My disillusionment with Tableegh Jamaa'ath.

Allaah has granted to me, by His grace, a better understanding into some verses of the Qur-aan and also of the Bible, which would make, In-sha-Allaah, convincing of the people of other religions about Islaam, much easier.

As one who had no doubt about the Tableegh Jamaa'ath's sincerity, I used to look forward to the commencement of preaching of Islaam among non-Muslims, by this Jamaa'ath. I was told that the Jamaa'ath was going to commence preaching among non-Muslims on the occasion of the large congregation at Melvisharam, near Madras, six years ago, in 1996, (an Ijtema of more than half a million people). I was happy and looked forward to the moment, so that the knowledge given by Allaah could be put to use, in co-operation with the multitude of our sincere brothers.

It was a great disappointment on the last day of the Ijtema, when the groups leaving for 'tableegh' were emphatically told by their elders: "Whichever Jamaa'ath goes to anywhere, foreign or inland, wherever they go, they will preach the "Chay Number" (i.e., the "Six Points''), and nothing else other than the 'Chay Number'. "

The same morning, while allowing an interval for breakfast, the huge gathering was told by its chief organiser :  "Please come back soon after fulfilling your needs. An important responsibility will be given to each one of you present here". This prompted me to think that they were indeed going to announce the commencement of work among non-muslims.

But the announcement to the contrary greatly upset me. From the tone of their speech, which I happened to hear directly, I sensed that they are never going to do 'tableegh', - conveyance of message - among non-muslims. From then onwards, I started to note the behaviour of this Jamaa'ath critically.

What always made me uncomfortable was the tendency to avoid preaching among non-muslims and the absence of any instruction to learn, understand and ponder over the Qur-aan.

Allaah subhaanahu wa ta'aala has told us to study and ponder over the Qur-aan:

47:24 " Will they not then ponder over the Qur-aan ; or are there locks on the hearts ? "

Brothers ! Allaah is best aware of what is in the hearts of those who run this movement from the top, but as far as its millions of sincere workers are concerned, they are kept extremely busy with their daily routine work, as detailed in the previous article. They are simply given no time for Qur-aan.

23:63 " Nay, but their hearts are in ignorance of this (Qur-aan), and they have other works, besides, which they are doing."

The members are thus kept ignorant of the meaning of the Qur-aan, because Qur-aan is the book which will ultimately expose their leaders and because their agenda is different and in conflict with Qur-aan. How ?

The method shown by Qur-aan for going out to learn deen.

Let us study this verse of Qur-aan, (sura At-tauba verse no. 122) against which this mighty war is being waged :

Allaah subhanahu wa-ta'aala says:
 

(9:122) " The believers cannot go forth all ; so why not a group from their every division goes out, so as to gain understanding of the deen (path),  and to warn their folk when they return unto them, so that they may become cautious."

The Almighty Allaah shows us the way to reform ourselves:
• gain understanding of the deen,
• and become cautious about it.
This world and the world hereafter will be problem free if everyone becomes aware of and knowledgeable about the day of the judgement and all that is going to happen on that day and how to be victorious on that day. This is understanding of deen.
The Arabic word 'deen' has been used in Qur-aan in Sura Yoosuf to mean 'law' : "Fee deenil maliki" = under the law of the king. (verse No. 76). In Islaamic terminology, the word deen is used in the meaning of deen of Allaah, i.e., the law of Allaah. The source of that law is Qur-aan. Whatever work man does in this world, its account will come before his eyes on the judgement day. Whoever is spared of the tribulations of punishment on that day will be the one victorious.
Allaah has called the judgement day as 'Yaumud-deen', the day of the deen, as we all recite every day in Sura Fathiha, the Opening Sura number one.

And in order to gain understanding of the deen, Allaah asks us to leave our place and go forth in groups.

Then, is this not exactly what the Tableegh Jamaa'ath is doing?  Taking people away in groups to learn deen ?

My brothers! If you take a closer look at the verse above, you will know that except for the act of going out, most other things are done contrary to and in defiance of what Allaah commands and recommends above. I give below a summary and then we shall study the details.

1. The ultimate purpose of the believers going out and learning deen, as Allaah tells us, is: "so that they may become cautious." This is the key to reform. However, in the speeches delivered by the veterans and the novices alike, and in the book prescribed by them for repeated reading, so much of 'tsawaab' (reward) is attributed for even small acts of piety that one becomes sure of his najaat (salvation) from hell-fire, by simply doing such small and easy acts. Also, the preaching will attempt to convince the hearer that Qiyaama (the day of judgement) is far away. So, the hearer becomes carefree instead of becoming cautious and lowers his guard.

2. The system proposed by Allaah is:
• a group from each division goes out, (a division could be a town, an area of a city, people of a particular profession, anything that makes a distinction),
• learns deen and acquires cautiousness,
• and when it returns to its people, it warns them, so that they may become cautious.

The system proposed by Allaah is such that those who did not go forth to learn deen could also learn it, from those who went out and came back. Thus the whole society becomes aware of the impending, imminent hour, in a short time.

Complicating the path shown by Allaah.

The system proposed by Tableegh Jamaa'ath will not succeed because Allaah has said: " The believers cannot go forth all " . When Allaah has said a word, it is an unchangeable law. What they are attempting to do is to defy it. The process for reform according to them is: everyone must go out, then alone the society will improve. In this manner, they have put the Ummah on a task that will never be accomplished. They know too well that in this manner it will never be accomplished and, in fact, they do not want to accomplish reform of the Muslim brethren. They know that for a recipe to become a success, all its ingredients and components must be implemented. Even if one component is not implemented, it will not succeed. So, out of the above formula suggested by Allaah, only one component is being implemented with seriousness, that of going out and the rest is done playfully and in defiance.

In this way, by misleading the masses with high-sounding call and a pretence of sincerity, the monopoly for reform among muslims has been usurped by this organization. Some people may ask: What about the reform of many people that has actually taken place ?

My answer is : It is this limited goodness they dole out to the ummah which is keeping them in the predominant position. Allaah is giving them a long rope. Otherwise, they will not last for a single day. So, their strategy is: Pull out individuals from deep error, give them limited goodness, keep them under the burden of your 'charitable' guidance, and control them, so that they make no further progress.

The story of St. Paul.

What is their purpose in not letting the ummah reform to the full extent. Let me draw your attention to an analogy that relates to a highly successful hijacking of an entire people into the wrong path. The story of how St. Paul derailed the teachings of Allaah's messenger, Jesus (peace be upon him).

It will be relevant to know the background of how most of the Christian Theology, as it exists today, is the handiwork of St. Paul, the principal author of the New Testament, a learned Jew, who joined the followers of the Christ, giving strange reasons. St. Paul (born ca. 4 A.D., died ca. 64 A.D.), who was previously known as Saul, zealously persecuted those who believed in Jesus Christ (peace upon him). As the number of believers in Jesus grew, he decided to join them. Although we do not know what was his real intention, but ultimately he was the one responsible for the dilution and subversion of the teachings of the Christ from within. (Jesus says in Matthew 7:16 “ By their fruits ye shall know them.”). One day, after returning from a long absence, he announced that while he was on his way to Damascus, three years ago, persecuting the Christians, he saw a vision in which Jesus Christ begged him not to persecute his followers, by saying: “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 9:4). Paul concocted this scene, alleging that Jesus begged him from heaven in the same manner in which he begged the Lord from the earth, as mentioned in the Bible: “ My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? ” (Matthew 27:46). He kept the wording similar to Jesus' , so that people will mistake them as Jesus' words and believe in him easily. When Paul announced this, none of the disciples were ready to believe him, except St. Barnabas, who recommended to the disciples that he may be admitted into the faith. Paul then accompanied the disciples in missionary trips and gained many new converts. After growing in stature in this manner and having gained control of the missionary activities, Paul began to differ with the close disciples of Jesus. Paul and St. Barnabas soon parted ways. Now St. Paul was free to introduce new concepts in the faith. Taking the pressure off the Jews, he began to preach among the Gentiles (the non-Israelites), while Jesus had firmly said that he was sent only unto the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). Making the religion easy and attractive, Paul said that by just having faith in Jesus, man can achieve salvation and that following the laws of the Old Testament was not essential. Just as a section of the Jews called Uzayr (Ezra) as son of God, Jesus too was called son of God. Thus, in short, he did not hesitate to add new things (which amount to adding falsehood) into the religion, ostensibly to propagate it. As he himself says: “ But if the truth of God through my lie abounded unto His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? ” (Romans 3:4) We have learnt as to how a single person, who disliked The Lord’s laws, successfully and totally transformed His messenger Christ’s teachings into an easy-going faith. [The reason for Paul reversing Christ’s teachings was not that he particularly loved Judaism and Moses or that he disliked the emergence of the new prophet Jesus. But the reality was: most of the Jews had a dislike for the laws of God and had become panicky on the resurgence of religion through a new messenger - Jesus - sent by God, who, of course, did not bring a new religion but insisted on the Children of Isarel to follow the laws they were supposed to follow, even without him. ]

Comparison of St. Paul's mission with the new 'effort'.

After reading the story of St. Paul, it is not difficult to determine that St. Paul was not alone in his mission. The very people who persecuted Jesus, would have found the growth of the number of believers in Jesus uncomfortable. When continuous persecution failed, they planted this person to sabotage the rejuvenated faith from within. Had the teachings of Jesus been left to grow unchecked, it would have resulted in all the pressure for reform being concentrated upon just one people : Bani-Israel, the House of Israel. They particularly enjoyed doing what is forbidden and they had no way of refusing to follow the Torah, if a believer in Jesus were to insist upon it. So, by planting St. Paul among the followers of Christ, the missionary activity was scattered to places other than Jerusalem and among people other than the House of Israel, through the concocted vision of this 'Apostle to the Gentiles'. And to avoid any similar pressure for reform in the future, the teachings were permanently distorted.

Thus, the eternal enemies of God and His religion got rid of the effect of the new 'headache' for them, (a messenger from God asking them to purify themselves), in order to continue their lives as per their whims and fancies.

Nearly six centuries after Jesus was taken up unto the heaven, a new prophet arose in Makkah, whom they recognized as a true messenger from God, as readily as they recognize their sons. In contrast, this new prophet was the final one and he was not meant for any particular people, but for the entire world. They tried to oppose him during his life-time but were unsuccessful. A few decades after his demise, they succeeded in creating the first division in the Ummah. And during the course of about 13 centuries since then, dozens of new sects and deviant groups, and also a couple of 'mahdees', have been sponsored in the Islaamic world, in order to divide, weaken, confound and misguide it.

But still the danger for them lurks, in the form of Qur-aan. Any time the Muslim Ummah could sink its differences and become united and purified on the basis of Qur-aanic teachings. Because Allaah has said:

2:176 " That is because Allaah has revealed the scripture with the truth. And indeed those who find (a cause of) disagreement in the scripture are in open schism."

Qur-aan has been revealed with the truth. The schism is caused by those who follow or spread untruth, that is, something contrary to what is revealed in the book. Since the book, Qur-aan, the truth, is with us uncorrupted, unity of the Ummah could be achieved by ignoring the untruth and following what the truth says.

Their worry : How to prevent the spread of Islaam ?

Since the message given through Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is meant for the whole world, Muslims would preach it among all the people, sooner or later. This will include those who have been opposing God's religion and persecuting and killing His prophets. And this will also include all those people whom they have misguided with so much plotting and at so much expense. Muslims cannot be told openly not to preach Islaam. The Jews, Christians, Hindus cannot be told not to listen to the Muslims' preaching. This will only make them more curious. So they schemed to prevent the message of Islaam from reaching non-Muslims and more particularly, their own people.

As per the teachings of Qur-aan, the Muslims cannot order others to become pious, when they themselves are not so.

2:44 " Do you enjoin people upon good and forget yourselves and you read the book. Do you have then no sense ? "

So, as long as the Muslim ummah is in error in general, its member will not find it rewarding and sensible to invite others towards the virtues of Islaam. So, what is the strategy to keep the Muslims in error, so that they do not reform themselves and consequently do not venture to invite other people to Islaam ?

See Qur-aan to find out what way has been prescribed by Allaah for the reform of the Muslims.

Devise a plan, as to how the opposite of it could be stealthily implemented, so that the Ummah never comes out of the rot.

Catch hold of an amenable Muslim cleric, who is ready to play the role of St. Paul in Islaam.

Help him to elevate himself to a pre-eminent position in an Islaamic reformation movement, designed to mislead the Muslims.

Most of us know only a part of the story : that Mohamed Ilyas of Mewat claimed that he was 'inspired' in a dream to start this movement. In the next article, we shall see the details of the dream and the basis on which the movement was started.
 
 

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