The work of Tablîgh is blessed, desirable and liked, but not on the level of fard. In fact, Islam has not made it compulsory to turn the unbelievers into Muslims. Had it been compulsory to make them into Muslims, Rasulullah (sallellaho alaihe wasallam) would have compelled those areas which he conquered into embracing Islam. This is because normally one is compelled into a compulsory act. However, Rasulullah (sallellaho alaihe wasallam) never compelled anyone. Instead, he gave them the option to either embrace Islam or pay the jizyah (a tax paid by non-Muslims to live under the protection of the Islamic state). The unbelievers who agreed to pay the jizyah were left as they were. They were not compelled into embracing Islam. The order to pay jizyah is issued to display the power and strength of Islam, and the humiliation and disgrace of unbelief. What is the meaning of accepting jizyah from them and not compelling them into embracing Islam? It means that it is not compulsory to turn them into Muslims. It is compulsory to inform them about Islam and this has been done. Now if you [unbelievers] do not want to embrace Islam, we will not compel you. Had it been compulsory to turn them into Muslims, Rasulullah (sallellaho alaihe wasallam) would have said to them: “My mercy does not permit me to accept a paltry sum of money from you and be happy with your unbelief.” In other words, that I be happy with your going into Hell. We learn from this that it is not compulsory to turn the unbelievers into Muslims.

What I conveyed to you is a statement of a very senior mufti who is the most senior jurist of Pakistan, who is lecturing in post-graduate jurisprudence, who is producing jurists.

Hazrat Khâlid ibn Walîd (radhiallaho anho) is writing a letter to the unbelievers. This letter is quoted in Mishkât Sharîf. He says in his letter: “O people! I invite you towards Islam. If you accept, well and good. If not, you will have to pay me the jizyah while you are dishonoured. You will have to give it with your own hands so that you may be humiliated. If you send it with someone, I will never accept it. We are not in need of your money. Rather, we want to display the despicability of unbelief. You therefore have to come personally to pay the jizyah. If you refuse, we will wage jihad with you. Not for not embracing Islam, but for refusing to pay the jizyah. And you will be humiliated in paying the jizyah. If you refuse:

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We love death as much as you love wine (Therefore, you cannot fight us)

The Sahabah (Radhiallaho anhum)are not turning them into Muslims after accepting the jizyah from them. They are saying to them: “Embrace Islam or else you will have to pay the jizyah. If you do not pay the jizyah, we will wage jihad against you.” We learn from here that if they agree to pay the jizyah, how can it be compulsory to compel them into embracing Islam? Had it been compulsory to compel them into embracing Islam, would Islam be happy to leave them as unbelievers in exchange for a paltry sum of money? We learn from this that it is necessary to convey Islam to them but not compulsory to turn them into Muslims.

(A person took permission from Hazrat Wâlâ and asked that some of those who are engaged in Tablîgh say that the Sahabah (Radhiallaho anhum) did not pass away in Makkah and Madînah. They all spread to different parts of the world for the sake of Tablîgh. So Hazrat Wâlâ said): Many Sahabah (Radhiallaho anhum) were sent to different countries to see to the affairs of those countries, and it was the norm of the Sahabah (Radhiallaho anhum) to spread Islam wherever they went.

“Wherever we go, we talk about You. No matter what assembly it is, we see the colour of Your assembly there.”

So light spread wherever they went. For example, Hazrat ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Âmir (radhiallaho anho) was appointed as the governor of Egypt. Now that he was appointed as a governor, will he not go? If you are appointed as a commissioner and sent to a certain place and the government which sends you is an Islamic government, you will have to go. The Sahabah (Radhiallaho anhum) were thus sent to see to the affairs of the Islamic state.

Therefore, if a person wants to spur on people for Tablîgh, it will be incorrect for him to say that all the Sahabah (Radhiallaho anhum) left Madînah for the sake of Tablîgh and that Madînah was left devoid of Sahabah (Radhiallaho anhum). There are thousands of graves of the Sahabah (Radhiallaho anhum) in Madînah. The graves of the Sahabah (Radhiallaho anhum) which are found in Syria and Egypt are of those who were sent as governors [and other workers] to those places. In the section on Asmâ’ ar-Rijâl (biographies) at the end of Mishkât Sharîf, Shaikh Walî ad-Dîn rahimahullâh writes about Hazrat Abû Dardâ’ (radhiallaho anho):

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Thus, you cannot describe this in such a way as to give the impression that he carried his bedding and went out for Tablîgh for forty days.