Dr Khalid Siddiqui’s Letter

Dr. Khalid Siddiqui is one of the Elders of the Tabligh who has devoted his life to the work. He had the honor to work with Maulana Yusuf (the second Ameer of Tabligh) and spent full-time with Maulana Inaamul Hasan (the third Ameer of Tabligh). His dedication led him to live full-time at Nizamuddin Markaz, Delhi.

Dr. Khalid Siddiqui wrote this letter to explain the true nature of the Shura to stop the spread of false information.

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The true reality of the Shura

From Dr. Khalid Siddiqui

Recently, a letter from a person named Faruq from Bangladesh has gone viral. This letter presents a distorted view of the Shura established by Maulana Inaamul Hasan. The letter had no signature. For this reason, we are writing this letter to explain the true reality of the Shura.

Allah SWT gave this effort for the revival of Deen to Maulana Ilyaas in 1924. People call it ‘Tabligh,’ though Maulana Ilyas said that if he were to name this effort, he would have called it Tahreek-e-Imaan.

Maulana Ilyas passed away in 1944. The elders at that time appointed his son, Maulana Yusuf, as the next Ameer.

Maulana Yusuf passed away in 1965. Maulana Zakariyya, the nephew of Maulana Ilyaas, consulted with the elders and appointed Maulana Inaamul Hasan Sahib as the new Ameer. At that time, there was unrest among the Mewatis. They wanted Maulana Haroon, the son of Maulana Yusuf, to be the Ameer. However, Maulana Haroon rejected this and supported Maulana Inamul Hasan. In this way, the effort moved forward.

In 1985, some changes to the method (Tarteeb) of the work were introduced at Raiwind Markaz. Some elders became worried. They raised concerns about these changes to Maulana Inaamul Hasan in 1992 in front of elders from many countries. Through the blessing of Maulana Inaamul Hasan’s personality, this issue was resolved. Everyone returned to the original path. After this, Hazratji (Maulana Inamul Hasan) created a worldwide (Aalami) Shura of ten people to keep the effort on its original doctrine (Nehaj).

This Shura continued the work after Maulana Inaamul Hasan died in 1995. They all agreed that the work would continue under the Shura and not under one Ameer. They also decided that 5 members would carry out the work specific to Nizamuddin Markaz: Miyanji Mehrab Sahib, Maulana Umar Palanpuri, Maulana Izharul Hasan, Maulana Zubairul Hasan, and Maulana Saad. These 5 would take turns as the head (Faisal) of consultation (Mashwara).

By 2000, only 3 Shura members remained: Haji Abdul Wahhab, Maulana Zubairul Hasan, and Maulana Saad. None of the Shura members who died were replaced, even though some elders saw the need to replace them.

In 2002, the effort moved away from its course (Nehaj). One member of the Shura did this. He added Muntakhab Ahaadith to the Taleem in Nizamudin without getting consent from the other 2 remaining Shura members.

Gradually, many other changes began to appear in Nizamuddin. Examples include Dawah-Taleem-Istiqbaal, giving dawah only in the masjid, discussing Fiqhi Masail among common people, and interpreting Quran and Hadith differently.

In March 2014, Maulana Zubairul Hasan passed away. After that, Maulana Saad introduced Bay’at in Nizamuddin. He claimed he took this from Maulana Ilyaas Sahib. This was the second disagreement with the 1995 Shura.

Many elders tried to convince Maulana Saad to stop the new ways that were being introduced without the elders’ agreement.

Even Maulana Arshad Madni and Maulana Abul Qasim Numani Sahib of Darul Uloom Deoband wrote a letter on August 31, 2015. After seeing the current state of the Effort, they wrote with great sorrow that Nizamuddin should keep following the customs of the previous elders.

Sadly, even after their many requests, Maulana Saad did not listen to them. All efforts failed, and his new doctrine (Nehaj) continued.

In 2015, Haji Abdul Wahab Sahib gathered the responsible elders of Nizamuddin, Raiwind, and Kakrail. He completed the Shura by adding new members to it so the effort of dawah could return to its original way. However, Maulana Saad rejected this, saying it was not needed. This made it clear that Maulana Saad wanted to keep following his own way. He was not willing to listen to the elders who believed this new way would harm the effort. They feared it would take the effort to a point where reversing harmful changes would become impossible.

In 2016, the situation got worse. Those who disagreed with Nizamuddin faced such threats that 4 members of the Nizamuddin Shura (Maulana Ibrahim, Maulana Ahmad Laat, Maulana Yaqub, and Maulana Zuhairul Hasan Sahib) took a stand. To protect themselves from conflict (fitna), they left the Markaz, leaving it in the hands of one person. Now the work in Nizamuddin began to introduce many new ways and changes. As a result, many old workers have distanced themselves from the Markaz. For this very reason, the late Maulana Zubairul Hasan, when facing these issues, chose to remain silent to prevent such conflict from spreading.

In 2015, many old workers including Maulana Ibrahim, myself, and several others asked Maulana Saad Sahib at least 4 times to form a Shura. We also asked him not to change the approach (Nehaj) of the work. However, he ignored our requests.

In 2015, the old workers approached Haji Abdul Wahab to form a new Shura. This was to keep the work the same in Nizamuddin, Raiwind, and Kakrail. Through Allah SWT’s favor, Haji Abdul Wahab completed the Shura by adding 11 members to Maulana Inamul Hasan’s old Shura. This brought the total number of Shura members to 13. The new Shura formation letter clearly states that no changes to the method (Nehaj) can be made unless the entire Shura agrees to it.

Furthermore, if one member dies, another person will be added with the agreement of two-thirds of the Shura. Maulana Saad rejected this new Shura, saying there was no need for it. It’s also worth noting that at that time, 3 members of the Shura from Kakrail did not sign the letter. (Editor’s Note: 2 of the 3 members from Kakrail later accepted the Shura and have been very active in it)

In November 2016, 9 of the 13 Shura members met at the Ijtema in Raiwind Markaz. They wrote a letter to Maulana Saad and to all those responsible for the work. Some of the key points are:

• After Maulana Inaamul Hasan’s death, the Shura all agreed that the work would move forward through consultation (Mashwara). There would be no Ameer and no Bay’ah in Nizamuddin.
• Any change to the doctrine (Nehaj) of the work must be accepted by all Shura members.
• Matters for specific countries can only be decided when most of the Shura is present. Issues should not be presented to just one member but to most members.
• Those spending 40 days every year will spend their first 40 days in their country, the second in India, Pakistan, or Bangladesh (IPB), and the third in any other country.
• The schedule (Tarteeb) of holding a gathering (jor) every second year for old workers of every country in Nizamuddin was because Maulana Inaamul Hasan was ill. This is no longer needed.

Haji Abdul Wahab wrote a letter to Maulana Saad clearly stating that the Shura was complete. After reciting the dua 101 times, he himself signed it.

It is now clear that the letter written by an unknown Faruq Sahib was meant to reject Haji Abdul Wahab’s letter. We humbly ask all old workers to carefully read the letters of Haji Abdul Wahab Sahib, Maulana Ibrahim, Maulana Yaqub, and others. This will help prevent the spread of false rumors that could mislead people. May Allah SWT help us stay on the straight path.

Dr. Khalid Siddiqui