TABLIGH REPORT

The report

The Tabligh Movement Report

I belong to a group of people founded by our Imam Hajji Muhammad, who died sometime ago. Hajji Muhammad discovered that the Quran is the only source of guidance. We now accept that everything else, such as the "hadith"- sayings attributed to the Prophet and the "Sunnah"- traditions attributed to the Prophet, are superfluous to the Quran. The Quran remains the only source of guidance.

In chapter Al-Nissa (4:59) Allah says: "Obey God and obey the messenger and those in authority among you" Allah also writes in the Quran: "Had they believed in God and the Prophet AND THE SCRIPTURE that was revealed to him, they would not have allied themselves with the disbelievers…" Chapter Al-Maa’idah (5:59).

The Quran is actually God’s speech. And since God is addressing a human audience, God conveyed His message through a human being, the Prophet. So to obey the Quran is to obey the Prophet, which is to obey God. Please note this sequence with extreme care. Many people including the scholars have become confused about this sequence. The word of God is the Quran and the Quran became the word of the Prophet.

Therefore everything we do must be according to the scripture, which is the Quran. By reading the Quran we are easily able to distinguish the truth from falsehood. The Quran also commands us to preach the Truth. Hence we, the followers of Hajji Muhammad take the effort to preach God’s Truth. We are especially concerned about strengthening the Muslims.

This report is in essence about idol Worship, and consequently the Tabligh movement and its founders, the Khandlavi maulanas.

IDOL WORSHIP

In the Quran there are at least fifty-four references to idol worship. Why does God repeatedly highlight idol worship? Does idol worship refer to statue, stone carving, pictures of animals and pagan temples as in the "hadith"? read the episode of Solomon who was a truly guided and is among those promised paradise. In chapter Saba 34: 12-13 God tells us that He made the wind, rain and even the jinns obedient to Solomon. The jinns made for Solomon anything he wanted. But what were the things that Solomon, one of God’s esteemed Prophets, asked the jinns to make for him?

Look at Chapter Saba again 34:13 "They made anything he wanted, including niches, STATUE, deep pools and heavy pots.." From this verse in the Quran it becomes clear that God guided the jinns to work for His own Prophet, to make for him among other things STATUES. It now becomes apparent that mere statues are not IDOLS. They are inanimate objects which can neither help us nor harm us. Therefore when God talk about rejecting idols, He does not mean that we should go out and destroy all statues, carvings and pictures as statues themselves are certainly NOT idols. Idols are in fact OBJECT of worship and that constitutes anything including children, money, fame, leader, ancestors, saints, prophets and yes even statues. An object or person becomes an idol ONLY IF WE WORSHIP IT, whether deliberately or unknowingly. Obviously this is why God repeatedly prohibits taking his servants as lords, with special references to the Prophets and religious leaders.

"If you ask them, "Who created the Heavens and the Earth, "They would say, "The Almighty, the omniscient". Chapter Al Zukhruf 43:39
"Yet they set up idols from among His servants. Indeed the human is unappreciative". Chapter Al Zukhruf 43:15. Mushriq is an Arabic word used in the Quran to describe pagans and idolaters. Even people who profess belief in the One God, can be Mushriqs. "And most of them believe not in Allah without associating partners with Him". (Arabic transliteration: Wa maa yu’minu aksaruhum-billaahi illa wa hum-mushri-kuun!) Chapter Yusuf 12:06.

This may come as a surprise to ‘devout Muslims’ but as the verse from the Quran says, the majority of people who believe in Allah, also associate partners or intermediates with Him and are therefore ‘Mushriq’ they believe in Allah, in One God, but they also believe it is necessary to have other legislators in the form of their leaders, priests, saints and prophets.

Even if the whole world became Muslims-submitters to the will of God, and all the statue were destroyed, these verse in the Quran will still be applicable because evidently there is still a danger that people may idolise some other things or persons alongside worshipping God.

SHEIKHUL "HADITH"

Sheikhul "hadith" Maulana Muhammad Zakariyya Khandlavi and his uncle Ilyas Khandlavi, the founders of the tabligh movement are among those so called "holy people" who are "venerated". Whatever they say is swallowed by their followers hook, line and sinker. This is idol worship of the worst kind and is termed as "taqlid" or blind obedience to mortal human beings. "They (Jews & Christians) have taken as Lords besides God their rabbis and their monks and the Messiah, Mary’s son, when they were told to worship only one God. None has the right to be worshipped except Him. Be He glorified above all the partners they ascribe unto Him" Chapter At-Tauba 9:31. "They worship besides Allah what neither hurts them nor profits them and they say these are our intercessors with Allah. Say, "Are you informing Allah of something that He does not know in the Heavens or the Earth". Chapter Yunus 10:18. The meaning of the above verse is clear, do not follow and idolise your "holy people" blindly. Yet in spite of this verse, even the advocates of the Prophet’s traditions have an interesting "hadith": ‘Once when the Prophet was reciting the above verse (9:31) Adi bin Hatim said, "O Messenger, but they (the Jews and Christians) do not really worship their rabbis and monks". The messenger replied, " They certainly do. Their rabbis and monks made legal things illegal, and illegal thing legal and they followed them, and by doing so they therefore worshipped them". (Narrated by Tarmizi and Abu Jarir).

MUHAMMAD HAD NO SECRET KNOWLEDGE

This is what people are doing today, following their leaders, the scholars and the saints blindly and accepting what they dictate without question. Believing that the Prophet or the pious people can recommend to God to forgive our sins is also blasphemous. "Tell those who dread the judgement of their Lord that they have no guardian or intercessor besides Allah…" chapter Al Anaam 6:51. And the Prophet was also instructed to tell us that he had no special knowledge of secret matters whatsoever with God Almighty. "I do not claim that I possess the treasures of God nor do I know the what is hidden". Chapter Al Anaam 6:50.

So if even Muhammad, the last Prophet did not claim a special relationship with God, then clearly no other mortal can. But when you read Khandlavi’s Tabligh Nisab, you will see how much nonsense they have written and how many Tabligh people follow them blindly. Unfortunately for the Khandlavis they have been exposed as fraudulent.

Here is some background information: Most Islamic books written in the Indian sub-continent are written in Urdu or Tamil. Rarely would an Arabic scholar translate any religious book from India, Pakistan, Malaysia or Indonesia into Arabic. Why? Because no self respecting Arab will admit that he has anything to learn about Islam from the "abd" (slaves) – the name still used for non-Arab Muslims especially from India and Pakistan. Only a few books such as those written by Mohammed Iqbal have been translated into Arabic and Turkish.

TABLIGHI NISAB

However, some opportunists like the Khandlavis have taken advantage of this situation. They bravely write anything they wish, knowing that Arabic scholars in Al-Azhar or Medina will never ever bother to read or criticize their book. The book Tablighi Nisab is one such product of the deviant Khandlavi movement and is the "standard textbook" for the Tabligh missionary movement.

It is also quite strange that till this day, no tabligh ‘Ijtema’ has ever been held in any of the Arab Muslim countries like Mecca, Medina, Egypt, Palestine. The Ijtema is always held in countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, India or the USA where there is a very large Indo-Pak population. The Tabligh can fool only the Pakistani and the Indians – not the Arabs.

Fortunately for us there are sane people in India who are able to objectively look at the cults as the Khandlavis. A few publications have appeared in India exposing this peculiar sect. Having read the Tablighi Nisab book from cover to cover (which 835 pages long) I have discovered a multitude of errors; which in any event are only a tiny fraction of the inaccuracies to be found throughout this book. It is these discoveries which prompted me to write this.

For people actively involved in Tabligh, here is a verse in the Quran for you to consider: "Do they not see that they are struck every year once or twice, then they fail to repent or take heed" Chapter At Taubah 9:126. That is why you never ever see reports like this everyday. It only happens every year once or twice. Therefore, especially to those who are actively involved in Tabligh, you should read all things with an open mind. It is not often that there is an opportunity to see constructive criticism.

Also note very carefully that this verse 9:126 is from Chapter At Taubah, a very important Chapter in the Quran. ‘Taubah’ means repentance, turning over a new leaf! This is also THE ONLY CHAPTER IN THE WHOLE QURAN which DOES NOT begin with "Bismillah….", meaning, in the name of Allah, the Beneficient, the Merciful. Why? Because in this chapter, God shows his anger with people who stray. There is no compassion or mercy for deviants and idol worshippers, therefore there is no Bismillah-hirRahman-nirRahim.

THE AUTHENTIC HADITH

The majority of the ‘Muslim’ populations have been misguided by fabricated "hadith", narrations falsely attributed to the Prophet Muhammad. The volumes of "hadith" are mainly compilations of Imam Bukhari, possibly a descendant of Persian fire worshippers. For an insight in to the "hadith", please read the book "Conspiracies Against the Quran" by Syed Abdul Waddud. This book gives the historical background of Bukhari, Abu Muslim, Tirmizi, Ibn Majah, Abu Dawud and Nisai. According to Wadud, these six people are the authors and compilers of the six ‘Authentic "hadith"’ (as their works are called), and all scholars agree, that all these authors were Persians, descended from Persian Zoroastrian fire worshippers. They and their contemporaries resented Muslim conquest and ‘converted’ to Islam, only to invent lies and attribute them, in the form of "hadith" to the Prophet Muhammad, in order to divert the people from the path of God.

But the khandlavi people have upstaged even Bukhari because in their book, Tablighi Nisab they have written "hadith" which cannot be found anywhere even in the six ‘Sahih "hadith"’, and they have cleverly attributed these narrations as Bukhari "hadith"!

According to the Author’s own evidence, the Tablighi Nisab is actually many pamphlets bound together, and were written over a period of time. In the Author’s forward, Zakariyya Khandlavi himself says that some of these phamplets were written in just a few days – sometimes when he was sick! Books, which proclaim to be a mandate for social order and are written in a few days or by sick people must surely have their credibility questioned. The Tablighi Nisab confirms this. As you read this book, you will find earlier parts of the book contradicting the latter parts. Let me give you some brief examples: (Please obtains a copy of this book and checks my reference to it). Similarly use the Quran to check it against my quotations. I would not want to say anything for which I have no basis.

a) In part 1, stories of Sahaba, page 49, Khandlavi quotes a dubious "hadith" which says that the Prophet’s favourite colour was red. Then in page 139 and 141 Khandlavi quotes in much detail how much the Prophet did not like red coloured cloths. An obvious contradiction.

b) In part 1, Stories of Sahaba, page 57, Khandlavi says that food from doubtful sources would automatically refuse to go down the throats of pious people. Then in page 58 and 59 he says that Saidina Abu Bakar and Saidina Omar (two of the most pious Caliphs in Islam) both ate ‘forbidden’ food and did not know it until someone told them about it. He has also forgotten the "hadith" which says that the Prophet Muhammad, the most pious of them all, had also swallowed some poison from the Jewish woman! But this "hadith" has political motives. It was an attempt by the Persians to discredit the piousness of Abu Bakar and Umar during the time of the early Sunni/Shia sectarian conflicts. Unfortunately Khandlavi is repeating such lies throughout his book.

c) Then there is something really fantastic. In part V, Virtues of Quran page 9, Khandlavi insists that you read the Quran, "TRY TO WEEP, EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO COMPEL YOURSELF TO DO SO". In other words, if you cannot really feel the reverence in reading Quran then fakes it! This story totally contradicts another "hadith" where it says men should not cry. Both these stories of course completely contradict the Quran.

d) There are also references to ridiculous instances of pious saints not breaking their wudu (the customary ablution before prayer), for 12 days continuously. Even the Prophet, or any person who wishes to remain clean, would have to wash and bathe more frequently than this.

Then in Part III, Virtues of Prayer, page 15 Khandlavi, who belong to the Hanafi madhab, a religious sect of Imam Abu Haniffa, narrates a fantastic story which describes how he could tell from the water falling down from the limbs of the person doing ablution as to which his sins had been washed off!

THE IMAMS

Of course there are no such marvellous stories about the Imams of the other madhab sects like Imam Shafie, Maliki or Hanbali in Khandlavi’s book. But you can be sure that the Shafies, Maliki and Hanbali will have their own incredible stories about their own respective Imams in their own books -–minus Imam Abu Haniffa of course.

We will know how false these stories are by posing this simple question: Can anyone say with any certain if Imam Abu Haniffa, Shafie, Malik, Bukhari, Khandlavi are going to heaven or hell? Of course we cannot answer this question, otherwise what is the purpose of the Day of Judgement.

Allah commands His very own Messenger, Muhammad, to say:
Say, "I have no idea how sooner or how far is that Day of Judgement, which is promised to you". Only God is the knower of the future, He lets no one else acquires such knowledge. Chapter Jinn 72:25-26.

So if even the Prophet himself does not know when the last day will be or who deserves to go to heaven or hell, then how can Imam Abu Haniffa know which sins have been washed off simply by looking at bathroom water? No person with any common sense could believe fictitious stories like this. Or could they? The Khandlavi followers can’t seem to get enough!

e) In part V, Virtues of Quran page 82, Khandlavi quotes a "hadith" from the Prophet, which says that whoever recites Chapter Yassin from the Quran will never, starve. At the bottom of the same page he quotes the Prophets as having said that whoever recites Chapter Waqiah from the Quran will never starve. So is it Yassin or is it Waqiah or is it both? Don’t you think it should be made clear very quickly because people in places like Somalia and Bosnia do not get the chance to starve twice?

TABLIGH

The word ‘Tabligh’ is not found anywhere in the Quran or even the "hadith". When you are in the Tabligh, among the thousands of other things, they always tell you about the virtues of eating in groups especially out of one large tray. One person even went to the extent of saying that when you eat together in trays, special juice flow out of the fingertips to add flavour to the food!

In the Quran God says: "…and you DO NOT COMMIT any error by eating alone or in groups…" Chapter Al-Nur 24:61. Note God’s wisdom in using negative approach. We cannot say if there is any good in eating alone or in-groups. What we know for sure is that there is nothing wrong in eating alone or in-groups. It is just like breathing oxygen – is there anything good or bad about breathing alone or in groups? Please keep this in mind the next time you hear someone selling you the benefits of eating in-groups.

The Tabligh people also encourage the keeping of beards with no moustache. They say it is a "Sunnah", a tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, and since it is a "Sunnah" it is AN ACT OD FAITH.

BEARDS

Ali Akhbar’s book "God and Man" gives a very good description of tribal Arabia during the time of the prophet. The Arabs, Jews, Christians all looked alike and all wore long jubah and turbans. Being intensely tribal people they developed modes of dress and hairstyle to differentiate each another. The Jews kept their hair in a certain style, other developed certain styles like moustache, or no moustache, small beard or large beard. The interesting thing is that the Qurish (Muhammad’s tribe) had beards AND MOUSTACHE. Another facts, which we can also see with our own eyes, that Red Indians, Mongolians, Eskimos and other Mongoloid races have little or no facial hair. So imagine sending a Tabligh mission to Alaska preaching the virtues of keeping beards to the Eskimos. They will surely complain that God has been unfair to them if they are unable to follow the ‘tradition of the prophet’ and are thus deprived of an extra "Sunnah".

Again lets look at what God says: "….Men and women are sequel as far as believing is concerned" Chapter Al Nissa 4:24. This simply means that in all matters concerning Faith, men and women are spiritually equal – equal in faith. So how can growing beards be an ACT OF FAITH when women and most Red Indians can never hope to grow beards? So how can men claim extra blessing by growing beards? It’s obvious that there is absolutely no blessing at all to be earned in growing your beard.

BLESSING

The Tabligh people also exaggerate the virtues of praying in the mosque for the daily Salat. Everytime you miss a prayer in the mosque, you will burn in hell. They have various mathematical equations to calculate how many years you will burn in hell. Suprisingly the Tablighi Nisab by Sheikul "hadith"Maulana Muhammad Zakariyya Khandlavi quotes two different "hadith" regarding this – one says the blessing in praying in the mosque is 25 times while another "hadith" says the blessing is 27 times.

There is some confusion, but Zakariyya khandlavi solves the problem superbly by saying that the blessing is actually 25x27 times, but most suprisingly he multiples 25 x 27 and gets an answer of 335, 541, 432!!! We can see that arithmetic was not his strong point because 25 x 27 is only 675! Please see part III, Virtues of Prayers page 48 of his book. But what does Allah say?: " God’s light is in houses ("buyut") exalted by God, for His name is commemorated in them. Glorifying Him therein, day and night". Chapter Nur 24:36.

The word used in the Quran is "buyut" meaning house, not ‘masjid’ which means ‘mosque’. As usual in their confusion, a few scholars say Buyut is a building, others say mosque and some have said TEMPLE! But the word is clear – it is HOUSE. The root word is ‘bayt’ as in ‘Bayt-tullah’ meaning House of God and Bayttulah is none other than the Kaabah.

What this means is that God sends His blessings to any house or building where His name is mentioned, not only a mosque. You can go to the mosque and pray or you can pray in your own house. Whatever the case, it should never be said that if you do not pray in the mosque, the quality of your worship will not be the same and that you will receive less reward if you pray elsewhere. That will be tantamount to telling lies about God, which is a gross sin.

This man, the Sheikhul – "hadith" Zakariyya Khandlawi (as he calls himself) is also very fond of using "titles" for everyone, for example terms like Sheikhul "hadith", Rehmatullah Alaihi, Pious Saint, Keramat, "Nawarallahu-Markadhu", etc. appear throughout his book in describing people, especially his own friends and teachers.

What do these titles mean? Do the titles imply that those people are going to heaven? Are these titles given by God? No one knows who is going to heaven or hell. Not even the Prophet, as we have seen earlier, and which we can also see in the following verse in the Quran:
"God is the Only One Who Knows about the Hour…No one knows what happens tomorrow, nor in which land you will die". Chapter Luqman 31:34. But the most interesting God has told us about self glorification is that:
"For the righteous avoid gross sin, except minor offenses…THEREFORE YOU DO NOT NEED EXALTY YOURSELVES. He is fully aware of the righteous". Chapter Al-Najm 53:32.

What god is saying is that only He will know what sort of title, if any, we deserve, because only He knows how righteous we have been. Therefore there is no need for us to give ourselves titles like Sheikhul- "hadith", Hajji, Shaheed, Imam, Nawarallahu and so on. This Zakariyya fellow has much to learn.

Now you might ask why do I call my Imam "Hajji" Muhammad. Actually we never call him "Imam" or "Hajji" Muhammad. Once you drop the Imam and the Hajji, he becomes simply Muhammad – who is none other than Muhammad a messenger of God.

Now can you see who my leader is? The Tablighi Nisab, Part One, Stories of the Sahaba, also gives a ‘famous’ reference to the ten sahaba who were given good news of paradise. But in this same book this man also gives us a list of 14 sahaba who were appointed by the Prophet Muhammad to give Fatwas-religious to the public.

The funny thing is that the ten destined for paradise and the 14 ordained to give fatwa are not all the same! By all logic, the people who are guaranteed heaven should be the ones to make Fatwas. And people who are selected to make Fatwas should at least be guaranteed paradise.

But even in the Fatwa story there is another twist. If you refer to the book "Life of Abu Bakr – first Caliph of Islam" by Nawab Sardar Yar Jung Bahadur and M.Muhammad Habibur Khan Sherwani, Delhi 19331, on page 105 of the book they say that Saidina Abu Bakr was the most privileged person because ACCORDING TO THE "hadith" Abu Bakr was the only person allowed by the Prophet to make Fatwas!! So where did the 14 people come from?

Then there are also some "hadith" which are plainly heretical. To give you an example refers Part 1, stories of Sahaba page 189 of the Tablighi Nisab book. In this stories the Prophet kept a mistress, a concubine, called Mariah. Through this mistress, the Prophet had his only son Ibrahim, who died as a child. Now, the Tabligh people always say they want to follow the life of the Prophet exactly as he lived it. They want to emulate the things, which he did. So the question is, do they want to have slave mistresses also? They will only be following the ‘example of the Prophet’, at least according to Zakariyya Khandlavi!!

There is also another tale of drinking blood. In part 1, Stories of Sahaba, page 230 Khandlavi wrongly accuses the Prophet’s companion of actually drinking the Prophet’s blood. The Sahaba were true Muslims, they followed the Prophet’s commandments exactly. The Prophet preached the Quran to the Sahabas and concerning food, the Quran forbids, among four things the consumption of blood. In this account, Khandlavi wrongly incriminates the Sahaba not only of disobeying the Prophet, but he also charges them with practising cannibalism.

The worst thing is that Khandlavi goes on to say that the Prophet himself said that WHOEVER DRANK HIS BLOOD WILL NEVER GO TO HELL! This we know is most certainly a malicious blasphemy and is termed a "Kurafat’.

CONCLUSION

I respect any organisation which, exists to promote and further the cause of Islam, as long as they are well structured and they are able to carry out the work in an orderly and organised manner. But what they must not do is create rituals which, are not to be found in Islam. For example it should not be said, as the Tabligh movement does, that a 40 day mission or a 4 month mission is the best or the only way to carry out missionary work.

Care must be taken in what is said in preaching God’s message. Things, which are not compulsory, as part of Muslim life should not be, presented as Islamic acts of faith. To UNDERSTAND what is true submission to God can be found in its purest form only by reading the Quran. Let me now quote a verse in the Quran, which, most surprisingly has some relevance to the Tabligh people.
"Reprieve is herein granted from God and His messenger to those among the idol worshippers who sign a peace treaty with you. Thus you may roam the Earth freely FOR FOUR MONTHS, and know that you can never escape from God, and that God will inevitably defeat the disbeliever". Chapter Taubah 9:1-2.

This verse was first revealed against some disbelievers opposing the Prophet, but all the verses in the Quran have relevance and guidance for events in the past, present and future. This verse above must also have relevance to someone in the present. BUT WHO? The question is how many people do we know roam the Earth freely for EXACTLY FOUR MONTHS at a time. The answer is the Tabligh people.

If you are true Muslim of course then this verse should have no adverse effect on you. But if you read the Tablighi Nisab book, which is a web of fabrications, written by the founder of the Tabligh movement and then follow them blindly and roam about the Earth freely preaching their inventions then this verse should apply to you. My request to The Tablighi Movement is that they must obey God and you must obey the Messenger, therefore you must read the Quran and preach according to the Quran.