Tabligh Movement
4. TWO DAYS IN NIZAMUDDIN
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inspiration of Maulana Ilyas. Since then he has
never looked back.
This Mewati missionary had now grown old,
bearded and of browner skin, and his simple and
confident words made me feel as though I were in
the presence of one of the companions of the
Prophet. I listened ‘to him with rapt attention just as
an obedient student does to his kind teacher. I still
regret that our conversation was interrupted and
we had to separate.
He recounted the whole story of how Maulana Ilyas
had been confronted with stiff resistance by unruly
Mewati villagers when he attempted to reform
them, and how on one occasion, in return for his
exhortations, he had received a hard blow, as a
result of which he had collapsed. The way he won
the hearts of this barbarous people is a long story
which has already been mentioned in the first
chapter. To be brief, Maulana Ilyas realized from his
experience that until the Mewatis were separated
from their environment, the intended result could
not be achieved. They were, therefore, brought to
stay in mosques for a period of time in order to be
