On 29 January 2025, Mufti Taqi Usmani gave a speech at the Dar es Salaam Tabligh Markaz in Tanzania in light of the Tablighi Jamaat Ikhtilaf.
Summary
- Mufti Taqi expresses the need to maintain true to the purpose (i.e. Da’wa) and not make it a rivalry between organizations (‘us’ vs ‘them’).
- Mufti Taqi condemns the violence in Bangladesh
- Mufti Taqi Usmani stresses that we should let the movement split (agree to split) but maintain true to the purpose of Da’wa
Note: In Tanzania, both groups share the same Markaz and they work together. In most places, this is difficult as there will be internal factions (A strong country level leadership is required for this).
Despite his criticism on Maulana Saad, Mufti Taqi avoided mentioning this as the speech was also given in front of Saad’s followers.
Translation
According to what is being said, the work of religion does not happen by first making grand plans, preparing blueprints, getting budgets approved, or preparing feasibility reports. The work of religion starts with one person, and this was proven by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) himself through his blessed life. When he came to this world, he was alone – no companions, no helpers, no organization, no plans, no budget, no building. And Allah gave him such a great responsibility in the cave of Hira. “Read in the name of your Lord.” What does this mean? That your task is to read and convey the message of truth to the world.
Through what means will you convey it? Will you build a school? Will you establish a center? Will you create an institution? Will you form an organization? Will you establish a society with a president, secretary, administrator and treasurer? No, there is only one means – what will you do? “Read in the name of your Lord.” Read in the name of your Lord means this work we have entrusted to you – read it to the world. Now read what? When this is said in Arabic, when the verb comes without an object, it means read everything – read about belief, read about worship, read about ethics, read about society, read about how to live in this world – read and convey all of this to the whole world and call people toward this message you have read.
When this verse was revealed to the Prophet (peace be upon him), he first said “I cannot read, I am unlettered. I have never learned to read or write in my life. So how are you telling me to read?” The Prophet (peace be upon him) could have received a worldly answer – if you cannot read, first learn to read, enroll in a school, learn reading, then read. But the angel whom Allah sent did not say this. Instead, he pressed the Prophet’s blessed chest against his own and said “Read.” This meant you don’t need to go to any school, any institution, any center to learn. Knowledge will be directly placed in your blessed heart that cannot be obtained in schools. He pressed again, and again the Prophet said “I cannot read.” He pressed a third time, and after the third pressing, all knowledge from Allah was bestowed upon his blessed heart.
Then the verses came: “Read in the name of your Lord who created, created man from a clot. Read, and your Lord is most generous, who taught by the pen, taught man what he did not know.” It was explained that in this world, Allah has made the pen a means of acquiring knowledge – people write with pens, then readers read it, teachers teach it, and that’s how knowledge is acquired. But “He taught man what he did not know” – there is one knowledge that Allah directly bestows upon humans. We sent an angel to press your blessed chest and fill it with all the knowledge of the first and last, when the great responsibility of prophethood was placed upon the Prophet (peace be upon him).
This is how Allah initiates religious work. Plans aren’t made first, organizations aren’t formed first, budgets aren’t approved first, systems aren’t created first. Rather, Allah instills it in one of His servants that “you do this work,” and they begin doing it. As a result, Allah Himself brings people to them. “I set out alone toward my destination, but people joined along the way and a caravan formed.”
Today you see, praise be to Allah, the blessing of dawah (invitation to faith) has spread to remote corners of the world. Allah has shown me much of the world. I’ve seen six continents of the world and been to far-off places. This is my first time in Tanzania, but I’ve seen the rest of the world. Wherever I’ve gone, I’ve seen the direct or indirect influence of Darul Uloom Deoband. Once I was in Indonesia, people took me to a mountaintop far from any settlement. When the time for Maghrib prayer came, I asked my companion if there was a mosque to pray in. We went to a mosque and prayed. After prayer, I met the imam. When asked, he said “I graduated from Darul Uloom Deoband.” Even in that small mountain settlement, the lamp of faith was lit.
How did this happen? It didn’t happen because Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanautvi and Maulana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi first made a blueprint, created a plan, and specified who would be president, who would be secretary. Rather, there were just two people – a teacher and a student. The teacher Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanautvi and student Maulana Muhammad – both sat under a pomegranate tree. The teacher began teaching, and from there it began. No plan, no system, no organization, no structure – it just started there. But “people joined along the way and a caravan formed.” This is how Darul Uloom Deoband came into being.
Later, this institution developed its administration, its system, its committees, its supervisors, deputy supervisors, treasurer – everything was established. But what was the real purpose? The purpose was just “Read.” The purpose was only to read. All these other things were secondary. The organization wasn’t the purpose, the group wasn’t the purpose, the president and secretary weren’t the purpose, the administrator wasn’t the purpose. What was the purpose? Knowledge. The work of Darul Uloom should be for this. Later, something unfortunate happened – instead of knowledge being the purpose, there were disputes in the organization. The disputes weren’t about knowledge, but about organization. What was the result? The organization split into two – one Darul Uloom Deoband and one Darul Uloom Waqf. But “Read” is happening there and “Read” is happening here too. Teaching is happening there and here too. Both works continue. There’s no need for dispute. A mistake happened in the beginning, the dispute shouldn’t have happened. But what was the purpose? Was it to have an organization? To have an administrator? To have a president? No, the purpose was knowledge, it was “Read.” That “Read” is happening there and that “Read” is happening here too. The purpose is being achieved.
Allah created a fire in his heart – Maulana Ilyas, may Allah’s mercy be upon him – Allah created such a fire in his heart that “I must bring Muslims toward religion.” He was alone at that time, wasn’t he? He was alone. He hadn’t made any prior plans, hadn’t formed any committee, hadn’t prepared any report, hadn’t created any budget. One person, Muhammad Ilyas, may Allah’s mercy be upon him, whose heart was filled with the fire of religion, the fire for the welfare of the Muslim ummah – he started work in Mewat. Without forming any organization, he took people along. “I set out alone, but people joined along the way and a caravan formed.”
Allah is the Most High. The real purpose was da’wah (invitation), wasn’t it? The real purpose was self-reformation, the real purpose was to move toward religion and to invite others to religion. He stood up with this purpose without first forming any committee, without first creating an assembly, without first establishing consultation, without first appointing a leader. Nothing – just started the work. Because there was sincerity in the work, there was devotion to Allah, there was no purpose other than Allah. Fame wasn’t the purpose, recognition wasn’t the purpose. It wasn’t about making my name known throughout the world, having the whole world sing my praises. That wasn’t it. What was it? It was to be able to answer before Allah that “Allah, I did what was within my capacity to save Your religion.” Wasn’t this the purpose? Or was it something else? Was any organization the purpose? Any society, any president, any secretary, any budget? Nothing. But gradually, a leader is appointed, then secretaries are established, a committee is formed. But these aren’t the purpose – organization isn’t the purpose.
As I told you, the companions were gathered, but no organization was established. Darul Uloom Deoband began with a teacher and student – no organization was formed, but great work continued. So what is the real purpose? Now when this happens, where does corruption begin? The problem arises when the organization becomes the purpose. The purpose was Allah’s work, Allah’s religion, Allah’s pleasure with sincerity. That was the purpose. Later, the organization became the purpose – whoever is in my organization is mine, whoever is outside my organization is not mine. This disease develops, and sadly, this disease has caused Muslims to fight Muslims. Fighting reached the level of killing.
What happened in Bangladesh – who can bear it? Who can bear it? If Maulana Muhammad Ilyas, may Allah’s mercy be upon him, were alive today, what tears would flow from his eyes over what happened? He had no desire for leadership, no desire for presidency, no desire for any organization. He came with a mission. If organizations split – let them split. We tried our best to prevent the split, but unfortunately, it couldn’t be prevented. It happened.
So tell me, is the organization the purpose, or is the work the purpose? Tell me one thing – is the work the purpose, or is being associated with a particular organization the purpose? The work is the purpose. If work is the purpose, then for God’s sake, end this division. Whoever takes Allah’s name, whoever invites toward Allah’s religion – welcome them, consider them your own, deal with them with love, don’t maintain enmity with them.
The command is to “Read,” isn’t it? Someone reads Fazail-e-Amal, let them read. Someone reads Muntakhab Ahadith, let them read. That’s also “Read,” this is also “Read.” So if there’s a slight difference in method, accept it, but division among Muslims is something that the Prophet (peace be upon him) never accepted in his life.
If someone wants to learn religion from me, should I want that they only learn from me and not go to others? If I want that Brother Arif – a few people come to him to learn religion – and I want that they should only learn from me and come to me, tell me, will this be sincerity or will it be showing off? If someone is coming to learn religion and is learning through one organization, why should there be enmity with them? If you have a means, they are also doing your work. They’re doing it, and they’re also doing your work.
About the companions, may Allah be pleased with them, the elders say that when we would go to many companions to ask questions, they would say, “Brother, so-and-so has more knowledge, go ask them.” When we went there, they would say someone else has more knowledge, go ask them. After going around in circles, we would return to the first person and say, “Everyone is saying to ask you.” Only then would they answer the question. They wanted the virtue of explaining religion to go to their brother. The reward they wanted went to them. Today’s world has become about taking credit – whose followers are these, whose disciples are these, who should get credit for giving a great speech.
I swear, if Maulana Muhammad Ilyas, may Allah have mercy on him, had even thought about gaining fame in the world, that he would be known for carrying the banner of religious invitation, he would never have started the work of da’wah. In his heart was only sincerity, only devotion to Allah, only the work that some benefit should reach Allah’s religion. Today we have reached a point where whoever comes to our preferred organization is ours, whoever goes to another organization is not ours – they are our enemy, our opponent. If needed, I’ll fight with them, even physically fight, even kill them – God forbid! When it reaches this point, understand that Satan has made his way. When it reaches the point where Muslim is ready for violence against Muslim, understand that Satan has made his way among them.
Those companions, may Allah be pleased with them, about whom our beloved Prophet predicted that despite fighting among themselves, remained companions. Why? Because their intentions remained pure. But in our time, Muslim killing Muslim, one person throwing stones at another, raising weapons, firing bullets, pushing, killing – this can only be Satan’s work, no one else’s.
Brothers, I’ve taken a lot of your time, but the essential point is this: Hold firmly to “Read.” Hold firmly to “Read.” Read religion, teach religion, keep reading religion, bring people closer to religion. Whoever else is bringing people closer to religion, consider them your brother, don’t consider them your opponent, don’t consider them your rival. Live life with love and affection with everyone. All these blessings are from Maulana Muhammad Ilyas, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him. Therefore, for God’s sake, don’t destroy these blessings through mutual enmities, hostilities, fights, and quarrels. What is essential is essential – whoever is doing religious work, in whatever way, welcome them. May Allah, Glory be to Him and the Most High, guide us all.
