You get those who keep people away from the ‘ulamâ’, and when they see huge crowds in the Tablîghî ijtimâ‘ât they think that there is no one like them. I say to them: Let us assume Bangladesh has a population of 100 million. If ten million from among them are attached to the work of Tablîgh, who is going to convey Islam to the ninety million? It is these very ‘ulamâ’ who are imams in the musjids, who are teaching in the madâris, who are engaged in the work of purification and reformation in the khânqâhs. If all the doctors were to carry their bedding and go from village to village, and when the sick patients go to their clinics they hear that the doctor is gone for four months with a travelling clinic, what will happen to the sick patients? Therefore, just as you value these doctors who remain in their clinics in the cities, you should respect those ‘ulamâ’ who are occupied in their work in the cities. Show respect to the person teaching Nûrânî Qâ’idah (an elementary book for learning the Qur’ân), and show respect to the person teaching Bukhârî Sharîf. No matter what Islamic work a person may be engaged in, make him your friend and not your enemy. Every department of Islam is important and it is ours, irrespective of whether it concerns itself with teaching or Tablîgh. Adopting an attitude whereby you say that so many people in Japan embraced Islam because of us, and so many embraced Islam in America because of us, and the ‘ulamâ’ are not doing anything – such statements cause division in Islam. Listen! The ‘ulamâ’ are engaged in a fard (compulsory) while you are engaged in something, which is mustahab (desirable). You cannot be equal to the dust on the feet of the ‘ulamâ’. When decision is passed on the day of Resurrection, you will come to know of this.

To convey Islam to the unbelievers is mustahab while safeguarding Islam is fard.The person who is safeguarding the Qur’ân and the Hadîth is occupied in a compulsory duty. Now you tell me, what is more important: doing something, which is compulsory, or doing something that is optional? The king is sitting in an air-conditioned room and signing documents. Can the labourer who is pushing a wheel-cart reach the rank of the king?

People say: “We perspired in the jungles and oceans, while the maulwîs are sitting in air-cooled rooms and teaching Bukhârî Sharîf. How can these maulânâs be equal to us?” Now listen to the value of the perspiration: each person’s perspiration is valued on the basis of his intellect, understanding and religiosity. Will all the perspiration of the entire ummah ever equal a single drop of perspiration of Rasulullah (sallellaho alaihe wasallam)? Can all the blood of the entire ummah be equal to a single drop of Rasûlullâh’s (sallellaho alaihe wasallam) blood? Rasulullah (sallellaho alaihe wasallam) said that the ink that the ‘ulamâ’ use to write books will equal the blood of the martyrs on the day of Resurrection. Mullâ ‘Alî Qârî rahimahullâh says that this Hadîth is authentic. The Hadîth scholars state that this Hadîth is absolutely authentic.

The reason for my saying this is that Satan must not whisper these thoughts into your heart that the ‘ulamâ’ are sitting in their rooms and teaching Bukhârî Sharîf while the Tablîghî people are spreading Islam in Japan, therefore the ordinary people of the Tablîghî jamâ‘ah are better than the ‘ulamâ’. If you have such thoughts, you will go astray because it is ignorant to think that the person engaged in something which is compulsory is lower in rank than a person engaged in something which is optional. Our ‘ulamâ’ in the madâris are training ‘ulamâ’. Then the Tablîghî brothers learn Islam from these very ‘ulamâ’ and – mâshâ Allâh – convey it from door to door.

Shaikh-ul-Hadîth Maulânâ Zakarîyyâ rahimahullâh was an ‘âlim. The books that he wrote are being conveyed by the Tablîghî brothers from street to street, lane to lane, and at the top of mountains. We are thankful to them that these “goods” of ours have reached the mountains. However, these people with wheel-carts must not scorn those in the factories. If the factories are shut, not a single cloth and not a single item will reach your wheel-cart. The ‘ulamâ’ and the madâris are the factories of Islam.

It is for this reason that Allah Ta’alarevealed the order of Tablîgh in the following way:

(???? ???????? ???: 67)

Convey what has been revealed to you.

If a person is not “what has been revealed to you”, what is he going to convey? It is the person to whom something has been revealed [or who possesses knowledge] who has to convey.