Tabligh Movement
1. MAULANA ILYAS
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could be described as semi-tribal, somewhat like the
ancient Arab bedouins. These uncouth and illiterate
people had converted to Islam on a mass scale as a
result of the efforts of the well-known Sufi Hazrat
Nizamuddin Aulia and his descendants. But in
practical life they were very far from Islam. There
was nothing Islamic about them apart from the title
of Muslims that they bore. They kept their Hindu
names, like Nahar Singh and Bhup Singh; they left a
lock of hair on the top of the shaven head as Hindus
do; they worshipped idols, celebrated all the Hindu
festivals and made sacrifices to the pre-Islamic gods
and goddesses. Also on the occasion of Shab-e-Barat
they hoisted the flag of Sayyed Salar Ghazi, a
Muslim saint, who had been adopted by them as an
object of idolatory. They could not even recite the
creed of the Muslims. So unfamiliar even was the
sight of prayer, let alone the saying of it, that if by
chance they came across someone praying, they
gathered to enjoy the spectacle, assuming that the
person must either be mad or suffering from some
ailment due to which he was kneeling and
prostrating himself again and again. Like tribal
peoples they were scantily-clad, and spent most of
their time in robbing, looting and other such base
