In this chapter, I will quote certain sayings of the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) that explain the meaning of the above-mentioned verses of the Holy Qur'an. It is not the intention to encompass all the relevant ahaa-dith. If I quote all the verses and the ahaadith on this subject, I fear no one will read them, for now-a-days people hardly spare time for such things. So. to place before you how important Tabligh is in the eyes of the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam), and what serious consequences follow from its neglect, I give below a few sayings of the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam):

It is reported by Abu Sa'eed Khudri (Radhiyallaho anho) that the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) said: "Whoever sees a forbidden thing being done, he must prevent it by the use of his hand; and if he has no power for this action, then he should prevent it with his tongue; and if he cannot do this even, then he should at least consider it a vice in his heart, and this is a very low level of one's faith."

In another hadith, it has been said that if a person can prevent evil with his tongue then he should so prevent it; otherwise, he should at least think it evil in his heart and thus stand exonerated. Another hadith says that if anyone hates sin within his heart, he is a true believer, but this is the weakest form of faith. This topic has occurred in many other sayings of the Prophet.

Now think well how many Muslims there are who act upon this hadith in a practical way. How many of us prevent evil forcibly, how many with the tongue, and how many seriously hate it within our heart? We have to take stock of ourselves on these issues.

It has been reported by Nu'maan bin Basheer (Radhiyallaho anho) that the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) said: "There are people who do not transgress the limits (laws) of Allah, and there are others who do so. They are like two groups who boarded a ship; one of them settled on the upper deck, and the other, on the lower deck of the ship.

So, when the people of the lower deck needed water, they said: 'Why should we cause trouble to the people of the upper deck when we can easily have plenty of water by making a hole in our deck.' Now if the people of the upper deck do not prevent this group from such foolishness, all of them will perish - but if they stop them then they all will be saved." (Bukhari & Tirmizi)

Once the Companions of the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) asked him: *'0 Messenger of Allah! (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) can we people be destroyed even when there are certain pious God-fearing persons among us?" He answered: "Yes, when evil deeds predominate in a society."

Nowadays the Muslims are generally anxious about the decline and fall of this Ummah, and they suggest certain plans to stop this decline, but they never consider as to what is the main cause of our decline. They fail to identify the true reason of our spiritual and moral decline, particularly when the proper remedy has been told by Allah and the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam).

It is a pity that because of the wrong diagnosis, incorrect remedies, including continued neglect of Tabligh, are leading to the further decline of the Ummah. In fact, the main cause of our decline is that we do not pay attention to Tabligh nor do we help those who devote themselves to this sacred mission.

Tags: ahadith