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letter of Maulana Saeed Ahmad Khan Saheb) (Makhtoobat-e-Saeed)

Dated: 2 April 1986

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullah Wabarakatuhu

The movement of tableegh is structured upon very delicate principles. Instituting them is very simple for those who aspire for their own spiritual reformation and very difficult indeed for those who are obsessed with the reformation of others only. The principles in question are;

1) Don't ever lose your temper on any member of the consultative body (shura) even though their opinion (mashwara) is unpalatable.

2) We should not decline to proceed to the place decided upon by the shura or the Ameer. However, one should lay bare his condition before the Ameer and the shura.

3) Don't become angry with your wife, your parents or your brothers. Always act with patience and perseverance.

4) Always regard your endeavours and sacrifices as minimal. Don't ever consider them great. Don't even allow the thought to come to mind that you have spent part of your wealth and life in this path.

5) Develop love for the people of knowledge (Ulama) and the people of dhikr wether they are actively involved in tabligh or not or wether they are in favour of it or against it. Confront them with humility and visit them on a regular basis requesting their duaas.

6) Don't ever challenge the work of tabligh with ilm and dhikr. Rate all three of them as necessary. Nonetheless there is no other activity but Dawah to disseminate Ilm and dhikr amongst the entire Ummah. this is why Allah Ta'ala delegated the ambiya (prophets) as Da'ees.

8) Try making dua unto Allah with sorrow and humility.

9) Don't despise anyone no matter how illiterate or poor he maybe. Don't give preference to the rich over the poor. As a matter of fact, confront the poor with a degree of cheerfulness.

10) Don't refrain from extending the work of dawah to Muslims hailing from every walk of life and to members of the diverse sects.

11) Always keep in close contact with people working with you and ensure that they are in close contact with you as well. Just as it is important to be united with others it is more important to bring about unity within ones own folk.

12) Owing to certain circumstances there could be a slight variation in the techniques employed at various places. This should not provoke the workers of one area to raise objections against the workers of another area as this would fail to bring about their own Islah (spiritual reformation) as well as the Islah of others. In fact such inclinations of objecting against others may engender antagonistic and retaliatory sentiments. this in turn, would give rise to pride and self conceitedness.Consequently, one gets trapped in the words and configuration of Dawah, totally deprived of its reality.

13) Upon reaching another area firstly consult the older workers of that area and then commence the work.

14) If discrepancies do occur on any issue with inhabitants of another area and such discrepancies fail to be solved by the mashwara, refer the matter to responsible seniors. However, live with mutual love and affection and don't become angry with each other nor vilify each other.

15) The most excellent person is he who keeps allied to him by employing outstanding character and tact in realizing this end.

16) The second most excellent person is he who maintains unity and keeps close contact with all. Both these things (no. 15 and 16) can be achieved by he who is humble.

17) Our mission is adaptable and flexible. As a result, we are in a position to unite everybody. Satan is consistently struggling to sow seeds of enmity particularly amongst the older workers and he achieves this goal on the pretext of principles. In other words, people antagonistically challenge one another on the basis of dawah principles, whereas the the most far reaching principle is unity. Where there is a lack of unity, no other principle can be instituted.

18) A greater degree of undisciplined behaviour lies in disunity. A wise person is he who is not negligent of his personal islaah (spiritual reformation), he is not hoaxed into the deceptions of shaytaan and the Nafs nor is he beguiled by the world.

19) The one with the most outstanding character is he who benefits all, regardless of whether the second person is in favour of him or against him or whether he is a friend or an enemy or whether he is rich or poor.

20) An intelligent person is he who discerns the exigencies of the occasion. In other words he is an opportunist and he has the ability to read people, i.e understand people. Also, he sincerely and perfectly seeks the pleasure of Allah.

21) We are all immature in this field. A mature person is he who remains steadfast on this mission until death, regardless of whether he is admired and valued or not, or whether people harbour good or bad thoughts about him. Even if the responsible seniors of this field entertain evil thoughts about him, he would not in turn harbour any such thoughts. Even if everyone has to abandon him, he would not retaliate likewise but he would declare, “ I will never abandon you even if time everyone has to abandon me. “

22) This work of dawah is one of the attributes of the Ambiya (AS). Therefore, don't engage in it simply because the seniors are engaged in it or because they request you to do it, but commit yourself to it on account of its affinity with Allah and his Rasul (SAW), and because it is a commandment of Rasulullah (SAW).

23) Always ponder over the categorical verses and narrations of the Qur'an ands Ahadith and reflect over how important and fardh-'ayn (individual obligation) this mission is.

24) Acquaint yourself with the essence of this work by making du'aa unto Allah. The one before whom Allah unfurls the essence of this work is considered as a "veteran" and a mature worker in this field, whether he is well-versed in lecturing or not, or whether he is illiterate or a learned scholar.


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