Mufti Mahmood Hasan Gangohi (raḥimahullāh) and Da’wat

Da’wat and Tableegh

Hadhrat’s entire life had passed in teaching, issuing fatwas, purification of the soul, tarbiyah, lecturing and giving advice. Together with this, he also engaged himself in the effort of da’watand tableegh which he considered as being extremely necessary for the entire ummah. He encouraged many people to participate in this effort and advised many newly qualified Ulama’ to spend one year in the path of Allah Ta‘ala stressing on them not to become the Ameers of the Jmaats. He had an ardent desire that every person should make the effort of da’wat and tableegh the purpose of his life. Hadhrat (RA) would spend his entire day and night consumed with this worry and concern. When living in Kanpur, he always participated in the weekly Ijtima. He would also deliver a lecture if the mashwarah required him to do so. He would also take the brothers to Nizaamuddin for mashwarah (consultation) and would join the jamaats for three days. He attended the annual ijtimahs and if the Shurah requested, he would also deliver the lectures. He would participate in all the bayaans at the ijtima. Hadhrat (RA) attended the Ijtimaas held in Sahaaranpur, Muzaffarnagar and others places in the country if the opportunity presented itself. Whenever Hadhrat (RA) travelled out of the country, he made a point of visiting the weekly shabb guzaari program and the annual ijtimas. He would also conduct programs and provide people with excellent mashwarah council.In his talks, Hadhrat (RA) would narrate many incidents of the pious people to make the people understand the importance of the work. Once, someone objected to this saying, “Why is it that you explain to us incidents of the pious like Bayaazeed Bustaami (RA) etc? Why do you not mention to us the incidents of Rasulullah Sallalahu Allayhi Wassallam and the Sahaabah that are explained in the Qur’aan and Hadith?” Hadhrat Mufti Saahib (RA) replied, “In the audience, there people like you sitting there as well. If I mention the incident of some buzurg to you and for some reason you cannot understand the incident, you then reject it or object to it then there isn’t much harm caused to you. But if you have to object to an incident regarding Rasulullah Sallalahu Allayhi Wassallam you willbe destroyed. It is for this reason that we do not make much mention of the incidents mentioned in the Hadith.”“I have proof for this as well. Once at the time of salaah, a person was sleeping in the Musjid. Rasulullah Sallalahu Allayhi Wassallam told Hadhrat ‘Ali (RA) to wake him up. Hadhrat ‘Ali (RA) asked Nabi Sallalahu Allayhi Wassallam, ‘O prophet of Allah, You are always first in doing good actions. How is it that you did not wake him up?’ Nabi Sallalahu Allayhi Wassallam replied, ‘A sleeping person is not in his right frame of mind. He may become angry with the person who woke him up. If at that time he gets angry with me, this will become extremely dangerous for him.’ However if another Sahaabi woke him up and in that condition he said something bad to the Sahaabi then its not such a big issue. It happened amongst friends.’ It is not disrespectful to place one Qur’aan Shareef upon another Qur’aan. If one makes such an objection against a Nabi then this very dangerous whereas this is not the case in the event of one Sahaabi saying something to another Sahaabi.”Subhaanallh! Imagine Hadhrat’s intelligence. What concern he had for the Imaan of others. Hadhrat (RA) once made all the arrangements for the annual ijtima to take place in the Jaam’i Musjid of Kanpur which in actual fact is the Musjid of Jaami’ul ‘Uloom. He also sent those Ulama’ who had just qualified that year, Moulana Abdul Ghani and Moulana Anwaar Saahib, for one chillah (40 days) in Jamaat. Hadhrat (RA) also took out a large group of his friends for one chillah (40 days). While he remained here, he always emphasised to his associates to spend time in jamaat. Whichever village he visited, he always encouraged his friends and associates to spend time in the path of Allah.Hadhrat (RA) had answered all the objections against the work with detailed answers which have been published in Fataawa Mahmoodiyah and separately in a book form.[1]