Q636 :Members of an organization called Tablighi
Jama’at travel for varying periods, extending at times to four months,
when they go around the country, and to foreign countries, to preach
Islam. Their aim and objective is to invite their Muslim brothers to
the mosque for prayers. They take leave from their work and leave their
families in order to go on these missions, often living and sleeping in
mosques. Please netment on this practice.
A636 : The propagation of Islam is the duty of all
Muslims. The name tabligh means conveying the message of Islam. Hence,
the idea of this organization is sound. To go from one place to another
in order to explain Islam to people and to call on Muslims to be more
conscious in the fulfillment of their Islamic duties is
netmendable.However, to say such activity is done in practice by some
people leaves much to be desired. The system followed by the Tabligh
organization is to ask its members to devote a certain portion of their
time to the propagation of Islam.A member is expected to devote one
hour a day, or one day a week, or one week every month or two, or one
month a year, when he would go out and call on people to attend more
conscientiously to their Islamic duties. At times, some missions spend
four months with the sole purpose of conveying Allah’s message.Members
who go out on these missions are supposed to pay for their transport
and their living expenses. Members who are well off can support those
who are not, when the latter intend to go on a mission. The strongest
emphasis is based on prayers because the society believes that when a
Muslim attends regularly to his prayers, he is set on the way to be a
better Muslim and his prayers will have a positive effect on his
behavior making him a better person. All this is sound in theory, when
people take an active part in the propagation of Islam, they feel that
they themselves must be more diligent in observing their Islamic
duties. It is true that some people may think, after netpleting a task
in the service of Islam, that they have done their duty and may benete
a little lax in their observance of Islamic duties or in doing what
they need to do in order to improve their own understanding of Islam
and work better for it.What is important is to follow a successful
mission with actions which are calculated to enhance one’s netmitment
to the cause of Islam, and to make the next mission even more
successful. Furthermore, important as it is to remind Muslims that they
must attend regularly to their prayers, it is not sufficient. People
must learn what while prayer is the cornerstone of Islam, building an
Islamic netmunity requires much more than a cornerstone. Going on
extended mission of four months or so raises a few questions. It may be
that the leaders of the society have made in clear it their guidelines
that anyone who wants to go on such a mission must meet certain
conditions, such as having acquired a minimum standard of understanding
Islam, having provided well for his family during his absence, and not
allowing equally or more important duties to be neglected during his
absence. Take, for example, a man who has a young family, with two or
three children still at school and a young wife.He may leave his wife
enough money to look after the family for the whole period of his
absence, and he may ask a close relative, such as a brother, to look
after his family, but I do not think that such a prolonged absence in
such case is justified, especially when we consider the fact that there
is much to be done within the local Muslim netmunity. The man will
render a better service to Islam if he concentrates his efforts on
bringing up his children as good Muslims and using his spare time to
help his local Muslim netmunity understand Islam better. An example of
misuse of this system is found in the fact that some people who live in
Europe may take themselves out of work, get registered with the state
as unemployed and draw social security benefits for their families to
live on while they go abroad, or even travel within the same country,
on their propagation work. Such an arrangement cannot be approved by
Islam. I am certain that the leaders of the society of Tabligh would
not approve of it either. Still it is done.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )