Muḥammad Ilyās ibn Muḥammad Ismā‘īl Kāndhlawī Dihlawī (1885 – 13 July 1944) was an
Indian Islamic scholar who founded the
Tablighi Jamaat Islamic revivalist movement, in 1925, in
Mewat province.
Early life and education
Muhammad Ilyas was born in 1303 AH (1885/1886) in the village of
Kandhla,
Muzaffarnagar district,
North-West Provinces,
British India (in present-day
Shamli district,
Uttar Pradesh,
India). His year of birth can be computed by the ''tarikhi'' (
chronogrammatic) name "Akhtar Ilyas" () using
abjad numerals.
In a local
maktab (school), he memorized one and a quarter
ajza'
A ''juzʼ'' (Arabic: جُزْءْ, plural: ''ajzāʼ'', literally meaning "part") is one of thirty parts of varying lengths into which the Quran is divided. It is also known as para (پارہ/পারা) in Iran and the Indian subcontinent. The ...
of the
Qur'an, and he completed
memorizing the Qur'an under his father's supervision in Nizamuddin area, Delhi. Thereafter, he studied the elementary books of
Arabic and
Persian language mostly under his father. Later on, he lived with and studied under
Rashid Ahmad Gangohi. In 1905, Rashid Ahmad Gangohi died, when Muhammad Ilyas was 20. In 1908, Muhammad Ilyas enrolled in
Darul Uloom Deoband
The Darul Uloom Deoband is an Islamic seminary (darul uloom) in India at which the Sunni Deobandi Islamic movement began. It is located in Deoband, a town in Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh. The seminary was established by Muhammad Qasim ...
. He also studied under
Mahmud Hasan Deobandi.
Foundation of Tablighi Jamaat
In the early 1920s, he prepared a team of young
madrasah
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
graduates from
Deoband
Deoband is a town and a municipality in Saharanpur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, about 150 km from Delhi. Darul Uloom Deoband, an Islamic seminary and one of the largest Islamic Institution of India is located there.
Etymo ...
and
Saharanpur
Saharanpur is a city and a municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district.
Saharanpur city's name was given after the Saint Shah Haroon Chishti.
Saharanpur is declared as on ...
and sent them to
Mewat
Mewat is a historical region of Haryana and Rajasthan states in northwestern India. The loose boundaries of Mewat generally include Hathin tehsil and Nuh district of Haryana, Alwar (Tijara, Kishangarh, Bas, Ramgarh, Laxmangarh, Kathumar tehsil ...
to establish a network of mosques and Islamic schools movement. He once said that if he had to attribute a name to his movement, it would have been ''Tehreek-e-Imaan'' ('Imaan/Faith movement'). The people of
South Asia started calling the devotees ''Tableeghi'' and this name eventually became popular among the common people.
The Tablighi Jamaat has since gone on to become one of the most widespread grassroots Islamic movements in the world with a presence in many countries, including Canada, South Africa and the UK.
Legacy
Abul Hasan Ali Hasani Nadwi wrote a biography named ''
Life and mission of Maulana Mohammad Ilyas
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy transf ...
''.
References
Further reading
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{{Wikiquote
1885 births
1944 deaths
Deobandis
Indian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Tablighi Jamaat people
Students of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi
People from Shamli district
Emirs of Tablighi Jamaat