A group of ten or twelve people with beddings on their shoulders, rosary in their hands, cap or turban on the heads, reciting verses from Holy Qur’an, faces shining with religious harmony, thinking for the welfare of Ummah, walking in absolute disciplinary manner, neither cursing anyone nor replying anybody’s nasty comments, no unnecessary discussion, just to the point, no showing off gesture. Some of them are affluent, while some are from downtrodden class. There are also doctors, professors, labourers, industrialists and villagers speaking different regional languages. Nobody is concerned about caste, creed, colour or status.

They only know that following their Ameer is their priority. Either their Ameer is black or has ugly face they have to follow their Ameer, which is the basic principle of their life. When they lift baggage on their shoulders they forget what class they belong to, whether they are Sardar of any tribe or an ordinary villager, whether they are professor and principal of college or they are doctor or businessman. At this stage all of them are servants, all of them are students, learning the principles of religion. They all live alike, sleep on the ground and offer prayers in congregation. There are also a few who do not know the Kalima-e-Tayyaba and other Ayaat, they do not know the procedure of ablution, which their companions are helping them learn. Nobody is making fun of them. The atmosphere is calm and quite and no tension prevails around. Some companions are sitting around listening to the speech of their Ameer. Some have gone out to preach the religion and convince those who are away from the religion. They are inviting them to come to the mosque and feel the pleasure of offering prayers. Those who are out on preaching mission, humbly saying Salaam to everyone they find on their way.

However, there are a few ‘so-called’ Muslims who are of the opinion that such clerics are unwanted people and their presence in the mosques is a burden. They try to throw away their beddings from the holy place to evict them. Not only this they also force them to get out of the mosques and in case of their insistence they kick them off.

A group of preachers was formed in a village in Kashmir. The group reached another village where dwellers claimed that they were the only heirs of the preaching of Holy Prophet. So, they kicked the group out of the mosque where they had stayed. There were some emotional youth in the group who felt insulted on this act of the villagers and sought the permission of their Ameer to reply the villagers in a befitting manner. They mentioned to their Ameer, “Hazrat! You are unaware of our past. People in the area were afraid of our personalities. We were a few but were heavy on whole village. People in this village are taking undue advantage of our politeness. The mosque is not the personal property of these villagers. We don’t need their permission to enter the mosque. Please allow us to show our strength.”

Their request was turned down. The group lifted their belongings and stayed outside the mosque. They were so depressed and praying the Almighty Allah to put them on the right path. It was chilling cold but this group of preachers remained steadfast. No hardship could divert them from their actual mission. Later, they lifted their beddings and left the place to find a new area where they could preach peacefully. During their mission they came across to some miscreants who tried to mislead them by putting issues of different sects before them. However, they avoided such discussions and continued their mission.

A friend of mine, who was also among the preaching group, told me about his experience. He said, “It was the month of Ramadhan. We were out on a preaching mission. During the mission we came across some friends who gave importance more to the issues relating to the sectarian differences than the issues relating to the rapprochement. They said, we would accept your invitation of joining later on, but before that you must tell us whether there are eight Taraveehs or twenty. Those who were in the group, did not have enough knowledge about this issue, however, they replied, “Those who offer eight Raka’at Taraveeh and those who believe in twenty Raka’at of Taraveeh should continue with their faith. However, it would be better for us that we should approach those people who neither offer eight Raka’at nor twenty Raka’at of Taraveeh.”

What a comprehensive reply was it. This reply teaches us a lesson that instead of indulging into controversy we should always prefer to find a way out. This strategy can lead us to a conducive atmosphere. This can help us do away many social evils. We can do away many differences with which the Muslims have been experiencing since centuries. But, what to say about those people who make such difference a source of their popularity. Their mission is to continue with such differences and mislead people on silly and baseless issues.

We must not forget that increasing number of faithfuls in the mosques and rapid increase in the strength of Madressah students is all because of these Tableeghi groups. They are Mobile Madressah. Teach people about right and wrong in the religion. May Allah bless these people and give courage and strength to them to continue with their mission. Ameen