Moulana Muhammad Ilyaas (rahimahullah), the reviver of the effort of tableegh, was once invited to a tableeghi gathering in Muzaffarnagar.
On arrival in Muzaffarnagar, he observed that the people who invited him had brought elephants to the station as they wished to form a ‘procession’ to escort him to the gathering. Moulana Ilyaas (rahimahullah) objected and explained that traveling in this manner was against the fundamental principles of the effort of tableegh. Hence, Moulana (rahimahullah) sat in an ordinary horse carriage and reached his residence.
As planned, the tableeghi gathering commenced, only for Moulana Ilyaas (rahimahullah) to learn, shortly thereafter, that Moulana Sayyid Husain Ahmad Madani (rahimahullah) was delivering a lecture in another gathering nearby. Moulana Ilyaas (rahimahullah) immediately cancelled his lecture and instructed those present saying, “Moulana Madani (rahimahullah) has arrived. Everybody should attend that gathering and listen to his lecture.”
On the other hand, as soon as Moulana Husain Ahmad Madani (rahimahullah) learnt that Moulana Ilyaas (rahimahullah) had arrived and was going to deliver a bayaan at a tableeghi gathering, he too cancelled his lecture and instructed the audience to proceed to the tableeghi gathering to listen to the lecture of Moulana Ilyaas (rahimahullah).
Hence, neither Moulana Ilyaas (rahimahullah) nor Moulana Madani (rahimahullah) delivered their respective lectures. However, they both left behind an amazing example of sincerity for generations to come.
(Hazrat Madani [r.a] Waaqi‘aat aur Karaamaat ki Roshni me, pg. 104)
Lessons:
1. Sincerity is the hallmark of a true believer. A person void of sincerity will feel hurt in such a situation and think, “Why did they plan a gathering at the same time? Why are they stealing the show from me?” The sincerity of our pious elders was such that in the above situation, they cancelled their own speeches and instructed the audience to attend the lecture of the other personality.
2. When a person is sincere, his only priority and concern is for the work of Deen to prosper. Hence, whether he receives any recognition or not for his efforts is irrelevant and does not concern him. In fact, he will prefer to avoid publicity and the limelight, preferring to remain anonymous and unknown.
3. Every department of Deen is important and necessary. Our pious elders were such that even if they were attached to one department of Deen, they continued supporting the other departments of Deen in whichever way possible.