shake hand
with the Shaikhul Hadith. I told the Bhai sb. that, I
would shake hand with him both with the departing
visitors and the coming visitors. Visitors stood lined
up to shake hand with the Shaikh. On my turn, the
Shaikh grasped my hand, pressed it gently, and with a
smiling mood, addressed me in a rather awesome
voice Come here my dear, Im prepared to shake
hand with you as long as you wish. You are at

leisure. While saying these words he kept smiling and
pressing my hand. The line remained still for five
minuets or even longer. The (late) Maulana Nasir sb.,
who was still unknown to me, interceded with the
Shaikh to release my hand from his grip. But his
intercession was to my displeasure. I wished the
handshake to be longer still.
Q. Did the Shaikh hear your words, I will
shake hand with the shaikh with the departing
as well as with the fresh visitors?
Ans. At that time it seemed to me that he had heard
my words. But now it seems utterly impossible to hear
the words of a speaker from such a distance. I think he
learnt my words by way of kashf.
Q. What did happen then?
Ans. After a while the shaikh left my hand. The taste
of that handshaking is still fresh. We returned back to
home by a late night train. Thereafter I wrote two
letters to the shaikh and received answer from him. In
the meanwhile, a qari sb., who actually belonged to
Phulat and lived in Meerut, accompanied by a
number of his muqtadis and the distinguished people
of Meerut, reached Saharanpur to visit the shaikh.
Since the shaikh had an overwhelming attachment
with Phulat, he immediately called the visitors in. In
the course of the conversation the Shaikh told them
that at phaulat lived a friend of him. On being
questioned the shaikh told the visitors my name, that
is, Kalim. Since he had been living in Meerut for long,
my name came to him as his utter surprise. On his
return to Meerut he enqueired my brother, Md. Alim
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Siddiqi, who, during those days, practiced law at
Meeurt, who was Kalim at Phulat, the shaikh was
mentioning him in very good words. My brother told
him that Kalim at Phulat was not other than his
younger brother, who, during those days, was
pursuing his studies at Meerut College. He is not a
boy, he is an aged and pious man, the shaikh was
introducing him as a friend of him, the qari sb. said.
To the best of my assessment, the said affectionate
handshake of the shaikh with me proved a turning
point in my life. Similarly, at our village Phulat, there
was a pious person, Hafiz Abdul Latif Qasimpuri,
who would teach at the madrasa. He entered into the
baiat of the Shaikhul Hadith at his adolescence and in
those days there had been no rush with the Shaikh of
the new entrant murreeds. He wrote a letter to Shaikh
to Madina Munawwarah. In his reply from Madinah
the Shaikh wrote to him, at Phulat there lives a friend
of mine whose name is Kalim. you are asked to pay
visits to him. The hafiz sb. wrote to the Shaikh, There
is only one kalim, who is an adolescent boy and is
pursuing his studies at college. The Shaikh wrote to
the Hafiz sb. again a letter with the same content.
Those days the smell of the smoking the hooqa or biris
was to my extreme aversion, and the shaikh had
communicated my this aversion in his letter to the
Hafiz sb. This was perhaps in view of that the late
Hafiz sb. was fond of smoking.
Later, with the passage of time, this
relationship got further strengthened. In addition to
my deep relation with the late Sheikh-al-Hadith, I
kept visiting (the late) Maulana Maseehullah Khan sb.
at Jalalabad, Maulana Md. Asadullah sb. then chief

administrator of the Mazahir-e-Uloom, and entered
into correspondence with them. At my visits to the
august service of the shaikh the shaikh would
introduce me to the visiting people in very awesome
words. Struck by a type of psychological sense of
inferiority, I felt a psychological burden at that
affectionate doing of the shaikh. To relieve myself
from this unnecessary burden, I communicated my
feelings to him in the following words: Im very
much interested in seeing you and register my
presence here time and again, but due to your
repeatedly introducing me to the people puts me to
ashame and people raise fingers to me. Should you
leave me shake hand with you in the line, I may dare
pay frequent visits to you. The shiakh was kind
enough to accept my request, although he once could
not help say that, This introduction and my according
of a special treatment to you would have been useful
for you.
Q. How did you enter into the baiat of Haz.
Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi?
Ans. I read some books of the Maulana like the
Tareekh-e-Dawat wa Azimat, Seerat Sayyid Ahmad
Shaid, Taqwiyatul Iman by Maulana Ismail Shahid, to
name only a few. Actually, my younger brother-in-
law Sayyid Saied Akhtar, had purchased a private
library from a gentleman. Among other books the
library contained were the above mentioned ones as
well. Although the Maulana was very well-known in
our area but not as a man of high spiritual qualities.
As far as Haz. Sayyid Ahmad Shahid was concerned,
he was very well-know across the region for his great
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historic movement for the revival of Islam. At Phulat
the events of his movement were still fresh and were
told to the children by elderly women. One day I was
reading the book Nuqush-e-Ieqbal by the Maulana.
The item Iqbal dare daulat par moved me in the
extreme. Actually under this heading have been
mentioned in the poetic language, the heart-felt
sentiments of the Islamic poet Md. Iqbal, which he
had revealed while standing before the Holy grave of
the Prophet of Allah. While going through the lines of
the article it seemed to me as if I too were with those
fortunate people who were present at the Holy grave
to communicate their deep sentiments to the Holy
Prophet. During those days I had been cherishing a
very strong desire to see the Holy Prophet in vision.
For this purpose I used a number of spiritual
prescriptions. Allah taala took mercy on me. Despite
my relations with most of the spiritual men of the
area, this humble person was brought to the feet of
Haz Maulana.
Q. In our region there existed a great number
of the renowned men of Islamic learning and
spirituality. Despite this fact, is it not a matter of
much astonishment that you approached the
Haz. Maulana, knowing fully that he was not
known here as a spiritual man?
Ans. Actually I received a command from the Holy
Prophet in vision to lick the honey of Maulana Ali
Miyan. I knew the Hazrat by the name of Maulana
Sayyid Abdul Hasan Ali Nadwi. To know and
ascertain who was Maulana Ali Miyan I had to crave
for weeks. It was brother Naiem, who told me that

Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi, whose books I had
been studying for long, was no other person than
Maulana Ali Miyan and both names referred to the
same and one person. I sent a letter to the Maulana. In
response, he sent an affectionate reply wherein,
among other things, he wrote the following Urdu
couplet.

That is, in order to find satisfaction the heart has withheld
as a boon the movement which was visible in your eyebrow
while priding.
With the letter he also sent a sum of money for my
expected travel expenses. I undertook the journey to
Takya at Rai Baraily and attended him. Incidentally, it
was the day when Mrs. Indira Gandhi too had
attended the Maulana at Takya and there were
standing many cars outside his bunglow. I
introduaced myself to the Maulana and he
immediately embraced me. Then, he attached this
country-dweller to his blessed feet for ever. To my
great surprise, notwithstanding the fact that I had
great respect of all the noted men of Islamic learning
and spirituality in my heart like Haz. Mufti Mahmood
Sb., Haz. Maulana Abrarul Haq sb., Haz. Qari Siddiq
Sb. Bandawi, Haz. Maulana Abdul Halim Januprui,
Haz Maulana Inam-al-Hasan Kandhalawi, Haz.
Maulana Iftikharul-Hasan Kandhalawi, Haz. Maulana
Mukarram Hussain Sansarpuri, etc, to name only a
few and with these named men of spirituality I always
An Interview with
23

remained in the relationship of correspondence, yet
how magnanimous is my Lord Allah taala, Who, in
order to give me a portion of His Revealed Guidance,
brought me to the feet of Haz. Maulana. How blessed
was the moment when my Allah bestowed His mercy
and magnanimity upon an unabled man like me.
Q. In which year did you enter into the baiat
of the Haz. Maulana, and when did you receive
the permission to accept the people into your
baiat? You had also submitted your request to
the shaikhul Hadith. What did happened to your
request?
Ans. Permission granted to somebody by a man of
spirituality of course is of three types: one type of
permission is that which is granted to an ably
competent mureed so that he may engage himself in
the moral and spiritual reform of the people. This type
of permission is the actual one and is granted only to
the highly abled persons. The second type is that
which a shaikh grants to a person already associated
to the religious reform in order to engage him in
religious reform in a certain area. The third type of
permission being the one which is generally granted
to the persons like me. Granting this latter type of
permission is actually intended to offer the mureed a
shield against his very probable fall into the sins and
the acts of disobedience. That is to say, such a mureed,
under the unseen pressure of permission, is expected
to stay away from the sins and thereby might keep
himself away from evil and moral vices. It seems here
useful to tell you the story of a Bangali, who was
granted the permission of hadith by Haz. Maulana.

Rashied Ahmad Gangohi The certificate granted to
him was in the Arabic language. Since in the Arabic
alphabets the letter g does not exist, the Bangali was
written as Banjali (that is G was replaced by J. In the
Bangali language the banjali is an abusive term and a
slang word. A fellow student wittingly told him that
the Hazrat had employed an abusive term for him.
Heard this, the student flew into rage and expressed
his extreme anger before the Hazrat. Maulana Md.
Yahya sb, the all-time attendant of the Hazrat,
expressed his astonishment why Haz. had been kind
and simple to grant the permission of Hadith to such a
person. Heard this, Haz. Gangohi said, Thinking
himself a man of religion that person will be staying
inside a masjid. He otherwise would have turned a
thief and bandit. This way he would have brought
disgrace to the people of religion. I think my Hazrat
granted me the permission with the same thing in
view.
Q. Did you reuqest the Sahikhul Hadith to
accept you into his baiat?
Ans. Actually speaking, after having the vision to
which reference has already been made above, I got
extremely restless. I would attend the majlis of Haz.
Mualana Masihullah Khan sb. at Jalalabad. I requested
him to accept me into his baiat. He, however, advised
me to enter into the baiat of Haz. Maulana Ali Miyan.
At Jalabad it struck my mind that Haz. Shaikhul
Hadith was prepared to leave India for Madina
Munawwarah and it would be better for me to pay a
visit to him at Saharanpur. Unfortunately, we got
Sharanpur at a point of time when the meetings were
An Interview with
25

closed. The servants declined to let me free to meet the
Shaikh. I insisted, in my vain pride, on having a
meeting with the shaikh. I asked the servants to
communicate to the shaikh that Kalim from Phulat
had arrived. The shaikh called me in and peeled the
banana by his hand and offered it to me. In this very
meeting I requested him to accept me into his baiat.
On my request he said, my dear, as far as the baiat is
concerned, I advise you to enter into the baiat of
Maualana Ali Miyan. As regards the permission, I do
permit you. This time the late Maulana Muhammad
Sani Hasani happened to be there. Addressing him,
the Shaikh said, Brother Sani, let any wishing person
enter into the baiat of Kalim. Already struck by a
strong sense of inferiority, I began to think that may
be there a special code of conduct and etiquette for
making a request to a Sheikh for the purpose of baiat
and the Haz Sheikh has dismissed my lack of manners
in a spirit of jest I burnt into loud weeping implored
him to ignore my rudeness the and lack of manners
since I had no idea of the manner needed for the
purpose. Upon this the Shaikh said: My dear, it is
only for the sake of your good, let you enter into baiat
of Maulana Ali Miyan, and on my part is the
permission.
Q. Did you tell the Sheikh your dream?
Ans. No, this is all the more surprising how both the
great spiritual men spoke the same thing, that is, to
enter into the baiat of Maulana Ali Miyan.


Q. What did happen thereafter?
Ans. This goes back as far as 1977. My maternal
uncle, Sayyid Muhammad Arif, took me to the service
of Haz. Maulana Md. Asadullah at Sharanpur and
with him and a very auspicious meeting took place.
Surprisingly enough, that meetings blessings I have
been feeling in all spheres of my life.
Q. What type of conditions developed then
which eventually led you to enter into the baiat
of Maulana Ali Miyan?
Ans. I reached Takya (the reclusive habitation of the
Maulanas household for centuries outside the Rai
Bareily city towards west). The Hazrat was kind
enough to give an affectionate attention to me. He got
me introduced to (the late) Maulana Md. Sani Hasani
Nadwi, saying, he is Kalim Miyan, whom we had
been talking about. Maulana Sani told the Hazrat that
he had already met him at the house of the Shaikhul
Hadith just a few days earlier. Then Maulana
Muhammad Sani inquired me if it was I whom the
Shaikh had called in the Kachcha Ghar. I replied in
affirmation. Thereafter I requested Maulana Ali Miyan
to accept me into his baiat and the Maulana did so in
the masjid of Takyah. In the after Asr majlis the
Maulana spoke in a very optimistic way and said, In
the treasure of Allah there is no dearth. His treasury
lacks nothing. The door of the Prophethood too has
been seeking closed for some wise considerations. As
regards all other things and the various other grades
of closer association with Allah, no door to anything
has been closed. What is required on the part of the
An Interview with
27

servant is the only endeavour and constant
supplication from Him. Then the Maulana recited the
verse:

The last clause of the verse was translated by Maulana
as:
And in the grant of your Lord there is no rationing.
Then I got admission in the Alim course at Darul
Uloom Nadwatul Ulama. Although I was an
uncultured countryman, I was very deeply interested
in the study of books. Blessed with a retentive
memory, I had learnt very much from those books,
especially about the Wali Allahi household and the
great men of the Deobandi school of thought. During
his majlis, whatever the Hazrat said I often interupted
him. The audience would look at me and think who
was that rude and unmannered boy. But how kind
was my Hazrat; he never tried to silence or reprimand
me. He always encouraged me instead. I spoke some
sentences thinking before him myself a man of much
learning. The remembrance of those sentences now
makes me hide myself from the eyes of others. My
long stay with the Hazrat latter revealed to me what
was he and this revelation silenced me to the extent
that during my stay with him for weeks I could utter
no word before him except the two salams which I
would offer him at my arrival and departure.

Q. When did you get permission of baiat
from the Hazrat?
Ans. Repeated mention of permission puts me to
shame. I entered in the baiat of the Hazrat in March
27, and 12 August of the same year was the day when
the Hazrat summoned me to the masjid before the
namz-e-Fajr. then he addressed me in the following
words, Reposing my trust in Allah, I would like to tell
you a thing. If you are ever requested by any person
to accept him into your baiat in my order, accept him
into your baiat. I grant you the permission for the
purpose.
I had entered into the baiat of the Hazrat with
great expectations in mind. I thought the baiat would
orient my life towards virtue and piety, enabling me
to offer the namazes of the type of the companions,
much like the way Haz. Sayyid Ahmad Shahids
companionship had infused the spirit of sincerity and
Allah-fearing in the people associated, and purge me
off the sins and the base acts. These high expectations
in mind, when I heard the words of permission to take
the people into baiat, it come to me as a great shock. I
began to think that the permission the Hazrat has
granted was in fact an expression of disappointment
which had certainly been given in view of my case to
be incurable. For such a patient there remains to
question of cure and prevention. This saddened me in
the extreme and I burst into abrupt weeping and
attached with his feet. I tried to persuade him against
granting me the permission. I went so far in my
appeal that if I returned disappointed of my reform
from your company, no place was there in the world
An Interview with
29

to reform me and give a virtuous turn to my life. The
Hazrat solaced me in good words. Indeed those hours
were too painful for me. At Takya I stayed for three
days and different types of thoughts struck my mind.
The Hazrat realized my pain and restlessness. He
asked me, Do you visit Haz. Maulana Muhammad
Ahmad'? My reply was in the affirmative.' Visits
should be paid to him as he is one of our great men,
the Hazrat said. With an intention to communicate my
case to Haz. Maulana Muhammad Ahmad, I
undertook the journey to Allahbad. I also intended to
get a letter of intercession from him and produce it to
my Hazrat . On getting Allahbad I learnt that the
Maulana was not there but at Partapgarh; I got to
Partapgarh. There I was told that two days before he
had moved to Raniganj. On getting there, I was told
that one day before he had moved to Phoolpur, his
home town. The after sunset hour, the season of
rainfall, no conveyance; it seemed that the steps I was
lifting were prompted rather than being spontaneous.
Walking on foot along the narrow straits, I could
reach Phoolpur at the time of the Isha prayer. Owing
to his illness and the growing weakness, the Hazrat,
during those days, was not able to offer his prayers at
masjid. I approached his house. It seemed to me as if
he already knew the details of my journey to Phoolpur
and the difficulties and hardships I had to bear in the
course of the journey. He showed his extreme
happiness and mentioned it later in his letter to me
with great affection and love. He accorded to me so
kind and generous treatment which I never deserved.
The mention of Takya Rai Bariely of Maulana Ali
Miyan was too much to his liking, and my journey to

Phoolpur in a hot season made him even more kind to
me. After the namaz and the dinner he asked me to go
to bed and promised to give me time in the next
morning.
Q. Did the Maulana Pholpuri granted you the
permission during the same visit?
Ans. So far as his granting me the permission of
bai'at is concerned, in his house of the thatched roof,
sitting on a very simple wooden cot, I communicated
to him the detail of my bai'at in respect of Maulana Ali
Miyan. I said, That, With firm expectations of my
reform I had entered into the bai'at of Maulana Ali
Miyan. But, to my disappointment, he conferred the
permission of bai'at on me and I by no way am able to
lift this heavy burden. Heard this, the Maulana
Partapgarhi said, The decisions of the great men of
spirituality are backed by Divine support. People do
not know, he went on saying, who is Ali Miyan.
After a while he again said. Everyone is given to hide
his beloved. Ali Miyan has been hidden in the cover of
his knowledge. Moments later he also said, Should
Ali Miyan unveil himself, no murshid will ever find
mureeds. When I communicated to him my dismay, he
consoled me and said. How many witnesses are
regarded sufficient to prove and establish a fact? Two
in general cases and four in rare cases, I replied. Then
he asked me whether his witness was to be reliably
entertained. Who is the person then whose witness is
credible if not yours? I replied. I also permit you. If
any servat of Allah comes to you for bai'at, you are
permitted to accept him into your bai'at under our
order, the Maulana said. Hazrat's words came to me
An Interview with
31

as disappointing and during my return journey to
Phulat different types of thoughts struck my mind.
Brother Umar! in one's thinking one can hardly go
beyound one's level of thinking. A man of low status
does possess only a smaller capacity of thinking. the
most upsetting thought which continued to hit me
time and again was that my murshid, Maulana Ali
Miyan, was not well known in our area. My
introduction here as a mujaz (permitted by one's
murshid to take the bai'at) of Maulana Ali Miyan
would be bound to damage his value in the eyes of the
people and would build an incorrect estimation of the
Hazrat here. Then I thought that nobody had the
knowledge of permission other than Haji Abdur
Razzaq (Hazrat's all-time attendant) and Sharafat
khan sb; I would entreat them not to intimate any
other person of the event of permission. That way my
Hazrat might be saved against bad name. These
feelings in mind, I returned back to Phulat, my home
village. After the prayer of Isha my elder sister, who
has brought me up, came to me and said, I wish to
come into your baiat. Left aghast at her request for
bai'at, I tried to persuade her to write her case to
Hazrat and enter into his baiat by correspondence and
thereafter renew it, if she ever happened to visit the
Hazrat. Refusing my proposal outright, she insisted
on entering only into my bai'at. It was to my great
surprise, I mocked at her and told her very
emphatically that It is the great spiritual men whose
hand should be gripped for the purpose. On hearing
your insistence people would mock at you saying that
Kalim's sister stands devoid even of the knowledge
who deserved to be taken as murshid. Upset upon her

unending and importunate insistence, I was left with
no other option that to write the development to the
Hazrat. I received Hazrat's reply in which he first
wrote the well known couplet:

(For His grant ability forms no condition:
It is indeed His grant which makes one able)
Then he wrote Following my murshid, I accept the
wishing people into my bai'at only in the hope that
may be among them any person whose hand-gripping
may attract Divine mercy on me as well. You should
also follow the same course. These words lent me a
lot of satisfaction, although apprehensions hit me
during those days. During the same period a
gentleman was about to depart to Madina
Munawwarah. I wrote a detailed letter to Haz.
Shaikhul Hadith and entreated him to pray for me. In
reply, he wrote: This humble person has already
granted you the permission of bai'at. Perhaps you are
feeling worry due to your specific condition. For this
you had better understand well that it is the certificate
of medicinal ability and not of the health. By this
permission you should treat yourself as well as
others. Hazrats this sentence was to my great
satisfaction. To my surprise, this permission, refrained
me from many sins and then I understood well the
rationale of the grant of permission to me. To my
assessment, this permission must have been of the
third category.
An Interview with
33

Q. Besides these permissions, there are two
more great men from Madinah and Syria who
have also granted you the permission. Would
you be kind enough to tell me their names?
Ans. Brother! you had sought my consent to extract
an interview to know the progress of the dawah work.
How long will you be talking about the ijazat and
permission?
Q. Is it not good to commit to the memory the
correct information rather than the incorrect
ones?
Ans. Good! will you save this type of information
too?
Q. This information will remain with me and
may be of use in future. Please tell me who were
those two great spiritual men?
Ans. One of them is Shaikh Ahmad Mujtaba Alwi
Maliki, Qadri, a relative of Shaikh Alwi Maliki.
Actually he was the student of Shaikh Abu Tahir
Madani, the succesor of Shaikh Muhsin Muqbil Alwi,
a spiritual man in the Qadri order and genealogically
a descendant in the Shah Wali Allah's sixth
generation. He granted permission to me by kindly
offering me a household turban, about the blessings of
which many stories were well-known Due to its
famous stories of blessing and auspiciousness, Shaikh
Alwi Maliki had borrowed it from me for a few days,
but I had gifted it permanently to him as he seemed
more befitting to me.

As to the second spiritual man, he is Shaikh Salih
Hamudi, who granted me the permission inside the
mufat sitting in front of the Rukn-e-Yamani. The said
spiritual man's permission is in the order of Shaikh
Abul Hasan Shazli, the author of the Hizbul Bahr. But
I think these two permissions, too, beloged to the third
category.
Q. You have benefitted from Maulana Ali
Miyan. Do you have anything to mention in this
respect?
Ans. To secure benefit from somebody else two
things are essentially required. They are love and
temperamental compatibility. Fortunately, Allah
honored me with both the things. So far as the love is
concerned, I loved him very much. I would depart
from Hazrat's service leaving a letter with him, and
after getting to my habitation I never failed to send
him next letter. At least a third part of the twenty-
three years-long period must have passed in coming
and going to the service of the Hazrat. Thanks to
Allah, now I am in possession of four hundred and
thirty two letters of the Hazrat. Still, despite so much
writing and receiving from him, his sweet memory
always kept me restless. As regards the
temperamental consistency, he, quite opposed to the
common norms of the spiritual reform, would ask me
to visit other great spiritual men as well and I always
followed his command in this regard. Whenever I
visited any great man in deference to my Hazrats
wish, my respect to him always increased. Still, while
departing from him my heart always said the
following Persian couplet:
An Interview with
35

(I have wandered across the countries and lands, and
have seem many beautiful, yet you are quite different
from all.)
What I gained from Hazrat's blessed company is the
realization of the sense of my inability and incapacity.
This sense, more often, suppressed me, especially
whenever the Hazrat wrote to me as, After knowing
your conditions, and the pace of your spiritual
progress I feel shame on my own conditions. You
have indeed been blessed with high conditions. But
the reading of such sentences regarding myself in
Hazrat's letters always put me to extreme shame, that
how low he regards himself despite being a man of
matchless high spiritual qualities. Hazrats such self-
humiliating sentences always enhanced my sense of
indebtedness, and from his artless behavior I learnt
very much of gratitude.
Q. Did the Shaikhul Hadith ever asked you
to serve the madarsa of Phulat?
Ans. Yes, actually the Shaikhul Hadith had a deep
relation with Phulat. Maulana Ihtaramul Hasan, the
son of the Shaikhul Hadith's brother-in-law Maulana
Ihtisham al Hasan Kandhalawi, had long been living
at Phulat and the shaikh was very happy. When some
reasons forced him to leave Phulat, this development
displeased him in the extreme, and expressing his
displeasure, the shaikh said that he was very much

hopeful of the future of Phulat. My visits to
Saharanpur in the service of the shaikh began later.
Immediately after the centennial celebrations of the
Darul Uloom Deoband, an inauspicious difference of
opinion and confusion hit the men at the helm of the
great historic seat of Islamic learning. During those
days I happened to frequently visit Deoband in order
to attend my murshid. The conceptual belief of the
Ulama's innocence and infallibility in mind, their
difference of opinion and then each others opposition
caused me extreme pain and unfortunate
astonishment. I saw my Hazrat writhing about this
unblessed state of affairs. Once I expressed my
feelings before the Shaikhul Hadith. His reply was
Irrigate the root, I could not understand I
submitted. He said The root is Phulat and all other
institutions and madrasas are but the branches
thereof. Indeed it was the advices in respect to the
revival of the madrasa of Phulat in deference of I
started to work for the madarsa. But the marked
increase in the Darul Uloom's confusion disheartened
me, thinking if the madrasas like Darul Uloom, which
have been founded and run by sincere Ulama, might
be hit by mischief and evil, any work in this regard
initiated by a person of impious character must bear
nothing except evil. I sent the letter of excuse to the
Shaikhul Hadith at Madina Munawwarah. The shaikh
immediately sent the reply back in which he wrote.
The actual doer is only Allah taala. Man entitles
himself to the reward merely by making effort. In this
last stage of the age, when I am fully prepared to leave
the world, my love towards our elder great pious
people is increasing. As regards the great men of
An Interview with
37

Phulat, they indeed were the leader of this group of
Ulama. It is my heart-felt wish to see Phulat, the
village of the virtuous people, regaining its historic
status of the centre of knowledge. In respect of Phulat
I have been cherishing great expectations from the
Magnanimous Lord. About Phulat I am so much
hopeful that its religious service will fetch good for
the doer even though he is out of the fold of Islam
In spite of this encouraging letter from the Shaikh, my
sense of undue inferiority precluded me from taking
any decisive initiative in this respect. But the Shaikhs
demise in April this year saddened me in the extreme,
and in his sweet memoirs I took his letters and reread
them. The reading brought tears to my eyes. Inspired
by those letters, I started to make efforts in connection
with the revival of the historic madrasa of Phulat. At
learning about my efforts for the cause of the madrasa
at Phulat, my murshid too was very happy; he
encouraged me very much and renamed the madrasa
as Jamiatul-Imam Wali Allah, though a section of it
was retained by its old name, Faizul Islam, as this
name was given by Haz Maulana Rashid Ahmad
Gangohi.
Q. How did the work of dawah take its start?
Earlier, for a good period, you have been
working in the apostasy-hit region; what were
the reasons which moved you then to do the
work of dawah in non-Muslim circles?
Ans. Now you have turned to the right subject. My
murshid somehow managed to gather the information
that the partition of the country into India and
Pakistan and the exchange of the population had

badly affected the people in Haryana and Sonipat,
leading a great number of them to relinquish Islam
and turn apostate. My Hazrat lent every possible
support to those who worked in this area for the
interest of the Islamic dawah and asked me to collect
correct information in this respect. Sonipat was not
too far from us; in company of some fellows I
undertook a journey to the apostacy-hit areas of
Haryana and Sonipat. The dismal spectacle of the
change of masjid and the places of worship into
mandirs, gruduaras and the badas gave us great shock.
The gathered information and the survey report was
submitted to the Hazrat. He commanded us to work
there and pursue our task. It took us two years to
complete the survey and make initial endeavors. In
1990, during the Rath Yatra of Mr. L.K. Adwani, our
two great fellows, Master Zaiu-ud-Din Bijnori and
Hafiz Nasimud-Din Denajpuri, suffered martyrdom at
the hand of a bandit leader of the area inside a masjid
and their corpuses were thrown in a river. Thereafter,
three out of the four killers embraced Islam in vision
at the dawat of the martyred Master Ziaud-Din. The
martyrdom of the said two of our fellows opened the
way for the work in the apostasy-hit area. My Hazrat
always encouraged us very much to work in this area.
He said, These days Paradise and the pleasure of
Allah is being granted by Allah in the Sonipat region,
he repeated it twice. He always blessed us with his
sincere prayers. Thanks to his prayers, Allah taala
opened the way for effective work in Haryana,
Punjab, Rajasthan, Muthra, Agra, Delhi, Himachal,
etc. Establishing madrasas under the guise of schools
was the most prudent way of work in these areas.
An Interview with
39

Gratitude to Allah, a great number of the apostate
villages turned back to Islam, thanks to sustained
efforts and the blessed supplications of the Hazrat.
Earlier, his ordering me to initiate the work in those
area was much to my surprise. I thought why the
Hazrat has ordered an uncultured person like me to
initiate reform endeavors. But, fortunately, I had
heard a sentence of the Haz. Raipuri that devotion
requires complete submission. This sentence proved
to be very encouraging and guiding. The blessings of
my total submission to my Hazrat soon tuned visible
even by the open eyes.
Q. How did you embark upon the work of
dawah and how did Allah ta'ala bring you to
this blessed workfield?
Ans. In fact there are two reasons that enticed me
into engaging myself in the work of dawah: one is
apparent, while the another one is real. So far as the
latter, ie, the real and actual reason is concerned, it is
the du'a (supplication, prayer) of my murshid, Haz.
Maulana Ali Miyan's great mother Khairun Nisa
Bahter which she kept asking Allah ta'ala the whole of
her life for her great illustrious son. She was a
mustajabud du'a woman, that is, the woman whose
supplications and prayers were honored by Allah
ta'ala with special acceptance and whose arrows of
du'a never went wrong. She asked Allah ta'ala many
prayers in favour of her son. The most favorite of her
supplications, however, was that the should non-
Muslims accept the religion of Islam at his hand in
multitude. This du'a won an honored acceptance and
approval from Allah ta'ala for my murshid, and only

through one medium this du'a fell to my lot as well.
Through a number of his letters as also orally, my
murshid communicated this thing to me. This
acceptance manifested itself once at Bawana, an
outskirt of Delhi, when four thousand apostate men
and women turned collectively to the religion of Islam
and renewed their faith and the act of changing their
names continued almost the whole of night. This
being the first occasion for me to see the sentimental
spectacle of the renewal of faith in such a
multitudinous number. In the state of dream I
happened to see the late mother of my murshid, sitting
at a throne elegantly, very much like a queen wearing
a crown. This humbled person requested her to place
her blessed hand at his head and pray for him. In
response, she placed her hand at my back and
addressed me as: What? Do you think all such
successful dawa activities are the results of my
supplications crowned by Allah with special
acceptance? I communicated this dream to my murshid
through a letter. In reply, he wrote to me, "The
supplication my late mother asked Allah ta'ala for me
was:
"Were that non-Muslims enter into the fold of
Islam in multitudes at your hand, It seems that my
mother's supplication has attracted Divine acceptance
in your favor with one medium".
In the light of my experiences this stands true
without doubt. There are many great men who were
approached by many people to learn how to call the
people to Allah and associated themselves with this
work of high value. Many stayed with them for years,
still no body entered the fold of Islam at their hand;
An Interview with
41

even some of them were approached by many non-
Muslims with an intention to accept the religion of
Islam, but they declined to admit those non-Muslims
into Islam. In sharp contrast, no sooner they entered
into the order of my Hazrat than the people began to
accept the religion of Islam on their own without any
type of compulsion from outside. To cut the long story
short, the actual reason which could doubtlessly be
assigned for my interest in the work of dawah is the
prayers and supplications of my murshid's late
illustrious mother in favour of her great son, Maulana
Ali Miyan. My murshid too blessed me with many
prayers. One year throughout the whole month of
Ramadhan, my late murshid prayed Allah ta'ala for me
mentioning my name in clear. Once he told me that it
is my unfailing practice to pray Allah for you.
As regard the apparent reason, it is my younger
daughter Amsa. As a general rule of nature, the line of
work and the profession a person chooses for himself
soon turns more familiar to him and its signs begin to
appear to him. In my case, too, this is true. From my
childhood till the day more than one non-Muslims
entered into the fold of Islam at my hand. But it was
my girl child, Asma, whom I assign as the apparent
reason that turned my attention to the work of dawah.
My murshid too related this event more than one times
in his talks. Brief account of this exhilarating
experience is as follows.
Towards the end of October, 1990, Mr. Lal
Krishan Advani launched his Rath Yatra with the aim
to stir up the Hindu sentiments for the construction of
a grand Ram Temple at the site of the historic Babary
Masjid. As it is now history, the Rath Yatra brought a

series of heart-rending and pathetic communal riots at
its back. During those days we had a woman sweeper
whose name was Bala. Cleanliness-loving by her
disposition, the children got familiar with her. One
day while I was reading a book in my room, I saw my
daughter Asma, hardly eight year old at that time,
talking to Bala in a mysterious way inside a room
where she had stood to wait the cessation of the rain,
having placed her dustbin. Thinking of unfriendliness
of the communal environment of the country, I feared
the child might talk her ill which Bala might use to
further envenom an already hostile environment. I
gave an attentive ear to the contents of the child's
conversation with Bala. The conversation between the
two was the following: How good and sweet are you
Bala! Would you like to enhance your goodness even
further"? How could I do so"? Bala enquired Asma.
'Whom do you worship'? enquired her Asma. I
worship the image of Bhagwan' replied Bala. Can this
image give you anything you need, fetch any good for
you, or ward off any harm from you?" Asma placed a
thoughtful question before Bala, 'I fear if you died in
your existing state of disbelief and polytheism, you
shall be condemned to Hell forever,' Bala! how would
you be able to bear the painful lasting chastisement of
Hell? Asma further said to Bala. It was beyond my
imagination that a girl child at such a tender age could
call a non-Muslim to the religion of Islam in lines with
the Qur'anic way of dawah; I couldn't help come out of
the room. Seen me, Bala departed. To my utter
astonishment, I saw tears in the eyes of Asma; I asked
her tenderly what she had been talking to Bala; her
reply was: How good and loving is Bala. If she is
An Interview with
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destined to be condemned to the fire of Hell, how
heart-rending would be her suffering. Saying this so
she embraced me and burst into loud weeping. For a
good time I was the student of the Qur'an. I felt as if
someone addressed me from inside.

Perhaps, [O Muhammad], you would kill yourself
with grief that they will not be believers.
This feeling immediately brought the whole of the
seerah of the Holy Prophet, === before my heart and
brain. We claim to be the followers of the way of
sunnah by merely following him in things of little
value as compared to his original actual pain. The
pain which never departed him even for a single
moment was the concern how to communicate the
Final Divine message to all mankind. Without
Inheriting this pain our pretention to follow the way
of sunnah has no ground to stay on. At this moment I
would like to recall an utterance of Haz. Haji
Imdaduallah, the Mgrant to Makkah. On the authority
of Haz. Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanawi and in the
presence of a number of Ulama Haz. Haji
Imadaduallah asked the audience, Would you like to
achieve the highest degree of the religious
leadership? Yes, of course, every one of us is deeply
desirous to achieve that position, replied the audience
collectively. "There is a very easy prescription to be
effectively used for this purpose, 'weep thoughtfully
for a moment at the fate of the person who
unfortunately has left this world in a state of disbelief
due to our criminal negligence towards him", the Haji
explained briefly his prescription. 'By so doing; he

further said, 'you may surely achieve the position of
Qutb". This gave me the idea that the qutbhood is the
heritage of the Prophethood. The entitled to receive
the inheritance of the Prophet could be none other
than the one who shares the pain of the Prophet as
well. This thought struck my mind and affected the
heart and brain very much. Next day I was destined to
leave for Sonipat, Haryana, where a youth, who loved
me very much, approached there without delay. This
youth was the son of a Hindu devotee. I
communicated the message of Islam to him, saying:
Dear youth! You love me very much, but this love will
remain of no avail unless you whole-heartedly
pronounce the kalimah (the creedal statement of the
religion of Islam). This way I persuaded him into
accepting Islam for a few minutes. Upon my
persuasion the youth evinced his preparedness to
pronounce the creedal statement of Islam, and finally
he turned to the fold of Islam. A yet another non-
Muslim, called Sharma Ji, also approached there,
upon my persuasion he too embraced Islam. In the
evening of the same day a program was fixed to take
place in a nearby village. In the course of the program
a non-Muslim approached there to get himself
charmed. Upon a few minutes persuasion he too
came to the fold of Islam. Within the period of only a
few minutes, we, thus, were able to save three men
from the everlasting Hell. Such minor incidents and
the successful experiences of the line of dawah
further. Intensified my resolve I then, embarked on
the study of the Qur'an and sunnah and engaged
myself in the work of dawah. Very soon the people
An Interview with
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began to come round me and the work of dawah got
further reinforcements.
This is not the only occasion to get inspiration
and moral encouragement from my daughter, Asma.
Even after this she has indeed been very good at
motivating me to do the work of dawah with even
stronger resolve and Allah ta'ala made her a cause to
arouse me to do the work of dawah with a renewed
and recharged resolve. Let me tell you more an
example of the type. Hardly two or three years after
the aforementioned event I happened to come to the
house in order to pick up my letterhead to write some
letters of credence for some madrasahs. Asma entered
the room and addressed me:
"Dear father, for a period of six months I have
been waiting for you in order to talk to you on a very
important matter. But to me it seems that you are
evading me; perhaps you have little time for us". Her
loving words touched my heart. "My dear child, you
may discuss with me your matter anytime, I m ready
even at the moment, I replied her passionately. Her
reaction was, 'since I'm feeling very much distressed
and uneasy, I would rather prefer to talk to you at my
ease. Now you are busy with your guests". 'I'm quite
ready at the very moment to talk to you at length. You
may discuss with me your points to the content of
your heart; I'm fully prepared to give you my full day
or even more", I assured her. Then followed the
following dialogue between a father and his innocent
daughter of tender age.

"Will all the disbelievers and polytheists be
condemned to the Hell for ever'? she put a curious
question before me.'
"Yes, of course, I replied with affirmation.
'Never; she retorted in anxiety, 'they will not suffer the
fire of Hell for ever. After a period of some years, two
or three years or hundred or two hundred years,
Allah ta'ala shall forgive them and take them out of
Hell', she explained her opinion.
"Never, they are destined to suffer the Hell fire for
ever and Allah ta'ala has pronounced His judgment in
His Final Books, I explained the actual position to her.
"Apart from whatever Allah ta'ala has said in His
book in this respect, He will not condemn them to the
fire of Hell for ever.
He is the most Merciful and Compassionate, seventy
time more loving to his servants than one's mother',
she expressed her estimation of this gravest matter.
"Never, Allah ta'ala never speaks a lie. In His final
scripture, the Qur'an, He has clearly announced in the
following words:

Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him,
but He forgives what is less than that for whom He
wills. And he who associates others with Allah has
certainly gone far astray.
Who joined other gods with Allah has indeed strayed,
far away (from the right way) [al-Qur'an 4:116]
An Interview with
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Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him,
but He forgives what is less than that for whom He
wills. And he who associates others with Allah has
certainly fabricated a tremendous sin.
"Allah will never forgive that partners be set up with
Him and will forgives anything other than that to
which He will please. And one who set up partners
with Allah committed a sin grave indeed. [4:48]
The evident and unambiguously clear Qur'anic
reply was to her utter disappointment as now she was
able to somewhat understand the surface meaning of
the simple Quranic words. Still, she couldn't help say
what wrong did they commit in this matter? It is Allah
ta'ala Himself Who did not guide them to the right
path Thinking entirely imprudent to talk to her in the
matter of predestination, I thought it better to divert
the point of discussion. 'O my dear child', I addressed
her, 'you should be grateful to Allah ta'ala on that He
has kindly guided you to the way of Truth". Saddened
beyond measure, she abruptly burst into tears and
helplessly said: It comes to my heart and I often
earnestly ask of Allah, O my Allah! Out of Your
kindness condemn nobody else to the fire of Hell. In
case You are necessarily to do so, take me alone for all.
This is the only pain which gives me sleepless nights'
Her deep sense of unease at the fate of the disbeliever
and polytheists touched deep my heart and her
words, 'Take me alone to Hell for all,' now remind me

again and again, even though she had spoken those
words purely out of her immature understanding.
This painful unease is the greatest thing which
the Holy Prophet had. Failing this unease, no Muslim
could be true to his faith and to his claim to be a
follower of the Holy Prophet ===, the Mercy for all
the Worlds. There have been more experiences of the
type in which I got inspiration to the work of dawah
from my innocent daughter. Thus, she is one from
among the apparent reasons leading me to the work
of dawah.
Q. Can you tell me the number of those who
embraced Islam at your hand?
Ans. The number I can surely tell you are of those
who are still out of the fold of Islam. This number
runs into millions and billions of our brothers by the
bond of blood and humanity. Thousands of this heavy
number die every day with their disbelief, without
pronouncing the creedal statement of Islam and to
suffer the everlasting chastisement of the Hell fire. As
opposed to this terribly huge number, the smaller
number of those coming to the fold of Islam merits not
any mention. It amounts almost to naught.
Q. People often express their deep
astonishment at the strange phenomenon that
you are pursuing the work of dawha and
preaching of Islam in an atmosphere of extreme
communal hatred and enmity. Will you like to
say anything about their astonishment?
Ans. That the communal atmosphere now-a-days is
pro- dawah is a thing which I stressly say almost in all
An Interview with
49

of my talks. is the promise of Allah which He has
vociferously made in His Book. The Prophet === too,
has already informed us of the fact that Islam would
eventually enter each and every house made of clay or
brick. Indeed this is the time when guidance is coming
down from Allah and people stand lined up to enter
the fold of Islam in multitudes. The fact that I possess
little knowledge of the line and way of dawah is my
avowed statement which I, again, make in this house
of Allah in the blessed moments of the blessed month.
Once I was known for my retentive memory, but later
extreme fits of cough and the ensuing series of sneezes
affected badly my memory. At Darul Uloom
Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow, where once I used to be a
student, Maulana Shahbaz Islahi and Maulana Md.
Arif, my teachers in the Arabic grammar, once said
why I, was wasting their time in learning the things at
which I, to their assessment, was already good
enough. This was my condition in the past. But at
present things stand quite different. For instance, the
identifying of the end of the Quranic words now
seems too much difficult for me. Likewise, I once was
very good at English, but now it has become too hard
to grasp the spelling even of the common words of
English Inactive in my practical life and extremely shy
of meeting people by disposition, for a period of
fifteen years of my past life my favorite supplication,
which I had learnt from a saintly man, had been the
following one' O my Lord! let nobody else know me
except You and let me know nobody else except You
alone.
To cut the long story short, devoid of every type of
ability and competence, I got fame with the activity of

dawah. The monthly Armaghan has for years been
publishing the experiences the words of the new
comers to Islam and their-faith refreshing stories have
been published in the book form in more than one
volumes under the title Naseem-e-Hidayat Ke Jhonke
(gales of the faith-refreshing air). In these books I have
made it clear that the people in respect of whose
conversion to Islam we have shot to fame owe nothing
to our efforts. The only thing we did in this regards is
no more than that we did not drive out the souls that
had been wandering for years in quest of Islam, the
only True religion of Allah. We got them pronounced
the creedal statement of Islam and provided them the
necessary information with regard the legal procedure
of the change of religion. In short, according to our
experience, the number of the people entering into the
religion of Islam on their own impulse, or, to use more
accurate expression, at their own inmost compulsion,
is much larger. As the things stand now, it would be
utterly inaccurate assessment of things to complain of
the hostility of the communal environment.
Q. Do you face any problem from non-
Muslim extremist outfits or official institutions?
This question is often asked by the people.
Ans. Accepting the religion of one's choice
constitutes the most fundamental right which has
been bestowed upon all citizens of all the countries of
the world by their respective constitutions.
constitutionally speaking, every person, apart from
their countries and other social or political
associations, is free to embrace, follow, practice and
preach to others the belief, creed and religion of his
choice as long as one's activities and the means one
An Interview with
51

applies are peaceful. Change of religion, therefore, is
by no means an infringement upon the law of the
land, and we face no difficulty on this count. So far as
the opposition on the part of the non-Muslim brothers
is concerned, in this respect I would like to quote the
words of my late Murshid: we are fortunate enough
that we are doing the work of dawah in a country
where people happen to be too appreciative of the
good gestures and the acts of goodness rendered to
them: their sense of gratitude towards their
benefactors and well-wishers, in most cases, is so
great and exaggerative that they not just love them
but turn them the objects of their adoration and
worship. As far as we know, there is no precedence
throughout the whole history of the country that any
peaceful activist of dawah has ever faced any
opposition. For a period of five years we have been
running the dawah-training camps in different parts
of the country. Throughout this long period we
experienced not even a single event of opposition
from any quarter. We did not notice even a single
event that the addressed of the message of Islam ever
got displeased with us. Our workers of dawah happen
to repeatedly visit the different places of public
gathering like mandirs, offices of the Hindu religious
organizations, police stations, etc., but our workers
never experienced misbehavior; we received letters of
thanks from them instead. No doubt we sometimes
face official and non-official inquiries on the
assumption that we work to persuade the people into
embracing Islam. At first, people got displeased with
us. But no sooner they know the fact the lovefull
approach of us towards dawah and proselytisation

than all misgivings disappear and people turn to
Islam on their own accord. The monthly Armaghan
has published a good number of such moving stories.
In His eternal Book Allah ta'ala has mentioned the
prescription of security and safety in the following
words:

[ Allah praises] those who convey the messages of
Allah and fear Him and do not fear anyone but Allah .
And sufficient is Allah as Accountant.
Q. People generally claim that the existing
environment is not in favour of the dawah to
Islam. Still, the fact is that as mightier being the
propaganda against Islam and its teachings, so
larger is becoming the number of the converts to
Islam in the world, especially in the western
countries. What might be the reason to be
assigned for this strange phenomenon according
to your assessment of things?
Ans. The same question I happened to face from a
correspondent of the Washington Post. In my reply to
him I said, and so is true, that in the past, people,
generally specking, looked upon Islam and its
teachings through the practical behavior of the
Muslims. But now the invention of the advanced
means of communication has brought the clear and
unalloyed picture of the Qura'nic Islam to the bed
rooms of the people. Islam's original form attracts the
people to it without facing any unnatural barriers.
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53

Q. The general people, especially the ulama,
are still not very much interested in the work of
dawah and preaching of Islam to the people at
large. What kind of strategy has to be adopted to
awaken them towards this cause?
Ans. This is indeed a misleading thought from the
Devil. The Devil always keeps the man think of the
things as unfertile as being the above one. Here
reminds me an advice given by the late Haz. Maulana
Masihullah Jalalabadi. He would often say.
"No sorrow of the past, no tension for the future; it is
the present which has to be used for work. The Satan
tirelessly persuades man into believing the futility of
the useful and beneficial acts by arguing that since the
persons so and so are doing nothing in respect of
those acts, why, then, we bother ourselves in pursuit
of those acts? In the same way, sometimes the Satan
makes every possible misleading effort to make the
man think of his past lapses and cherishing hopes for
the future. By so doing, the Satan destroys his present,
the only thing which the man has is his possession by
surety. Just a few yeas back, as you know, we visited
the great ulama with a view to invite their attention to
dawah and also to communicate to them the results
of our doings. They expressed their reservations and
regarded us to be in close relationship with the
Muslim groups and organizations denounced and
dismissed by them already as erring, even deviated
from the right path. Despite this dismal state of affairs,
we continually remained calling the people to Islam;
other Muslims came forward and joined hands with
us. As a result, the fruits of our efforts began to appear

and our names shot to fame. Then the same Ulama
recognized us and expressed their unreserved
appreciation and extreme admiration towards our
doings for the interest of the preaching religion to
Islam and its teaching to the humankind. Our
experience establishes it beyond doubt that man has
no better option than to start doing within the limits
what he has in his possession at present from time and
means. A couple of years earlier from now I had got
published a couplet at the calendar of the Jamiat
Imam Wali-Allah of Phulat. By publishing the
calendar the primary aim was to communicate the
following couplet to the Muslim community at large.
Manzilen kisike ghar hazri nahin detien
Raston pe chalne se raste nikalte hain
That is: Destinations never come to the house of
anybody else, and the new ways are cleared only by
treading the ways."
And, in order to determine the line of action for
myself, I had learnt the following couplet:
Nahin jin men tumhara aks shamil
Wo naqshe hain mita dene ke qabil
That is, 'the schemes and the programmes of
life that are devoid of your reflections. All such
schemes and programmes deserve destruction". I
must express my heartiest gratefulness to Allah ta'ala
for His great favours on me that He led and helped
me in understanding the principal objective of His
Messenger's sunnah.
Q. People often ask about the attitude of your
dawah movement towards other dawah
An Interview with
55

movements and sharing their activities. Would
you like to clear your position on other groups
and organizations working in the walk of dawah
and Islamic preaching?
Ans. In order to determine the attitude and the lines
of action towards our associates in the field and
workers of dawah I have already published an article
in the Jamiat Imam Wali Allah's introductory booklet.
The article bore the title: Always be with and never
against the workers for the good of Islam." It is a
special grace of Allah on us that we always try our
best to be friendly and cooperative with other fellow
organizations and groups.
Q. What is the nature of your relationship
with the known Tablighi movement?
Ans. As far as I think, our humble preaching activity
which is running in the non-Muslims is an
interpretation of the dreams of the elders of the
Tabligh movement. To me, this is just an extension
and continuation of the movement launched by the
late Haz. Maulana Muhammad Ilyas. Never theless,
the Tabligh centre has its own system which governs
all of its activities. Unless our activities are recognized
by the Markaz on the basis of its collective counseling,
I think it more prudent to entice the people to work at
one's own individual level. I'm perfectly sure that the
voice aired and introduced by the Bangla Wali masjid
of NizamuDin (that is, the Tabligh markaz) is meant
only to introduce the religion of Islam to each and
every man. I m sure the things, insha Allah, will so
happen. This humble person, too, is a worker of the
same Tabligh movement and what I am doing now

has been granted to me as a blessing of my love and
attachment with the Tabligh movement.
Q. What do you say about the religious
seminaries and the educational movements
working in India and the world?
Ans. Madrasas and the religious seminaries
constitute the chief sources for the good of Islam. The
Prophet === was sent to humankind as teacher.
Tabligh preaching is a department of ta'lim and
education. The suffah madarsa furnishes the best
standard for us through the agency of which the
religion of Islam was introduced to the whole world.
Praise to Allah, rendering any good service towards
madrasas and the people associated indeed is a
gesture of good fortune. Side by side this, we try our
best to create the dawah temperament in the madrasa
environs. The misunderstandings that have
unfortunately crept into Muslim societies against
Madrasas and which have led them to show
disrespect towards them amounts to committing
collective suicide. In this respect the articles of mine
titled dini madaris aur hamari Zimmedari, and Mulk ki
taraqqi mein madaris ka role (religious madaras and our
responsibilities: the role of madaris in the
development of the country), are available on the
Internet and merit a careful reading.
On my visits to the madrasas, the people associated
with them often ask me to write down my inspection
report on the Register of Inspection. At all such
occasions this humble person writes his post as the
khakpai khuddam-e-Din (dust of the servants of Islam).
So not under the sense of meekness or humility, rather
An Interview with
57

in the hope that in future a person might happen to go
through the inspection Register and my this
description by his tongue in an auspicious moment
might turn me the servant of Islam, and thus I will get
success in the Hereafter.
Q. What do you say about the problems
generally faced by the new converts to the fold
of Islam?
Ans. First of all, it is worth knowing that the Khairul
Qurun (the best ages of the history of Islam) never
heard the term new Muslim and new converts. As
far as I think, taking every thing from the Khairul
Qurun only might ensure felicity and blessing for us.
When our fellow workers established a centre to
organize their preaching activities, they named it Dar-
e-Arqam and then Dar-e-Ayyub. By naming our
centre after the Islamic History's blessed names of the
earliest phase of Islam we felt much blessed. Should
we term our these brothers as muhajir (migrants to
Islam), it will, insha Allah, fetch greater good. For a
long time it has been being said through the monthly
Armaghan, proving it on the basis of the Book of
Allah, the sunnah of His Messenger and the history of
Islam, that it is the institution of dawah in which does
lie the solution of every type of problem, individual or
collective, political or social and economic the Muslim,
rather the Human beings, may ever face. This claim
has been made in the light of the Seerat-e-Nabawi.
Again, the dawha is the only successful and easier
solution to all problems and entanglements the
Mulsim Ummah and the human world in common is
faced with. As regards the problems faced by our

muhajir brothers, according to the experience shared
by almost all the preachers of Islam the gravest one
from among those being the rehabilitation and
resettlement of the new converts to Islam as most of
those have to undertake the migration. To solve the
problems they face on the economic, social and moral
fronts the responsible persons face great difficulty. For
the same purpose they send them in Tablighi
Jama'ats, admit them in the madrasas and establish
training centres for them. Although efforts are being
made, yet only to a little extent we have been able to
do justice in this respect.
According to the experiences shared by the preachers
scattered about the world the main problem the new
comers to the fold of Islam are faces with is the one
which they face on the economic and social front. If a
new comer to Islam, having equipped himself with
the proper moral training and Islamic education,
successfully establishes himself socially and
economically, being in possession of a system and
means to host his family and relatives just for a
number of days, his relatives, father, mother, brothers
and sisters gradually develop a deeper familiarity
with Islam and its teachings and are hoped to embrace
Islam very soon. But if, he, contrariwise, is exposed to
the situation when he has to beg people for meeting
his immediate needs, he himself turns an impediment
for others, let alone his becoming an active preacher to
Islam. Living in our families and peaceful home
environment it is very difficult for us to properly
understand the misery and suffering of a newly
convert muhajir brother.
An Interview with
59

Man is a social animal. Tosustain his life he
needs every type of relationship. Lets think for a
moment, if we are wanting in a single type of
relationship, we feel a certain type of hollowness in
our life. To illustrate, if a person, for example, has an
elder sister but not a younger one, or one is without a
maternal or paternal ant, one naturally feels a type of
vacuum in ones life. In the light of the importance of
the social, blood and uterine relationships we are able
to realize the pain of loneliness of a new Muslim
muhajir who comes out of his social surroundings to a
quite alien society. How much sympathy he needs to
overcome his sense of helplessness cannot be easily
assessed by us while we are living a peaceful life
amidst our nears and dears. The most we can do to
support him, in most cases, is not more than giving
him a certain amount of money as alm. What mostly
happens is that when such a person receives first time
such an amount of money, he starts weeping,
overburdened with the sense that people regard and
treat him as needy. But the necessities of life compel
him second time to ask some body and make a request
for an amount of money. This way his helplessness
gradually suppresses his conscience and he gradually
gets into begging door to door, and the problems of
life grip him so tightly that results in his deprival of
his religious, moral and educational improvement.
Sometimes he goes into Tablighi in order to improve
his religious condition and augment his religious
learning, but being under an unfit amir or uncultured
companions he suffers very much.
In the face of the educational, moral, social and
economic problems generally faced by our muhajir

brothers when we go through the pages of the
Seeratun- Nabawi, it offers us a very practical, easier
and complete solution to such apparently unworkable
problems in its concept of the Islamic Mu'akhat (the
Islamic concept of Fraternity) which unfortunately
now is being regarded obsolete.
If an international organisation, supported by
the millionnairs, rather by the resourceful
governments, is faced by an immediate challenge of
hosting and rehabilitating a number of the muhajirs
running just into hundreds, the solution of the
problems of those muhajirs will put the organization
to an extreme unease and for this organization,
despite its vast means and great resources, it will be
too difficult to meet this challenging problem. But, by
sharp contrast, walking along the lines of the way
shown by the Sunna and Seera, this problem, in spite
of its larger magnitude, could be met very easily only
by reviving the neglected sunnah of creating
Fraternity between the old and the new Muslims.
Even a number of the problem of as much large as of
ten million migrants may be solved without facing a
difficulty just by establishing their fraternity with the
ten million old Muslims. A Muslim may adopt a
muhajir as his brother or son through the Islamic
approach of brotherhood and may easily solve the
muhajir brothers problem of his moral upbringing,
his marriage and the arrangement of his livelihood.
For a father of four sons, for instance, it is very easy to
take a muhajir as his fifth son and meet his religious,
social and economic problems accordingly. This way
the problem of ten million muhajirs may very easily by
met without facing any great difficulty or bearing any
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heavier burden merely by creating the relationship of
religious fraternity between the muhajirs and the
existing Muslims. In the span of one or two years
those ten million muhajirs may assume their religious
identity more perfectly than that of the old Muslims
and turn a successful means of guidance for their
families still out of the fold of Islam. Then these ten
million muhajirs may soon prepare themselves to
welcome other tens of millions of non Muslims to the
fold of Islam by offering them the stronger tie of the
Islmaic fraternity.
Then, a yet another important point is that
however careful you are towards a muhajir to meet
his requirements you, in most cases, will only be able
to attend him once or twice a week, whereas he, in
most cases, needs a constant support during all hours
of the day and night. If you on the other hand, induct
him into your family as a member of it, you will be
able to give him your company without fail. The
Seerat of the Holy Prophet === offers a proper
guidance in this connection as well. This is an
important point in the Islamic scheme of things. To
explain it, nobody is allowed to alter his lineage in any
set of circumstances. Altering ones lineage is an act
too displeasing to Allah as it deprives one even of the
ardor of Paradize. But, one the other hand, a muhajir
inducted into a Muslim family according to the
sunnah of Islamic brotherhood is fully permitted to
connect his lineage to his patron Muslims family and
project himself as a member of that family. Imam
Bukharis title al-Jaafiat Yamani offers a conspicuous
example of the rule of the shariah. Imam Bukhari's
grandfather, Mughairah, had embraced Islam at the

hand of the said Jafi-al-Yamani and thereafter lived
under his wala (relationship of patronage between an
age-old Muslims and a newly converted to Islam,
referred to in the present book as muhajir).
There are numerous instances of the experience that
by offering the relationship of fraternity to a newly-
converted Muslim, individual or family, with an
intention to follow the sunnah of mu'akhat gets the
religious revival and refreshes gradually his affiliation
to Islam as a blessing of this blessed relationship, even
if the newly-convert is not so much practicing and
observant Muslim. Our fellow workers in the field of
dawah frequently experience such instances.
Following is an interesting one.

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Some time ago, a teenager boy belonging to a
village near a town known for its academic activities,
embraced Islam. He had to left his home and seek
refuge in the town. The people of his family mounted
their pressure on the child and expressed their
extreme anger against his supporters. The non-
Muslim majority of the area planned to attack the
Muslims. Extremely terrified, the Muslims informed
me of the enormity of the situation. My only reply was
that nothing was to happen as might trouble the
Muslims. My this reply was based on my firm
conviction in the promise of Allah which He has made
in His lasting Book, the Holy Quran in the words like:
****

O Messenger, announce that which has been
revealed to you from your Lord, and if you do not,
then you have not conveyed His message. And Allah
will protect you from the people. Indeed, Allah does
not guide the disbelieving people.


[ Allah praises] those who convey the messages of
Allah and fear Him and do not fear anyone but Allah .
And sufficient is Allah as Accountant.
Some political leaders intervened and took the matter
in their hand. When the leaders saw the childs
determination and firm resolve not to return back to
the life of disbelief, they abandoned him in
disappointment and anger. An a-vowed secular
Muslim leader, averse to the religious life, evinced
much interest in the matter. I sent for him and
enquired him how many children he had. Four he
replied. The newly convert Muslim boy is your fifth
son. He has abandoned his family just for the sake of
Islam. Who will embrace him? My sincere appeal
aroused his feelings, and he instantly replied, Rather
than being my fifth son, this boy is my first son
indeed. These four are next to him. Praise to Allah!
They got him admitted in a religious madrasa.
Heaving completed his hifz (the memorization of the
entire Quranic text), the boy now is about to complete
his Alim course. Thanks to the blessings of hosting a
new Muslim boy, all the members of the family have
performed Hajj, all the four of his sons have grown
deeply religious, their faces adorned with beard; all
the family members, men and women, including its
formerly avowed secular head, now are punctual
offerers of namaz, even some of them offer the prayer
of Tahajjud (per-dawn, most emphasized prayer). This
is not the only instance; there exist numerous ones of
the type. This re-sserts the fact how easy it is to solve
the religious and social problems faced by the new
converts to Islam by reviving the Islamic institution of
muakhat, experienced by the earliest phase of Islam.
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This stresses the need to awaken the conscience of the
Muslim Ummah towards reviving the muakhat.
Present age, in which Allah taala has opened the
ways to the True Guidance, the number of those
embracing Islam of their own accord is increasing in a
way quite unusual. Thanks to the anit-Islam
propaganda, a deep curiosity about Islam is
developing in most people of the world to know it
and have a deeper understanding of its teachings and
message, thereby has Allah taala opened the ways to
Islam. The Ummah, therefore, stands in earnest need
to revive the Islamic concept of Muakhat. This is the
easiest and safest solution Islam and the Prophets
seerah offer to solve the problems generally regarded
as insoluble.
Q. What is the background of writing your
famous booklet Apki Amanat Apki Sewa Mein
and what reason you may assign for its
unequalled acceptance and popularity?
Ans. Really speaking, the efficiency of this smaller
booklet is the result of the prayers of my Murshids
late mother. Some sincere workers and fellows, too,
complained that they often feel reluctant to begin with
the talk to address and convince the non-Muslims in a
systematic way. They urged me to write some thing in
a form of smaller booklet. It was perhaps written in
compliance to the sincere request of my benefactors.
The booklet admittedly contains nothing special or
unusual, yet it possesses great efficacy and moving
power. Little in number are those who went through
it and remained unmoved. The booklet has been
rendered into most of the languages of the land.

Q. What are you doing to disseminate the
message of Islam to other countries of the
world?
Ans. To tell you the truth, we are too incapable to
render any substantial service towards disseminating
the message of Islam. What we are doing is the service
of the self by rendering our humble services towards
the good of the message of Islam revealed by Allah,
Personally, I undertake three trips a year to the holy
lands of Islam with the view to build the general
opinion to the work of dawah. The work is gaining
momentum in a number of countries. For the same
purpose our Arabic magazine al-Khair is being
published and issued. Efforts are being made in the
English language as well. Praise to Allah! People are
supporting us and sharing this task. The voice of the
Urdu Armaghan is especially reaching far and wide
throughout the world.
Q. What is your opinion about different
methods and ways of the preaching Islam to
non-Muslims?
Ans. My murshid, in his many writings and addresses,
has repeatedly put it that it is the dawah which has
expressly been commanded by Allah and His blessed
Apostle. As regards the methods and ways of the
execution and realization of this express command, no
particular way has been accorded the status of the
expressed one. The method comes up to the mind and
heart of the preacher while he is practically engaged
in the work of dawah and preaching. If a thousand
people, for example, have embraced Islam by the
persuasion of a preacher, he must have employed the
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same number of methods and ways to convince them.
The people in the field are working by using different
approaches, according to their own ways which suit
them and their experiences have established their
efficiency. Therefore, all such ways may be adopted
for the purpose.
Q. What do you think of employing the
textual references from the sacred scriptures of
other religions?
Ans. The permissibility and soundness of this method
of preaching has been affirmed by the Quran itself.
To quote the relevant verse here:

Say, "O People of the Scripture, come to a word that
is equitable between us and you - that we will not
worship except Allah and not associate anything with
Him and not take one another as lords instead of
Allah ." But if they turn away, then say, "Bear witness
that we are Muslims [submitting to Him]."
Haz. Maulana Asharf Ali Thanawi said. If the people
of Book accept as true what exists in their scriptures, it
may suffice for their deliverance. But, according to
my assessment, talking to non-Muslims in their own
religious terms needs a lot of knowledge and
proficient skill. If the preacher is not deeply equipped
with the required knowledge and proficiency, the talk
is always feared to take turn from the singleness of the

religion to the unity of the religions, and the preacher
begins to conceive the hope of the preached coming to
the fold of Islam soon, while he is still far away from
the True Guidance. It is, nevertheless, may sometimes
be useful and prudent to enter into talk with other
people using their familiar religious terms, but never a
Muslim preacher is permitted to take part in their
idolistic rites.
Much care has to be taken in this regard. Idolatry is
displeasing to Allah in the extreme; there is no room
whatsoever to displease Allah taala to please the
preached.
Q. Today it is becoming a common and popular trend
as a method of the introduction of Islam on a wider
scale to hold quiz competitions on the Quran, the
Hadith and the Seerah of the Holy Prophet
Muhammad and on different other themes by inviting
the interested people and students What do you think
about this method of preaching?
Ans. This method too is blessed and good. The fact
that there exists a number of misunderstandings and
misapprehensions in the minds of non-Muslims about
Islam and the Prophet of Islam could hardly be
denied. Indeed it is the misunderstandings which
constitute the chief reason behind the blind opposition
of Islam. Therefore, any way meant to dispel the
doubts and remove the misunderstandings about
Islam, its teachings and its Apostle is indeed a
welcome step and serves a very good purpose. This
work ought to be carried out more actively on a wider
scale by employing the modern advanced means of
communication and those working in the area should
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be offered every possible support and service. But,
Truly speaking, the scope of ones business and trade
is always according to ones financial position and
status. As far as our preaching activities are
concerned, we are very much like of a people who
possess only a small amount of capital. The people of
the type wish to earn more gain by investing a
minimum amount of their capital and by less physical
toiling and sweating. Holding quiz competitions for
the introduction of Islam, according to my assessment,
is like the business and trade of the people in
possession of the larger capital which needs much
labour and fetches comparatively less profit. Through
this lengthy way of dawah only fewer people come to
the fold of Islam. I sometime think that such things, in
spite of the great value they hold, are only efforts
primarily intended to introduce Islam to non-
Muslims; and this constitutes only a part of the
mission of dawah. The duty we are committed to
carry out is the dawah and preaching. The work of
introduction of Islam, on the other hand, is different
from dawah.
Q. What do you think about employing the modern
means of communication like television, Internet, etc,
for the purpose of Islamic dawah? Dr. Zakir Naik (of
Mumbai, India) has for years been doing the work of
dawah through his exclusive TV channel, the Peace
TV. What is your opinion about his work?
Ans. The modern means of communication, according
to my humble opinion, are the means of dawah. The
abundance and easy availability of the means of
communication, to my personal own assessment, is an
arrangement from Allah taala Himself in order to

convey the message of Islam to each and every house
of the world. These means should be used for the
purpose and the people who possess such means are
required to value them and make their maximum
possible use for the high end of dawah. I greatly
appreciate the work being carried out by our
respected Dr. Zakir Naik and others working on his
pattern for the propagation of Islam. Equally
important and correct, how ever is the advice of our
Ulama and other people of known sincerity to Islam
and Muslims urging him to strictly restrict his
activities to the preaching of Islam and introducing
the teachings of the religion along the lines of the
broadly accepted tenets and the normative principles
of Islam, strictly eschewing the sectarianism or
inviting people to a specific school of thought or line
of thinking. This is a very good and constructive
advice and sincerity supports and esponses it. Despite
the possible shortcomings, it will be unwise and
imprudent to oppose Dr. Naik or negate the positive
aspects of his efforts. I often had opportunities to meet
those non-Muslim brothers who watched the peace
TV and thereby were moved to the study of Islam.
Some out of such people entered into the fold of Islam
through other mediums. In short, the modern means
of communication should be employed for the interest
of the Islamic dawah and for other constructive
purposes. The common and traditional
misunderstandings about Islam, such as the spread of
Islam on the strength of sword, polygamy, etc., have
lost their appeal for the new generation. This being
the positive result of the efforts which are being made
by Dr. Zakir Naik and his colleagues which deserve
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due appreciation and acknowledgement. In case there
is any thing in his work which contravenes the
principles of the Islamic shariah, efforts should be
made to rectify it with a sense of sympathy.
Q. Which way of preaching is more preferable to
you?
Ans. Dawat bil-Quran (calling the people to Islam by
using the Quran), which is being taught by our
fellows at the dawah camps everywhere, is the easiest
approach and the most cautious way of dawah to
Islam. Being weak both in terms of means and ability,
we are not in a position to adopt other ways of dawah.
This indeed is the natural and short cut way of
introducing Islam to non-Muslim brothers. Without
indulging in lengthy introductory talk, the Kalimah,
the careedal statement of Islam, is offered to the
preached. In most cases the Kalima is accepted by the
preached. Less labour and much profit, why, then, we
resort to any other way? While preaching Islam this
way the preacher often experiences openly the miracle
of the Quran that the preached often takes to weeping
at listening to the Arabic phraseology of the Quran.
At such occasions the preacher comes to realize that
the works and miracles of the earlier Prophets
diminished with the end of their lives and lasted only
as long as they lived, and With the end of their lives,
their miracles and marvels came to an end leaving
behind hardly any trace. But, on the other hand, since
the mission of our Prophet is still runing, his miracles,
too, are existent with their uneqalled grandeur. The
careful study of the ways and styles the Holy Prophet
employed for the propagation of Islam establishes it
beyond doubt that the dawat bil-Quran is the nearest

way to sunnah. In his oral preaching the Holy Prophet
often said.
O people ! affirm the Oneness of the Godhead, you
will get success.
In writing, he addressed the people
Submit to Allah (embrace the religion of Islam) and
you will get peace and security. This is the easiest
way of preaching. Hence more appealing.
Q. Some people object that mere getting the
Kalimah pronounced by the non-Muslims is of
no avail. Do you agree?
Ans. Admitting as a matter of reality, I openly say that
I know little about the dawah and preaching the
message of Islam to non-Muslim brothers. I had no
opportunity to learn any thing of dawah even from
the dawah-training camps which are being conducted
now-a-days so frequently. Sometimes people, driven
by their undue good sense and optimism based on my
misplaced fame, invite me to address the non-
Mulsims and the newly entrants to the fold of Islam.
But I dare address them only in the absence of the
trained and abled mem. Now when I stand devoid of
the required learning and knowledge of dawah I
hardly have any option other than placing the
Kalimah of Tauhid and Risalat (the creedal statement
of Islam) before the addressees. An interesting
witticism deserves mention here. Overpowering a
Sikh once, a Muslim set over his chest and,
intimidating him into accepting Islam, asked him to
pronounce the creedal statement of Islam, that is, the
Kalimah. Fearing upon his life, the overpowered Sikh
asked the Mulsim Khan Sahib to teach him the
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Kalimah. Since the Khan Sahib was an entirely
ignorant Muslim, he failed to tell the defeated Sikh the
words of the Kalimah. Truly speaking, we are lacking
in a deeper knowledge of Islam and for us it is very
difficult to indulge in a lengthy argumentative talk
with our non-Muslim brothers. Incidentally, when our
lack of knowledge got matched with the Holy
Prophets natural way of the preaching of Islam, we
were glad beyond measure at this welcome
coincidence. And when we witnessed an enviably
substantial change in the lives of those coming to the
fold of Islam through this shortest way, we got
satisfied at the success of our approach..
It has to be admitted that the non-Muslim brothers
coming to Islam through this direct way, that is, by
uttering the Kalimah, must not be left uncared and
unattended. For the perfection of their faith in Islam
they need proper training and care. But, on the other
hand, no value should be accorded to any amount of
knowledge of Islam imparted to them without taking
them to the ultimate destination of the
pronouncement of the creedal statement of Islam.
Without pronouncing the Kalimah and admission of
its contents nothing could be achieved. There have
been many people who labored very much in
convincing their addressed people through the use of
their full talent and argumentative ability, but, to our
utter disappointment, they could not take them to the
pronouncement of Kalimah. Thus their entire labour
at last proved futile.
Talking in context of our country, India, most of our
country-fellows happen to be Hindus, but their faith
in the Hindu religion is ingrained in traditions only.

Fewer are those who stand consciously clung to the
tenets of it. This fact has been revealed by a very
learned Hindu scholar who commands unequalled
respect in the Hindus community. From among the
thousands of the Hindus there is hardly one person
who is fortunate enough to cast a look at the holy
book, the Vedas and from hundreds of thousands
there are very few who had the opportunity to read
and study it. According to this estimate, there is only a
meagre number of those Hindus who possesses the
ability to understand the meaning and contents of the
Vedas. Being the fact as put, the preacher needs more
courage than mere ability. The Hindus, generally
speaking, are the people of love, the sincere love is the
supremost provision which the Islamic preachers need
here.
Again, only a blend of courage and love is required to
introduce Islam to a people of love as are the Hindus
of this country. The courage to offer the Kalima to
non-Muslim brothers does lie only in itself. There are
many learned people who for a long while have been
convincing their preached, but the talk remains
limited to the introduction of Islam to them and
removing the misunderstandings, and the Kalimah
was not offered to them. When they were asked why
the Kalimah was not offered, their reply was that they
failed to muster the courage to ask the preached for
the pronouncement of the Kalimah.
Addressing the Ulama who had participated in a
dawah training camp I said that the life is the most
uncertain thing. No breathing or heart beat could be
predicted to be the last one. The life-after-death is
either an eternal success or a lasting failure. If we have
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a firm conviction in the existence of Paradise and Hell
and other realities of the still unseen world, we must
know that it is the faith in the facts of the Kalimah
which is the only basis of success and deliverance in
the Here after, we have no time to indulge in much
lengthy argumentative talks. What will be the natural
response of a person to a man who is just to drown in
a well or river or commit himself to the burning
flames of the bonefire? No man of a humane
disposition could ever afford to warn him against the
unimaginably destructive consequences by addressing
him so leisurely as follows:
Dear brother! This river is too deep; upon falling into it
you will come to know that you know not how to swim.
When you will go deep into the water, the water will bring
you up once or twice; then you will go deep again and your
nose and mouth will get filled with water. This will stifle
your breath, taking your eyes out. Then the lack of oxygen
will freeze your blood, casting your tongue out of the
mouth. Eventually you will get drawned and the death will
occur. Maybe that your dead body too is lost for ever with
no trace at all for the people of your family. Your death and
the disappearance of your corpus will turn the life of your
family into hell. Keeping in mind all the problems involved,
my advice to you is that you had better abandon the idea to
drown.
Dose it stand to reason to address the person that has
just leapt into the deep water in such an eloquent
manner as put above? Or the addressor himself will
jump into the deep river in order to save the life of the
former, trying his best to take him out of the water
against his will? Inreed there have been many brave
swimmers who themselves suffered death for their

sole purpose to save the lives of the droning persons.
On such a critical juncture it will be completely
unwise to persuade the droning person against the
dangers of the evil consequences of his rash act by
addressing him with so lengthy an eloquant speech.
Before a person all set to jump into the bonefire will
his well wisher address him in the following way?
Mr. respected! You are all set to jump into the bonefire.
Perhaps you have no knowledge that the fire is blazing so
furiously. No sooner you jump into it than the fire will
catch up your clothing. The fire, then, will burn your hair
and skin. Then you will feel the heat of fire and it will
proceed to burn your flesh. If fortunately the people of your
family could put off the burning fire and you was saved
alive, you will be taken to hospital and with a body burnt
from here and there it will be very difficult for you to lay in
bed. The burns of your body will cause you great pain
producing prus and stench of the rotting flesh. Your
nursing too will become a very difficult task for others, and
eventually you will die and even your burial and disposing
of your corpus will become a harder task for those behind
you.
Would you like to deliver this longer speech before a
rash person, or prefer emperil your life in order save
him from jumping into the bonefire?
Man has even less time to save himself from the
everlasting Hell fire than that a drowning person or
the one all set to jumping into the bonefire has. A
preacher, therefore, has no other way than to
commence his preaching directly with the offer of the
creedal statement of Islam by addressing him:
Pronounce Laillaha illallah, Muhammad Rasullullah.
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No god except Allah and Muhammad is the
Messenger of Allah.
How truthfully has the Prophet of Truth expressed:
You are carelessly falling into the fire like the moths,
and I am taking you out of the fire holding your
backs More than one hundred verses of the Holy
Quran speak of the extreme restlessness of thw Holy
Prophet for the guidance of the disbelievers. To quote
here only one for example:

Perhaps, [O Muhammad], you would kill yourself
with grief that they will not be believers.
For my fellows it is my repeated advice that one or
two questions from the preached should be answered.
On the third question, however, this meeting should
be wisely concluded and engage yourselves in the
prayer and dua for the guidance of the preached. The
questions, most often, strike the minds bent upon the
rejection of faith. For an unprejudiced preached
merely a direct offer of Kalima is needed. There are
many lives which underwent an enviable change
immediately after the pronouncement of the Kalima of
Islam. A youth, whom I have mentioned elsewhere,
embraced Islam accepting the direct offer of the
Kalima. He then moved to his house in order to
convince his family members and this had rendered
his stay at home extremely difficult. He once took me
while I was travelling and, standing before the train,
took promise from me to make four prayers to Allah
for him. In these four supplications reflects his deep
faith and his excellent high taste to lead an Islamically

oriented life. The first thing is that Allah taala
should grant me the faith in Islam as deep as that of
Haz. Abu Bakr al Siddiqs; the second is that Allah
taala should grant me the love of His Messenger as
strong as was granted to Abu Bakr al Siddiq; the third
one is that Allah should make me a man of deep
Islamic learning; and the last one, which was actually
based on his good opinion about me, was that Allah
taala should facilitate for me to engage myself in the
preaching of Islam and discharge this duty as good as
you are doing.
In short, though we greatly appreciate and value the
service which different people and groups are
rendering for the cause of dawah in different ways
and lines and benefits from their advices and
experiences and expect support from them all, yet for
us we prefer the way of the direct offer of the Kalimah
to the preached, and the people associated with the
sphere of dawah should base their preaching on the
direct offer of Kalimah with courage and love, and on
the direct shortcut of the Kalimah.
Profess that there is no god except Allah, and you will
get success.
Q: This shortcut too requires a brief talk and the
precher needs to start his talk based on some
verses of the Qur'an. What then, is more
preferable to begin with?
Ans: The preaching should be commenced with the
introduction of the fundamental facts of the universe
that Allah Taala is our Creator, indeed the Creator of
everything else, and no one other than the Creator
Himself knows better the human psychologies. A
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preacher is required to begin his talk with the
introduction of the themes which Quran so
frequently and preferentially mentions. It needs not
mention that the Oneness of Godhead, belief in the
Prophet hood of Muhammad and belief in the advent
of the Hereafter constitute the core of the Quranic
themes. The belief in the Oneness of the Godhead and
in the Prophet- hood is required to secure salvation in
the after-death life. The life-after death will
automatically lead the talk to the mention of Paradise
and Hell. It is indeed the belief in the existence of
Paradise and Hell which, in all probability, may
prompt the preached to take a decisive step about
himself. More so, a firm belief in the Resurrection and
the advent of the after-death life ingrains faith deeply
and lends stability to it. Therefore, the mention of
Paradise and Hell before the preached is very useful.
You know that the book Marne ke Baad Kiya Hogaa?
(What is to happen after death?) was written keeping
in consideration only the Muslim readership; it has
not yet been rendered into Hindi language only its
script has been changed and a knower of the pure
Hindi can hardly understand it. Still, many non-
Muslim brothers have entered the fold of Islam by
studying it.
Q. After embracing Islam to what thing a
convert should be moved?
Ans. The most important thing for a convert is that
he/she must strictly abstain from any type of
involvement in the acts of disbelief and idolatry.
Purity and offering the namaz with a sense of
punctuality and keeping himself steadfastly clung to
the Faith of Islam till the last moment of life are the

things of unequalled import, and be indoctrinated
with him. The actual need and benefit of belief in
Islam shall be seen in the life after death. Then he
should be prompted to work on the people of his
family, with a wise and prudent policy. Because the
truth is that our turning a preacher of Islam is the only
solution to all the problems and difficulties we are
faced with.
Q. Islam and the Muslims are generally
regarded a menace for the world peace, thanks to
the anti-Islam and anti-Muslim campaign. How
dangerous might be to engage oneself in the act
of Islamic preaching? Under such an adverse
environment will it not be unwise to openly call
the non-Muslims to Islam?
Ans. The adverse condition and the environment of
enmity between us and the non-Muslim world exists
primarily because of the fact that we did not engage
ourselves in the work of dawah and failed to prove
and establish our solicitude and well-wishing to them.
Had we done so, we would have felt no danger or
enmity from any quarter. Whole the environment of
enmity and blind opposition is entirely due to the fact
that so they do not know) Preaching is the right of our
non-Muslim brothers which they owe to us, and not
recognizing the right of others constitutes a wrong. It
is the wrong-doer who attracts the wrath of Allah.
Leaving the duty of dawah, we will be inviting the
extreme anger of Allah. To be more precise, it is the
un-dawah which invites the wrath of Allah, and the
dawah, on the other hand, ensures security and safety
from Allah. The Quran says.
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***

O Messenger, announce that which has been
revealed to you from your Lord, and if you do not,
then you have not conveyed His message. And Allah
will protect you from the people. Indeed, Allah does
not guide the disbelieving people.
Gratitude to Allah! We are doing the work of dawah
which, as you know, is our legal right. Causing any
type of hindrance to the work of dawah will constitute
a crime according to the law of the land. The person
discharging his legal obligation needs not fear, it is
indeed sitting idle and remain inactive in respect of
the duty of dawah which is to be feared. In case the
preacher is faced with difficulties and hardships in
discharging his duty of dawah, he should note the fact
that all the sacrifices the Prophet Muhammad and his
companions bore were only for the cause of dawah
and Faith. The preacher therefore should regard the
hardships a blessing for him and bear them happily.
Side by side this, equally true is the fact that Allah
taala is fully aware of our weaknesses. He never puts
one under a charge beyond ones strength and
capacity. The Quran puts it clearly as follows:

Allah does not charge a soul except [with that
within] its capacity.
Q. Gratitude to Allah, people from different
backgrounds are doing the work of dawah and
the preaching of Islam. What might be the
possible usefull way to coordinate and organize
their efforts?
Ans. To my opinion, the best course is to let all groups
and individuals do the work of dawah in accordance
with their ways and approaches. What is required is
the admission and recognition of the efforts of each
other and benefitting from each others experiences
within all possible limits. Too much endeavors for
bringing unity among different working groups and
individuals might be counter-productive and harmful.
We are already lacking in the required amount of
sincerity; each group will be wishing to see others
under its yoke. This is quite impossible indeed. We all
should do our best for the cause of dawaha, offering
our maximum cooperation and support to other
workers in the field of dawah. To me it seems
sufficient.
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83

Q. You often say that the main obstacle in the
way of the preaching of Islam is the existence of
an environment of mistrust between the
preacher and the preached, particularly the
negative mindset of the Muslim community at
large. How to coup with this great problem?
Ans. The nature of the relationship between the
preacher and the preached is actually that of between
the physician and the patient. Should a physician take
his patient as his rival, adversary and conspirator,
there is no question of any treatment. As a matter of
fact, this long-standing malady could be cured only by
coming of the Muslim Ummah to the sphere of
dawah. Upon offering Islam to the non-Muslims who
bear extreme malice to Islam and Muslims we will
come to know that their enmity and opposition was
based purely on the lack of first hand knowledge
about Islam and Muslims, on disinformation and
misinformation.
A friend of mine has selected the interviews of six
new converts to Islam from the monthly Urdu
Armaghan and got them published in the Hindi
language under the title Hamein Hidayat Kese Mili?
(How were we able to embrace Islam?). After the
publication of this booklet I received a message on my
mobile phone which read, Im the state official of the
Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad; I wish to
have a talk with you. Can you give me some time at
your convenience? Upon talking it was revealed the
speaker was a certain Goswami Ji. He said that, The
Muslim as such was my abomination; I hated the
Muslim even if he was in the ambulance. But the

study of Hamein Hidayat Kese Mili has brought a
thorough change into my thinking. Now I have learnt
the entire text of the Quran. I have to talk to you on
the possible future problems how would I be able to
face them.
This instance, and there are many indeed, establish it
beyond doubt that between us and the preached
ignorance about each other is the main obstacle. It is
the dawah which can alter the negative thinking into
well- wishing and positive thinking and only herein
lies the remedy of this long-standing malady.
Q. You have written an article Har Marz ki
Dawa hai Salle ala Muhammad, which has also
appeared in the book form. According to this
article it is the dawah and the preaching of Islam
amongst all the non-Muslims at large in which
lies the final solution to all the problems and
difficulties which the world has long been
facing. Others however, disagree with this view
and denounce your above opinion as extremistic
and the dawah phobia. According to them this
extremistic view has no place in the structure of
Islam, the religion of moderation. What would
you like to say about this?
Ans. Balance and moderation is indeed the hallmark
of Islam and of all of its teachings. Extremism is not
acceptable to Islam. It nevertheless has to be noted
that Islam itself has set the standard of balance and
moderation for us. If set free, every one, apart from
what one at what level is doing, will project his ways
and manners of doing as moderate and balanced even
if he is the most extremist person of the world. The
An Interview with
85

Seerah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, the practical
explanation of the Islamic tenets and teachings, has set
forth the lines of action for us. While going through
the blessed Seerah we note that the Holy Prophet
Muhammad was given to take lead in all acts of
goodness and virtue. Take his namaz for example. He
often stood in his namaz for so long that his feet
swelled up. But the Quran did not denounce the
Prophets so lengthy namazes as an act of extremism.
Likewise, his fasting and extraordinary generosity
were never condemned as an act of extremism. He
was so generous that he never turned back a needy
person. He kept nothing in his ownership. He
supported others even by raising loans from others
who often would put him to unease later. Despite his
extraordinary business with all acts of virtue, he was
never denounced as lunatic by his ardent enemies.
The word junun (Lunacy) has occurred in the Quran
nine times, two times for other Prophets and seven
times for our Prophet Muhammad, each time to
express his extreme passion and restlessness he
cherished for the preaching and the introduction of
Islam to non-Muslims. This establishes well that in
respect of dawah and calling all human beings to
Islam the moderate way is that the preacher should fly
into extreme passion for dawah to save the fellow
human beings from Hell. People say that we are
suffering from the dawah phobia while we are doing
nothing to be noted; we just are repeating the word of
dawah without substance. Were it that Allah taala
grant us a part of the Holy Prophets blessed Lunacy
and his boundless restlessness. This is my special and

favorite supplication which I always make at special
places and occasions.
Q. In our dawah trips we often face
difficulties from the Tabligh fellows. They often
say that their Ulama and the elders do not
permit to preach Islam to non-Muslims. What do
you say about this strange phenomenon?
Ans. I have already said that engaging the people of
little value in the act as high as of the preaching of
Islam and the fortunate non-Muslim peoples
embracing Islam at our hands is nothing but a result
of the prayers and midnight supplications of the late
founder of the Tabligh movement, Maulana
Muhammad Ilyas (may Allah deal him with mercy).
My murshid, Late Hazrat Maulana Ali Miyan Nadwi,
was from among the few earlier companions of
Mualana Muhammad Ilyas. He reports that the
Maulana had left the Bangla Wali Masjid to introduce
Islam to the non-Muslims that he encountered the
Mewatis, the half-apostate people. He found that the
reform work in the half-apostate Mewatis required
extensive field work. Then, with a view to create the
dawah temperament in the Muslim community, he
launched the Tabligh movement and always
described it as the ABC of his scheme of overall
reform work. What we are doing in the sphere of
dawah, as far as I think, is the DEF and an extension
of the same work which the Maulana had launched.
Im sure beyond any doubt that the voice of the
Kalimah raised from the Bunglow Wali Masjid will
get to the ear of every man in all corners of the world.
Im in possession of the photos of the epistles of
Maulana Md. Ilyas and his great son, Maulana
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87

Muhammad Yusuf, which they happened to write in
connection with dawah. In those epistles they have
said that the existent work was the first step of the
comprehensive work they had before themselves. The
work would be regarded really valuable when the
people would flock to the fold of Islam in multitudes.
In an assembly of the duat (pl. of daie, the precher)
organized by a Delhi-based dawah organization, I
faced a question from the participants why I did not
call the attention of the Tabligh dignitaries to
introduce the religion of Islam to the non-Muslims.
My answer, which was actually an expression of
reality, was:
There exists an environment of dawah in the world
these days, and people are embracing Islam in large
numbers. The greater number of the converts to Islam
comprises those who have entered the fold of Islam
either at their own instance or the anti-Islam malicious
propaganda made them to study Islam and its
teachings. Others are those who entered the fold of
Islam by means of the dawah endeavors being made
by the Muslims. A deeper study into most cases of the
latter category of the newly convert muslims will
reveal the fact that the majority of such people is
embracing Islam through the individual efforts of the
Tablighi fellows, and this has been happening ever
since the period of the Late Maulana Muhammad
Ilyas. From among the confidants of the Late Maulana
Miyan Ji Musa and Haji Abdur Rahman (of Itawda)
held special position with him, and the Mulanas
biography can never be completed if these two names
are left out. This Haji Abdur Rahman himself was a
new convert to Islam. At his Blessed hand more than

four thousand non-Muslims embraced Islam. Indeed
there are many like Amirud Din, the retired colonel
and sincere associate of the Tabligh movement, at
whose hand a great number of non-Muslim brothers
entered the fold of Islam. It is an admitted fact that for
the primary training of the new converts no way is
proved better than sending them in the Jamaat of
Tabligh. Gratitude to Allah! The dignitaries of the
markaz bless me and the people ssociated with their
prayers, especially at particular blessed occasions. A
new trend in the thinking of the elders of the Tabligh
is being noted nowadays. It is their advice to the
Tablighi fellows that they should try their best to call
the non-Muslim brothers to their assemblies held
anywhere aboard a train, railway stations, the bus
depots, etc. Opposition from any quarter, if there is
any should be dismissed in the spirit of tolerance.
Your own fellows may also take an opinion different
from yours.
Q. The Muslims, generally speaking, say that
first we need to reform ourselves and reconstruct
our damages. The Muslims are turning apostate
and are rashly falling into other deadly sins. At
this stage . What do you say about the questions
of the types?
Ans. This is a longer topic to deal with. About the
questions of the type I have written a series of articles
which have already got published in the Urdu
monthly Armaghan. This series, under the title Dawate
din, kuch ghalat fahmiyan, kuch kham khayaliaa
(Preaching of Islam: some misunderstandings, some
vain hopes) now is available in book form in the
market bearing the title Dawate Din, Kuch ghalat
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89

fahmiyan, kuch Haqaiq ( preaching of Islam: some
misunderstandings, some facts). This book is intended
to meet all such misapprehension and clear the
doubts. The book is of great importance and deserves
study. The book has won the approval and
appreciation of most of the men of Islamic learning. Its
study is expected to wash the mind off the doubts and
apprehensions, as is the experience of many people.
Q. What should we do in the blessed month
for the interest of dawah?
Ans. The blessed month in fact is the season of the
special Divine grants, a great festive occasion
celebrated for the Revelation of the Quran, the
Guidance for mankind and to attract the blessings of
the Quran. The dawah activists are required to
determine their targets and get them endorsed by
Allah in the blessed month, and supplications should
be made for the grant of the position of a daie. Once
we got it endorsed by Allah, the resources and the
requirements will get fulfilled. Even the faith and the
restlessness for the sake of Faith to are granted. To
secure all these things what is needed are the prayers
which have to be made with firm conviction, the sense
of humility, of meekness of resourcelessens.
Q. What is the chief consideration a preacher
essentially requires to keep fresh in his mind
while he is in the work field of dawah?
Ans. Answers to this question may differ from
person to person. As far as my estimation is
concerned, the work of dawah is the supremost part
of the Divine institution of Prophethood. The more the
dai is conscious of his incapacity and

resourcelesseness, the greater the success is granted to
him on the part of Allah Taala. The sense of ones
inability, lack of knowledge and inactivety imparts
one an actual feeling to humiliate oneself before Allah
and make earnest supplications to Him. Needless to
say, man, however great and resourceful he is, has no
other option than making supplications to Allah and
asking Him in all earnestness. A sincere dua uttered
with a sense of humility wins the pleasure of Allah
and He makes decisions to grant. The blessed month
is the most suitable season of asking Allah taala His
bounty and reward. We are unfit to present ourselves
in the Divine court. It is the sense of our
resourcelessness which keeps us lying on His door
under the guise of Itikaf (seclusion), with the
conviction that none other than He can meet our
needs. We, therefore, must avail of this blessed
opportunity and rise to the ocassion with greater
preparedness.
Q. Any message for the Armaghan
readership?
Ans. This country is of the people of love. Allah
taala has cast man, the masterpiece of His creation, in
the best mould. There is no reason to disappoint from
such people of love. To uncover the moral and
creational beauty of such a good people there is an
earnest need to come to the field of dawah with
courage and love. What is needed here to carry out
the task of dawah is the only love and courage rather
than the ability. We need to offer the thirsty humanity
the sweet and could water of the divide Guidance.
Coming out to the field of dawah with the same
An Interview with
91

feelings in mind will prove the master key to change
every despair into hope.

www.armughan.in/

(Extracted from the monthly Armaghan, the issues of
the months of May, June, August, September 2010`)

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