Tabligh Movement
4. TWO DAYS IN NIZAMUDDIN
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today, nature and tradition shape the personalities
of almost 99 percent of the people.
Those who are born Muslims have an extra element
in their favour; that is, they are brought up in the
Muslim tradition, and in most cases they are
imparted religious education in their childhood. At
an unconscious level, at least, the religious outlook
has a firm hold upon them. They might outwardly
appear irreligious but, owing to the nature and
tradition that they have inherited, in their inner
selves, almost all are Islamic. The hold is usually
upon their feelings and not upon their beliefs. That
is why they respond to the impassioned appeals
made by the missionaries. They hear the details of
heaven and hell, their hearts are moved, the chords
of their inner feelings are struck by means of prayer,
even avowedly irreligious people break down and
cry, deeply touched. Their appeal may not be
endowed with reason, but it has an ecstatic value in
it. And gradually the unconscious self comes to
dominate when it is regularly exposed to such
voices and is reborn. The greatest secret of success
of the Tabligh mission lies in their exploiting the
inherent emotional basis rather than attempting to
