6 Points Muzakra

[Desiderato Chouinard]

The6 points of Tablighi Jamat were introduced in a Mashwara (meeting) that took place in August 1934. Maulana Ilyas (the founder of Tabligh) and Shaykhul Hadith Maulana Zakariyya were part of that Mashwara.

It is important to point out that 6 points is not complete Islam. It is also not an innovation supplementing the 5 pillars of Islam or the 6 pillars of Imaan. The purpose is to inculcate people with the qualities that would make it easy to practice and bring complete Islam into their lives.

There is also no set and elaborated definition for each point. As mentioned previously, the 6 points are simple. A definition or deeper meaning of the 6 points may have been propagated through word of mouth, however, it is not official and only serves to help people understand and elaborate the 6 points.

The most common definition or elaboration of the 6 points is the letter in which Maulana Yusuf (the second Ameer of Tabligh) wrote to a Jamaat going to Saudi Arabia. This letter has set most of the propagated definitions but Maulana Yusuf was careful not to say that this is the official definition. He mentions general remarks about each point. Here we present them:

He runs the system of sustenance. If He wishes He can sustain somebody in a barren desert without any source of material and He can destroy life even in the midst of abundant materials. The prophet Muhammad (SAW) brought many Sunnahs by which one can gain closeness to Allah and derive benefit directly from the power of Allah. When these ways are adopted in our lives, Allah will grant success in every form and condition.

We have been given the gift of Salat (prayers) so that we can derive benefit directly from Allah SWT. We use every part of the body from head to foot with great humility according to a specified way that pleases Allah SWT. In Salat, we make proper use of the eye, ears, hands, feet, tongue, etc and our thoughts and hearts are filled with the fear of Allah SWT. We should believe that if our body parts in my Salat are following the order of Allah, Allah will enable us to receive rewards more valuable than the entire universe. If we stretch out our hands to supplicate with this Yaqeen (conviction), then Allah will fulfil all our needs from his unlimited power. With such salaat Allah will forgive our sins. He will grant abundance in our sustenance and ability to obey him. To learn such salaat:

Whoever covers up the faults of other Muslims, Allah will cover up their faults. Allah will keep helping us as long as we are busy helping others. Whoever forgoes his rights, Allah will grant him a place in the centre of paradise. If anyone tolerates and humbles themselves for the sake of Allah, Allah will raise their honour. For this:

Every action of ours should only be for the pleasure of Allah SWT. We should not do anything for material gain or fame. A minor action with the pure intention to please Allah will attract great rewards. However, an action with wrong intentions, despite how great it is, will be a reason for the punishment of Allah SWT. To improve our Ikhlas:

A mosque (/mɒsk/ MOSK), also called a masjid (/ˈmsdʒɪd, ˈmʌs-/ MASS-jid, MUSS-),[note 1] is a place of worship for Muslims.[1] The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Islamic prayers are performed, such as an outdoor courtyard.[2][3]

In addition to being places of worship in Islam, mosques also serve as locations for funeral services and funeral prayers, marriages (nikah), vigils during Ramadan, business agreements, collection and distribution of alms, and homeless shelters.[1][7] To this end, mosques have historically been multi-purpose buildings functioning as community centres, courts of law, and religious schools. In modern times, they have also preserved their role as places of religious instruction and debate.[1][7] Special importance is accorded to, in descending order of importance: al-Masjid al-Haram in the city of Mecca, where Hajj and Umrah are performed; the Prophet's Mosque in the city of Medina, where Muhammad is buried; and al-Aqsa Mosque in the city of Jerusalem, where Muslims believe that Muhammad ascended to heaven to meet God around 621 CE.[1] There's a growing realization among scholars that the present-day perception of mosques doesn't fully align with their original concept. Early Islamic texts and practices highlight mosques as vibrant centers integral to Muslim communities, supporting religious, social, economic, and political affairs.[8]

During and after the early Muslim conquests, mosques were established outside of Arabia in the hundreds; many synagogues, churches, and temples were converted into mosques and thus influenced Islamic architectural styles over the centuries.[7] While most pre-modern mosques were funded by charitable endowments (waqf),[1] the modern-day trend of government regulation of large mosques has been countered by the rise of privately funded mosques, many of which serve as bases for different streams of Islamic revivalism and social activism.[7]

Islam was established in Arabia during the lifetime of Muhammad in the 7th century CE.[10] The first mosque in history could be either the sanctuary built around the Ka'bah ('Cube') in Mecca, known today as Al-Masjid al-Haram ('The Sacred Mosque'), or the Quba Mosque in Medina, the first structure built by Muhammad upon his emigration from Mecca in 622 CE,[11] both located in the Hejaz region in present-day Saudi Arabia.[12]

Other scholars reference Islamic tradition[13][14][15] and passages of the Quran,[16][17][18] according to which Islam as a religion precedes Muhammad, and includes previous prophets such as Abraham.[19] In Islamic tradition, Abraham is credited with having built the Ka'bah in Mecca, and consequently its sanctuary, Al-Masjid al-Haram, which is seen by Muslims as the first mosque that existed.[20][21][22][23] A hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari states that the sanctuary of the Ka'bah was the first mosque on Earth, with the second mosque being Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem,[24] which is also associated with Abraham.[21] Since as early as 638 CE, the Sacred Mosque of Mecca has been expanded on several occasions to accommodate the increasing number of Muslims who either live in the area or make the annual pilgrimage known as Hajj to the city.[25]

Either way, after the Quba Mosque, Muhammad went on to establish another mosque in Medina, which is now known as Al-Masjid an-Nabawi ('The Prophet's Mosque'). Built on the site of his home, Muhammad participated in the construction of the mosque himself and helped pioneer the concept of the mosque as the focal point of the Islamic city.[26] The Prophet's Mosque is considered by some scholars of Islamic architecture to be the first mosque.[27][28] The mosque had a roof supported by columns made of palm tree trunks[29] and it included a large courtyard, a motif common among mosques built since then.[26] Rebuilt and expanded over time,[30] it soon became a larger hypostyle structure.[28] It probably served as a model for the construction of early mosques elsewhere.[27][28][29] It introduced some of the features still common in today's mosques, including the niche at the front of the prayer space known as the mihrab (first added in the Umayyad period)[30] and the tiered pulpit called the minbar.[31]

The Great Mosque of Kairouan in present-day Tunisia was the first mosque built in the Maghreb (northwest Africa), with its present form (dating from the ninth century) serving as a model for other Islamic places of worship in the Maghreb. It was the first in the region to incorporate a square minaret, which was characteristic of later Maghrebi mosques, and includes naves akin to a basilica.[34][35] Those features can also be found in Andalusi mosques, including the Great Mosque of Cordoba, as they tended to reflect the architecture of the Moors instead of their Visigoth predecessors.[35] Still, some elements of Visigothic architecture, like horseshoe arches, were infused into the mosque architecture of Spain and the Maghreb.[36]

Muslim empires were instrumental in the evolution and spread of mosques. Although mosques were first established in India during the seventh century, they were not commonplace across the subcontinent until the arrival of the Mughals in the 16th and 17th centuries. Reflecting their Timurid origins, Mughal-style mosques included onion domes, pointed arches, and elaborate circular minarets, features common in the Persian and Central Asian styles.[37] The Jama Masjid in Delhi and the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, built in a similar manner in the mid-17th century,[38] remain two of the largest mosques on the Indian subcontinent.[39]

The first mosque in East Asia was established in the eighth century in Xi'an. The Great Mosque of Xi'an, whose current building dates from the 18th century, does not replicate the features often associated with mosques elsewhere.[40] Minarets were initially prohibited by the state.[41] Following traditional Chinese architecture, the Great Mosque of Xi'an, like many other mosques in eastern China, resembles a pagoda, with a green roof instead of the yellow roof common on imperial structures in China. Mosques in western China were more likely to incorporate elements, like domes and minarets, traditionally seen in mosques elsewhere.[40]

Several of the early mosques in the Ottoman Empire were originally churches or cathedrals from the Byzantine Empire, with the Hagia Sophia (one of those converted cathedrals) informing the architecture of mosques from after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople.[44] The Ottomans developed their own architectural style characterized by large central domes (sometimes surrounded by multiple smaller domes), pencil-shaped minarets, and open faades.[45]

Mosques from the Ottoman period are still scattered across Eastern Europe, but the most rapid growth in the number of mosques in Europe has occurred within the past century as more Muslims have migrated to the continent. Many major European cities are home to mosques, like the Grand Mosque of Paris, that incorporate domes, minarets, and other features often found with mosques in Muslim-majority countries.[46] The first mosque in North America was founded by Albanian Americans in 1915, but the continent's oldest surviving mosque, the Mother Mosque of America, was built in 1934.[47] As in Europe, the number of American mosques has rapidly increased in recent decades as Muslim immigrants, particularly from South Asia, have come in the United States. Greater than forty percent of mosques in the United States were constructed after 2000.[48]

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