All praise is due to Allah Ta’alathat a lot of Tablîgh work takes place in our Musjid-e-Ashraf. We also have our weekly gusht (going house-to-house inviting people towards Islam). Recently a Tablîghî jamâ‘at had come. I delivered a talk for them after the fajr salâh. One of them asked me this question: “If a person received ten days’ permission to go out from his parents, is it permissible for him to go away for forty days without their permission?” I replied: “It is mustahab (desirable) to go for forty days but harâm to injure one’s parents’ hearts. Therefore, do not stay for more than what they permitted. Return home after ten days. Upon returning from tablîgh, engage in intensive service of your parents. Press their legs so much and massage them so much that your parents are convinced that you were taught all these etiquette to parents by going out in jamâ‘at whereas you were so unworthy before this. Make them so happy that they make up their minds and tell you to go for forty days.” They all thanked me profusely. Instead of speaking to them about the “six points”, I spoke to them about the harms of casting evil glances, the harms of speaking lies, warnings against disobedience to parents, and other aspects from the Ahâdîth. They said to me that their hearts were overjoyed. They came again to meet me.

Some people informed me that some of them are so fanatical that fights between father and son take place. The parents permit the son to go for ten days, and he goes away for forty days. It is because of this fanaticism with regard to these forty days that numerous fights have ensued in our homes. The wife is pregnant, the day of delivery is very close, she is to give birth tomorrow, and the husband departs for Syria in the evening. Brother, wait for one more day, if it is one more month for the birth then wait for one more month. At times, such situations develop that none but the husband can go close to his wife. The benefit of this will be that this woman will encourage other women to certainly send their husbands for Tablîgh. She will say to them that she was ill, she was close to giving birth, and the Tablîgh people told her husband to remain in the hospital and tend to his wife.

The mercy ofAllah Ta’alais all-encompassing. Do little work, do it within the limits, and Allah Ta’alawill be pleased. This is better than doing something wherein the limits of the Sharî‘ah are trampled and the person does not practise on the Qur’ânic verse:

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“and those who uphold the limits of Allâh.”

There will be more blessing in this [upholding the limits] and the woman will tell other women to send their husbands for Tablîgh. But if the husband left his wife during this time of pain, she will say to other women not to send their husbands for Tablîgh because she was suffering and yet he left her and went away.There is a mufti and ‘âlim who is the khalîfah of two mashâ’ikh: Mufti Muhammad Shafî‘ Sahib rahimahullâh and Maulânâ Masîhullâh Khân Sahib Jalâlâbâdî rahimahullâh. He said to his son-in-law: “My daughter is expecting a child at the moment. Once she gives birth, you may certainly go for Tablîgh.” But the son-in-law left on that very day. This mufti related this incident personally to me. I do not give any importance to rumours. The mufti said to me: “Tell me, is this Tablîgh?” Now his wife will influence thousands of other women. She will say: “Do you call this tyrant a tablîghî? He did not even fulfil my rights.”

Look! My friend Qâdî Sahib is sitting here. He spent his life in Tablîgh. But he asked Maulânâ Abrâr-ul-HaqqSahib rahimahullâh: “My wife has a stroke. There is a Tablîghî ijtimâ‘ in Sri Lanka. Will Allah Ta’alabe pleased by my going there or by remaining at home and attending to my wife?”Hazratrahimahullâh replied that Allah Ta’alawill be more pleased if he remained and attended to his wife. She is suffering from a stroke and no one but the husband can tend to her. Others cannot touch her the way the husband can. Therefore, whatever reward you get from going to Sri Lanka, you will get the same by remaining at home. In fact, you will get more reward.

Do religious work while remaining within the limits. Do not break the limits. For example, during the hajj, the person enjoys the presence of Allah Ta’alain ‘Arafât on the 9th of Dhul Hijjah. He cannot enjoy that same presence even if he were to embrace the Ka‘bah on that day. All the pilgrims are gone to ‘Arafât on the 9th of DhûlHijjah, and here is this one person holding on to the Ka‘bah and crying and saying: “I will not leave the House of Allâh.” Such a person is a foolish person. His hajj will not be completed. Friends! I am therefore saying that you must remain with the ‘ulamâ’, and leadyour life in the light of the Qur’ân and Hadîth.

Now tell me, if it was a non-‘âlim and he was fanatical about Tablîgh, he would have said: “Hey, leave your wife and go. Everything is under the control of Allâh. Allâh will set right all your affairs. You must go in Tablîgh. Go, go, go.”

It is for this reason that I say that before you can give time to go for Tablîgh, you must ask the ‘ulamâ’ if you have any duties which you are responsible for. You must then act on what they say. Furthermore, consult those ‘ulamâ’ who are balanced in their temperament. A Hadîth states that a judge must not pass judgement when he is overcome by anger. Similarly, the ‘ulamâ’ who are overcome by zeal for Tablîghshould not be consulted in this regard because they fall under the category of maghlûb al-hâl (one who is overcome and overpowered by his condition). There are some immature people who say that the ‘ulamâ’ have to go in Tablîgh for one full year. The purpose of this is to indoctrinate them so much that their intellectual capacity no longer remains and they become maghlûb al-hâl. In other words, instead of having control over situations, they are overcome by them. Another point in this regard is that if there is any greatness in a person that is also put to an end. Those who are the seniors, they explain this one benefit. However, through the blessings of the du‘âs of my elders, a particular point has been exposed to my heart: Can there be any greater faqîh (jurist) than Hazrat‘Umar (radhiallaho anho)? When he embraced Islam, the angels in the heavens were overjoyed and celebrated this occasion. During his caliphate, he issued an order that every soldier who is waging jihad must return from the battlefield every four months and fulfil the rights of his wife. What caused him to issue this order? While he was walking around and patrolling one night, he overheard a woman singing a poem in which she said that if she did not have the fear of Allah Ta’ala, she would have committed an unlawful act and fulfilled her desire thereby. Hazrat ‘Umar (radhiallaho anho) went to his daughter, HazratHafsah radiyallâhu ‘anhâ and asked her: “O my daughter! For what period of time can a woman bear to be separated from her husband?” She replied and said four months. Hazrat ‘Umar (radhiallaho anho) therefore made it a law that those waging jihad must return home after every four months and fulfil the rights of their wives.

Now what about a person who has become very old? What example can I give to you? Some men look very old externally, but they are still young internally. Imam Abû Hanîfah rahimahullâh explained this ruling that when a young person is fasting, he cannot kiss his wife, but an old man may kiss his wife. The reason for this is that if a man is gone old, it is not possible for him to be overcome by passion when kissing his wife and thereby having intercourse with her. While teaching this Hadîth, Imam Abû Hanîfah rahimahullâh said that some young people are old. They have no strength, they always have a cold, and have no strength at all. It will be permissible for them to kiss their wives. On the other hand, some old men eat vitality-providing foods and drink chicken soup, and are thus still young. It will not be permissible for them to kiss their wives. Therefore, the basis is strength [and not mere age]. It is for this reason that great erudite scholars sing the praises of the jurisprudence of Imam Abû Hanîfah rahimahullâh.

I am telling you the truth: If one million non-‘âlim Muslims are going somewhere for religious work, and just one pious, Allâh-fearing ‘âlim selects me and says to me: “Akhtar! I want you to come with me.” Then – inshâ Allâh – I will leave those one million ordinary Muslims and remain with this one ‘âlim because he is a deputy of Rasulullah (sallellaho alaihe wasallam). Allah Ta’alawill be more pleased with us if we do work while remaining within the limits of the Sharî‘ah.

Rasulullah (sallellaho alaihe wasallam) called Hazrat Abû Bakr as-Siddîq (radhiallaho anho) and said to him that he must accompany him for the hijrah (emigration from Makkah to Madînah). Rasulullah (sallellaho alaihe wasallam) did not call anyone else. Now was Hazrat Abû Bakr as-Siddîq (radhiallaho anho) fortunate or not? Now if the Prophet (sallellaho alaihe wasallam)calls someone and tells him: “I am departing, I want you to accompany me.” But the person says: “No, no, I am going for forty days.” When the shaikh is coming into a locality and a person leaves him and goes away in Tablîgh, then I say that this person will be taken to task on the day of Resurrection. This is because the shaikh is a deputy of Rasulullah (sallellaho alaihe wasallam), he is a purifier [of the soul], and it is compulsory to purify the soul.

In like manner, the elders of Tablîgh prohibit taking young boys out in Tablîgh. Yet, the majority break the rules and take young beardless boys with them, and make them sleep in the same place as them in the musjid. There is a person who comes here and he personally related this incident to me. He said: “I was lying down in the musjid when three people came near me. The young boy from among them pressed my legs. Then the middle-aged person pressed my legs. Then the old man pressed my legs. So I asked them: ‘Why are you people pressing my legs?’ They all replied: ‘We are showing our kindness to you.’ I said to them: ‘Why are you not pressing the legs of those old people who have to press their legs themselves? Look at that old man who is pressing his legs by himself. Go to him and press his legs. You are only finding handsome boys to press their legs? Are you showing your kindness to them alone?’” You should therefore not do anything against the advice and counsel of your elders.

Look at Qâdî Sahib sitting here! He has so much of love for the ‘ulamâ’. He has love for me as well. When I am about to go on a journey, he leaves behind everything and says that he will remain with me. He first learns about Islam. Then when he goes out in Tablîgh and presents facts from the Qur’ân and Hadîth, and stories of the Sahabah (Radhiallaho anhum), then all the Tablîghî brothers surround him. I am therefore saying that it is a great service to create respect for the ‘ulamâ’ in the hearts of the masses. What will happen if the masses lose their contact and connection with the ‘ulamâ’? They will not know the laws. They will practise on the merits and virtues (fadâ’il) but they do not remember the Sunnahs of salâh. Just look at some of those who went for forty days on numerous occasions. See if their fingers are together when they are in prostration or not. The reason for this is that they are not reminded about the Sunnah.

Therefore, the Sunnahs which are mentioned in the authentic Hadîth books should be read to the Arabs. The Arabs accept Bukhârî, Muslim and the other authentic Hadîth books. The Arabs should therefore be assembled separately, and the Sunnahs which are mentioned in these Hadîth books should be read to them. If they have any objection to the Hadîth being weak, you can point out to them that it is found in such and such authentic collection of Hadîth. You can tell a person that he went into prostration in a particular way whereas the Sunnah way is something else. For example, a Hadîth of Bukhârî states that you must wear your right shoe first. Now is there anything wrong in explaining such a Hadîth? Is there any Arab who does not accept this? The Hambalîs, Shâfi‘îs and Mâlikîs all accept this. Inshâ Allâh, I am going to compile a book which contains the Sunnahs from only the six authentic Hadîth collections (SihâhSittah) so that such a collection may be acceptable throughout the world. You must make du‘â that Allah Ta’alaenables me to carry out such a task.

Qâdî Sahib and I requested the imam of a markaz musjid to read just one Sunnah after every salâh. He replied: “No, we cannot do all this over here. We will only explain the six points.” Is this the value for the Sunnah of Rasulullah (sallellaho alaihe wasallam)? Is it prohibited to learn the Sunnahs together with the six points? In short, he attached no value to the advice of Qâdî Sahib.